Advice needed – denied boarding

[ekposh]

Hi All

Seeking advice for a friend of mine. He showed up at the airport for an MAN-MCO-MAN flight using Avios and companion for 3 people. At some point he changed his return to go direct to MAN as originally it was via DUB.

Long story short,he didn’t do anything wrong but I assume BA never reissued the ticket. Showed up at 8am for an 11am flight, Aer Lingus said ticket wasn’t vakid etc etc. Got onto Avios but by the time he spoke to an agent and was out on hold, check in closed and he never got on. Agent put notes in booking, apologised that time had run out.

All he could do was buy another return on VS – same day.. total cost for 3 people close to £4800.

What are his options here? I feel BA should refund this after a complaint but any advice welcome. @JDB would provide great advice if possible.

Thanks

[executiveclubber]

Was he denied boarding at Orlando, and was the issue that his ticket not have an e-ticket number (would be at the bottom of the booking in the app, small and not especially obvious!)

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago, but at Manchester. The advice to me was that he should claim involuntarily denied boarding and ask for replacement ticket costs too which have previously been paid, ideally along with evidence of the booking reference (and any pre-auth from the bank).

I don’t wish to cause undue alarm but in my case, BA agreed to pay IDB compensation but explicitly refused to reimburse the replacement ticket (which was directly with BA), so I am following up via ADR / MCOL (can’t figure out which so will follow this thread with intrigue)

The thread with some helpful responses for your case is here: https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/chat-thread-friday-14th-march/page/3/

[meta]

Have you asked BA to re-book you as per article 8?
3. If boarding is denied to passengers against their will, the operating air carrier shall immediately compensate them in accordance with Article 7 and assist them in accordance with Articles 8 and 9.

Although it’s your choice between, reimbursement, re-route at earliest opportunity or at the later date (subject to availability of seats), you have to request this and give them an opportunity to do so. If you booked on your own, you haven’t given BA the opportunity and rightly so BA is refusing.

However in OP’s case it’s Aer Lingus as operating carrier that is responsible. Not sure why OP had to even call themselves rather than the agent on the day to sort this out.

[executiveclubber]

Of course I asked the clueless Menzies staff at Manchester to put me on the plane, but they called the Exec Club who told me to call myself, despite me being right there. I didn’t get any options, so I had to figure it out myself an hour before the flight left. I assume OP’s friend also had to do most of the work themselves, as outstation staff can be seriously unhelpful.

[NorthernLass]

I’m assuming if it was a day flight, boarding was denied at MAN? Should have been plenty of EI staff there, though they may have just referred them to Aer Club, if that was who they booked through.

@executiveclubber, for disputes with BA, you need CEDR, not ADR, unless you decide to go straight to small claims.

But as per @meta, the operating airline needs to be given the chance to sort things out first.

Menzies are usually better than this – they’ve sorted out various issues for me, including re-ticketing us on a cancelled flight when we pressed them to get us to our destination that day, and not 2 days later as BA was suggesting we should resign ourselves to.

[JDB]

@NorthernLass – the generic term ADR was correctly used by @executiveclubber and the CAA and HMCTS use it in the same manner.

[ekposh]

@Northernlass, correct – 11am MAN departure. Staff were super friendly and helpful but said no choice but to call BA…

I think he really just wants his £5k back. It seems fair.

[JDB]

@ekposh – your friend’s position is quite messy!

Technically, under EC261, the responsibility for involuntary denied boarding lies with Aer Lingus as the operating carrier but BA also carries a legal responsibility (albeit not strictly under EC261) as the ticketing airline with which you contracted, and BA is also acting as an agent. The original EC261 legislation only contemplates denied boarding as a result of overbooking, but case law and the Interpretative Guidelines confirm it applies to an airline denying boarding for what they incorrectly allege is invalid travel or ID documentation.

It’s not entirely clear what’s happened here as your post refers to a ticket that “wasn’t valid” rather than no ticket being attached to the booking. Your friend needs to offer some real clarity (eg which agent, BA or EI made notes in the booking) to make what is going to be a substantial claim – almost £6,500 for the replacement tickets and 3 x compensation.

The fault does appear to lie with BA, but (and I’m struggling a bit with this) I think you should start with making a claim to Aer Lingus as the operating carrier who had evidence of a confirmed booking and could have taken steps to help resolve the situation with BA. If they reject your friend’s claim (and it is likely they will, on the basis EI didn’t make a mistake and were reasonably justified in denying boarding because there was no (valid) ticket) and pin the blame on BA, then they should make a claim to BA. Unfortunately, there is a risk BA will try and put it back on EI, at which point, please post again.

[Ihar]

@JDB – do CEDR consider rejecting a claim from one airline on the basis of “no liable” then “confirm” that the other airline is liable (at least for consideration of the claim)?? As in, does CEDR at least say the buck stops with one of them?

[JDB]

@lhar – no, it doesn’t work like that unfortunately! CEDR can’t give a view about another airline’s actions without that airline having the opportunity to provide a defence and Aer Lingus doesn’t even do ADR – you have to go to the Irish regulator. What should happen in this instance is for Aer Lingus to pay and, if appropriate, reclaim from BA under Article 13 but in practice that won’t happen.

In this instance, it may ultimately be necessary to issue proceedings.

[ekposh]

Thanks all