What unplanned expenses? He said he is travelling in three days time.
I wasn't aware that BA were liable to pay compensation to people that haven't even travelled!!
Indeed, I haven't yet travelled. But they wouldn't have paid anything useful to me if I had, anyway. This is an important trip for me: I could lose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if the foul-ups continue. The ticket cost, a free meal and some accomodation couldn't replace that.
I don't want to wait and worry about my whole trip falling around my ears, so I've now booked onto BMI while I can still get a seat. Definitely an unplanned expense, but no chance of getting that from BA.