London City-4
WHBM - I was cancelled out of LCY an hour before departure about two weeks ago - weather was good in London and at destination. Had a similiar set of emails/text messages. Tried to phone customer service but got a "we have too many calls right now so we cannot answer you, goodbye". Rebooked myself using app onto a flight earlier than that offered by email. I put in an EU261 claim a day after expected arrival time... had an email agreeing to pay £220 within a week.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 27th Aug 2023 at 20:44.
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Well, here we are, all set with the family to depart LCY this afternoon to Palma on holiday, and guess what - cancelled by BA about 2 hours before departure. Just as we were preparing to leave home.
Cancelled. On me. BA and LCY's longtime supporter, here and elsewhere ... ! ! !
I hadn't quite appreciated however how far BA irregular ops procedures had sunk. We were only advised by SMS text, and that we were auto rebooked one day later - from Heathrow. This was despite there being on the website seats still available that day from LCY. So a call to bookings was eventually answered, where it was apparent that the (non-UK, non-English first language) BA irregular ops agent had no idea (or was fed by their computer screen) that LCY and LHR are separate airports, I'm just requoted flights from LHR and only by reading the timetable out to them with flight numbers etc do I manage to get rebooked out of LCY.
Seems to have been a right shambles developed, with a string of cancellations. The parallel Ibiza round trip was also cancelled and their originally booked aircraft sent off at the same departure time to Frankfurt instead.
Meanwhile the website showed our outward flight cancelled, but stated in no uncertain terms that there was no compensation payable for the costs of getting to a different departure point. The spirit of Alex Cruz seems to live on. I suppose we will have to see what the three of us get out of EU261 etc, the loss of our prepaid hotel for us all, etc.
Now I've had cancellations before (way back in the PPRuNe history somewhere is an account of being stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic during the 'volcano' episode quite some years ago), but really the whole thing is now just treated as an admin exercise in changing reservations, nothing more. Oh well, see you on the afternoon Palma tomorrow,
They had never even noticed from the data on the reservation that 27 August is Mrs WHBM's (
) birthday .... 
Cancelled. On me. BA and LCY's longtime supporter, here and elsewhere ... ! ! !
I hadn't quite appreciated however how far BA irregular ops procedures had sunk. We were only advised by SMS text, and that we were auto rebooked one day later - from Heathrow. This was despite there being on the website seats still available that day from LCY. So a call to bookings was eventually answered, where it was apparent that the (non-UK, non-English first language) BA irregular ops agent had no idea (or was fed by their computer screen) that LCY and LHR are separate airports, I'm just requoted flights from LHR and only by reading the timetable out to them with flight numbers etc do I manage to get rebooked out of LCY.
Seems to have been a right shambles developed, with a string of cancellations. The parallel Ibiza round trip was also cancelled and their originally booked aircraft sent off at the same departure time to Frankfurt instead.
Meanwhile the website showed our outward flight cancelled, but stated in no uncertain terms that there was no compensation payable for the costs of getting to a different departure point. The spirit of Alex Cruz seems to live on. I suppose we will have to see what the three of us get out of EU261 etc, the loss of our prepaid hotel for us all, etc.
Now I've had cancellations before (way back in the PPRuNe history somewhere is an account of being stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic during the 'volcano' episode quite some years ago), but really the whole thing is now just treated as an admin exercise in changing reservations, nothing more. Oh well, see you on the afternoon Palma tomorrow,
They had never even noticed from the data on the reservation that 27 August is Mrs WHBM's (
) birthday .... Most flights into Palma on all airlines appear to have been cancelled this afternoon, the rest heavily delayed. I think your EU-261 compensation will undoubtedly be rejected, claim hotel costs from your travel insurance. I think any attempt to fly to Palma this afternoon would have been frightening, unpleasant and probably culminating in a diversion to Barcelona.
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Well, here we are, all set with the family to depart LCY this afternoon to Palma on holiday, and guess what - cancelled by BA about 2 hours before departure. Just as we were preparing to leave home.
Cancelled. On me. BA and LCY's longtime supporter, here and elsewhere ... ! ! !
I hadn't quite appreciated however how far BA irregular ops procedures had sunk. We were only advised by SMS text, and that we were auto rebooked one day later - from Heathrow. This was despite there being on the website seats still available that day from LCY. So a call to bookings was eventually answered, where it was apparent that the (non-UK, non-English first language) BA irregular ops agent had no idea (or was fed by their computer screen) that LCY and LHR are separate airports, I'm just requoted flights from LHR and only by reading the timetable out to them with flight numbers etc do I manage to get rebooked out of LCY.
Seems to have been a right shambles developed, with a string of cancellations. The parallel Ibiza round trip was also cancelled and their originally booked aircraft sent off at the same departure time to Frankfurt instead.
Meanwhile the website showed our outward flight cancelled, but stated in no uncertain terms that there was no compensation payable for the costs of getting to a different departure point. The spirit of Alex Cruz seems to live on. I suppose we will have to see what the three of us get out of EU261 etc, the loss of our prepaid hotel for us all, etc.
Now I've had cancellations before (way back in the PPRuNe history somewhere is an account of being stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic during the 'volcano' episode quite some years ago), but really the whole thing is now just treated as an admin exercise in changing reservations, nothing more. Oh well, see you on the afternoon Palma tomorrow,
They had never even noticed from the data on the reservation that 27 August is Mrs WHBM's ( ) birthday ....
Cancelled. On me. BA and LCY's longtime supporter, here and elsewhere ... ! ! !
I hadn't quite appreciated however how far BA irregular ops procedures had sunk. We were only advised by SMS text, and that we were auto rebooked one day later - from Heathrow. This was despite there being on the website seats still available that day from LCY. So a call to bookings was eventually answered, where it was apparent that the (non-UK, non-English first language) BA irregular ops agent had no idea (or was fed by their computer screen) that LCY and LHR are separate airports, I'm just requoted flights from LHR and only by reading the timetable out to them with flight numbers etc do I manage to get rebooked out of LCY.
Seems to have been a right shambles developed, with a string of cancellations. The parallel Ibiza round trip was also cancelled and their originally booked aircraft sent off at the same departure time to Frankfurt instead.
Meanwhile the website showed our outward flight cancelled, but stated in no uncertain terms that there was no compensation payable for the costs of getting to a different departure point. The spirit of Alex Cruz seems to live on. I suppose we will have to see what the three of us get out of EU261 etc, the loss of our prepaid hotel for us all, etc.
Now I've had cancellations before (way back in the PPRuNe history somewhere is an account of being stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic during the 'volcano' episode quite some years ago), but really the whole thing is now just treated as an admin exercise in changing reservations, nothing more. Oh well, see you on the afternoon Palma tomorrow,
They had never even noticed from the data on the reservation that 27 August is Mrs WHBM's (
) birthday .... The multiple cancellations of flights, diversions and delays that have happened might now give you the reason why BA City flyer have cancelled
I do of course accept such issues arise, but my comments were more about the subsequent handling, auto-rebooking onto a flight next day from a different airport when there were seats available from the original point, and the difficulty in even being understood by BA rebookings that there are two separate airports in London.,
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Perhaps having you all at LHR makes it easier to further shift you all to another flight/route to PMI or larger aircraft at short notice if need be, remember they’re re-accommodating not just your flight but also LHR and LGW too. And it’s not like you’re in Bournemouth and being sent to Essex or Birmingham. It’s a public transport journey across the same city.
The LHR leaves earlier. Ok it’s an hour but it’s the next available LON flight and some would prefer to restart their holiday asap even if it’s another airport. If LHR was 6 hours earlier you’d probably have wanted that one. And your assumption that the website selling tickets =seats available is not 100% correct.
Well, for those who enjoy the Schadenfreude of this, we're currently in LCY, where due to the ATC failure departure is now scheduled for 1am tomorrow morning. Which is obviously not going to happen.
Finally got to Palma on Wednesday ... 3 days late.
Sunday : Cancelled due to Mediterranean weather.
Monday : Cancelled due to ATC issue.
Tuesday : No more seats available.
Wednesday : Finally.
It does point to a significant downside, which never really struck me before, in using scheduled carriers to holiday destinations (generally at much higher prices). If you go with say Jet2 from Stansted, then although there may be a long delay and you get away at midnight, at least you get away. They rearrange, charter in from Titan, whatever. But go with BA from LCY and if there is an issue, it's just cancelled and you are back to the reservation system for whatever it has left. They may go daily, but a cancellation pretty quickly fills up what is left. Nor are you just sent emails with a phone number to rebook, which is just playing a recording that they are too busy, try later.
Sunday : Cancelled due to Mediterranean weather.
Monday : Cancelled due to ATC issue.
Tuesday : No more seats available.
Wednesday : Finally.
It does point to a significant downside, which never really struck me before, in using scheduled carriers to holiday destinations (generally at much higher prices). If you go with say Jet2 from Stansted, then although there may be a long delay and you get away at midnight, at least you get away. They rearrange, charter in from Titan, whatever. But go with BA from LCY and if there is an issue, it's just cancelled and you are back to the reservation system for whatever it has left. They may go daily, but a cancellation pretty quickly fills up what is left. Nor are you just sent emails with a phone number to rebook, which is just playing a recording that they are too busy, try later.
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Given your story it sounds like I’m being funny - genuinely I’m not - but what ‘scheduled’ airlines (assuming you don’t mean LCCs) generally offer is alternative options. Either from other nearby airports as BA originally offered you, or indirect routes with alliance partners (eg a mishap with Delta saw them re-route me via an alternative domestic hub onto Virgin). Whereas if you are with Jet2 or TUI and your flight/holiday is cancelled and they don’t/can’t charter an alternative you may get offered somewhere different or a refund. The wrong destination with EZY/FR and you may be waiting a few days, although generally they too are fine as they may fly to nearby airports at either end.
Given your story it sounds like I’m being funny - genuinely I’m not - but what ‘scheduled’ airlines (assuming you don’t mean LCCs) generally offer is alternative options. Either from other nearby airports as BA originally offered you, or indirect routes with alliance partners (eg a mishap with Delta saw them re-route me via an alternative domestic hub onto Virgin). Whereas if you are with Jet2 or TUI and your flight/holiday is cancelled and they don’t/can’t charter an alternative you may get offered somewhere different or a refund.
"Oh, it was chaotic at the airport all weekend. Some guests came in more than 12 hours late". When I described how we were three days late arriving, and that BA had issued a phone number to rebook ourselves which just played a recording that they were too busy to take phone calls, there was general disbelief.
Incidentally, that 'originally offered from nearby airports' flight was subsequently just cancelled, as well.
Last edited by WHBM; 4th Sep 2023 at 10:45.
I understand BACF will fly 2x weekly between LCY and San Sebastian in Spain. Lovely city in summer when the sun is out... but who are the people travelling this route in January ? I could understand if it was 2x daily in summer and 2x weekly in winter... but the winter and summer frequencies look to both be 2x weekly. It's on the Atlantic coast, near the Pyrenees which tends to mean a lot of rain in winter...
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 4th Nov 2023 at 10:16.
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I understand BACF will fly 2x weekly between LCY and San Sebastian in Spain. Lovely city in summer when the sun is out... but who are the people travelling this route in January ? It's on the Atlantic coast, near the Pyrenees which tends to mean an awful lot of rain in winter...
It's being rumoured that BACF will launch LCY-Bastia next summer too.
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With a couple of BACF routes not resumed post-COVID, does BACF have aircraft mothballed or returned to a lessor ? I assume they can make operations work with a smaller fleet.
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Also carriers like BA who progressively during Lockdown knocked me back from Silver to Bronze to Blue. The upsides of keeping the benefits kept me on BA. Why should I bother now ?
That and corporate desires to espouse "green" policy, or move towards "net zero"; not to mention double down on expenses such a hotels and entertaining.
Covid-19 made businesses realise that often business travel is an unnecessary expense.
Covid-19 made businesses realise that often business travel is an unnecessary expense.