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We were due to be taking a Iberia flight LHR – MAD – LIM on 31 May (overnight) in business booked with BA avios using a 241 voucher. On 15 May it was announced that Lima airport was closed on the morning of 1 June so our flight was cancelled and we were offered an alternative to depart on 1 June. I called BA and asked to instead depart on 30 May, which the agent agreed to after initially saying that wouldn’t be possible as there was no avios availability.
Fast forward to 30 May and we arrive at the airport and the Iberia check in desk said there was no record of us on the flight. I was suspicious something was up as the BA app wasn’t letting us check in all day.
I called BA from the airport and got a very apologetic agent who said when the flight was rescheduled it wasn’t processed correctly on the BA side. By this time is was too late to get on the original LHR flight (19:10) so was instead offered a 20:00 departure in economy both legs as there was no business availability, also leaving a very tight 45 minute connection in Madrid.
The alternative offering was a business flight departing on 1 June which would have set out holiday back 2 days, so we went for the economy option.
To compound the issue, we made the connection in Madrid but our bags didn’t, so we are currently waiting for them to be delivered to Cusco and have had to buy clothes and toiletries in the meantime.
So a bit of a shambles all round. Any ideas on what we will be entitled to in compensation? The original cost of the flights for both of us, including the return and 241 voucher, was 115,000 avios plus £945.58
That does sound horrible and must’ve been frustrating and stressful. You should definitely get the cost of clothing back. Compensation is tricky as the closure of Lima airport would be an extraordinary circumstance and something outside IB’s control. You should get downgrade reimbursement of 75% of one way fare paid in Avios plus cash (excluding taxess)from UK via MAD to South America but it might be difficult to get IB to do so. I hope your luggage turns up soon and that the rest of the holiday toes well. I assume your return flight is still in Business class and is still showing in the app as ticketed?
@Joephe – poor you. An awful start, but hopefully your holiday is now back on track.
I think there are three parts to this:-
1) the luggage – you should keep all the receipts (plus card statement showing GBP cost) and claim your reasonable expenses from Iberia and if they refuse to pay or don’t pay in full, claim from your travel insurer
2) for the downgrade on both legs, you should get compensated 75% of the Avios x 2 passengers</strong>, even though you used the companion voucher. For the cash element, you will need to break it all down because of the difference in APD, and remove the Heathrow PSC. The problem here is that your claim is technically vs Iberia as the operating carrier of both flights on which you were downgraded, they will almost certainly claim they didn’t downgrade you which may be strictly correct. It sounds as though it was BA’s error that caused you to be downgraded and as far as Iberia is concerned they carried you as booked. The exact sequence of events and any booking confirmations you have following the rebooking will be absolutely critical. Ultimately, you will probably have a claim vs BA, but I think you need to start with IB and see their response which I’m afraid is usually a very quick ‘no’ on spurious grounds.
3) you potentially had/have an involuntary denied boarding compensation claim for the first LHR-MAD flight (and consequently the whole journey) but as you were ultimately carried only 50 minutes later you theoretically can’t claim, but in these specific circumstances I would claim anyway.
Unfortunately, it counts for nothing that BA and IB are sister airlines and they won’t cooperate on this in any way, but BA does have a responsibility as your agent. Please let us know how you get on and do one can try and help with next steps. I fear you will need to be rather tenacious to get compensated here!
Thanks that’s very helpful.
Once I get the final damage on the delayed luggage I may ask for some help calculating what we should claim. According to Iberia our luggage made it to Lima airport yesterday but my Smart tag still shows it at Madrid which is concerning! This week we will be trekking so our luggage doesn’t arrive soon we’re going to need to fork out a sizeable amount to purchase all the clothes and equipment we’ll need, so hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
@AJA Yes there is a ticket number showing on the app for the inbound and the BA agent confirmed there should be no issues with thst flight when I spoke to them@joephe – the airline’s liability limit is about £1,300 per person so you should be fine, although with Iberia they will quibble but your travel insurer less so to pick up any balance. The legal test is that the costs you incur should be “necessary, appropriate and reasonable” so it’s really common sense and spend the money as if it were your own. There’s no hard and fast rule. Don’t buy a Gucci tracksuit and trainers but normal trekking gear and boots such as Timberland or Haglöfs should be considered fine. Even a suitcase may be necessary.
Once your luggage arrives and you have then completed all your shopping, it’s worth compiling a list with brief comments to justify the larger expenditures and if you have booked organised trekking, they might have a list of essential items you need for the treks.
Re tags, if you are using Smart tags, that sounds like Android ones? They tend to work better than AirTags in less developed countries as relatively few people can afford iPhones. Your Madrid ping may be correct.
Re your return flights, check them also in the Iberia app which you will need to use to check-in anyway.
Thanks good to know about the £1,300 limit – we should be able to keep it under that comfortably. After a second call to Iberia they changed their story and it’s now on a plane to Lima arriving at 1pm today. We will need some gear for a day hike tomorrow so will likely need to buy some this evening unless the luggage miraculously gets to Cusco in the afternoon.
We have an Amex Plat which covers £300 per person for delayed luggage expenses and a further £300 if 48 hours late, so good to have that as a backup.
Have checked the iberia app and the return flight also looks fine
I would just add to @JDB’s comments that any claims for downgrade/denied boarding should be against both Iberia and BA. I am talking here from experience.
I also think this case would be better suited for MCOL rather than CEDR (not sure if Iberia even participates) and I am almost certain that this will involve a legal battle. If you name both, then the court will decide whether it’s Iberia or BA or ask them to decide amongst themselves.
I wouldn’t worry about it now and enjoy your holiday and deal with it on return. You have six years to claim.
@meta – you are very right. Below is Iberia’s rather extraordinary rider re CEDR (my emphasis)!
“This letter represents our final consideration of your complaint. CEDR, (Centre for effective dispute resolution) is approved by the Civil Aviation Authority to provide dispute resolution services and an independent view of your complaint under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. Iberia is not signed up to the services of CEDR and is therefore not willing to submit itself to its ADR procedure. You can log your complaint with CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) by completing the online complaint form via the CAA website: http://www.caa.co.uk/passengercomplaints. Under the subtitle ‘How the CAA can Help’. You will need to click on the link ‘Refer your complaint to us’. You can then access the CAA’s consumer portal where you can submit your complaint to PACT.”
This sounds like an awful situation for you. Sorry to hear about it
Sounds like some good advice from other contributors. Only thing I can add is Alpaca is a local delicacy in Cusco and is delicious, give it a go!
So sorry to hear about your situation. Hope you get your trekking equipment soon. You will soon forget about all the issues and have an amazing time. We visited Peru for the first time last year and would love to return. If you have time, go to the San Pedro Market in Cusco, it’s really worth visiting. The freshly squeezed fruit juice is the best I’ve ever had.
This is the second report in as many days about BA making a mess of bookings and frankly lying about the rules.
Under EU261 they must rebook you to you final destination in the comparable class. Avios availability is not necessary.
I agree there is a good case for denied boarding and of course downgrade compensation but it will be a fight.
As you have Amex I’d spend to those limits and have done so in the past. You claim from IB and when they deny or quibble you simply claim from
Amex.Enjoy your holiday
And all because British Airways failed to process a ticket change of a simple type.
I’m guessing it was simply stuck in a queue at BA. We keep hearing about people being refused boarding when they get to the airport because British Airways failed to resource and organise themselves properly.
Sorry about the degradation to your holiday that’s been caused by this.
Noting that Iberia cleverly cancelled just outside the compensation window anyway, I’d keep an eye on your return flights in case of changes especially around 15 days ahead.
Please post how your claims for expenses and downgrades go.
I think it is quite likely the airport was closed due to a state of emergency being declared until 17 June in certain areas of Lima.
@Paul – the Amex Plat travel inconvenience limits are absurdly low. It wouldn’t be difficult to exceed those limits if required to buy trekking kit on top of everything else, so nobody ought to be relying on that.
@LD27 – the airport was closed to most flights for a period of 12 hours during a much delayed terminal move. Some regional airports have been closed owing to the current civil unrest in the country.
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