BA cancellation with no option for online re-booking or refund

[ljcybergal]

Have just received a second cancellation from BA for a flight I booked with Avios points, from Frankfurt to LHR on 23rd July. The first time, I was able to rebook online and chose the suggested alternative flight earlier in the day. Now the alternative flight has also been cancelled, but this time I haven’t been given any option other than to completely cancel my booking. If I want to re-book, or even get a refund, apparently I have to call BA. Obviously, I want to avoid doing this! BA have even disabled the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and ‘Why can’t I re-book online’ links on the ‘Manage My Booking’ page. Is this even legal? What are my options now? If I book a new flight home and leave the cancelled one, will I automatically be refunded?

[Roberto]

Phone, there are plenty of other flights for them to swap you onto and the queues are not as bad as all that currently. They will place you on Luftansa if the Ba options is not sufficientfor your needs, have a look in advance of your call.

Edited to say you can ask for a refund but I would wait until after the outbound has been taken. You’re free to buy another flight in the meantime if the price works.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[SamG]

Could be either a) BA IT only works for simple bookings and once your flight was rebooked it fell out of that camp unfortunately or b) it’s looking for Avios flights, which there aren’t any. This sometimes resolves itself

There are seats available on the BA flights but they both leave at 7am. BA does have a rebooking agreement with Lufthansa but you’ll need to get through on the phone for that I suspect. Could try live chat – keep typing “speak to an agent”

if you just leave it then nothing will happen

[ljcybergal]

Roberto wrote:

Phone, there are plenty of other flights for them to swap you onto and the queues are not as bad as all that currently. They will place you on Luftansa if the Ba options is not sufficientfor your needs, have a look in advance of your call.

Edited to say you can ask for a refund but I would wait until after the outbound has been taken. You’re free to buy another flight in the meantime if the price works.

Have just tried calling BA, and they won’t even put me into the queue, they say they’re dealing with more calls than usual…exactly what I feared. BTW if it helps, I had booked two completely separate one-way flights using Avios. Couldn’t see a Live Chat option, where can I find that?

[Roberto]

Ah.
Two bookings so you could cancel the return whenever, there is no rush.

The chat bot is on ba.com via your pc or on your phone/tablet in the mobile ba.com mode. Down the bottom on the right..

You will need to speak/chat to Ba if you want them to swap flights unless your MMB options change. Its quietier first thing and during the soaps if that helps.

[SamG]

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts

scroll down and the option will appear

Be very clear about what you want – e.g.a rebooking onto the BA flights or the LH flights – give them the exact times and flight numbers

You might have luck getting through on the US number later today too after 8pm – 1 800 452 1201 (call via Skype free of charge)

[ljcybergal]

Roberto wrote:

Ah.
Two bookings so you could cancel the return whenever, there is no rush.

The chat bot is on ba.com via your pc or on your phone/tablet in the mobile ba.com mode. Down the bottom on the right..

You will need to speak/chat to Ba if you want them to swap flights unless your MMB options change. Its quietier first thing and during the soaps if that helps.

Thanks Roberto – I’m on a Mac, maybe that’s why I can’t see Live Chat? Thanks for the mobile tip, I’m now 53 in the queue! LOL

[ljcybergal]

Roberto wrote:

Phone, there are plenty of other flights for them to swap you onto and the queues are not as bad as all that currently. They will place you on Luftansa if the Ba options is not sufficientfor your needs, have a look in advance of your call.

Edited to say you can ask for a refund but I would wait until after the outbound has been taken. You’re free to buy another flight in the meantime if the price works.

SamG wrote:

Could be either a) BA IT only works for simple bookings and once your flight was rebooked it fell out of that camp unfortunately or b) it’s looking for Avios flights, which there aren’t any. This sometimes resolves itself

There are seats available on the BA flights but they both leave at 7am. BA does have a rebooking agreement with Lufthansa but you’ll need to get through on the phone for that I suspect. Could try live chat – keep typing “speak to an agent”

if you just leave it then nothing will happen

Have now just got off the Live Chat with an agent, and have managed to get rebooked the next day on a flight back to LCY, which should also avoid any strike issues. But PLEASE NOTE that I was informed in no uncertain terms that there is no agreement with Lufthansa, and I could not choose a Lufthansa flight as an alternative (the one I wanted, on my original day of travel, was LH918): “Unfortunately, Lufthansa is not our partner so I won’t be able to book you onto that.”

[ljcybergal]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions 🙂

[yonasl]

there is no agreement with Lufthansa, and I could not choose a Lufthansa flight as an alternative (the one I wanted, on my original day of travel, was LH918): “Unfortunately, Lufthansa is not our partner so I won’t be able to book you onto that.”

Flat out lie. They don’t need to have an agreement as that’s not your problem. Since they booked you the next day you can now ask for duty of care and have them pay you for an extra hotel night and food.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[elguiri]

They can book onto Lufthansa as that is what I did last week when my return flight from FRA to LHR was cancelled. The lady just had to check with the manager, but I had provided the flight number and after getting the nod she rebooked it very swiftly.

[ljcybergal]

yonasl wrote:

there is no agreement with Lufthansa, and I could not choose a Lufthansa flight as an alternative (the one I wanted, on my original day of travel, was LH918): “Unfortunately, Lufthansa is not our partner so I won’t be able to book you onto that.”

Flat out lie. They don’t need to have an agreement as that’s not your problem. Since they booked you the next day you can now ask for duty of care and have them pay you for an extra hotel night and food.

I agree it did sound rather suspect (although I’m happier to be flying back to LCY which I think is the safer option given the situation at LHR). They did offer me a seat on the 7am flight on the same day, but due to my personal itinerary I wasn’t able to make that one. My originally booked flight was in the evening.

[ljcybergal]

yonasl wrote:

there is no agreement with Lufthansa, and I could not choose a Lufthansa flight as an alternative (the one I wanted, on my original day of travel, was LH918): “Unfortunately, Lufthansa is not our partner so I won’t be able to book you onto that.”

Flat out lie. They don’t need to have an agreement as that’s not your problem. Since they booked you the next day you can now ask for duty of care and have them pay you for an extra hotel night and food.

elguiri wrote:

They can book onto Lufthansa as that is what I did last week when my return flight from FRA to LHR was cancelled. The lady just had to check with the manager, but I had provided the flight number and after getting the nod she rebooked it very swiftly.

If anyone is interested, here’s how it went (LOL):

BA Agent (19:22:31): Let me take a look at the booking and check what best I can do for you here. As the flight have been cancelled we will allow you to get one free change in your booking. Please allow me 2-3 minutes so that I can check alternate flights for you.

Me (19:23:47): I need to choose the SAFEST option, I’m wondering whether that would be a Lufthansa flight on the same day (Sat 23rd), or with BA back to LCY the next day (Sun 24th)

BA Agent (19:24:24): We have BA 901 from FRA at 0705 to LHR at 0755. Will this work?

Me (19:24:31): My original booking was for 18:55, can’t go first thing in the morning. I can see Lufthansa LH918 at 18:00, or BA8735 at 18:05 the next day?

BA Agent (19:26:38):

Unfortunately, Lufthansa is not our partner so I won’t be able to book you onto that.

Please don’t worry the one which I have suggested is operational.

Me (19:27:34): Which other airlines are you able to switch me to? If not, I will have to go for the BA8735 on Sun 24th. You may have misunderstood me, due to my personal itinerary, I cannot travel on an early morning flight, that was why I made my original flight booking at 18:55

BA Agent (19:29:54):

In that case we have only BA8735 for 24th July as no other partner is flying on that route but we are.

Please let me know if you want me to rebook on 24th flight, BA8735 (operated by BA CityFlyer) from FRA at 1805 to LCY at 1840.

Me (19:30:49): Yes please – but can you please tell me if there is a likelihood that this will also get cancelled?

BA Agent (19:31:09): No this will not get cancelled. Please don’t worry about this. The previous flights got cancelled due to operational reasons.

BA Agent (19:33:09): May I have your permission to rebook you for this flight? All further changes after this one will be considered as voluntary change.

Me (19:33:17): Yes

BA Agent (19:33:25): Thanks for the permission. Please allow me 3-4 minutes to get this confirmed.

BA Agent (19:38:02): I have successfully issued the flight tickets for you.

[SamG]

Incorrect – https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/traveltrade/bookings-policies/policies/askba?faqid=8216 – their “BA onto LH” policy

[ljcybergal]

SamG wrote:

Incorrect – https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/traveltrade/bookings-policies/policies/askba?faqid=8216 – their “BA onto LH” policy

Yes, it looks like I was misled, either through ignorance or by design :-(. Either way, I hope I can make a case for a refund of my extra hotel night. I’ll do this when I get back and have receipts, I can’t face contacting BA again just now! 😉