[SimonS1]

Maybe at that stage they thought a replacement pilot would be available (maybe dead-heading in on a delayed flight).

Or maybe boarding took longer than expected due to the challenges of getting everyone to the gate on time.

Or maybe someone checked in did not show up at the gate and bags had to be offloaded.

Or maybe in the total chaos that was LHR in the afternoon the gate staff were unaware and were genuinely doing their best in a difficult situation.

I don’t often defend BA but I can’t see what they did wrong here. Fulfilled their responsibility for hotel, food etc (which I’m sure was a task given the number of delays and cancellations) but to me it was a situation not of their making. That is ultimately why people take out insurance.

[jackpot501]

Thanks for all your advice. I must say it’s a difficult one as I was there for a wedding the next day and only flying for 4 days. So in the end….managed to make the wedding breakfast on Sunday morning. I’m interested in the travel insurance option as it was booked through an AmEx.
Also I’ve written to refund.me and they definitely think I have a case, so I’ll let you know.

[jackpot501]

Also the bit I didn’t say is that BA said the flight would leave at mid-day on Sat. But then after that they kept us there until 4:00 and then the crew were 30 mins late so we finished by boarding at 5:00 and then got off shortly thereafter. I must the care was good by BA but the organisation of the re flight was poor. I do take the point that it was exceptional circumstances though. Thank god for silver cards in those circumstances.

[TiredOldHack]

Having been on the end of delays last year when flying Monarch (about a four-hour delay) and BA (24 hours), how the airline reacts and treats you tends to influence my own actions.

Monarch’s staff at LGW were rude and appalling, and the company spokeswoman subsequently lied in her correspondence to me (escalating a cracked windscreen to a windscreen that “shattered in mid-flight”), so I used an ambulance chaser company to secure compensation (still unforthcoming).

BA’s staff did the best they could under trying circumstances, and I didn’t see the need for financial redress, so I contacted them, said how impressed I was with their staff, and pointed out that while I and my wife had been inconvenienced, we weren’t intending to seek compensation, but some Avios might be nice. And they bunged us (if I remember correctly) 35,000 each.

TL:DR – be nice to your passengers and they will be nice back.

[amadorichnr77]

I can’t answer the compensation part as it appears to be complicated based on what legally qualified people have said, and neither have I ever claimed it so I cannot even offer you an answer based on my own experience.
However, BA have never quibbled over refunding my hotel costs when I was delayed (and many of those are caused by different factors like the snow, fog, and others as well) even when it was due to weather and completely beyond BA’s control. You’ll need to write it together with all the receipts and they will refund it. This may not happen very quickly, but they will refund it.
You can check these links for reference: Flight Delay Compensation

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