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This Christmas we sent our 15 year old daughter on a direct return flight London to Houston to visit family. We are based in Manchester and because we wanted her to fly direct with no changes (never flown solo before) we drove her down from Manchester. The outward flight went ok.
However now she is returning the flight home this weekend is cancelled. BA offered a full refund or a change at Charlotte so we accepted reluctantly the new flight.
Flight was booked with AVIOS
What would you say is reasonable/acceptable in terms of compensation ? And how would you go about claiming the compensation ?
Any compensation will depend on the reason for the cancellation and also on the difefrence between the departure and arrival times of the original flight and the new one(s)
The amounts are fixed in law and not negotiable.
Thanks
The total delay is just 2 hours which is the changeover time in Charlotte
This is what BA said.
We’re really sorry but your flight to London Heathrow has been cancelled tomorrow due to operational constraints.If I had wanted her to go on an indirect flight then I would have booked her on a flight from MAN.
So in a nutshell you are saying there is no possibility of compensation ?
Because the flight was cancelled and the new one is getting to LHR 2 or more hours later you should get compensation as this was not for extraordinary circumstances and you were told less than 14 days before your flight.
You will need to claim that after the flight.
(This is, of course, if the flight does arrive to LHR 2 hours later than planned)
I wouldn’t get too excited about the compensation for just 2 hrs as it is quite small: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/holiday-cancellations-and-compensation/if-your-flights-delayed-or-cancelled/
@MrJones – firstly, I’m sorry your daughter has experienced this and it is creating worry for you. The circumstances under which you can claim compensation under UK261 are quite tightly circumscribed and are in effect liquidated damages set within the legislation. You don’t get anything further for the inconvenience or stress etc. unless you want to sue the airline outside UK261.
Contrary to the above, it is the scheduled time (not actual arrival time) that counts as we are talking about cancellation compensation, not delay compensation. Under Article 5.1(c)(iii) if you are notified of a cancellation at less than seven days notice, you get compensation unless the airline reroutes you to depart no more than one hour earlier and to arrive no more than two hours later unless the airline can claim ‘extraordinary circumstances’ for the cancellation which they migh. The compensation is £520 for a long haul flight and you can Google to find the BA online claim form.
Don’t Singapore fly MAN-IAH direct some days?
Couldn’t she have stayed an extra day or two for when the direct BA flight to London wasn’t cancelled? As the flight was cancelled by the airline you have some leeway to suggest something more preferable to you. If you’ve already accepted the Charlotte option that’s final. The airline won’t care she’s 15, that’s on you for sending her solo.
I think the delay needs to be 3 hours minimum for compensation on a flight of that length. But I think the flights from Charlotte are AA so EU261 won’t apply.
Edit. I’d listen to @JDB he tends to be accurate on this stuff.
If it’s via CLT I’m guessing both legs are going to be on AA, however isn’t there something about EU/UK261 applying if the outbound flight was on a U.K. airline, regardless of who the carrier is on the return? I may be misremembering that though!
It is a shame the OP didn’t come here before accepting the new flight as an alternative to MAN may have been possible to negotiate (e.g. via JFK on EI).
AA is also notorious for delays and cancellations so I would urge Mr Jones to arrange to stay in phone contact with his daughter as much as possible during her journey to offer support and advice in case of any issues. Maybe research hotels at CLT in case she misses the onward connection due to delayed first leg/weather etc.
@dougzz99 – three hours + is the starting point for delay compensation. For the shortest notice cancellations (less than seven days) you are supposed to be compensated if rerouted on a flight/flights scheduled to depart and arrive outside a -1/+2 hour window.
As the cancelled flight is BA, that flight is UK261 eligible. New UK261 rights would attach to the rerouted flights except if they are now AA rather than BA or another UK carrier, they don’t have rights so if e.g. the new flight(s) were delayed, there’s no compensation.
The flights have been switched to AA (from BA) – that is Houston to Charlotte to London.
Not really an option to stay longer in Texas due to school starting Monday and also family returning to work/school in the US.
I was originally aware of the Singapore Airlines from MAN to HOU but wanted the BA Avios option as the SIN Airlines option was very expensive.
Flight was cancelled with only 24 hours notice.
I will call and ask about the option into MAN – if not too late
Thanks everyone for your input
I think you only get one bite at the cherry to accept an alternative flight so if you’ve already accepted the AA flights via Charlotte I think BA will not allow you to re-route on the Singapore Airlines flight. Also it’s going to be an issue since as far as BA were concerned LHR was the ultimate destination, not MAN. Plus that’s on a Star Alliance carrier.
You can try asking but be prepared for a negative response.
I suspect the cancellation may be weather related so despite BA stating operational constraints that doesn’t mean its a slam dunk that your daughter will get compensation.
It’s always difficult to tell the airline to hold fire whilst you calmly research your options (and/or come here to ask!) but it’s often best – in this case the flight was cancelled ~23hrs before departure so I suspect you may have got on SQ direct tonight with some escalation especially considering it’s a minor travelling. Though it’s a non AA/BA flight and another city so maybe not. But I would certainly have a go at asking BA again about this – explain that it is an standard guideline option available when a flight is cancelled within 24hrs and was not offered by the agent
Otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much – Charlotte is a very easy airport for connections, especially in this direction as it’s off one flight and on to the other, no security or transits involved, all the gates are walkable from eachother
Keep an eye here for the reason for the cancellation – https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2146197-faq-reason-flight-delay-cancellation-2024-edition-3.html – I strongly suspect it’s some from of technical / aircraft shortage and will be compensation eligible. Claim here https://www.britishairways.com/travel/feedbackclaims/execclub/en_gb/select
Another question please which would help me
Would her bags be booked right through to LHR from George Bush Houston or would they need to be claimed at CLT and then re-booked onto the connecting flight ?
Both flights are AA. The connection is only 1 hr 15 mins so minimal time to sort bags
Bags will be tagged through so no need to recheck
Yes – the first leg is domestic so she just needs to disembark and go to the next gate. Crew may be able to check which gate the onward flight is leaving from before they land.
Btw if she downloads the AA app she’ll be able to see where her bags are at each stage of the trip once she’s checked on if that’ll be reassuring for her (or you!)
She’ll also be able to select seats as well and gate info is usually available using the AA inflight wifi which is free when using AA app/website.
@SamG – I’m not really sure why people pay any attention to the reason codes posted on FlyerTalk. Apart from the fact that the Y or N indicators are far from determinative, passengers don’t seem to accept what they state anyway, seemingly preferring information they pick up on the way. As an example, for delays/cancellations relating to industrial disputes BA will almost always put INDN when some strikes are compensation eligible but others are not. For “operational” reasons delays the decision re compensation will happen much later.
In essence, if the pax doesn’t believe the reasons offered, they should just claim anyway and see the response. If a flight is part of mass weather related cancellations then the answer is probably fairly obvious but otherwise it can be murky. Airlines also don’t treat all pax claims for the same flight in the same way.
In this instance, while the timings aren’t 100% clear it sounds as though the OP’s daughter will be leaving at about the previously scheduled time but arriving around two hours later than scheduled which shows how ridiculous the rules are. If she arrives over two hours late (based on schedule not actual) but less than four hours she gets £260, if under two hours late it’s £0 but if she had been offered to depart more than an hour earlier but arrived on time it would theoretically be £520.
BA usually disputes the magic “and” in the phrase:- “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”
Very true and actually the BA insiders often share snippets that suggest some of the “N” ones would likely pay out at CEDR.
It is a useful resource though and if you see a “Y” then the way the process works at BA means if you submit a simple claim with not too many emotional words you’ll get your cash pretty quickly
FYI we left her on the HOU-CLT-LHR flight. At some point soon anyway she would need to learn the process of how to transfer flights at an airport and she is very capable. Fingers crossed no issues at CLT.
I will apply for compensation when she is home via the BA formFYI we left her on the HOU-CLT-LHR flight. At some point soon anyway she would need to learn the process of how to transfer flights at an airport and she is very capable. Fingers crossed no issues at CLT.
I will apply for compensation when she is home via the BA formAt IAH whomever takes her to the airport can probably get a gate pass
As mentioned before get her and you to download the AA app it will show the gates in CLT for arrival and departure and has the handy map feature. If she does need help then she should go any gate with AA staff, an AA club, or worst case a USO lounge. From memory there isn’t an AA desk airside any longer.
FYI we left her on the HOU-CLT-LHR flight. At some point soon anyway she would need to learn the process of how to transfer flights at an airport and she is very capable. Fingers crossed no issues at CLT.
I will apply for compensation when she is home via the BA formI’m sure she’s sensible enough or you’d not have sent her solo. It’s a good lesson as disruption is often the norm, so learning to cope with it is useful. I think CLT is a good airport to change at, and doing this the first time on the homebound legs without baggage rechecking and the border, is much easier than had it happened on the outbound.
Thanks all, she is home and all straight forward at Charlotte
Next time she will fly MAN-LHR-HOU/DFW and then a flight on to San Antonio
Glad she’s home. She’ll have stories to regale to her friends!
And she’ll be better set the next time she flies and there’s disruption.
Really glad to hear this journey went safely. As others have said, with luck the experience may have developed useful life skills.
Great news, I bet she’s had an amazing time. San Antonio is lovely!
But unless you’re set on using BA, wouldn’t a direct flight to the US from MAN, then an onward connection, make more sense?
Great news, I bet she’s had an amazing time. San Antonio is lovely!
But unless you’re set on using BA, wouldn’t a direct flight to the US from MAN, then an onward connection, make more sense?
Agree there are better flight options from MAN but it is just that we had a surplus of Avios
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