To Not want to spend TWELVE hours in Heathrow airport??

[BritishAirwaysBarkingMad]

There is no logic to British Airways decision here whatsoever. Well maybe there is - is it at ALL possible that AIBU here?

We booked to travel Manchester to Barbados this summer with British Airways. This involves a short Manchester / Heathrow flight

This was our itinerary:
Outward
08:50 fly Manchester to Heathrow
11:45 fly Heathrow to Barbados

Return
17:20 fly Barbados to Heathrow arriving 06:30 next day
08:55 fly Heathrow to Manchester

BA then cancelled the return final leg to Manchester and automatically rebooked us onto a flight leaving at 06:55 from a different Heathrow terminal.
Thus the saga begins...

Phone call one (April):
I call to ask BA are they sure we will make the connection they have allocated to us. They immediately say no we won't as we have to change terminal. They say that if we miss the connection it is our problem and we will have to fund new flights. The only other option is a 12 hour wait till the next fight at 6:30pm. I am told to wait as more flights will probably be offered during the day.

Phone call two (May):
I get an email from BA asking me to call them. I am still booked onto the impossible to catch 06:55 LHR flight. Long long conversation about how there are no other alternatives apart from the 6:30pm fight. I ask whether BA will put us into a lounge for the 12 hours. I am told they can't do this. I must go and research lounges separately. I tell them repeatedly that we can't spend 12 hours in Heathrow having just got off an overnight flight. They offer me an alternative flight via Aberdeen which arrives slightly later than the 6:30pm one would. Then we both agree this was not a sensible alternative. I literally have no option but to agree to the 12 hours. Even though we can't leave the airport during that time, can't check into a hotel, and have two children.

Talk to DH who is understandably horrified. We spend a coupe of weeks dithering about what to do. Finally decide to drive to Heathrow the day before the flight, book hotel and parking at Heathrow.

Phone call three (this morning)
I call to cancel the MAN/LHR legs of the flight.
This is where the saga gets ridiculous.
I am told this is not possible as I agreed to the 6:30pm flight in my last phone call. My only option now is to cancel the whole trip and get a new quote for LHR to Barbados. Which by now has gone up by about £3k. So not an option. So they are forcing the four of us to spend TWELVE HOURS in Heathrow airport!

AIBU expecting them to just cancel the MAN/LHR legs?

I was told that all three phone calls are now being sent to 'BACK OFFICE' to be listened to. I will get a phone call in three to four days to tell me my options.

God I feel a bit better for just splurging all that to you all. Although I probably lost most of you many paragraphs ago.

This is definitely a situation that requires outside intervention. Honestly I think you should get in touch with the Consumer Affairs/Your Problems people at The Guardian or similar for other media. It sounds so ridiculous that I can't even find the words but you need help with this.

Can you not just leave the airport and get a train to Manchester? Why do you have to fly?

I’m assuming that they won’t book you into a hotel either? Many airlines will if you have any more than 6-8 hour layover at the airport for a connecting flight. Couldn’t you book yourself into a hotel? It has to be cheaper than the 3k option.

Agree with above, why not just get a train home? An alternative that we have done in the past with a long layover is leave the airport, go to one of the nicer airport hotels and have a swanky long lunch with wine etc.

Sorry I missed the bit about you not being able to check into a hotel. Why is this?

Get the train to Manchester why would you sit in a lounge for 12 hours? Just cut your losses and find another way Home

I don't understand why you can't leave the airport?

Because the luggage will be checked through to Manchester and won't be available after they get off the London flight.

Plus it's a right arse to do what with schlepping across london, and then up north after an overnight flight

Can you ditch the last LHR-MAN leg and get the train back to Manchester instead? Or, given that they’ve substantially changed the flights since your initial booking are they not obligated to put you on a more similar LHR-MAN flight with another carrier? Are there any? I would expect BA to be more accommodating, I’d definitely try to escalate it with them.

Why do you need to fly from Heathrow to Manchester is my question as well. Can you get a train from Euston?

You don't have to check it to Manchester though, you can just check it to London and get it there. Or leave the airport for a long lunch without luggage then re-enter the airport later.

Have you asked if they'll pay for a taxi/train from Heathrow to Manchester, since they don't have a sensible alternative to offer you?

Surely the problem is that if BA refuses to let them cancel the last leg they still won't have their luggage? I'd be tempted to call their bluff and tell them you're not getting the last leg and will pick up the luggage in Manchester - I bet they'll change their minds.

Annoying and crazy of British Airways. How old are the kids?

im thinking ‘suck it up’. Ie spend 12 hours in the airport 😀. Not ideal but not exactly hell on earth. I’ve certainly done that in the past. We once screwed up on flights home and had to hang about in French little airport for 10 hours with 3 primary aged kids. It’s doable- maybe just do it? And try for compensation after - if you can be arsed.

Even if you don't want to get the train home, you can leave the airport without your luggage and go and have a nice meal somewhere.

Once did 12hrs in LAX - it flew by (pardon the pun!)

It is ridiculous but you don't have to sit in the airport for 12 hours - you could take the bus to Windsor or even the tube into central london for the day.

I did too, not at LAX, but I've spent that long in the airport due to delays. This was before cell phones and I was only 20 but it never seemed to be that long. I just read my book, listened to my musick, walked thru the airport, got food, chatted with the other waiting passengers. It really didn't feel that long.

I would probably train it home or get a cheap flight to Man with the kids and let DH do the wait and do the last leg of the flight and collect the luggage.

Unless I've misunderstood.... Why are people suggesting OP gets on a train from London to Manchester when her car will be at Heathrow?

No trains needed as they can drive home.

I'm assuming the issue is that their luggage will be automatically loaded onto the connecting flight and end up at Manchester airport, where they will not be.

Op, Can you allow your luggage to be take to Manchester airport, drive home after your Heathrow flight, then collect your luggage from Manchester the next day? Is this an option?

Cancelling a whole booking if you don't make the first leg is standard in the airline industry. People have often been caught out by this before.

But there's no reason you can't leave the airport on the way back. Go into london for a few hours. treat it as a bonus destination on your holiday.

Book into a hotel, no ideal but cheaper that the fare increase.

Fly down from Manchester and then on your return leg, just ask them at check in to tag your bags through to LHR only. Then you can collect your bags from LHR and get the train back, I’ve done this before to Newcastle and it was fine.

I still don't understand why people are suggesting trains - what am I missing? OP says this:

Talk to DH who is understandably horrified. We spend a coupe of weeks dithering about what to do. Finally decide to drive to Heathrow the day before the flight, book hotel and parking at Heathrow.

So their car is presumably in London when they land from Barbados?

Or ... am I being really stupid? (Genuinely asking)

Because she will need to take the first leg MAN to LHR for the outbound flight and therefore driving down is not an option!

You can’t just leave the luggage on and hope it makes it to Manchester! If the OP doesn’t scan through at the gate they will likely offload the luggage and it will be deposited at Heathrow.