British Airways canceled us 7 times- in Chicago 24 hrs!!! Great Ending!!!

Anyone else affected?

Thousands of people if not more....haven't you heard about the airline distruptions, cancellations, rescheduling? Every major newspaper has covered it pretty extensively, so it's no longer shocking. Of course, it stinks when it happens to you but not unexpected. The only way to deal with it is to find a comparable flight for no extra fees (they will do that for you assuming you can get them on the phone) or to get your full refund and start all over. Good luck, and take a breather, it's out of your hands completely.

Pat, one of the reasons I chose Turkish Air to get over here was that they seemed to be the least affected the last year or so.

All my flights booked near capacity so I am guessing that makes them less likely to be wacked.

You obviously haven’t flown recently as EVERY airline has canceled flights. Best thing to do is wait on hold while doing other things. BA will reschedule you. I had a flight a few years ago that was cancelled day before.

Look on the bright side. Now that BA has cancelled your flight through Heathrow, maybe you can rebook with an airline avoiding the UK and you can reinstitute your original plan to visit Lake Como.

The irony is that last week's air fare sales had better routes and prices.

I think we will attempt going out of SFO instead of San Diego, and pay the flight ourselves. We do carry-on only. It's a short , cheap hop on Southwest. And often there are better flights out of SFO than LAX, and driving to LAX can take longer than flying to SFO!

Thx to all.

I found last October that my flight from Spain back to the U.K. was cancelled and reinstated several times. Things may change for you too.

You are taking a risk travelling anywhere in Covid times, so good luck trying to get any upgrades. Most airlines are barely financially viable at present. Sorry, no tips.

Sam,
I had the same thought, but Swiss Air flights are now double what we paid. And the sale was last week...... Maybe something will still work out. And I do now have to worry about CA wildfires, as the fire season is coming earlier this year. Whatever.....

I know, this is a First World issue.......

Pat, I lived in San Diego until last year. I used to take American to LAX, then Aer Lingus to Dublin and onward to my final destination. Aer Lingus business class is very nice and sometimes more reasonable than other air lines. Sometimes I would stop in Dublin for a couple days.

All British Airways flights go thru the UK, unless there's something I missed.

We want to speak directly and see if we can get upgrades due to our inconveniences- any tips?

I'm afraid that's unlikely to happen. Even if you were Gold status you'd be unlikely to be offered anything although that could change once you've checked in as that's where elite status holders typically get upgraded. You might be offered some Avios points but in this age of relentless cancellations I'd imagine it would be a fruitless task trying to pursue it.

Pat, I just want to say I am sorry for this trouble happening to you. I know that this isn't easy to have happen to you. I'm glad that you are already thinking of positive alternatives.

I wouldn't give up on getting in touch with BA by phone. Just be prepared to wait awhile.

But they are partners with American Airlines, so maybe they can book you on them.

You obviously haven’t flown recently as EVERY airline has canceled
flights.

Since July 1st: IAH to IST to KBP (Turkish Air), KBP to ODS (Turkish Air), ODS to IST (Turkish Air), IST to ZGB (Turkish Air), DBV to ATH (Aegean), ATH to HER (Olympic)

Later this week: HER to ATH (Olympic)

Next week: ATH to IST (Turkish Air), IST to IAH (Turkish Air)

Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of
flights involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance
of any specific flight ......

It’s good you’re checking with British Airways, but be aware that there was a major Internet outage today that took down a lot of big names, BA among them.

Over the last 3 months we have had our flight plan from the US to Italy change 3 times. Every time I log in I half expect the flight to be gone and have to start from ground zero again. As others have said adopt a mind of flexibility and try not to get attached to any plans as they're likely to change. Good luck!

Sorry Pat. ☹ Jane, who’s also going to Switzerland, has had her flight changed numerous times. So far so good for my Swiss Air flight, but I probably just jinxed myself.

I’m sure it will all work out and you are going to have a wonderful trip.

We, too, had our J class BA flight PHX-LHR-PHX ( we are flying on to Dublin) cancelled. The outbound to LHR was cancelled about 3 weeks ago (we leave on August 1) and the return was cancelled earlier this week. I had booked them through American Airlines. Both times I was not notified. People had posted on Flyertalk to watch for cancellations.. So, I checked several times a week. I had to call AA both times and wait for over 3-4 hours for a call back. Luckily AA put me on their flights in F and J. We got the last two J seats on the flight from DUB-PHL on August 20. I am happy I do not need to transit the UK so I do not have to fill out the UK Covid-19 Passenger Locator Form.

All carriers are cancelling or changing their flights. BA cancelled many of the LHR to USA flight due to Europeans not be able to enter the USA unless under specific circumstances. The USA is not reciprocating the allowance of vaccinated people into many European countries.

We have been trying to make this trip for 2 years. We ARE going on this trip!!

Barbara, YES you are!!!!!

Thanks for the empathy from all.

JC, I didn't want you to be right but you so were. There was no accommodation whatever for our distress, even when we were considering driving up to LAX. The Agent's response was : "But you'll have the BC lounge."- Really???

The Agent claimed that because of Covid, the government made the airlines cancel the flights. I think it was a case of not enough butts in the seats. We offered to pay our own way from San Diego to SFO, to get that overnight flight. The response was that SFO was over the 300 mile limit for rebooking.

We spent the better part of the day on this. On hold forever, with the British Airways site crashing, and then the Agent checking specific flights, saying "you're too late, those last BC seats in your category were just taken" repeatedly. After we rebooked, we looked online at changing our seats, and found ample seats left in Business Class. IT'S A MYSTERY!

Throughout it all my husband was saying let's just cancel everything and forget about the trip.

So we are rebooked outbound, and I'm preparing myself for the return trip cancelation- I think that's just a matter of time.

Safe travels!

My husband just found a site called:
Flight Aware
He discovered that our return flights thru Heathrow haven't flown since March, 2020. Had we only known.

We are SO getting canceled for our return flights- just waiting...........

I am flying from San Diego to San Francisco via Southwest. I'm flying from San Francisco on TAP airlines to Zurich with a 2 hr. layover in Lisbon on Aug. 22nd. When I booked it 2 months ago the price was incredibly cheap so I hope that it isn't cancelled. Has anyone flown TAP Portugal airline? Since I only do carry on, do you know if I have to go through customs in Lisbon then again in Zurich? The web site isn't clear? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my trip goes as planned.

Pat: Check BA and AA's website for flight connections. Remember, BA and AA code share. If you press, they will book you on another flight. How about using AA to SFO or DFW. When I called, I had already pick out combinations of flights that would be acceptable. Be persistent. Our flights have changed so many times I have a file an inch thick. At one time I had to wait 10 hours for a call back. Good luck! You, too, ARE going to Europe!

Barbara, by the time we finally got thru, B/A told us the options we wanted were no longer available. We ended up on an American flight thru Chicago, and pick up a B/A flight there. The website had been crashing all day.
Now I know we will have to go thru it again when they get around to canceling our return flights, which we just researched, and discovered the return flights haven't been flown since March 2020.
Thanks for your input. Safe travels!

British Air cancelled one leg of our flight about two weeks ago. We have already received a full refund.

I think it was a blessing in disguise because our flight went to Rome via London and right now you have to quarantine in Italy if going through London.

We were able to get a Delta flight, with premium select seats for part of the trip for less money than our British Air tickets.

Maybe that would work for you.

Sorry you got cancelled. Sounds like you have a replacement, even if not the cheapest or most convenient. We booked flights, using Avios plus fees, back in February, for round-trip Denver>Bologna flights, connecting thru Heathrow. A week later, BA cancelled our mid-afternoon flight from Heathrow to Bologna, and rescheduled us onto a nighttime flight.

Their late-morning flight is too early for us to make the connection, so now we’ve got a looooong holdover at Heathrow, including through lunchtime and dinnertime. We arrive in Bologna now at 11:30 PM, instead of 4 PM. No first dinner in Bologna shortly after landing. Extra charge for our apartment owner to meet us and let us in in the middle of the night. The Heathrow Yotel is gone, so we don’t have a cheap, easy way to catch a nap before the late flight, unless we do it sitting in a plastic chair in the seating area. Hoping that earlier flight gets reinstated in the next 7 weeks, but it appears it wasn’t worth them keeping on the BA schedule. First-world problem, true, but we had a trip agreement, and it got yanked out from under us. Now I hope the later flight’s not completely full.

Cyn, it is still frustrating after all the time you put into planning. You will hate Heathrow after that long wait- and arriving so late. Sorry!
We are still waiting for our return flight to be canceled. Our outbound was canceled five weeks out, so maybe next week we'll get the good news??!!

Keep in mind when you look online and you see ample seats in business class that doesn’t mean they’re actually available. That means that people haven’t selected their seat and because BA often charges for business class seat selection a lot of people will not book a seat. In advance because they know they’re going to get a decent seat.

. I personally think that’s kind of cheap BA to charge for a business class seat and then make you pay a seat selection fee but they get away with it probably because people like me keep flying them 😁

My husband just found a site called:
Flight Aware
He discovered that our return flights thru Heathrow haven't flown since March, 2020. Had we only known

How could you not know .... weren't all flights cancelled in March or soon after for non-essential travel? Not sure how "flight aware" is very useful

Not ALL flights cancelled since March 2020. Many have returned. Past and current history can be very helpful in trip planning.

We’ve had to call British Airways enough times now that their little song is now a permanent ear worm. We learned that our cell phones will hang us up in mid sentence if it’s been an hour. Our land line is useless for everything else but it doesn’t hang up. And there’s a little tone that comes on before a real person speaks.

Very frustrating especially since we have three trips with BA in the next 12 months.

Ugh!!!

I’ve had to call BA numerous times myself on lots of changes to our itinerary. Once after holding for an hour just as the person picked up and we started talking we were cut off but interestingly she actually called me back. I have found early Saturday or Sunday morning (west coast time) which is early afternoon their time has resulted in the lowest hold times. Last time I was only on hold 10 minutes.

Now that the UK is reopening for US vaccinated travelers seems as if the flight situation may stabilize a bit, though the lack of reciprocity May still play a part.

United canceled our flights but are allowing us to rebook a new flight within 7 days for the same price.

I'm getting fed up with BA. I just got notice that my seats were changed on a flight. At first I thought they changed equipment from the new seating to the old. But when I looked, I realized they had canceled my original flight and rebooked me the day before. If I had not purchased a seat, I would have never known.

It was booked via AA miles. I originally chose the BA flight because it was the only daytime flight offered. If I have to fly at night, I'd rather fly AA because their business class is better. It took a half an hour with the AA agent to make all the changes but she was terrific. (And by going AA instead of BA, I save about $600 in fees.)

Now the fight starts to get a refund for my BA seats. I doubt I'll get it but I'll try.

Hello Pat. So what was the final verdict of your predicament? Did you get to travel or not? If so, hopefully everything went smoothly. I still have 3 months to go before my trip to France.

CaliMom—-that is how it works. If the airline (United, BA, etc.) cancels your flight, you have a choice of a refund, or a new flight to the same destination at the same price (even if the price has gone up since you originally booked). If you accept the refund and go looking for a different flight yourself, you will pay the current (usually higher) price.

Frank II—-I don’t understand your annoyance with BA. You booked the flight with AA miles, so it was up to them to notify you of the schedule change, regardless whether you paid BA for a reserved seat or not. Apparently AA did not do that.

Yes, the seat reservation fee with BA IS annoying, but you don’t have to pay it; you can just wait until online check-in and see what they have assigned you. You can change to a different seat if available, which should not be too hard as a solo traveler. You are in business class, so does it really matter what seat you get? I guess on a daytime flight you might want a window seat, but otherwise do you really care?

I am pretty sure you won’t get the seat fee back—-you agree to that when you pay it. Maybe since they canceled the flight, not you, there is an argument for a refund. But they would have applied it to your new BA flight. You only are “losing” it because you changed to an AA plane and they apparently don’t charge for reserved seats.

Just as a point of clarification. BA does refund seat fees if they cancel the flight. They do not refund seat fees if you cancel the flight.

I think everyone is frustrated with how difficult it can be to get through to customer service with any airline right now, but if you can connect, you should receive your seat fee refund.

Sasha...BA cancelled my flight without telling me. Yes, it was with AA miles but the BA portion had its own record locater so BA should have alerted me.

I only took the BA flight because it was a daytime flight. If I am forced to take an evening flight, I'd rather take an AA flight as their business class is better.

Since BA cancelled my flight, and moved me to a different flight, on a different day, I should be entitled to a refund. In the email I got from BA, they even say if I am not happy with my new seat I can apply for a refund. Well, I'm not happy with the new seat because it's on a flight I don't want. (The new flight left at 11 PM.)

My understanding is that the company you booked the flight with (here, AA) bears the responsibility of notifying you of any cancellations or changes in the itinerary. They are acting as your agent for the booking.

Even though the flight was canceled by BA, the change in your itinerary (assignment to a different flight) was made by AA. BA cannot “touch” the booking made through AA, as the experts on FlyerTalk put it. Thus it was AA, not BA, whom you contacted to get a flight you preferred over the one that was assigned to you, correct?

The fact that you paid BA for the seat you wanted on the original flight, using the BA booking code to access Manage My Booking, has nothing to do with it. That is not a change in the itinerary, just a perk that comes with the booking. You could have ordered a special meal that way too, if you wanted. But you could not make changes to the booking itself (like changing to a different flight) in MMB.

We took our daughters to Italy some years ago for a graduation trip, flying business class on British Airways as a treat. I did not have enough BA miles for all 4 of us, so I booked 2 seats with BA miles and 2 seats with Alaska Airlines miles. Not my preferred way of flying, because of the separate tickets, but our only option to get us all in business class.

We flew into and out of Zurich, with a layover in Heathrow in both directions. About a month before the trip, BA changed the time on the Zurich to Heathrow leg for the return trip. I got notification of the change from BA for the BA-booked seats, and from Alaska for the Alaska-booked seats. And because we were on separate tickets, we ended up on different flights, with the flight assigned to the 2 of us booked with BA miles being preferred. I had to call Alaska to get our daughters’ flight changed to the same one we had. Fortunately there were still award seats left on that flight.

Another example—-we use our Alaska miles to fly all over the US, and often the itinerary includes one or more segments on their partner American, who serves some of the smaller regional airports that Alaska does not. When AA changes the flight time—-which in my experience they tend to do a lot—-we always get notification from Alaska, never from AA.

I am going into some detail here because people need to understand that when they book a flight with Airline X that includes a segment on Airline Y, ( a partner), it is still Airline X that controls the booking and the responsibility for overseeing it. It is not the same as booking directly with Airline Y.

Gee, I guess I'm too much of a travel novice to have any experience with any of this.

I know you are not a novice, Frank II. So I am surprised that you feel BA should have notified you of the schedule change, that’s all. And I want to help others, less experienced than you, to understand what to expect when they make a booking with one airline for a flight on another one. Especially these days when there are so many changes and cancellations.

The best course is to not rely completely on the airline and keep checking that reservation, as many who have flown recently have advised.

Edit: the good news is that it looks like you have an excellent chance of getting your seat reservation fee back, since you are not happy with the new seat they gave you.

This same scenario has happened in the past, and while it took time, I did get all my money back.

As for notification, since it was a BA flight and not an AA codeshare, BA should have notified me of the cancellation. I'm not going to argue with you about this. The same thing happened a couple of years ago with BA and they did the notifying since it was their flight alone.

It's possible that they would have notified me eventually, but I acted on it a soon as I got the notification of the seat change.

Our flight cancellation last month did require a call to BA, but we got our payment refund and Avios reinstatement within 48 hours.

Our BA flight was canceled in Chicago at 10:30 pm, after a 4+ hour delay. (We started in San Diego.) After 14 hrs, we made it from San Diego to Chicago . We had even boarded the flight. Tempers we're flaring.
So a night in Chicago , and no available flights for another 24 hrs.
We almost turned around and came home.
But inexplicable , a nice gate agent booked us on another carrier, a direct flight to Zurich, and we have just landed and on our way by train to Lucerne.
Hotel Des Alpes, a RS favorite, graciously did not charge us for the missed night.
On the train, will be in Lucerne in 30minutes!
Good luck to you all!!!

I‘m happy you made it! I enjoyed my stay at Hotel des Alpes a few years ago. Have a great time!

Hurrah! I am so glad you are there.

I admire your persistence Pat!

Have a great time!

Pat, have a great time and hope you can relax after all the stress of getting there, a few months worth.

Thanks for taking the time to update all of us. Many of us have been following your travails and it’s great to know it’s had a positive ending. Enjoy!

And, we also had that overnight experience in Chicago with that very flight several years ago. I hope they had something better than cots in an empty concourse.

Yay Pat. Glad to hear that you are off on your adventure.

Thx to all. BA sent us to a hotel and covered a meal.
We went into downtown Chicago and had a beautiful afternoon.
Lucerne is gorgeous !

Pat, things are looking up. Curious, was everyone given a hotel room, or were an exception? Maybe business class made a difference?

And what airline got you to Zurich?

We’re still scheduled for Rome on American in 3 weeks, after BA cancelled our Denver>London>Bologna flight. But now we’re running into cancellations on our Bologna lodging thru VRBO, so we can get there, but are working on our 3rd attempt at a place to stay. Waiting for booking confirmation in the next 24hrs. Have a great time in Schweizerische!

Hooray! Glad you made it! I was a little concerned because I knew you were flying a day after us, and didn’t hear anything from you.
Wow! What an adventure flying now. Glad you made the decision to continue.
It’s been so wonderful to be here. Back home skies are smoky; here, so blue. Also, back home hillsides are brown; everything is green here.
We’ve made a conscious effort to choose outdoor activities. Haven’t visited any church or museum. So it’s been quite relaxing, once we got into the groove of traveling by train once again.
Good to hear Luzern is beautiful. We’ll be in Luzern at the end of our trip.
Please report on your time in Luzern

Cyn, can't believe your lodging issues .

As far as I could tell, everyone on the plane got hotel rooms. There were so many folks that two local hotels were used, and BA handed out authorization letters for the hotels. That actually went fairly quickly . The hotel shuttles were outside waiting
Problem was a mechanical issue- an airline ground crew hit the plane and scratched the fiberglass shell. First photos were sent to London engineers. Then a Lufthansa plane was supposed to bring in a scanner device . Somehow, there was a problem here. Captain came out several times to speak with passengers. As we were actually loaded onto the plane,, BA fed us, as I guess they had the food, and everything at the airport was Closed- no alcohol , tho.

Also, BA handed out letters extending the Covid testing period to four days, instead of three. Folks went to their hotels not knowing when their next flight would be. BA said the rebooking would be done from London- no standing in line or holds on phone calls.

Lucerne is in mid-70's and has a nice buzz of activity, no crowds, mostly masked . More after a night's sleep.
Thx for your interest and support!

What an ordeal! BA cancelled our flight on July 31st from LAX to LHR. When we called*, they rebooked us on an American Airlines flight the next day. On the AA flight, the IFE meant "If Entertainment" instead of In-Flight Entertainment and....there was none. 10-1/2 hours without IFE! We were going on to Paris and 10 days driving around Brittany plus 3 more days in Paris. So we spend one night in Saint-Malo instead of two. Otherwise, it was wonderful.

Then the return flight from LHR to LAX was cancelled. We were booked on a later flight which meant we could leave Paris later so we spent another night in the 7th Arr. instead of a hotel at the airport.

So many hoops to jump through! Glad you made it. Persistence pays off.

*We learned the hard way that our cell phones hang themselves up after 60 minutes.

Thomas- That would be so rough not to have InFlight entertainment, my old eye's can't read for that long (blue blocking readers have made it a bit easier). I will make sure to download some movies for our next international flight and bring cards!

Pat- So glad you made it! Have a wonderful time and now you have a great story to tell and your trip had not even started.

I reported on the bad & the ugly, now I can report on the good-

BA gave us a comped upgrade to First Class for the Heathrow to LAX flight!!! Were we ever surprised! My husband called called 48 hrs in advance, seeing how First Class was half empty, asking if we could upgrade with Avios, but were politely told no. The cost to pay would have been over $2000.00 total for the both of us for the one-way trip.

Nothing was said during our lengthy check-in at the Zurich airport.

When we arrived at LHR, my husband asked again, and were told we had already been upgraded!! What a surprise. As I reported on the problems with BA, I have to be fair and report on a positive.

Safe travels to all!

Sounds great. Did you go to the Concorde Room (First Class Lounge) at Heathrow?

Lola, YES!!!!

Glad u made it back to the dogs without any delays. :)

I thought I was dreaming , as the return home went so well. As I had become accustomed, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. No lines at Global Entry. Customs never seemed to look at us. The way home was delightful and stress-free, and the car service from LAX to San Diego was relaxing with no traffic ( 8:30pm).

Thanks to all for the incredible support and concern. Now to manage the pix and complete the Costco photo book. (I like the 12"x12" lay-flat style.) The pix are such a beautiful reminder of how great the trip really was!

The dogs aren't Swiss cows, but they were awfully happy to see us. Trying to reduce the Swiss chocolate intake - and- no Paprika chips to be found stateside.

Safe travels to all!

All’s well that ends well. Welcome home, even if the chocolate and chips are substandard to Swiss offerings. Pat, have you tried Terra Chips? Not the same thing, but…

And First Class treatment coming home! Looks like it never hurts to ask!

Was your ride back to San Diego a limo or town car? Not Uber or Lyft, I guess.

We’re heading to Italy in 5 days - have 10 days worth of work to get done on the meantime. Hope ours goes as well as yours turned out, Pat, but so much of yours was because of what you did to make it so.

Where’s your next trip going, and when? 😄

OK, Pat - I just saw on Carrie’s Switzerland thread that you’re set for Germany in April 2022 - and maybe Austria, too. Hopefully all goes well with that trip. Or maybe cancellation after cancellation will actually bode well for that trip, too!

Cyn,
I'm assuming you found a place to stay, after all that. Please keep us posted on your travels.

We used a town car service to return to San Diego.

We bought the Germany flights when we were naive-travel children, before any BA cancelations. I think I've learned now what to get mad about and what not to. Hopefully the Covid situation, and the flights, will have stabilized by then. Not ready to plan anything for Germany yet, except I know I'll be on the Night Watchman's Tour in Rothenburg !

Amazon sells several brands of paprika chips: one is Lorenz brand imported from Germany, one is Lays (!) afrom Russia or other Slavic country (the package is in Cyrillic writing), and the third is Torres, probably from Spain (these are picante, or hot). All are expensive, unfortunately.

Glad your saga had a good ending. And that you still trust the airlines.

Perhaps you will write a trip report? I would love to hear about the fun parts of your trip.

Judy, will do. I'm now working on my pix each day, and already started my Costco photo book. I try to keep the photos to around 400 total, using the Delete button liberally each night of the trip.
Thx fir asking!

Pat, we do have an apartment in Bologna. Twice the cost of places that Booking.com indicated were available (but aren’t), but Vrbo is reliable. Weather forecasts say rain most of the tine we're going to be there, and despite the Portico covered walkways all over town, it’s reassuring to know the apt. has an umbrella. It’s in a remodeled attic in the building, so potential head-banging for my husband on the ceiling sloping close over the bed, and I’m not certain whether there’s an elevator, or lots and lots of stairs. The adventure begins in 4 days, pending successful Covid tests and getting last-minute errands run. Your stick-to-it-iveness has been inspirational, and if our trip goes even half as well as yours, that’ll be a success.

Cyn, your trip will go well.
The worst part of the pre-trip (stressful ) paperwork is that one is somewhat exhausted before the trip actually begins!
And - one develops a "waiting -for-the -other shoe to fall" outlook .
The upside of all of the above is that all of the positive outcomes seem to much greater.
Safe travels!