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I searched ‘bumped’ and various but nothing comes up in the forums??
My husband and I were bumped last minute/at the gate LHR to Venice. Flight overbooked they said. Saturday Sept 30 BA0596 scheduled departure 17:25) Economy.We attempted to check in at the kiosk but were told to go to the G check in desks. They told us we were on stand by but after they made two phone calls they checked our 2 bags and explained that they were not putting a yellow tag on each which meant that the luggage would not be held up which meant we would get on the flight. We needed to simply get to the gate. We were given paper boarding passes without seat number of course.
Paid about £230 per person round trip.
At the Gate, our luck ran out. They bumped us for no other reason then ‘overbooked’.They put us on BA0598 which departed late, I think 7pm-ish. I do not know how to look that up. We are both Exec Club but only blue tier these days.
Paid about £230 per person round trip. They put us on BA0598 which departed late, I think 7pm-ish. I do not know how to look that up. We are both Exec Club but only blue tier these days.
Luggage did not arrive with either flight at Venice. We filled out the forms then and there with the Venice airport lost baggage central desk. By the time we got that sorted it was so late that I rang concierge to order a water taxi from VEN directly to JWMarriott €175 as we would probably miss the last JWMarriott shuttle from St Marco to Isle de Rosa, had we taken the bus to Piazza Roma then the Vaparetto to St Marco. We know our way around Venice. Also my husband walks with a stick and he was exhausted. Water taxi arrived around 23:30 at airport. We arrived at JE ABOUT 00:30 We stayed at JWMarriott Venice.
Luggage arrived Tues at the hotel at 14:30 but we were at the JW Spa at the time and until about 18:30.
We have AmEx Plat travel insurance but they insist on me proving that I have attempted to and received a final decision from BA re and compensation.
What exactly are my rights and what exactly do I ask/demand of BA? And are there time limits on contacting BA about
1. Being bumped, BA0596 LHR to VEN
2. Having to take the €175 water taxi,
3. Buying various on Sunday including clothes, underwear, bathing costumes etc.
4.anything else I should know?Denied boarding is covered by legislation explained here:
https://ukairpassengerrights.co.uk/uk-denied-boarding-compensation/
Keep all evidence like BP’s and make notes of everything that was said at the time so BA can’t contend that you arrived at the gate too late or anything like that.
Any travel insurer will require you to claim from the airline first. You need to make a claim to BA in distinct parts to avoid them trying to muddle the issue and underpay you.
1. Claim denied boarding boarding compensation for the original flight under Article 4. For this flight distance, this should be £220 per person and unarguable.
2. Claim downgrade reimbursement under Article 10 at 30% of the actual fare paid (ie not including taxes/charges paid away) for that leg. They should refund the £13 difference pp between Club and Economy APD. [if that flight itself was more than 3 hours late you could claim delay compensation, but it doesn’t sound as though it was)
3. BA doesn’t owe you for the water taxi under UK261 so you should claim it as a breach of contract directly flowing from their negligent failure to carry you on the flight booked. Provide the receipt. They quite likely won’t pay, but you need them to say no for the insurance to consider your claim.
4. Claim for the cost of the essential items purchased as a result of the delayed arrival of your luggage with all the receipts, itemised and totalled in a list. Provide a justification for anything essential to you that a processing clerk might not consider as such.
I don’t think the OP was in Club originally – so just the involuntary denied boarding (1) and the items bought (4) from BA – do it as two seperate claims as @JDB says
In a third claim you should ask BA in 1 or 2 sentances to pay for the taxi as public transport was no longer viable. I mean literally
“I was booked on BAxyz arriving at 7pm. You overbooked and moved me to BAxxy arrived at 10pm. I was due to take public transport but this was not viable due to the late arrival. Please reimburse my taxi of €175 – receipt attached.”
Amex will pay for any items that BA will not reimburse for – up to £600pp IIRC as it was over 48hrs to wait
Just for your info BA596 was due to arrive at 8.35pm and BA598 landed 14 minutes early at 9.24pm
To be honest I don’t think you can push the taxi issue too far – you arrived 49 minutes later than scheduled which could easily have happened on your scheduled flight so you must have had the taxi in mind as a decent possibility anyway.
As BA got you there within 2hrs of your original scheduled arrival your compensation will only be £110pp
It’s so great to see our experts @JDB and @SamG in flight giving exactly spot on advice.
Rotten you were picked for Denied Boarding even with a relatively small delay in this case till the flight you were rebooked to. As the impact was more significant for you than it might have been for other passengers. Due to your need for onward transport that finished too early for any later flight to be chosen voluntarily. And also because your husband uses a stick so more likely than others to struggle due to tiredness if there are delays.
I’d suggest anyone flying who has a disability make a point of calling the airline as soon as you book to notify them and have it noted on the PNR. It’s just possible it might avoid selection for offload and could possibly help in getting any other support during irrops – some legislation specifically mentions providers need to take account of disabilities. It can only help. The airline is not allowed to ask the nature of the disability but obviously mention, for example, if an easy aisle access seat is needed or if you as the suporting travel companion would need to be seated with them.
Tx for all this excellent advice.
Is there a way to do these 3 requests to BA by email vs the long form online? I started a form and it cut out after 15 minutes of clicking through, typing etc.; super frustrating.
Why we had to use the water taxi—ran out of time for public transport and Marriott boat shuttle from San Marco.
We were held up at Venice airport waiting to report our ‘lost’/ie not arrive baggage. I texted and rang the JWMarriott concierge as we waited. It was a long queue. Then we had to ring the concierge again, and he explained that he would only book the water taxi once we were at the actual water taxi gates 7 and 8. It then took us a solid fifteen minutes to walk, slowly, there.
Then I had to ring the concierge and only then would he order the water taxi, literally asking me my surroundings to prove I was at the appointed location. Ok, I understand why they require this, but then we had to wait 35 minutes for the water taxi to arrive.
All first world problems, I know.You need to use the form
I would type the info into a word document and then cut and paste it into the webform. Have photos of receipts etc all ready to upload by pre scanning them onto your computer.
But if the form is cutting out after 15 minutes I’d be wondering if you aren’t writing too much.
You need to be brief and concise. The people reading your submissions don’t have a lot of time to read and decide on these things so they need clear info etc
Tx for all this excellent advice.
Is there a way to do these 3 requests to BA by email vs the long form online? I started a form and it cut out after 15 minutes of clicking through, typing etc.; super frustrating.
Why we had to use the water taxi—ran out of time for public transport and Marriott boat shuttle from San Marco.
We were held up at Venice airport waiting to report our ‘lost’/ie not arrive baggage. I texted and rang the JWMarriott concierge as we waited. It was a long queue. Then we had to ring the concierge again, and he explained that he would only book the water taxi once we were at the actual water taxi gates 7 and 8. It then took us a solid fifteen minutes to walk, slowly, there.
Then I had to ring the concierge and only then would he order the water taxi, literally asking me my surroundings to prove I was at the appointed location. Ok, I understand why they require this, but then we had to wait 35 minutes for the water taxi to arrive.
All first world problems, I know.That makes sense but I agree – I suspect you’re trying to write too much.
You just need to write
“I was booked on BA596. You overbooked and moved me to BA598. You did not load my checked bag on either flight which I had to report missing to your handling agent which took over an hour. I was due to take public transport but this was not viable due to the later arrival and lost luggage report. Please reimburse my taxi of €175 – receipt attached.”
That’s it
Another one that says
I was booked on BA596. You overbooked and moved me to BA598. You owe me £110pp
Then one very similar for your lost items
The less words you write the quicker it is for someone to read it and pay you rather than either misunderstanding it or having to refer it
Out of interest had you booked assistance? I’d be surprised if they bumped someone that did!
Ask for the full sum of £220 pp rather than opening the door to the reduced rate of £110 and don’t even specify how late you were. It is a contentious point as to whether BA is entitled to apply the 50% rate and arguably, on the same analysis, if you only arrived 49 minutes late, BA could refuse the denied boarding compensation entirely. However, let them make that case.
Interesting. I was looking at this
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/denied-boarding/
Which seems quite clear cut. But I agree, let BA argue the point if they even notice !
@SamG – the CAA’s published documents such as CAP2155 are excellent reference documents whereas the advice on the website is very poor, rarely updated and takes little or no account of actual practice or decisions. It doesn’t really deal with practical examples; it’s all too hypothetical.
It feels as though it’s designed to set people’s expectations at their lowest. The text includes advice that airlines probably won’t pay for luxury hotels or alcohol which is nonsense and a Circuit Judge (albeit a rather controversial one) has disagreed with the CAA’s view on lightning strikes.
There are divergent views about whether Denied Boarding compensation is or isn’t subject to the 50% cancellation haircut for shorter delays which itself is slightly contradictory with Article 5 (which isn’t relevant here). I don’t believe it has been determined in the higher courts. It is quite commonly paid in full, so I felt the OP should at least ask for that sum as an opening gambit.
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