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Hi, my wife was booked on Qatar Airways from Manchester to Singapore via Doha in business class (75,000 avios + £430 on BA website) and then from Singapore to Sydney with Scoot in premium economy (roughly £350 in cash). The flight from Manchester to Doha was delayed by 90 minutes leaving Manchester last night, arriving at 7:30am in Doha this morning, causing her to miss her 7:45am flight to Singapore. Qatar have placed her on the next available flight which isn’t until 7:45pm this evening. This 12 hour delay has resulted in her missing her flight to Sydney in Singapore on a Scoot flight (this was leaving at 2am on 31/8). The new flight from Doha will arrive at 7:30am in Singapore on the 31/8. There are then no direct flights to Sydney until the evening so we will likely pay £200 to change the Scoot flight to 2am on 1/9. This will arrive in Sydney at 11:30am on Monday, exactly 24 hours after the original journey would’ve ended. Apologies for the convoluted itinerary – I can clarify details if needed.
We are wondering who owes us what compensation (if any) in terms of Qatar, BA and possibly claiming insurance as well. Do Qatar owe us any compensation for the 12 hour delay arriving in Singapore and will BA partially/fully refund the flights (how many avios/£)? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
@RS – your wife’s claim for delay compensation lies with QR as the operating carrier, not BA and for a 12 hour delay would be at the rate of £520pp unless QR can use any ‘exceptional circumstances’ defence. Unfortunately, they aren’t usually too user friendly…
The missed connection for the onward flight from SIN (and additionally delayed arrival in SYD) is not the responsibility of QR nor compensable, but the additional change cost might be covered on travel insurance less any excess.
What was the original connection time in Doha?
@JDB Thank you for that advice – we will pursue this with QR in due course. The delay was due to a problem with the aircraft that necessitated an engineer coming onboard to troubleshoot so not sure whether that would come under ‘exceptional circumstances’. Regarding Scoot, I’m aware we can’t expect any compensation from the airline as they’ve not delayed us but we will try and claim the change fee through our insurance.
@Richie The original connection was 1 hour 15 minutes which I’m aware is tight but given that QR/BA allowed us to book that itinerary they evidently felt that it was more than the minimum time required.A follow up question: I would presume that if we chose to book a direct flight from Doha to Sydney this evening, we would forfeit our right to compensation as we are deviating from the original booking(s)?
@RS – a technical fault wouldn’t ordinarily constitute ‘exceptional circumstances’ but leaves a bit of scope for them to spin a story.
If your wife flew directly to Sydney from Doha, she would theoretically lose the right to claim compensation as the delayed arrival in Doha was under the threshold and she only has rerouting rights as far as Singapore, but something that could be explored with QR depending on their willingness to reroute her and at what cost.
@JDB The Qatar staff in Doha are saying that they can’t change anything as it was booked with BA with avios so are saying we’d have to pay the full fare to book onto that flight. It would appear they’re within their rights to do that so we will likely eliminate that option. I may call our insurance though to inquire about their willingness to compensate us if we pay to book that flight.
I’ll see what QR say about delay compensation and hope that they are reasonably forthcoming
@Richie The original connection was 1 hour 15 minutes which I’m aware is tight but given that QR/BA allowed us to book that itinerary they evidently felt that it was more than the minimum time required.Not that it helps you, but a connection of 1hr 15mins is just about the norm for Qatar at Doha, especially if flying Business as they always ensure you are the first off the aircraft, plus you have no security or check in issues.
I have a QR connection there to DXB in Nov, and they have given me 1hr 10mins!
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