British Airways passengers entitled to compensation for delays caused by last month’s catastrophic IT meltdown are being warned they will have to be patient as the airline processes its huge backlog of complaints.
BA caused further confusion last week as its online claim form wrongly instructed passengers to contact their insurers in the first instance, rather than the airline. BA took until Friday afternoon to amend this, almost a week after its computer systems failed.
Tens of thousands of BA passengers whose flights were affected — many returning from the late May bank holiday weekend — may be due as much as £150m in refunds and compensation.
BA said it will allow them to rebook on any flight up to the end of November or receive a full refund. A spokesman said: “We will cover reasonable expenses incurred. We would encourage customers to contact us with their claims.”
Yesterday the consumer group Which? urged BA to provide those affected with the basic compensation package of up to €600 (£525), as set out in EU law, without asking them to apply — but don’t expect to get your money any time soon.
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What am I entitled to?
Under EU rules, airlines are obliged to pay compensation if you arrive at your destination late by three hours or more. Compensation is not paid automatically; each passenger must make a claim.
Payments can be refused only if the delay is the result of an “extraordinary circumstance” beyond an airline’s control, such as a security threat, industrial action or extreme weather. Yet airlines have refused or delayed payments; some have even challenged the rules in court.
Coby Benson of Bott & Co, a law firm that specialises in claims against airlines, said: “We don’t consider this issue falls under the definition of extraordinary circumstances, so compensation under EU261 — the rule that entitles passengers to compensation — will be due.”
The level of redress depends on the journey and delay. If you arrive three hours or more after the scheduled time and have flown less than 1,500km — London to Paris, say — you can claim €250. If you have flown 1,500km to 3,500km — say, Manchester to Malaga — you can claim €400. The maximum €600 can be claimed if a flight is delayed by four hours and you have flown more than 3,500km.
A claim can be lodged if you flew from an airport within the EU or with an EU-based airline and the destination was an EU airport. For example, an Air India trip from Heathrow to Delhi would be covered, but not the other way round.
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Download a template for a compensation claim letter from consumer group Which? at tinyurl.com/comp-letter.
What about other costs?
Expenses run up while delayed, such as hotel bills, are covered under the EU legislation and should be recovered from BA, not your insurer. Last week, the wording on BA’s online claim form left travellers confused about whether to approach their insurer first.
Bott & Co said: “There is no duty to disclose details of an insurance policy or go to an insurer first. Anything the policies provide for should be ‘over and above’ what passengers can get from BA.”
You should claim direct from BA for: hotel accommodation (£200 a day for two sharing); transport between the hotel and the airport (£50 round trip); and meals and refreshments (£25 a day for adults, £12.50 for children). Lodge your claim at tinyurl.com/BA-claims.
An airline must provide another flight at the earliest opportunity — even if that means using a different carrier, according to Bott & Co. If a passenger finds a flight earlier than the replacement offered by the airline they can recover the cost of those tickets from the original airline. This is on top of any compensation due. The tickets bought must be “reasonable”, however, so if you booked economy on the cancelled flight, you wouldn’t be able to claim for first-class seats booked on another flight.
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You cannot claim for the cost of travel from a different departure point or to a different destination from your original booking.
What should insurance cover?
BA does not have to cover “consequential costs”, such as missed nights in a hotel or car hire at your destination. You may be able to recover these sorts of costs through travel insurance but this largely depends on the level of cover you have.
The Association of British Insurers advised those affected to “seek compensation and any refunds of expenses in the first instance from British Airways. Any cover available under travel insurance will usually kick in only if compensation is not available from any other source.”
What about my lost luggage?
BA says it has now recovered all delayed bags but said: “Given the nature of global travel, it may take some time to complete the process of reuniting bags with their owners around the world, especially those on complex multi-cities travels or at destinations not served every day.”
The airline says the cost of any “essential items” you were forced to buy because your luggage was lost will be refunded. Keep all receipts and submit them with the baggage compensation claim form at tinyurl.com/baggage-comp. You have 21 days from when your luggage went missing to make a claim.
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Can I claim compensation for a child?
Yes. Anyone with their own seat counts as a passenger and delay compensation may be claimed on their behalf by a parent or guardian. There has been some dispute as to whether infants — babies under two travelling in a parent’s lap — also qualify.
BA said: “Babies and young children travelling with us are eligible to receive compensation.”
What if BA turns down my claim?
You must first lodge a claim with the airline. If it refuses to pay, or does not respond within eight weeks, you can take your claim to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service, which airlines have been using for just over a year. Different airlines use different ADRs.
Since June 1, 2016, BA has been registered with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). CEDR also handles disputes for easyJet, Thomas Cook and Tui. You must pay a fee of £25, which is refunded if your claim is successful. Find out more about making a claim at cedr.com/consumer.
Fuming in Rome, luggage in limbo
Andrew Copeland and his wife, Kara, both 39, from Portland, Oregon, had a nightmare journey home from Rome last week. A one-day journey turned into a three-day ordeal.
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Their BA flight was cancelled on Tuesday, May 27, after a six-hour delay. Without assistance from the airline, they were forced to find hotel accommodation as well as transport.
The next morning they queued for four hours in Rome airport, only to be told they would have to fly to London first. There they were given tickets to Seattle for the next day, then had to rent a car to drive the 3½ hours home.
Copeland said: “BA gave us €10 [£8.70] in vouchers for the airport and we were left to make hotel and transport arrangements on our own. We also could not find our checked luggage when we arrived in Seattle. We were told to talk to the BA staff in Portland but we still do not have it.”
Copeland is currently lodging a claim for compensation.