British Airways flight cancellations: your rights to a refund

BA

BA has cancelled and delayed flights affected thousands of travellers this week, due to an IT glitch.

The system outage, which has since been fixed, continues to cause half-term holiday chaos, with many unsure whether their flights will go ahead due to the knock-on effect the cancellations will have on cabin staff rotas.

If your plans have been affected, what can you do?

What are my rights if my flight was delayed?

To qualify for statutory compensation, the passenger must be departing from an airport in the UK or EU or be flying with an airline based in the UK or EU. The delay must have been the airline’s fault.

If the trip was 1,500km (932 miles) or less and delayed for three hours or more, customers can claim £220. This jumps to £350 for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km and for all journeys of more than 3,500km, the payment is £520. If the flight is delayed for five hours, customers are entitled to a full refund within seven days, provided they do not catch the flight. If they do take the flight, they can still claim up to £520 as long as the delay was the airline’s fault.

Customers are only entitled to compensation payments if the cancellations are not due to situations that the airline had no control over, such as bad weather and terrorist alerts.

However, travellers are still entitled to assistance. According to consumer group Which?, passengers flying with an EU- or UK-based carrier, or departing from an EU or UK airport would be entitled to either a full refund or to be re-routed at the earliest possibility, even if that means being booked on a flight with a rival carrier.

What are my rights if my flight was cancelled?

If a flight is cancelled passengers are either entitled to a full refund or a replacement flight to get you to your destination. The Citizens Advice charity advises that if a passenger is part-way through a journey and does not want to take a replacement flight, they have the right to a flight back to their original departure airport.

Passengers also have a legal right to help with “reasonable expenses” if a cancellation leads to delays of more than two hours for flights of less than 1,500km, three hours for distances between 1,500km and 3,500km and four hours for anything more than 3,500km.

These costs can include food and drink, access to phone calls, accommodation if they are delayed overnight and transport between the airport and the hotel. Airline staff might give you vouchers for these, but be sure to keep all your receipts and proof of payment.

Can I claim for the cost of a flight with another airline?

In some cases yes, but this tactic is risky. If the airline does not offer a suitable alternative flight, then you can try to rebook with a competitor and claim it back as an expense from the original airline.

But Which? only recommends this once all other options have been exhausted.

It warned that claiming for an alternative flight with another airline might only work if the reason for travel was “exceptionally time-sensitive”, such as a funeral, job interview or close relative’s wedding. A claim may also be successful if you have to wait more than a couple of days for the rescheduled flight offered by the original airline.

Which? said: “Importantly, do not cancel your existing booking, this will leave you in a much stronger position to claim back the cost of your alternative flight.”

This article is kept updated with the latest information.