Ticket refunds from BA ??

[c130jbloke]

Hello all,

I usually hang out in the Mil Aircrew forum, but as I am trying to sort out a problem for my parents here it is:

Mum and Dad recently flew up to Bodo, Norway to visit the grandchildren. Their planned itinerary was LHR -OSL (with BA) then OSL - BOO (with SAS). As a consequence of a 2hr delay to their morning flight to OSL, my parents missed their connection to BOO and as a consequence had to buy 2 new tickets at a cost of 320 GBP.

As they are pensioners, they bought the cheapest fare for the route, which I appreciate is an inflexible ticket. However, having already had one request for a refund "politely" turned down by BA is there any information regarding refunds or avenues of enquiry I can follow? I find it difficult to believe that passengers have no recourse should a carrier cannot adhere to their schedule. Therefore, any information as to how I could get BA to see my point of view would be gratefully received, especiallly as when I went through LHR T4 2 days after them, a very helpful BA rep stated that a refund should not be a problem (I obviously forgot to get his name).

Many thanks,



C130JB

[Middle Seat]

It depends. If the LHR-OSL tickets were bought separately from the OSL-BOO, then they may be out of luck. SAS wouldn't have necessarily known that your parents were inbound on BA and not originating in OSL. That's always the risk of buying two separate tickets for one connecting journey.

If however, they bought them on one itinerary from BA, then they can't be held accountable for the delay out of LHR, and they should have been rolled over to the next flight. If that's the case, then keep pursuing it with BA.

[Globaliser]

I find it difficult to believe that passengers have no recourse should a carrier cannot adhere to their schedule.Unfortunately, schedules are not guaranteed - and all airlines state this very clearly. As Middle Seat says, if they held one ticket for both parts of the journey, then they should not have been made to pay again as the airlines are required to put right the schedule problem by reaccommodating them on another flight.

But if you choose to buy two separate tickets (which people often do because they find it's cheaper), then neither airline is legally responsible for making sure that you make your connection. The misconnect is at your own risk, if you choose to buy your tickets like that; delays are a fact of life and you just have to organise the travel with fatter connection margins to allow for them. If two separate tickets are cheaper, then it's your choice whether to take the cheaper fare and run the risk, or to pay the higher through fare and relax in the reassurance that it provides.

That said, I'm a little bit disappointed that SK insisted on them buying new tickets - even though they were within their rights to do so. A two-hour delay into OSL is significant, and SK would have been able to check the truth of that on the spot. And big airlines will often waive the technical restrictions if you have a problem on the day, and they can reaccommodate you without problems.

As an example, two friends went to the US last week on BA. When they got to the airport, one could not be checked-in because he did not have a machine-readable passport and needed one. So they had to get a new passport. BA had no problem arranging for them for travel on the next day's flight, despite the cheapie tickets that they were on - there was space, and it helped them out.

So you might also try an approach to SK to see whether they'd refund the cost of the tickets, or issue travel vouchers to be used in the future or something like that.

[Captain Airclues]

From the BA website;

"What happens if I miss a connecting flight due to a delayed British Airways flight? What refund or reimbursement am I entitled to?
If a delay of five hours or more to a flight operated by British Airways disrupts a connecting journey for which you hold a through ticket (with a planned connection time of 24 hours or less) British Airways will offer to re-route you to your final destination. If you do not wish to travel, you can claim a refund of the parts of the journey not yet flown."

As has been stated previously, it depends on whether the tickets were purchased from BA as a through journey or whether they were purchased seperately.