Do you get compensated if downgraded vs booked, if missed connection?

[Slopey]

Hi All,

My folks are off in Oz for the "holiday of a lifetime" etc etc..

The were booked from Aberdeen to Heathrow via BA, and then on Qantas for Heathrow to Sydney, and Sydney to Auckland.

Unfortunately, the BA flight to Heathrow was delayed, so they missed the Heathrow to Sydney and subsequent onward connection.

They got their hotel voucher etc, and re-booked BA to Hong Kong. Had problems getting their onward flight organised at Hong Kong as nothing arranged and desk staff not very helpful, but eventually booked on service to Auckland.

The kicker was that they'd booked Business class for Qantas, but were Economy with BA out to Hong Kong, and economy, and separated, for HK to Auckland.

Is there any comeback against BA in that scenario, or is it only their responsibility to get you to the destination regardless of your original booking "class"?

Comments appreciated so I can pass onto the folks and point them in the right direction.

Cheers,
S.

[manintheback]

Package Holiday yes.

If all on one ticket - maybe (depends on how the flights were re-arranged, did your parents ask for first avail flight, could they have gone Biz with Qantas next day instead etc)

If separate tickets on the leg of delay to next connector - could be difficult

Only time it happened to me, compensation by the tour company was worked out on the basis of the most expensive possible economy ticket against my discounted Biz ticket and came to under £200 for a long-haul flight. After a fight I got alot more.

[Hartington]

As Man in the Back says - how were the original tickets issued? Was it all one ticket Aberdeen/London/Sydney/Auckland or maybe Aberdeen/London on one ticket and London/Sydney/Auckland on another? It can make a lot of difference. Given that they got hotel vouchers it sounds like one ticket but please confirm.

Then the question is what alternative was actually requested and what was offered? I'm currently in NZ having flown Air NZ with a few days in Hong Kong en-route. The flight down from Hong Kong was full + non revs in every available crew seat and they left 20 non revs behind. It's not a good time of the year to try and get here from the UK at the last moment (which is effectively what they were trying to do).

[Slopey]

If all on one ticket - maybe (depends on how the flights were re-arranged, did your parents ask for first avail flight, could they have gone Biz with Qantas next day instead etc)

All one ticket, Qantas at T4 washed their hands of it and referred them back to BA. BA offered a fait acomplie and just booked them to HK the onward to Auckland, but on arrival to HK, Auckland booking had vansihed :ugh:

Not immediately aware of exact cost differences, but it's a hefty difference.

Anyways - thanks for the responses - they'll get onto customer service and see what they offer.

[raffele]

Who's Quantas? I know of an airline called Qantas... :8

[Hartington]

For what it's worth, it's usually the responsibility of the "delivering" airline to sort out problems like this (and, if you think about there is some logic there). So while Qantas may not have been friendly about the way they sent them to BA they were probably correct.

I'd say the issue currently hinges on who said what and that could be very difficult to sort out. If the airline said " we can get you on tomorrow but you'll have to go economy" that may well imply no refund.

[renfrew]

That's not correct.
If you fly economy on a business ticket there is always going to be a refund.
Also if the onward flight from Hong Kong wasn't booked properly you have grounds for complaint and compensation.

[Slopey]

Who's Quantas? I know of an airline called Qantas...

Everyones a critic! :rolleyes: Silly company for not adhering to usual spellings anyway!

Thanks for the replies - will see how they get on.

Cheers,
S.

[flyergirl]

Just a little information for you, QANTAS is an anagram. The company started life as Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services, hence technically Q.A.N.T.A.S. However due to common usage, is now Qantas, thus no 'U'. :O

And yes Slopey, the inbound airline carries responsiblilty for rebooking passenger onto next flight.

[Final 3 Greens]

Just a little further information, an anagram is a word or words formed by rearranging the letters of another word, so flyergirl becomes grey frill.

So QANTAS becomes SQANTA - what does it mean - I'm b*ggered if I know.

However, an acronym might be what grey frill meant ;)

[flyergirl]

oops yes, that is what I meant...sorry jet lag will do things to your intelligence...:) you get my drift though....