To think that this response from British Airways makes no sense at all?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

I was booked to fly from Heathrow on Sunday afternoon. Massive IT outage meant that none of their display boards were working, it was impossible to know which flight was flying from which gate. There were no announcements and people were missing flights. We finally took off, five hours late. I put in a claim for compensation, and have just been told that this has been refused “because of a lack of facilities on stand” and “there was start up delay due to restriction.” They claim that this was not their fault. When I checked in at the airport my flight was showing as on time, and I was told that an earlier delay due to the storm and a computer malfunction had been cleared.

The last time there was a computer malfunction at Terminal 5, they paid up immediately. But this time they are trying to get out of it.

It's not BAs fault though, the outage was Heathrow Airport. To qualify for compensation under EU regs, the delay has to be within the control of the airline.

So the complete IT failure a couple of years ago was BA systems, not the airport, so compensation did apply then.

The fault was with the airport not British airways.

Bloody pain in the arse though.

That’s interesting as I was told by one of the BA staff that it was specific to BA flights and that other airlines flying from other terminals were flying normally.

Go onto the BA board on FlyerTalk. Lots of threads and advice about this.

Doesn't your travel insurance cover it? I too was affected by a cancellation on Monday linked to Sunday- but it is a travel insurance claim.

It was t3 as well- virgin, JAL and cathay were all out.

It's only BA who use Terminal 5, so it could be that it was only causing problems to BA flight as was restricted to T5 but was the airports system that caused the problems.

Thanks - no travel insurance as I was travelling for work.

1. it's not the fault of the airline
2. you cannot claim compensation under EU rules unless you have at least 3h delay at arrival
3. you are being ridiculous.

hth

@MrsSchadenfreude
Surely you still need travel insurance if you're travelling for work? I presume work paid for your flights? Are you out of pocket? If so, claim from your employer!

@hydeandrun

1. I wasn’t aware that it wasn’t the fault of the airline - had they said it was airport wide in their response, this would have made sense.
2. Read my post - I was delayed by over five hours.
3. Are you always this rude?

@Soontobe60 - I’m not out of pocket, as work will cover the cost of meals, just very sleep deprived!

I’m not out of pocket, as work will cover the cost of meals, just very sleep deprived!
So what exactly do you want compensation for?

BA are responsible for the meals- the duty of care under EU261 kicks in after 2 hours even if the refund compensation doesn't. So meals, hotel if needed etc

You need travel insurance even if travelling with work. Don't you have a back account or credit card that includes it.

My 6 hours journey on BA took 17 hours yesterday and involved a train and 2 planes-great fun

Still put in a claim, they left me stranded in Spain last year for 2 days and refused to pay hotel etc, saying it wasn't their fault it was the ground staff striking not them, eventually I got about £300 back (had claimed for 600).

MyDcAreMarvel Tue 18-Feb-20 19:53:09
I’m not out of pocket, as work will cover the cost of meals, just very sleep deprived!
So what exactly do you want compensation for?

^for the inconvenience obviously

So what exactly do you want compensation for?

Delay, stress, effects of sleeplessness, inconvenience?

I never understand why people on MN cannot grasp the fact that it's perfectly reasonable to expect compensation for non-financial damage.

I never understand why people on MN cannot grasp the fact that it's perfectly reasonable to expect compensation for non-financial damage.

And I dont understand why people dont understand how EC261 compensation works.

You can apply for compensation on EU routes/EU carriers if the delay meets time criteria and IF it is the fault of the airline- reasonably within their control.

If you read the OP that was the premise of the claim- the OP met time criteria and the airline criteria. . BA are saying it was airport wide- it was certainly in both T3 and T5 (T5 is just BA) and that it was not within their control. The OP does not have travel insurance and so has no compensation route.

If I had received a response from BA that said “You are not due any compensation as it was the fault of Heathrow Airport, not BA, that there was a massive IT failure”, then fine, if true. It was the nonsense reply that I received that was unhelpful. If it is due to “lack of facilities on the stand” then that reads to me like BA’s fault, for not equipping it, not the airport’s.

If I had received a response from BA that said “You are not due any compensation as it was the fault of Heathrow Airport, not BA, that there was a massive IT failure”, then fine, if true. It was the nonsense reply that I received that was unhelpful. If it is due to “lack of facilities on the stand” then that reads to me like BA’s fault, for not equipping it, not the airport’s.

Apologies- it wasn't you I was responding to- it was the snappy poster above.

I also thought that I might be eligible for EU261 but after reading on FlyerTalk and seeing the pictures of T3 as well realised `i wasn't

There was a lot of live posting over the weekend onto BA flyertalk thread- I find them really helpful.

Apologies- it wasn't you I was responding to- it was the snappy poster above.

But you didn't respond to my post. None of my post had anything to do with the issue of whether, in OP's particular circumstances, she is entitled to compensation. It was directed at another post which indicated a belief that compensation is only ever payable if you can demonstrate direct financial loss.

+1 for Flyertalk.

BA are absolute buggers for refusing claims under EU261. I’ve always had to go through the online dispute resolve service (Resolver?) - full details on the MoneysavingExpert website and they pay up just before you go down the small claims court.

@HugoSpritz I am covered through my office, obviously, but I don’t have individual travel insurance for work travel.

@HugoSpritz I don’t think you quite understand how EU261 works. It’s compensation from the airline for delays. I can’t claim for that on any kind of travel insurance policy. What I can claim for, from the office, is food and drink, which I have already done.