Missed outbound leg of reward flight. BA cancelled return. Help with BA T&Cs

[w4guitarist]

Hi everyone, I have been a long term fan and reader of HfP but this is the first time I have posted on the forums.

My wife and I booked return reward flights to Malta in CE. We went for the lowest avios highest cash option as it offered best value.

Unfortunately we missed the outbound flight, as we left a passport at home. We notified BA before the outbound flight had left, but after we had checked in, that we still wanted the return flight. We were told that the return flight would be cancelled and we were not entitled to ANY refund. The agent said this was in the BA terms and conditions.

I am trying to get my head round the T&Cs:

My questions;
1) are we entitled to refund of the taxes and airport charges? I believe we less an admin fee
2) are we entitled to a refund of the carpet charges?
3) should we have been allowed to cancel change return flight as we notified BA before the outbound flight had left?
4) in future is it better to have to separate bookings for the outbound and inbound to give greater flexibility?

Many thanks in advance. Any advice gratefully received

[Rob]

1 yes, but will be lower than admin fee so in practice no

2 ?

3 BA can protect return flights but in my experience only when the problem is it’s fault

4 yes, and is what I have done for years, but you are exposed to double cancellation fees if you make changes (although as long as they remain at 50p it’s not an issue)

[Skywalker]

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if insurers would cover wear and tear of carpet caused by running up and down stairs frantically looking for passports 😀

I think 2) is “car park charges”?

[w4guitarist]

Thank you! Carpet was supposed to be carrier surcharges but I guess we are not entitled to those.

Thanks again

[AJA]

Sorry you missed your flight. Youve had answrs already. The only other thing to consider is do you have travel insurance that includes missed departure cover?

[giboning]

Hi. Airport staff won’t be able to help you on this one.
Call CS, explain them you missed your flight and ask them nicely to keep your return seat.
It happened to me 2 months ago, the CS agent managed to change the ticket from a return ticket to one-way ticket and I had to pay £100 fee for 2 passengers (i had a cash ticket though). FYI, I had to call 4 times. The first answer was always “sorry, there’s nothing we can do”.

[SamG]

It’s a little mean in this scenario as there is no monetary gain for the OP (vs “missing” the first leg of a cash return long haul for example, could be gaming the fare rules there) but BA rules are no changes to an Avios ticket within 24hrs of departure. I don’t think HUACA will find much flexibility on this , it’s a pretty hard and fast rule IME

Therefore all you’d get back is a few quid on the taxes if anything

Feel your pain though, left mine in the scanner before a Xmas flight to the Canary islands !! Luckily it was COVID times so easyjet were selling the later flight for 80 quid (though Easyjet does have a “rescue” option if you turn up before the next flight IIRC and they don’t cancel other sectors either .

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

BA do show flexibility but usually when missing the flilght isn’t your fault (which forgetting your passport is) such as delays on the roads and rails that affect lots of passengers. There is somethign in the T&Cs about it (often incirrectly called the ‘flat tire rule’

Avios flights have different rules to cash.

IIRC the LCCs actually sell you two separate tickets rather than a return so missing the outbound does not affect the inbound.

[zapato1060]

Sad to hear about your carpet and missing the flight. Happens to the best of us.

[NorthernLass]

The passport thing is the stuff of nightmares, I always have to check my handbag every 10 minutes en route to the airport to ensure they haven’t dematerialised. As I mention here a lot, I am a big fan of separate bookings. Typically I have a MAN-LHR return soon on one PNR, the first time I have done this for ages, and ended up needing to change the inbound due to BA mucking around with another flight. Fortunately MMB let me change the time, but it cost me £35, whereas I could have cancelled a single booking for 50p at the moment and rebooked myself on the earlier service.

I am also relying on the train to get me to and from MAN on this occasion, which feels very much like living dangerously!

[TooPoorToBeHere]

NorthernLass wrote:

I am also relying on the train to get me to and from MAN on this occasion, which feels very much like living dangerously!

YIIIIIKES good luck

Every time I’ve tried this recently I’ve ended up in an Uber.

[baec_newbie]

The “service” fee for refunding taxes & airport fees is only £15 p/p (if done online), so that would inevitably generate at least a small refund. APD is £26 in CE, plus LGW charges are approx £19 for a S/H European flight such as this. MLA airport charges are another £16.

Small consolation given you probably had to shell out several hundred pounds extra to get there and back, but it’s better than nothing.

[NorthernLass]

TooPoorToBeHere wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

I am also relying on the train to get me to and from MAN on this occasion, which feels very much like living dangerously!

YIIIIIKES good luck

Every time I’ve tried this recently I’ve ended up in an Uber.

It’s £6 each way so it seems crazy to pay for parking when it’s just me and HBO. I have backup plans though!

[TooPoorToBeHere]

NorthernLass wrote:

It’s £6 each way so it seems crazy to pay for parking when it’s just me and HBO. I have backup plans though!

I have a flight this week which relies on the trains working
(it’s just after work and there isn’t time to drive in rush hour traffic)

My backup plan involves Michael O’Leary 🙁

[NorthernLass]

O’Leary and MAN T3 were made for each other 😂.

[w4guitarist]

Hi all,

Thanks for your advice and help. Just thought I would provide an update in case it is useful to someone searching the forums in the future.

I applied for and received a refund of taxes and charges for both inbound and outbound flights of £262 (£131 per person). I also complained that BA cancelled our return flight when we notified them before the outbound flight left, this is against their “no show” policy which only applies if you notify them after. I received a refund for the return flight we had to rebook which cost £241 for two in eurotraveller. Thanks to the very helpful BA agent who recommended that I should raise a complaint.

[AJA]

I think that you did well there. Not that you didn’t deserve to get all that back. I am glad BA paid for your flight home again as I agree they should not have cancelled the original inbound flight.