Instead I woke to find emails from BA cancelling our flight, with no reason given, and offering alternative flights today from Innsbruck.
I could have rebooked us on to flights yesterday from Munich with Lufthansa, but they would have cost about £600 a head.
So we travelled by train to Innsbruck and stayed overnight at the Gasthof Goldener Adler (Hotel Golden Eagle) for about £160 each.
We have other extra expenses to take into account - meals, transport to Innsbruck airport, etc - but apparently are not entitled to any compensation from BA.
However, every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case the beneficiary is Vic Rumsey, who was originally supposed to be traveling with us.
He went down with covid on Tuesday, is self-isolating and does not expect to leave Bad Wörishofen for a few more days, but presumably will be able to pick a suitable flight from BA at no extra charge.
 |
| And at least Ray and I get compensatory alpine views like this from Innsbruck |
You might want to read https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/cancellations/ before giving up on compensation from BA. As I understand it, they have to provide or pay for accommodation, meals and extra travel costs whatever caused the cancellation. The only question would be whether they can avoid paying you a further £220 compensation because the cancellation was due to exceptional circumstances.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteIf the cancellation was caused by covid, maybe that would be a get-out clause for them.
There is also this:
2. Choose an alternative flight
If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight. It’s up to you whether to fly as soon as possible after the cancelled flight, or at a later date that suits you.
Although most airlines will book you onto another of their flights to the same destination, if an alternative airline is flying there significantly sooner or other suitable modes of transport are available then you may have the right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead. You can discuss this with your airline.
And in the email telling of the cancellation was this:
Please let us know whether you'd like to travel on this flight by selecting 'accept' in Manage My Booking. You can also review other available flights here too.
Please be aware that if you agree to choose a different departure point or destination to the ones on your original booking, you can't claim expenses for travel from, to or between these locations, such as car hire, parking costs or train tickets.