Flight cancelled, rerouted and delayed baggage

[ewan199]

Hi All,

Slightly complicated one this weekend. Flying home from Athens-Edinburgh via LHR on the return of a 2-4-1. Woke up yesterday morning to flight cancelled by BA from Athens. They gave use flights for the next day essentially arriving 24 hours later. I phoned and got rerouted onto ATH-MUC-LHR-EDI. All in business as per original booking and ended up on original LHR-EDI flight.

Whilst sitting on tarmac in LHR we saw are two bags outside the plane whilst the bag door was still open but it was driven away never loaded. They have not arrived at Edinburgh today and 24 hours later according to AirTags are still in LHR. So an annoying reroute with no reason for cancellation and bags which don’t appear to be coming up to Edinburgh. Any ideas as to how to approach? I presume no compensation as rerouted and ended up on same LHR-EDI flight? Sorry for the ramble!

[JDB]

If your rerouting schedule allowed you to arrive at the same time as the original cancelled routing, then no compensation should be due unless you had to leave more than an hour earlier. That definitely gives rise to compensation in the EU, but is a grey area in the UK. The non arrival of your luggage is a separate issue from any potential UK261 claim and they only pay very limited sums, if anything, for essentials as you are arriving at home.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Did you get a PIR – Property Irregularity Report (PIR) number when you reported the delayed bags when they didn’t appear at EDI?

If so you need to use the tracker system and make sure the details are correct such as the address you want them delivered to.

If not you need to call BA and get one and then update the tracker system.

But note it isn’t a continuously updated systems it seems to be done once a day and there is absolutely no point in phoning to chase because BA staff can only see what you can see.

And whilst your tags may show them as on the way to EDI there will still be a delay as they organise their courier to deliver them to tour home.

Remember to claim Original Routing Credit so you don’t lose out on any TPs and Avios.

[AJA]

@JDB I agree there’s no compensation for the re-routed arrival but isn’t compensation potentially due for the original cancellation?

@ewan199 what reason was given for the cancellation of the flight? What was your flight number? Ask on the FT specific thread , they may be able to tell you the reason.

And if ever you see your bags on the ground outside the plane again tell the cabin crew! They will make sure it’s loaded as long as you provide them with the baggage receipt so they can match it up.

[JDB]

@AJA – there’s no compensation if they reroute you in time. Article 5.1(c)(iii) – you are entitled to compensation unless:

(iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.

[AJA]

@JDB thanks. I apologise. I misread your original post where you wrote about the departing no earlier than 1 hour before and you are correct.

@Ewan199 did you depart on your re-routed flights more than an hour earlier than the original BA ATH-LHR flight scheduled time of departure?

[ewan199]

@AJA yes it departed c. 90 mins before resulting in a race to the airport.

Thanks everyone for contributions.

[JDB]

@ewan199 as it sounds as though your rerouted flight was scheduled to depart more than one hour before the originally booked one, you are entitled to compensation under EC261 (but as yet unclear if eligible under UK261). It appears that BA has been paying out on some early departure cases but reducing the compensation by 50% as if it were an ‘in between’ delay, but that is not the law! The CJEU order (and the case it comes from) is very messy as it relates to many joined cases, but the official CJEU press summary of the judgment is very clear.

“In addition, where a flight has been brought forward by a significant amount of time, giving rise to a right to compensation (which implies, inter alia, late communication that the flight has been brought forward), the operating air carrier is still required to pay the total amount (which is, depending on the distance, € 250, 400 or 600). It does not have the possibility to reduce any compensation to be paid by 50% on the ground that it has offered the passenger re-routing, allowing him or her to arrive without delay at his or her final destination.”

“Significant amount of time” is defined elsewhere as over one hour.