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Forums Frequent flyer programs British Airways Executive Club BA LHR-KL flight cancelled – need advice!

  • Cityboyflyer 5 posts

    Hi everyone!

    Long time reader, first time poster. I really need some help after 5+ hours on the phone I’m at a loss as to what to do next, and frankly shocked by BA’s customer service and handling of this issue.

    I’m well aware of the cancellation of the route to Kuala Lumpur due to engine issues, having read the article here and also receiving the email that my flights had been cancelled. My family of six had a booking from Christmas Eve for 2 weeks, to go and spend Christmas in Thailand. We booked the flights on 3 bookings of 2 people each, using companion vouchers, in Club World. BA told us the only way to do this was on three separate bookings but this worked for us so was all good.

    I rung BA and spoke to three different advisors and asked to be transferred onto the MH direct flight from London to KL, however they all said MH was not allowing them to transfer flights at all. After hearing it three times, and pleading with them / quoting UK261 I gave in and looked at Qatar (side note: the reason for wanting the direct flight is a tight connection on the other side).

    The advisor started transferring the bookings over one at a time. He completed the transfer of two of the bookings (so 4/6 of us) and was asking us the security questions for the third booking when the call dropped. I called back and explained and asked them to add the remaining 2 passengers to the same flights and they said they can’t.

    The first advisor to say we couldn’t said the only flight we could take was a flight to SIN as we had booked using reward seats (I’m 99% sure this is a lie as UK261 states they must get us to our final destination). He said that the previous advisor had made a “mistake” booking us onto Qatar via Doha to KL and that whilst he wouldn’t cancel these bookings he wouldn’t book the remaining to passengers onto this flight and the ONLY option they had was to fly to SIN. He then confirmed on the phone (and I have a recording of this) that they are breaking UK261 by doing this and not flying us to our final destination but this is what BA management had told them to do. This person was based in the Warrington UK call centre FYI.

    I then hung up and spoke to someone else and they said that they could re-book the remaining two passengers onto Qatar but only onto one flight that was 12 hours before the original flight we had booked, 8 hours before the other family members we re-booked already and leaving a 18 hour layover (on Christmas Day) in KL.

    What makes it worse is the two advisors I speak about above both cut us off and disconnected the call when we asked a question they didn’t like. We stayed calm and collected throughout, trying extremely hard to not let frustration get the better of us.

    I’ve tried numerous advisors and all have fobbed me off, I’m honestly close to tears as we now have half the family re-booked and the other half with no flights. They won’t re-book us on the same flights despite the flights the 4 of us are re-booked on still having 6+ seats available in our class of travel to book online. They’re completely disregarding the law and I’m honestly at a loss as to how to resolve this as each BA call centre member of staff is just waffling or making it up.

    Does anyone have any advice on how I can get BA to behave correctly and help here? No one is interested or cares, there’s no way to speak to a supervisor as they don’t take calls (apparently) and I’m honestly at a loss and coming to terms with the fact we’ve likely lost lots of money on hotels and other flight bookings that are non-refundable (we have travel insurance but will lose out to excesses etc). Any advice or anyone who could help us get to the right people at BA is really appreciated. It shouldn’t have to be like this 🙁

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 2,761 posts
    SamG 1,859 posts

    The best thing to do will be to wait for the official rebooking guidance to be published . It’ll appear here I suspect early next week

    https://www.britishairways.com/travel-partner-connect/disruptions

    Usually rebooking onto Qatar will be allowed using revenue classes and the agent will be able to get the rest of you on the same flight

    It’s very unfortunate BA put the cancellation through on a Friday as I’m sure no one is around negotiating reroute policies at the weekend !

    Garethgerry 135 posts

    I think the Advice given in the two posts above is best try again when they’ve sorted themselves out. Give them time but don’t give up , you are in the right.

    EU261 is a great piece of legislation but unless you have a spare £10k in bank to book it yourself in cash you are at mercy of airline.

    meta 1,640 posts

    I wouldn’t be surprised that unfortunately the last two seats were unavailable on the same flights.

    You shouldn’t wait like many here say, especially since you are flying over peak Christmas period. There is only so much seats available in the negotiated booking classes and I doubt QR or MH will be willing to re-accommodate all BA passengers at the low rates when they know they can sell these tickets for ten times over.

    I would first check if the seats are still available for cash bookings on the flights you wanted and in which class. Then keep on calling and hanging up until you find a competent agent.

    NorthernLass 9,440 posts

    I can’t really add anything apart from that I hope you manage to find satisfactory alternatives. Unfortunately, when different people hold companion vouchers these do have be used on separate bookings, with the inherent risks associated with that.

    You did really well to get 6 seats in CW, and BA is obliged to get you all to the final destination in the same travel class. Worst case scenario you won’t all be on the same flight, but hopefully you’ll still have an amazing Christmas holiday together.

    If BA management are genuinely telling agents to disregard their legal obligations then it might be time for the CAA to have another word, as customer service has definitely generally improved since the lows of the pandemic.

    Aston100 1,606 posts

    Outrageous.
    I wonder what excuse the forum contrarian will come up with to defend BA?

    HampshireHog 249 posts

    To be fair as there are three separate bookings you may have to accept not all being on the same flights

    ZW 50 posts

    “When I asked questions they didn’t like, the agent cut the line off.”
    This happened to me a few times, so when I know my case is going to be difficult, I always write down the time and the person’s name when they first answer the call, and ask them to spell their name out if I’m not sure, as they always need to tell their nnames before asking security questions about me. I also tell them that my case is a bit complex and in case the line gets cut off, I’ll call again and ask other agents to direct the call to them.

    This happened twice last year, I assume some of the new “unprofessional” CS agents were hired by BA or BA’s subcontractors. After 3 agents cut the line off and I asked chatGPT to write a complaint email and added the agent names and call times. A few weeks later, BA threw in 25k avios.

    ZW 50 posts

    Also, since the flights are for Christmas and there are still 2 months to go, it’s best to same the time and energy, and only call back after there are clear rebooking policies within BA.
    Similar to BA cancelled Beijing route earlier this year, the BA call centres got so much better after a clear rebooking policy was negotiated. So, just hold on and wait for a few days may work out better for both BA’s call agents and OP.
    If BA still refuse to rebook you to the flights you prefer, then UK261 comes handy when trying to argue or even claim the money back if you indeed have to pay the preferred flights first.

    meta 1,640 posts

    No it’s not the best to wait. As you will see from the main article and comments, people are being rebooked already on QR/MH/JAL airlines. OP and his party are travelling at peak Christmas period.

    For OP, it’s very unlikely that BA will agree to change the other four tickets without there being reward availability now. They have reduced their liability in that way. And OP doesn’t have time to fight it through legal means.

    It’s really poor show from agent that they didn’t call back (they can see the number).

    While there are many possible options on paper, BA does not have access to all of QR or MH inventory nor any other airlines, especially as these flights might already full of other passengers travelling at Christmas. The airlines also might not want to surrender their seats to BA for peanuts via interline agreements given that they can sell these seats ten times over over Christmas period.

    JDB 5,618 posts

    Also, since the flights are for Christmas and there are still 2 months to go, it’s best to same the time and energy, and only call back after there are clear rebooking policies within BA.
    Similar to BA cancelled Beijing route earlier this year, the BA call centres got so much better after a clear rebooking policy was negotiated. So, just hold on and wait for a few days may work out better for both BA’s call agents and OP.
    If BA still refuse to rebook you to the flights you prefer, then UK261 comes handy when trying to argue or even claim the money back if you indeed have to pay the preferred flights first.

    For the Beijing cancellations the rebooking policy was in place at the time of announcement. At this point for the KL cancellations, why on earth wait when the limited number of seats are being successfully booked by lots of other passengers – it’s just a matter of getting the right agent.

    Cityboyflyer 5 posts

    Thanks all for your input! Really appreciated! I’ve spoken to 5 agents and they’ve all said the same thing. The 4 passengers should not have been re-booked onto revenue tickets with Qatar and this was a big mistake by the previous agent. As such, they won’t honour the remaining 2 be transferred onto these flights despite the fact the original agent promised this and was in the process of completing this before the call dropped. 🙁

    Options at present are:
    – All be re-booked onto Singapore and make our own way to KL (LOL)
    – Wait whilst they continue negotiations with other airlines to use revenue tickets. Was told by two advisors this morning that this is ongoing and to call back for updates on this.

    I’m sure this is still against UK261 but with every advisor refusing to budge I don’t know where I go from here other than to sit and wait. Any suggestions?

    AJA 1,325 posts

    Wow what a nightmare. If the remaining two passengers are on a separate booking how do the agents know about the other 4 passengers?

    Have you tried just requesting the flights you want for the remaining two passengers without mentioning any of the other bookings?

    I would also try calling from a different phone number.

    meta 1,640 posts

    I would call again and don’t mention the other four tickets. I think that is confusing the agents.

    Call 6th, 7th or 8th time or more until you get to the right person.

    Cityboyflyer 5 posts

    Tried calling again and not mentioning the other tickets however they are all saying the same thing, the Qatar flight doesn’t have reward availability on it and they can’t rebook us with revenue seats at present. 🙁

    Garethgerry 135 posts

    Whatever you do it’s their responsibility to get you all the way to KL not to Singapore. That’s the law

    From what I remember flights From Singapore to KL are very frequent and not that expensive. Just checked, £100 rtn economy, £250 business.

    I Hadn’t registered its Christmas, and hence need to book whilst space available .

    I’d even think about taking Singapore flight maybe for all of you, but making it clear that BA is responsible to get you to KL and you will be charging them for this leg under 261. As you have done, record this conversation and make it clear you expect to be ticketed all the way to KL

    Check on KL Singapore availability. If it’s tight just buy it ASAP. If not keep ringing BA to get them to do it. Then charge BA for. The only issue with two separate tickets is picking up luggage at Singapore .

    Clearly BA it’s better take you 95% of the way on own metal and interline on a cheap final leg

    Ihar 369 posts

    “He then confirmed on the phone (and I have a recording of this) that they are breaking UK261 by doing this and not flying us to our final destination but this is what BA management had told them to do.”

    Well BA will also have a record of this call, and you can ask for a copy/transcript. You can of course just pay for flights that you are entitled to under UK261 and argue the cost (safe, but not without risk). Not sure BA playing” fast and loose” helps anyone…

    meta 1,640 posts

    Unfortunately under UK261 there is no penalty for breaking the law. You will only get what you would be entitled to, in this case reimbursement of self re-routed ticket and nothing else. You would though have to pay it yourself in advance and claim back from BA.

    If you have £3-4k per ticket, you could book it yourself and claim back. BA has refused you enough times. Just make sure you have good evidence that you called and that they refused.

    @lhar not all calls are recorded despite the message you hear when calling and BA is known to ‘lose’ the recordings either. It will also take some time to obtain it from BA.

    Richie 1,209 posts

    Unfortunately under UK261 there is no penalty for breaking the law…

    Are you sure that the UK’s CAA has done nothing when some airlines have tried to ignore UK261?

    NorthernLass 9,440 posts

    They did launch some sort of investigation after the pandemic and BA did make improvements to their claim procedures (if you think they’re bad now!!), but I don’t think the CAA has a lot of legal force. The CMA also looked into the Covid cancellations, I don’t know what the outcome was.

    If you trawl the “delays and cancellations” section here, there are a number of examples about how readers have approached refusals to re-route, including taking legal action.

    What seems to be the norm in the past couple of years though is that BA will initially obfuscate so that as many people as possible will accept cheaper (for BA) options than they’re actually entitled to, then start playing ball with customers who are aware of, and then start insisting on, their true passenger rights.

    meta 1,640 posts

    CAA has the authority to enforce under national law, but not issue a penalty (other than withdrawal of licence I guess). They also don’t deal much with individual cases. In the Wizzair case for example they only enforced the payment of claims since 2022, but nothing as an extra compensation or penalty.

    SamG 1,859 posts

    Just wait for the policy to be published which likely will be tomorrow or Tuesday. You can have a look on the portal now and see where other flights have been cancelled recently (China, Amman) and they always have ticket acceptance on QR including redemptions so it’s highly likely the same will happen. Then you can call up and quote the policy and get rebooked.

    Should it be this way? No. But it always is unfortunately and not just with BA (e.g. Virgin are far worse offenders!)

    pdwtrip 5 posts

    Similar problems with BA earlier in the year – flight cancelled – refused to re book with Qatar – there was availability.
    Insisted on delaying the trip – spoke to a supervisor who explained that I was incorrect in expecting to be rebooked on the next available Qatar flight. I explained it was a legal requirement. He said that he hadn’t been trained in all the legal issues!
    Basically they are just trying to deal with any situation in the cheapest way possible and figure the majority of passengers (Customers!) will just go with it and the few that go legal still mean they save money.
    There would seem to be no accountability and no sign of it changing.

    marks7389 502 posts

    Should it be this way? No. But it always is unfortunately and not just with BA (e.g. Virgin are far worse offenders!)

    At least with Virgin, their executive team are good at sorting out the mess, though I’m not sure how they’d cope with the size of mess BA created on Friday afternoon.

    But you’re right, they cancelled a flight we had a redemption booking on a couple of years ago, notified us of it as a “schedule change” in an email that didn’t make it clear they’d moved us to the follow day (I only spotted it because Reward Wallet also emailed me with a very clear presentation of what happened).

    The call centre and their Upper Class team then refused to rebook us on the Delta flight that was still operating on our original travel date as there were no redemption seats available. Once the Exec team got involved we were moved to a revenue booking on the Delta flight within a day.

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