British Airways Ridiculous Policy?

Question

Around 8 months ago I booked a trip with Expedia to go to Barcelona for the weekend with my fiance. We were due to fly out on the Friday and come back on the Monday, however, due to unforseen circumstances we were not able to make the Friday flight. This wasn't too much of a problem, so I thought, as we managed to book a cheap RyanAir flight to take us out on the Saturday morning, with the intention of returning using the originally booked BA flight on the Monday. This though is where the break turned a bit sour as BA, unknown to us had cancelled our return flight due to the fact we had not made the outbound flight and would not let us on the plane. Which led to me having to shell out just over £100 to get an alternative flight back home.

Does anyone think I have a case for compensation here as personally I think this policy is totally ridiculous, BA had a contract for 2 totally seperate flights.

I logged on to the BA website on the day I was due to fly out but could not amend my flight as it was 'in progress'.

I have contacted Expedia and they are going to reimburse me with the cost of the flight taxes which is not too bad as it equates to roughly 75% of the cost of the alternative flight I had to book to get home.

I still think the policy is a little unfair, it is a bit like me not using my mobile phone for a day and then finding out that Orange have cancelled my contract and will charge me again for rejoining.

I've just checked all the information I received from Expedia about the trip and it does NOT mention anything about return flights being cancelled for a no show on the outbound flight.

If this is common practice for all airlines then they must be making a fortune from this as I am guessing they are reselling the flights they have cancelled.

Answer 1

Hi there , I work for BA and yes this is common practise with all airlines and it is fully stated in the conditions of carriage either on BA's website and or on the mounds of paper work that you get from the issuing agent.
If part of a booking has not been used and the passenger in question has not contacted their issuing agent which in this case was not BA but expedia then the return will automatically be cancelled as the first segment goes down as a no show.
Tickets purchased through BA directly either through a BA travel shop or online at BA.com you could of ammended the booking online. However if purchased through an agent then all amendments or advise of not traveling on a specific sector should of been done through expedia.
BA are not responsible for any issue of compensation, your contract is a return flight which you failed to fulfill your part of the first sector for BA to get you to your first destination on that part you have broken the contract unless BA were notified through your agent. For that the return is cancelled automatically again unless your agent had amended your reservation to indicate that you will travel back on the return and a penalty would have had to have been paid for that.
You can try BA's customer relations department but Im affraid you will not get much hope with it. Your case is purely with Expedia as the ticket was purchased through them.

Answer 2

Most airlines will cancel the return portion of a trip if the outbound section is not used. Since you did not leave the point of origin then why would you need a return trip? This policy started when people started purchasing two tickets and only using one leg of the trip. (Use the outbound portion on one ticket, then use the return portion of the other ticket) This was done when the minimum stay requirements were still in place and gave you better air fares. This was also being done when flights were not being oversold as much as they do now. Seats were sold and were not used so they could not be sold to other passengers unless it was stand by on the day of the flight. (Which doesn't happen very often)

Did you call British Air and let them know that you were not going to be able to make the outbound portion of the ticket and had made other arrangements? If you could not access the itinerary on-line did you call reservations in person to speak to someone about this? Maybe they could have kept the return portion open for you if you had called them up. If you did notify them ahead of time what was going on then I would say yes you have a leg to stand on and argue for reimbursement.

Answer 3

"BA had a contract for 2 totally seperate [sic] flights" -- yes, and the important thing about a contract is that it imposes obligations on *both* parties. Your part of the contract was to have been present on both flights. By defaulting on your obligation to be present on the outbound flight (and incidentally making MUCH extra work for front-line staff who have to try to find you, make sure there is no terrorist threat &c.), you lost your entitlement to the return flight. Look at it from the airline's point of view: there are a lot of criminals about. How do they know you weren't intending to take a bomb on the plane, and had just nipped out to pick it up? How do they know that you weren't planning some elaborate smuggling ruse? Not showing up for a booked flight, and not offering any explanation, exposes the other passengers to serious danger.

If you had contacted BA as soon as possible once you knew you were going to miss your flight, they *might* have agreed -- out of the goodness of their hearts -- to honour your return half, although they would not be under any obligation to do so.

It's exactly the same thing with the trains. If you want to make a one-way journey, then legally you aren't allowed to use a return ticket -- even though a return journey may be cheaper than a one-way journey. It's still considered over-riding a ticket.

Answer 4

Actually I don't think you do. As you had both flights with BA it is reasonable for them to assume that if you missed the outward leg of the journey then you would not be there to make the return. You booked a package deal with Expedia that included return flights. though you may have had 2 separate contracts they are linked together through the package
However, if you can prove to BA that you had informed them that you would not be able to make the outward bound flight but would be using the return then you would have a case for compensation.

Answer 5

Hi

Its a right pain but no, unfortunately this SOP for most airlines. I do agree with you though that it isn't particularly fair as while i initially thought that your cancelled flight was a seat that someone else potentially couldn't get (as airlines routinely overbook) BA should make it quite clear in the age of budget airlines that if a passenger does not use the outward flight then it cancels the whole ticket.

To be honest, it is in the ticket conditions usually but if you didn't know what it was referring to then you probably wouldn't recognise it.

Answer 6

If you didn't show up for your outbound flight, your return is automatically cancelled since you have a contract for a set of two flights. If not, you would have purchased two one-way tickets and then your would have been covered. That probably would have been much more expensive than what you paid.

Same goes if you miss a connection. Otherwise, people could cheat with all sorts of ways and the airlines would have to fly hopelessly overbooked to make any sort of profit.

Some round trip flights have restrictions, like overnight a Saturday or have to return on a certain date to give you the cheaper price. You can't expect to buy a round trip ticket and think it's going to be treated as two one-ways.

I'd love it if they did treat round trip tickets as one-ways. I'd totally take advantage, especially with a family of 5. I see tons of great fares to Europe from the U.S. but I can't take advantage because I'm already in Europe. I'd love to buy a cheap round trip, leaving early December and coming back before Xmas, and then a cheap round trip January ticket when they're cheap. It wont work and I have to pay for travel around Xmas, from Europe to the U.S., no skimping!

Connections work the same way. Lets say you got a great deal from somewhere in the U.S. to Dublin via London. If you skampered off in London, when you go to return to the U.S., you'd find the rest of your flight was cancelled too. This special fare was meant to fly people to Dublin, not London.

It can be argued that all marketing is "cheating". Why is one perfume more expensive than another? It's made of almost the same stuff, isn't it? Why are designer jeans more dear than the ones you buy at the discount store? Maybe they are better but how much better? You could go on and on.

Too bad you didn't contact them ahead of time but no guarentee they would have done something.

Answer 7

I makes sense on BA's part really. I mean if you don't fly out how how are you going to get back. They don't know you changed your travel plans. Instead of just going to the website maybe you should have actually called and spoken to a human being. This is common policy among airlines. You were a no-show and therefore give up the right to your return. You will never get a penny out of them.

Answer 8

I had a flight booked with B A and it was cancelled due to the fact that they pulled out of the route and it took me more than 7 months to get my money back from B A when I phoned them I was permanently on hold during the time I was waiting for my money back I changed my address wrote and told them but they continued to write to me at my old address I got letters from different people with different excuses only way you can email them is via a on line form on their website and during this time they were making interest on my money I would never fly with them again if they were the only airline in the world

Answer 9

I don't think there is much more as the people who say it is normal practice are correct. I worked for BA up until recently and if you don't show up for your flight you are classed as a no show. Therefore you are considered to have not travelled and your flight is cancelled automatically.

I would suggest you contact your insurance provider to see if there is any way you can get your money back because you were unable to travel.

Answer 10

There is a fundamental difference between religious headwear and a crucifix pendant. The headcoverings are a religious obligation to those who wear them. There is no obligation, religious or otherwise, to wear a cross. Therefore, the airline is being absolutely consistent. The employee involved was clearly in violation of the company's uniform dress code. Companies are allowed to set their own standards for dress. The employee was told to wear the cross under her blouse. She refused. She was offered a non-uniform position where she would be able to wear the cross as she wished. Again, she refused. Seems to me that British Airways went far beyond any reasonable standard to accomodate this employee who simply refused.