British Airways next pilot strike is Friday 27th September 2019. If you are flying on or around this date you may have already had an email or text telling you your flight is cancelled. (Some of these are wrongly sent so double check your booking) If you are affected by the British Airways Strikes, This is what you need to know.
You will have been given at least 14 days notice of your cancelled flight. This is because less than 14 days notice means you are entitled to compensation from the Airline – so they will always try and give the 14 days notice.
The Airline must give you the option of rebooking an alternative flight, or cancelling with a full refund. In theory this sounds fine, the reality however is that British Airways phone lines are in meltdown – you get a recorded message saying ‘we are extremely busy’ and then you get cut off. Or you get left on hold, on a very expensive call for a long, long, time. Their 0844 number is a premium rate number costing 72p per minute from mobiles. Ensure you claim this amount back too. What can you do?
Be patient – you don’t have to deal with it right now. Go online to manage my booking. This will tell you the alternative flight offered, if there is one.
What if there is no alternative flight offered? The Airline must pay for a reasonable alternative. With other airlines if necessary. If they don’t, if you can’t get through to them or they tell you they can’t, then you can arrange this yourself and claim the cost off the Airline. Obviously you can’t go booking First Class when you were originally in Economy, unless there is really no other option. It would be easier if they organised it but don’t be fobbed off with ‘there’s no alternatives’
How can I book this myself? If you booked your flights by credit card (or certain charge cards) then give them a call. There have been successes where they find a new flight for you. It is so important to book flights and holidays on a credit card for this and many other reasons (not least the air miles!). Failing that, book the alternative flights yourself and you claim the cost back from BA (link below). Do book these on a credit card as (1) They will be far more expensive than originals and (2) It will give you a bit of time as the refund will not be speedy. BA have to pay and you can reclaim the costs via their web portal.
What if the flights on a different day and I need to pay for additional hotel accommodation / expenses. You are entitled to claim £200 per night if you are stranded abroad. If you are rebooked by BA outbound then they will cover cost of an additional night in a hotel. If you book it yourself then no. If this is a concern then wait to see what BA offer.
What if I have booked through a tour operator? Contact them directly they will sort out the rebooking, not BA.
What if I’ve booked with Avios? Same rules apply, don’t accept it if they tell you there is no reward flight availability and there’s nothing they can do. You have the right to be rebooked.
What if I just want to accept the cancellation? You will get a full refund of the flights. Any accommodation etc will be covered by your travel insurance as long as it was in place before the strikes were known about. This may not be when they were announced, your insurers could argue for example that you were aware of the possibility of strikes if you booked recently.
Will I get any additional compensation? No, unless your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice.
How can I prepare for this happening again? The BA Pilots can now strike without a ballot, pretty much when they decide to. It’s not just strikes. Weather, technical issues and pretty much anything can cause flights to be cancelled or delayed with no notice, leaving thousands of people trying to find out what’s happening and what to do next. You hear horror stories of non present customer services, phoneline’s not being answered and families sleeping in the airports.
Most importantly, remember that this is a stressful situation that can and will be resolved. You will have some uncertainty and inconvenience but the reality is – it’s just a thing. Avoid making it into an all consuming drama, give it a few days. Thousands of people are trying to call an already understaffed ( and undertrained and already poor) contact centre. Don’t panic.
To be prepared for next time (which hopefully there won’t be one), read my flight cancellations and delays need to knows here.
And if you book your flights and hotels separately, there’s a lot you need to be aware of so check out our really useful guide here.
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