Could they possibly be assuming you’d use your common sense?
Again, the flight IS operating ; I don’t see how that can be ambiguous.

Plus, it is the passengers responsibility to assess and ascertain their eligibility to enter a country, not the airlines.

A perhaps valid point has already been made if this B787 flight is the flight that you booked and paid for, ie regardless of the aircraft type is it still the same flight number and operating to the same times? ... Down my way there is a notoriously bad loco here where it is in their T&C's that should the flight become cancelled then one is entitled to a refund, a few times now I have booked way in advance to achieve silly fares for plans to then change, can't cancel but then the loco changes the schedule by perhaps as little as 10 minutes, "Aha, got you" and sure enough I have been allowed to cancel and received refunds.

But I note on BA's website:

"Apply for a voucher

If your flight has been cancelled you can claim a voucher to the value of your booking. Your voucher will be valid for travel until 30 April 2022 and can be used as payment, or part payment, for a future booking.

Your new trip booked with your voucher must be fully completed by 30 April 2022 (departure and return). You will receive your voucher by email within seven days of your application"

Now that isn't in the spirit of things, that one can spend their hard-earned money buying a product for the seller to withdraw that product from sale for the seller to only offer an alternative product that one doesn't want and with no refund of monies offered, I've had a couple of previous problems with the World's Favourite myself so I understand the brick wall mentality that you are dealing with, I'll never utilise their services again but everyone to their own, and I doubt you'll ever manage to change that brick wall of a supposed customer service.

This is all on the presumption that the flight no's and/or the scheduled timings may have changed, credit card has been mentioned but those are subject to credit agreement laws which is kind of a different subject, I pay by debit card, indeed with a foreign bank also, and it is possible to make a 'chargeback' claim thru a debit card payment, if you and your wife genuinely can't travel then your monies are presently lost anyway so you have nothing to lose by attempting a chargeback.

With my bank I need to complete a form, ticking boxes and all that, and one of the areas I need to select between is "goods not received" or "goods not as described", or similar, your purchase was for two flight bookings on those dates and at those times, should BA have changed those flights and times then your applicable selection would be "goods not as described" with perhaps a stumbling block being that you agreed to there being no refund whatsover available in the T&C's at the pre-COVID time that you booked.but it's worth a try.

Good luck

P.S. This link makes for some interesting reading:

British Airways: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight ...

"If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund, as per existing British Airways policies."

Buying an airline ticket is one of the most lop sided contracts you can ever enter into. It's all covered in the T&C, none of which you can dispute or change in any whatsoever. Good luck and safe travels.

But it seems that the flight hasn't been cancelled, only a change of aircraft type.

Apparently the OP simply booked the flight and chose seats, presumably online, without informing BA of any special requirements. In his place that's probably what I'd have done – I probably wouldn't have thought of the contingency of change of aircraft. But I think that if the OP had told BA at booking time that he required a particular type of seat (aisle), giving reasons – medical or any other – then that requirement would have become part of his contract with BA (there's a legal phrase which I forget) and when the aircraft type changed, BA would have been obliged to provide equivalent seats. That's my understanding of UK law – I gather that the OP was in Spain, and I don't know what effect that would have had.

What I will say is RE: your wife’s condition, you are able to stipulate, even on boarding, the seat that is the most suitable (in your class) and under legislation, the airline must oblige, subject to safety regs.

I would ask that in future communications you to consider being less profligate with exclamation marks - we need to preserve finite resources for future generations.

PDR

Thanks easyflyer !! All grist to the mill :-)

PDR - Always one, often you 🤪 !!!!!!!

El G.

Assumming you have a valid ESTA. Have you checked the US have not cancelled as they are not accepting UK or Spanish Nationals. . Have you tried the US Embassy and forgetting the medical issues but you no longer wish / able to visit.
If you no longer have a ESTA then how can BA accept your checkin. I know they will say it's up to you to have a valid Visa, but if the US have cancelled yours .....

Thank you folks for an interesting discussion, very helpful. And you all managed to just keep away from 'the line' although I was hovering on the Delete key at one point.

Just in case you end up able to fly (medically, and politically), the back row in economy in BA's config on the 787-9 has 2 abreast seats on either side. Window/Aisle... If your wife's condition improves you may wish to reserve those seats...

BA 787-9 seating plan

From what I understand having checked about UK citizens flying into the USA some weeks ago as I was supposed to go for a work trip in May....

If you have an existing ESTA and try to fly to the USA, your ESTA will be cancelled and next time, you will have to apply from scratch. You won't even be allowed to check in, let alone board.
If you have a valid ESTA, don't attempt to fly to the USA, and its expiry date will be preserved.

Somehow the BA check in system is linked to valid ESTAs - possibly it is the same with all airlines.
My ESTA expired shortly after I was due to fly to the USA but at the moment you cannot apply for an ESTA.
There may still be passenger planes flying from the UK to the USA, but most are full of cargo where the seats would normally be, the seats having been removed.

Safety first, and at the moment that means stay at home, no matter how important to you the reason may be to want to vist the USA.
Take care

I'll ask again because I can't see an actual, factual answer.

Are the flight numbers that you are being offered identical to the flight numbers you booked?

Hi Hartington,
I was butting out before the thread went down the tubes :-)
Same flt numbers, different aircraft !
Just to answer others, as a Travel Photgrapher of 23 years standing, flying long haul as well as medium for all of those years, I am fairly clued up on paperwork etc.
Full and comprehensive insurance in place, ESTAS renewed prior to expiry of previous. Communicated with US Immigration Authorities who confirmed non-entry.
Assumed I had everything covered !
Unlike one or two here, I did not see this thing coming !
To the vast majority of responders who were of great help,
I thank you !
If anyone has any more points of relevance, I of course would be happy to hear !
Saludos
El Grifo :-)

The Americans with disabilities act applies to non Americans flying into and out of the USA on non US carriers too, as I discovered in 2005 when nobody wanted to let me bring a CPAP machine on board.

The airline is required to make reasonable accomodations to allow your disabled wife to fly. All she's asking for is an aisle seat; that's hardly a difficult or unreasonable request, even on the day of the flight! As you've given them plenty of notice of your requirements, there *ought* to be no problem ensuring she can have one, just one!, of the many suitable seats on the aircraft.

If Americans can fly with an emotional support horse, surely arranging to provide your wife with one of the 4 in every 9 seats adjacent to an aisle isn't beyond the capacity of British Airways! If they insist that it IS too difficult, start muttering "Americans with disability act" (there's sure to be a UK equivalent too), followed perhaps by "MS society".

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020...mals-jumbo.jpg

This why I haven't flown with ba for 20 years.

Absolutely awful airline.

Thanks nonsense !
However, we as UK passport holders and residents of Spain, we are denied entry into the US .

El G.

Points that remain to be addressed:

has the flight number changed? Yes or no

your reason for not travelling- wife’s medical condition? Or US entry restrictions?

it seems you approached your insurance company with “US entry restrictions” as your reason for not travelling. Not 100% sure that they’re in the right to not help you on this basis. However, there is extensive mention of wife no longer being able to travel because of medical condition- in which case you need to be explicit with the insurance company that this is the reason you’re no longer travelling

everything else is white noise and important points are being lost in it

try and distil your argument into 2 or 3 short, declarative sentences, and try again

Thank you for the kind invitation, but in light of the existing content of the thread, I am sure you can extract all of the relevant information you require !
El Grifo

If you want an answer you must present the information in a concise and complete form. The members of this forum are not your slaves, and they are under no obligation to wade through your confused, convoluted and overly-punctuated postings to extract salient points - that kind of attitude makes you come over as an entitled oik with something to hide.

If I understand correctly you bought your tickets in Spain using a spanish payment card. If that is the case you need to be talking to someone who understands spanish consumer law.

Was your "Full and comprehensive insurance" also from a spanish provider? If so you may need to take expert advice on what is covered by that insurance, because it varies from country to country.

Unless you explicitly identified your wife's special needs at the time of the booking you probably have no rights relating to the change of aircraft or seat locations. You bought standard tickets, and the Ts&Cs for those (available on the booking website) will invariably say the airline can change aeroplane type and seat assignments without notice. In my experience of commercial flying (long, medium and short haul - must be well over a hundred flights over the last 30-40 years) I think the number of times when my initial seat allocations survived through to the flight would be counted on the fingers of one thumb. If you want any great confidence you have to be a high-graded frequent flyer, but even then the only seat allocations that are reliable are the ones made a few days before the flight (in the privileged period when frequent flyers can check in but regular customers can't). If you need special treatment due to disabilities then TELL THE AIRLINE BEFORE YOU BOOK. They may be able to accommodate your needs, but it may need you to buy a more expensive ticket deal.

If your sole reason for not being able to travel is that the US border is closed to you then it's nothing to do with the airline. If that specific risk is not covered by your travel insurance then it's not their problem either. You can try suing the US government if you like - if you happen to like wasting money.

It might be worth asking the insurer under which specific clause(s) they are denying a claim. I have successfully changed the decision of a british travel insurer when I read page 17 of the 16 page policy document and found a list of things that were covered followed by a list of things that were not covered. The final entry in the second list said "anything not included in the first list". This open exclusion (there's a term for it that I can't remember off hand) isn't allowed under English contract law, and when I pointed this out to them the paid up almost by return of post. So ask them which specific clause excludes your claim, and then read the contract.

PDR

Without reading all of the above, I think your best bet is to make a play (given the circumstances) for your own row, meaning window and aisle seat with no one in the middle seat. Better yet, take the center row and get two aisle seats and therefore two aisles to access. Better still, upgrade to World Traveller Plus and avoid the middle seat altogether on the windows.

PS... With all due respect, especially given your age and health considerations, maybe international travel right now with a killer Chinese virus out there is a bad idea. I’m sure no one in the wedding party would hold it against you.

I think one of the earlier posters referred to asking the question on social media. I gather BA are keen to look good on social media, so you may get further by asking them via Twitter?
I also know that BA are very aware of the American disability act as we all have to do a module every year on it. Whether that would be of use in your case now is questionable as you won’t be granted entry to the USA anyway. Though, with the Donald, that could change tomorrow .

El Grifo,

But how would US immigration know that you are resident of Spain ... Just curious?

I suspect they would pick it up from my ESTA application OC37.
Hiding anything from US Immigration is fraught with problems.
PDR, I can see you are stressing a little about my problem !
I have no intention whatsoever of travelling to LA at this time.
The advice and help I have been given here has been invaluable !
BA have now canceled my flight and are offering a refund.
Strangely, this applies to the outbound leg only.
Return leg still pending .
El G.

LOL ... But if it's a cheapy return if you don't travel on the outward leg then you're not allowed to travel on the inward leg ... I think :)

Verging on a farce to be fair OC37.
Just a standard fair to be honest.
About a grand for the two of us ! :
El G.

/\ correct

/\ incorrect; you can still apply for an ESTA, just clicky the X in corner of red box which notifies the the Presidential order, and close it to continue to application linky. Only ever use direct us gov site linky below.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

I have pretended to buy a ticket with BA just now, return to lax from lhr, leaving next week. Interesting that it has allowed me to book, and
not once has it warned me that l wont be permitted to go, being a uk citizen. Trying to find out you CAN go in the first instance isnt easy , so l havent bothered.
the flight is the 269 out, 268 back on the microlight 787.
Good luck in the minefield of finding where you can and cant fly to.

No, it won't tell you.

It's up to you as traveller, to make sure you comply with border entry conditions, in this case ( USA )
you have to be US citizen, Green card holder, or certain class of VISA holder, to enter.

It's not up to airline to tell you. You are supposed to be grown ups.

During September BA's one-way fare LAX/LHR is $1,300 so if you've paid just £500 round-trip you're on a cheapy fare and you wouldn't be allowed to travel just one-way LAX/LHR having only paid £500 and not having travelled outward from LHR to travel the return.

Frangatang, I find that to be incredible in the current circumstances and am surprise that there are those who find it accptable.
You might expect this of the RYR's of this word, but not from BA !
Every other element of my trip has been cancelled, 3 flight legs, 2 hotel bookings and two inter-airport transfers.
Everyone has given me a refund. All the bookings were mde last year before Covid was even dreamt off.
Each one understood the risk we were faced with and refunded without question.
Although different a bit from my situation, surely BA accepting a booking at this stage, without warning of the fact that UK passengers are unable to board, is tantamount to fraud. A damned disgrace at least !!

El Grifo

Seriously El Grifo, it is time to listen to what you are been told. It is, and always has been, YOUR responsibility to ensure that you are legal for a flight. This has been true before covid, during covid, and after covid. Does/has any airline ever told you of visa requirements or entry restrictions during booking? Does every airline you have flown with told you not to be drunk when you show up to the airport? or maybe that you have to be fully clothed? This is the same as visa restrictions, your problem, not the airline. If you may be listened to what people have politely told you on a 4 page thread (and that your thoughts may be completely wrong) you would save yourself a lot of stress.

I'm sure that all here are just trying to assist, but one must point out that, although one regularly reads in such situations about how the passenger "had booked and paid early", that doesn't give any preference of treatment, in fact the opposite, for many months beforehand the airline timetable can only be an estimate, and is commonly subject to rearrangement, maybe more than once, as situations change. Now in return for this you are, in fact, paying what is often a notably reduced fare. When I go to LAX it is commonly booked by the office a week or less before departure, when I likely find that I have paid maybe five TIMES what you have paid, possibly even more, to sit next to you with the same service, and furthermore commonly get the worst seats when only single middles are left, separated from my colleague who has paid the same high fare.

Paying early is not all in the airline coffers, also contrary to belief, as the credit card companies use intermediary organisations called Merchant Card Processors, who, simplistically, may hold all or part of the funds until the service is actually provided, dispatched, or whatever. The way this is done varies by type of business and the credit card company's experience of liabilities. This is in part driven by the legal requirement that if the service is not provided, you can get the money back from the credit card company, who of course are not keen to fund all the commercial problems that can happen, so don't pay it across to the airline or whoever in the first place until it's reported done.

WBHM, I booked early to ensure suitable seating for my wife. We have travelelled the route several times and in light of my wife's medical condition we need specific seating. Early booking was not a cost saving exercise.
The booking, as previously mentioned, made by debit card, not credit card !
Thanks for your input.
El Grifo

Although it has been made very clear to me on several occassions that I will not be permitted entry into the US based on my Spanish Residency and my UK departure, BA today, still insist that I will be allowed entry with a 2 week quarantine proviso !
Despite the varying and different views of my predicament, surely there can only be one answer to this !
Will I be allowed entry, or will I not !
Answers please on the back of an envelope :-)
El G.

From the US Embassy website in DublinQ: Can I travel to the United States? What does the travel order (Presidential Proclamation 9996) mean?

Entry of foreign nationals who were physically present within the following list of countries within 14 days prior to their entry or attempted entry into the United States is suspended, per Presidential Proclamations 9984, 9992, 9993, 9996 and the subsequent proclamation issued May 24, 2020:

Brazil; The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding overseas territories outside of Europe; The Republic of Ireland; The 26 countries that comprise the Schengen Area (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland); The Islamic Republic of Iran; The People’s Republic of China.

Please click here to review Presidential Proclamation 9996 in full for detailed information.

The travel restriction does not apply to American citizens, legal permanent residents, most immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in Presidential Proclamation 9996. The Department of Homeland Security will direct those who have been in the Schengen Area who are exempt from these restrictions, including American citizens, to travel through select airports where the U.S. Government has implemented enhanced screening procedures. Travelers are advised to visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website for further guidance on U.S. travel restrictions.

"Sec. 2. Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.
(a) Section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:

(i) any lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(ii) any alien who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident;

(iii) any alien who is the parent or legal guardian of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is unmarried and under the age of 21;

(iv) any alien who is the sibling of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that both are unmarried and under the age of 21;

(v) any alien who is the child, foster child, or ward of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or who is a prospective adoptee seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the IR-4 or IH-4 visa classifications;

(vi) any alien traveling at the invitation of the United States Government for a purpose related to containment or mitigation of the virus;

(vii) any alien traveling as a nonimmigrant pursuant to a C-1, D, or C-1/D nonimmigrant visa as a crewmember or any alien otherwise traveling to the United States as air or sea crew;

(viii) any alien

(A) seeking entry into or transiting the United States pursuant to one of the following visas: A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3 (as a foreign government official or immediate family member of an official), E-1 (as an employee of TECRO or TECO or the employee’s immediate family members), G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4, or NATO-6 (or seeking to enter as a nonimmigrant in one of those NATO categories); or

(B) whose travel falls within the scope of section 11 of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement;

(ix) any alien who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and any alien who is a spouse or child of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces;
(x) any alien whose entry would not pose a significant risk of introducing, transmitting, or spreading the virus, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the CDC Director or his designee;

(xi) any alien whose entry would further important United States law enforcement objectives, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees, based on a recommendation of the Attorney General or his designee; or

(xii) any alien whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their designees.

(b) Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to affect any individual’s eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the regulations issued pursuant to the legislation implementing the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, consistent with the laws and regulations of the United States.

I think the legal phrase is that the seat requirement was "of the essence" to the contract for the flight tickets. He would have had to say that before buying the tickets - and BA might have said that they couldn't accept that, and so refused to enter into a contract with him.

If there's a better phrase, I'm sure someone will correct me...

No PDR. This year is difficult enough with being rude in the cabin. I have deleted your last and please remember the No.1 PPRuNe rule - play the ball not the player. These are complicated times and the laws being used by all parties were never designed for this kind of wholesale change to society.