Compensation for delayed flight

[sng1971]

I was stuck in the Heathrow debacle last Thursday and my flight BA31 to HKG was 5:02 hours late in departing, and arriving 4:27 late.

I’ve been told my partner and I may be eligible for up to €600 compensation each. What is the best way to go about this? Is it worth the hassle of trying to deal with BA directly, or go through one of the websites that will take a cut and do it for you. If it’s the latter, which site would you recommend?

Not sure if it makes a difference, but we were flying F on a Qantas Redemption.

Thanks for any advice/assistance.

 

[opusman]

I would have guessed that a delay due to extreme weather wouldn't trigger compensation. Might be worth a try though.

 

[wandering_fred]

Flyertalk has many many pages describing similar "problems" and they are quick to offer opinions where flights may have been affected by weather
Flyertalk discusses (mainly) BA delayed flight compensation

Happy wandering
Fred

 

[Himeno]

What do you mean by "Heathrow debacle last Thursday"?

This is the only thing I can find that would fit the date

Heathrow and Gatwick passengers hit with more delays

A problem with the UK's air traffic control system is adding to disruption caused by the weather.

www.bbc.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I was stuck in the Heathrow debacle last Thursday and my flight BA31 to HKG was 5:02 hours late in departing, and arriving 4:27 late.

I’ve been told my partner and I may be eligible for up to €600 compensation each. What is the best way to go about this? Is it worth the hassle of trying to deal with BA directly, or go through one of the websites that will take a cut and do it for you. If it’s the latter, which site would you recommend?

Not sure if it makes a difference, but we were flying F on a Qantas Redemption.

Thanks for any advice/assistance.

This link will take you to the BA page where you can find details of how to apply for compensation: Expenses and compensation | Information | British Airways

If the flight is delayed by weather, or by ATC, you may not have a valid claim.

Writing to BA will get you a response and you can then determine your course of action frmo there. If they pay up, great. If they reject it you have two options, either (a) pursue it yourself with follow up emails or (b) put in a claim via one of the claim firms. They will take 25-33%, but as they are linked directly to airline data bases they can pretty much give you an answer instantly if your flight is eligible. perhaps worth it.

 

[sng1971]

Thanks MEL_Traveller. I followed your advice and used the BA link you posted. It was an easy form to fill out and you could upload your supporting documents (boarding pass, etc).

It took about 5 weeks, but BA approved the claim and the €1200 were deposited into our account the next day!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks MEL_Traveller. I followed your advice and used the BA link you posted. It was an easy form to fill out and you could upload your supporting documents (boarding pass, etc).

It took about 5 weeks, but BA approved the claim and the €1200 were deposited into our account the next day!

Great news!! Might just off set the fuel surcharges on the award

 

[Austman]

I was stuck in the Heathrow debacle last Thursday

Could you tell us all, what was the "debacle "? I think that could be very helpful to others.

 

[sng1971]

It was a very weird day, with temperatures hitting 38°C in London. I don’t think it was ‘bad weather’ as such, but a lot of the infrastructure in the UK just couldn’t cope. It affected lots of services, including the tube and electricity. I know at Heathrow there was 40 odd BA flights cancelled, with other cancellations at other airports. I still don’t really understand how extreme heat could cause the problems that occurred, so there may be other issues I’m not aware of.