Tag: Travel

British Airways offers two years’ free Executive Club card renewal following IT outage

British Airways is offering frequent flyers caught in last week’s IT meltdown a free renewal of their Executive Club status for the next two years.

British Airways Executive Club Cards
British Airways Executive Club Cards

After British Airways’ worst week in nearly ten years, the airline has begun to take steps to repair the damage to its brand and restore relationships with its frequent flyers.

The airline has e-mailed members of its Executive Club frequent flyer programme who were caught up in last week’s disruption to advise that their current Executive Club card status (e.g. Bronze, Silver or Gold) will be renewed automatically for the next two years.

This means that these members of the Executuve Club do not need to earn the requisite number of tier points to renew their current status level.  

This is not the first time BA has done this.  It has previously either offered or entertained requests for automatic renewal when there has been severe disruption at London Heathrow or when there has been a downturn in the economy.

However, it is the first time BA has renewed some members’ cards automatically for two years.

This clearly a beneficial and generous gesture.  However, a cynic might point to the fact that this a move that has no up front cost to the airline and doesn’t address the underlying causes of last week’s disruption.

Furthermore, it does illustrate the power of the Executive Club in securing passenger loyalty, over and above other aspects of flying BA such as the in flight product.

It is a reasonable assumption that this will be the first of many measures to repair the damage caused by last week’s events.  Further announcements will no doubt be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

British Airways Cabin Crew Strike – Friday 16 June to Monday 19 June 2017

Some British Airways London Heathrow cabin crew are due to take industrial action from Friday 16 June to Monday 19 June 2017.

British Airways Cabin Crew (Image Credit: British Airways)
British Airways Cabin Crew (Image Credit: British Airways)
It never rains, but it pours!

Unite, the union which represents British Airways “Mixed Fleet” cabin crew at London Heathrow, has decided to round off BA’s worst week in nearly ten years by announcing industrial action over four consecutive days from Friday 16 June to Monday 19 June 2017.

This is continuation of a dispute that led to well in excess of 20 days of industrial action over February and March, albeit with very limited impact to BA’s schedules.

BA has yet to its confirm its schedules during the strike. However, it does say that all customers will be able to reach their destinations during the strike, suggesting that short-haul routes with multiple flights a day are most at risk of cancellations

What can be confirmed now is:

  • All flights from London City, London Gatwick and London Stansted will operate as normal.
  • All flights from UK regional airports (apart from flights to London Heathrow) will operate as normal
  • The majority of flights from London Heathrow will operate as normal with some flights merged and short-haul flights most at risk of cancellation. There may also be some tactical long-haul cancellations
  • BA will not publish a list of cancelled flights as it evidently keen to play down the impact of the industrial action.
  • If your flight is cancelled you wile offered the opportunity to rebook to an alternative flight or a refund

The impact of the strike is likely to be low. The best advice is to check your booking using the Manage My Booking tool and ensure your e-mail and telephone contact details are up to date.  In addition, it is a good idea to download the BA app to your smartphone to receive notifications about your flight.

In terms of the risk of further industrial action, the union is required to give 14 days’ notice to BA.  So if there are no announcements two weeks before your flight you can assume it is not a risk of strike action.

How to submit a claim for hotel & other travel expenses following British Airways’ flight cancellations

How to claim from British Airways If you have incurred expenses following cancellations and delays to your flights.

The fall out from BA’s weekend IT meltdown continues with the share price of its parent company IAG falling on the stock market and the airline facing questions over its decision to outsource many of its IT functions.

One issue that is likely to run and run is what damages affected passengers are entitled to and what expenses BA is liable to reimburse.

If you have incurred expenses on hotels, meals, ground transportation and communications you can submit a claim for these online:

You can simply do this by submitting a claim through the BA website.

You will need to have details of your booking to hand, and be able to submit copies of your receipts (either by post or electronically) and provide details of an account to which the refund should be transferred.

However, BA has remained silent on entitlement to claims for compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 and refunds for passengers who booked alternative flights themselves

After Saturday’s cancellations BA did eventually rebook passengers on to other airlines.  

However, many passengers took matters into their own hands and booked alternative flights directly with other airlines.   These would be substantially more expensive than through reciprocal agreements between airlines.   See for example:

BA has not, to our knowledge, published a formal policy on this. We suspect that this, and the matter of EU compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004, is likely to run for some time yet and will probably not be resolved without passengers instigating legal proceedings.

However, in terms of submitting a claim for compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 there is general guidance on compensation and a claim form on the BA website.

Update:  Since this article has published BA has confirmed that it will consider claims for compensation under EC Regulation 262/2004.  The airline will also consider claims for refunds who booked themselves onto flights operated by other airlines. 

Lessons from British Airways’ IT Meltdown: How To Survive Delays & Disruption

Our tips on how to to survive airline delays and disruption at airports.

After a truly terrible weekend for British Airways passengers, BA’s London operation has largely recovered and the airline is expected to operate a full schedule tomorrow, Tuesday 30 May.

There were undoubtedly many failings on the part of BA. Not least the IT issue itself, but also the airline not realising it had a serious operational crisis quickly enough and getting its message out to the public via both traditional “mainstream’ and social media.

As awful as these events are for those caught up in them, it’s worth remembering that they are very rare. The age of digital media outlets all competing for eyeballs and social media means that they are widely publicised worldwide. However, every day tens of thousands of flights operate around the world, largely on time, with baggage and without incident.

That said, even for the experienced frequent flyer, there are always lessons to be learned and it is always worth being prepared for all eventualities.
Continue reading “Lessons from British Airways’ IT Meltdown: How To Survive Delays & Disruption”

British Airways Worldwide Computer System Crash: Heathrow & Gatwick Flights Monday 29 May 2017

Guidance for passengers due to travel from Monday 29 May 2017

Following the crash to BA’s computer systems worldwide on Saturday 27 May 2017, BA has issued the following guidance to affected passengers and passengers due to travel from Monday 29 May 2017.

This guidance is as of 09:30 BST Monday 29 May 2017 and may change overnight/early morning as the situation remains fluid.

Travel on Monday 29 May 2017

BA should operate most if not all flights from London Gatwick and all long-haul flights from London Heathrow on Monday 29 May 2017.

Despite BA’s intentions to operate the majority of flights from London Heathrow on Sunday 28 May 2017, there have been a very substantial number of short-haul cancellations and delays.

As at 09:30 BST on Monday 29 May there are at least 15 short-haul cancellations scheduled for today with some operating flights also showing delays.

The best way to keep track of your flight is to download the BA app on your smartphone and check your booking on the Manage My Booking tool on the BA website. It is particularly worth checking your bookings to ensure that e-mail and telephone contact information is up to date.

You can also check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City airports.

BA has also implemented a flexible rebooking policy and any passengers intending to travel on Monday 29 May 2017 may obtain a full refund or rebook onto an alternative flight up to Thursday 30 November 2017.

Passengers are due to travel on a short-haul flight on Tuesday 30 June 2017 can also take advantage of this rebooking policy. Note that BA’s cancellation and rebooking policies have been modified over the weekend and may well be changed again.

Given the scale of disruption and ongoing congestion at London Heathrow it is worth giving consideration to this.

Passengers affected by disruption

Passengers whose flights have been cancelled can either claim a full refund or rebook onto an alternative flight up to Thursday 30 November 2017. You can also claim consequential expenses such as hotels, meals and ground transport from BA.   You can submit a claim for these expenses on the BA website.

BA’s contact centres are likely to be extremely busy in the coming days and its best to hold off contacting BA if possible.

BA has emphasised that passengers who have been separated from their luggage cannot come to London Heathrow to collect their bags as it is not possible to do this. BA will arrange for lost baggage to be couriered to their destinations at its expense.

If you have lost bags you should file a missing baggage report on the BA website.

British Airways Worldwide Computer System Crash: Heathrow & Gatwick Flights Sunday 28 May 2017

Following the crash to BA’s computer systems worldwide on Saturday 27 May 2017, BA has issued the following guidance to affected passengers and passengers due to travel from Sunday 28 May 2017.

This guidance is as of midnight Sunday 28 May 2017 and may change overnight/early morning as the situation remains fluid.

Travel on Sunday 28 May 2017 and Monday 29 May 2017

BA plans to operate the majority of flights from London Gatwick and as many flights as possible from London Heathrow on Sunday 28 May 2017.  However, there is still a very large number of cancellations and severe delays at London Heathrow with short-haul flights, particularly UK domestic routes, bearing the brunt.

In addition, due to congestion passengers are not being admitted into Terminal 5 until 90 minutes before departure time.

Schedules should largely return to normal on Monday 29 May 2017.

The best way to keep track of your flight is to download the BA app on your smartphone and check your booking on the Manage My Booking tool on the BA website. It is particularly worth checking your bookings to ensure that e-mail and telephone contact information is up to date.

However, do note that as of midnight Saturday arrivals and departures information on the BA website is still very erratic.

Given the very extensive nature of today’s disruption there may also be ongoing issues with baggage handling and disruption to some in flight services such as catering.

You can also check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City airports.

BA has also implemented a flexible rebooking policy and any passengers intending to travel on Sunday 28 May 2017 and Monday 29 May 2017 may rebook onto an alternative flight up to Saturday 10 June 2017.  

Passengers are due to travel on a short-haul flight on Tuesday 30 June 2017 can also take advantage of this rebooking policy.

Passengers affected by disruption on Saturday 27 May 2017

Passengers whose flights were cancelled on Saturday 27 May 2017 can either claim a full refund or rebook onto an alternative flight up to Thursday 30 November 2017. You can also claim consequential expenses such as hotels, meals and ground transport from BA.

BA’s contact centres are likely to be extremely busy in the coming days and its best to hold off contacting BA if possible.

BA has emphasised that passengers who have been separated from their luggage cannot come to London Heathrow to collect their bags as it is not possible to do this. BA will arrange for lost baggage to be couriered to their destinations at its expense.

If you have lost bags you should file a missing baggage report on the BA website.

British Airways Worldwide Computer System Crash: What is going on with BA and IT?

As has been widely reported all over the world today, BA has experienced what must be the biggest IT disruption in its history as almost all of its IT systems failed today, Saturday 27 May 2017.

This has led to the cancellation of all flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick for the remainder of Saturday with reports of very long queues to exit Terminal 5 from the post-security airside area and passengers being separated from their luggage.

As has been widely reported all over the world today, BA has experienced what must be the biggest IT disruption in its history as almost all of its IT systems failed today, Saturday 27 May 2017.

This has led to the cancellation of all flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick for the remainder of Saturday with reports of very long queues to exit Terminal 5 from the post-security airside area and passengers being separated from their luggage. (Here is guidance for passengers due to fly from Sunday 28 May 2017.)

This is the first time in several years BA has been forced to cancel its entire flying programme, and the timing on a bank holiday weekend clearly could not be worse.

It is understood that the scale of the disruption was extremely severe with almost all IT systems out of operation, bar its internal e-mail.  The airline has cited a power failure as its cause, and has denied claims of a possible cyber attack.

BA is by no means the only airline in the world to face significant disruption due to IT. Both United Airlines and Delta have experienced network-wide disruption due to system failures.

However, this is not first time in the past 12 months BA has faced IT disruption. Its website ba.com crashed for nearly a day last month.  Last year, BA implemented a new check-in system which continues to crash repeatedly.
Continue reading “British Airways Worldwide Computer System Crash: What is going on with BA and IT?”

Expected disruption due to Air Traffic Controllers’ strike in Italy on Sunday 28 May 2017

Air Traffic Controllers in Italy are due to take industrial action on Sunday 28 May 2017, which is likely to cause disruption to flights.

Air Traffic Controllers in some regions of Italy are due to take industrial action on the afternoon of Sunday 28 May 2017, the weekend of the late May bank holiday in the UK.

The strike will take place between 1pm and 5pm local time. This is likely to cause disruption with delays and cancellations, albeit on a smaller scale than originally thought.  As a consequence the following airlines have issued guidance for affected passengers.

Please note that this page does not provide live flight information so any cancellations that will be listed are proactive cancellations made in advance, and do not necessarily include any delays/cancellations made on the day.

You can check live flight information on the websites of Gatwick, Heathrow and London City airports.
Continue reading “Expected disruption due to Air Traffic Controllers’ strike in Italy on Sunday 28 May 2017”

Changes to British Airways and LATAM flights between London and Brazil

São Paulo, Brazil
São Paulo, Brazil

Here are few changes to both British Airways and LATAM flights between London and Brazil that have emerged recently.

BA appears to have taken First Class off sale for flights between London Heathrow and Rio de Janeiro from Monday 30 October 2017.

This suggests that the route has been downgraded from a four class Boeing 777 to a three class Boeing 777.  It was upgraded to first class in 2013.  The route continues to operate five times weekly.

BA is now codesharing with LATAM on a number of domestic routes from Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport.

These include routes operated by BA’s fellow Oneworld alliance partner between Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Foz do Iguaçu, Goiana, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador da Bahia and Vitoria.

Note that these can only be booked as part of a connecting international itinerary. BA and LATAM are currently securing regulatory approval for a joint-venture between Latin America and Europe so expect further co-operation in the coming years.

Finally, as first reported by Routes Online LATAM is to increase its London Heathrow – Sao Paulo service from daily to 9 times weekly for a little over a month from Sunday 9 July 2017 to Friday 18 August 2017.

The additional flight operates from London on Monday and Friday and from Sao Paulo on Sunday and Thursday.

Your children can fly for free on select British Airways short-haul flights this summer

Your children can fly for free on selected BA flights between London & Belfast, Edinburgh, Inverness, Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle and Billund this summer.

British Airways “Kids Fly Free” Summer Promotion

Your children can fly for free on BA between select short-haul destinations and London Heathrow this summer

BA first ran this promotion last year and it has relaunched it for summer 2017. Up to two children to the age of twelve can fly for free with an adult on flights between London Heathrow and Belfast, Edinburgh, Inverness, Leeds-Bradford, Newcastle in the UK and Billund in mainland Europe.

The promotion only applies to flights to/from London Heathrow and bookings in EuroTraveller economy. It does not apply to flights to/from London Gatwick or London City.

The offer is valid for travel from Thursday 1 June 2017 to Tuesday 31 October 2017 and flights must be booked by Saturday 30 September 2017.

There are no particular downsides or catches to this promotion. Other than that availability is restricted and some destinations, notably Edinburgh, have significantly more flights a day to choose from than others.

Note this offer is only open to residents of the UK, the Republic Of Ireland and Denmark. Full terms and conditions and more information is available on ba.com