PeteTheMeat

Around 8 months ago I booked a trip with Expedia to go to Barcelona for the weekend with my fiance. We were due to fly out on the Friday and come back on the Monday, however, due to unforseen circumstances we were not able to make the Friday flight. This wasn't too much of a problem, so I thought, as we managed to book a cheap RyanAir flight to take us out on the Saturday morning, with the intention of returning using the originally booked BA flight on the Monday. This though is where the break turned a bit sour as BA, unknown to us had cancelled our return flight due to the fact we had not made the outbound flight and would not let us on the plane. Which led to me having to shell out just over £100 to get an alternative flight back home.Does anyone think I have a case for compensation here as personally I think this policy is totally ridiculous, BA had a contract for 2 totally seperate flights.I logged on to the BA website on the day I was due to fly out but could not amend my flight as it was 'in progress'. I have contacted Expedia and they are going to reimburse me with the cost of the flight taxes which is not too bad as it equates to roughly 75% of the cost of the alternative flight I had to book to get home.I still think the policy is a little unfair, it is a bit like me not using my mobile phone for a day and then finding out that Orange have cancelled my contract and will charge me again for rejoining.I've just checked all the information I received from Expedia about the trip and it does NOT mention anything about return flights being cancelled for a no show on the outbound flight.If this is common practice for all airlines then they must be making a fortune from this as I am guessing they are reselling the flights they have cancelled.

chi-chi-est

Definately! They have well and truly shafted you. Just check that theres no clauses about returning flights in their T&C's an dif not Id visit a Solicitor for the free information and then take it from there. Hope you get Compensation........what a nightmare you must have had!Merry Christmas

neildesperandum

This sounds totally nonsensical and unfair to me, but BA must be aware of the legality of their actions I should have thought. It's worth looking into nonetheless.

orhyswilliams

no you are in the wrong - it's a 2-way ticket. you will be laughed out of any solicitors office

PeteWG

Pretty standard airline practice, I'm afraid.

KevinN

Actually I don't think you do. As you had both flights with BA it is reasonable for them to assume that if you missed the outward leg of the journey then you would not be there to make the return. You booked a package deal with Expedia that included return flights. though you may have had 2 separate contracts they are linked together through the packageHowever, if you can prove to BA that you had informed them that you would not be able to make the outward bound flight but would be using the return then you would have a case for compensation.

funnycunny

I dont think its rediculous, its all their in the terms & conditionsfirstly why didnt you contact BA or Expedia to let them know you wouldnt make it on friday but wanted to use the other flight.secondly you booked through an agent, BA would of had this as one booking not 2 separate ones.and with the online manage my flight service they offer you could of easily adjusted it.http://www.britishairways.com/travel/askbainter/public/en_gb

sparky_dy

"BA had a contract for 2 totally seperate [sic] flights" -- yes, and the important thing about a contract is that it imposes obligations on *both* parties. Your part of the contract was to have been present on both flights. By defaulting on your obligation to be present on the outbound flight (and incidentally making MUCH extra work for front-line staff who have to try to find you, make sure there is no terrorist threat &c.), you lost your entitlement to the return flight. Look at it from the airline's point of view: there are a lot of criminals about. How do they know you weren't intending to take a bomb on the plane, and had just nipped out to pick it up? How do they know that you weren't planning some elaborate smuggling ruse? Not showing up for a booked flight, and not offering any explanation, exposes the other passengers to serious danger.If you had contacted BA as soon as possible once you knew you were going to miss your flight, they *might* have agreed -- out of the goodness of their hearts -- to honour your return half, although they would not be under any obligation to do so.It's exactly the same thing with the trains. If you want to make a one-way journey, then legally you aren't allowed to use a return ticket -- even though a return journey may be cheaper than a one-way journey. It's still considered over-riding a ticket.

Eclipsepearl0878

If you didn't show up for your outbound flight, your return is automatically cancelled since you have a contract for a set of two flights. If not, you would have purchased two one-way tickets and then your would have been covered. That probably would have been much more expensive than what you paid. Same goes if you miss a connection. Otherwise, people could cheat with all sorts of ways and the airlines would have to fly hopelessly overbooked to make any sort of profit. Some round trip flights have restrictions, like overnight a Saturday or have to return on a certain date to give you the cheaper price. You can't expect to buy a round trip ticket and think it's going to be treated as two one-ways. I'd love it if they did treat round trip tickets as one-ways. I'd totally take advantage, especially with a family of 5. I see tons of great fares to Europe from the U.S. but I can't take advantage because I'm already in Europe. I'd love to buy a cheap round trip, leaving early December and coming back before Xmas, and then a cheap round trip January ticket when they're cheap. It wont work and I have to pay for travel around Xmas, from Europe to the U.S., no skimping! Connections work the same way. Lets say you got a great deal from somewhere in the U.S. to Dublin via London. If you skampered off in London, when you go to return to the U.S., you'd find the rest of your flight was cancelled too. This special fare was meant to fly people to Dublin, not London.It can be argued that all marketing is "cheating". Why is one perfume more expensive than another? It's made of almost the same stuff, isn't it? Why are designer jeans more dear than the ones you buy at the discount store? Maybe they are better but how much better? You could go on and on. Too bad you didn't contact them ahead of time but no guarentee they would have done something.

MatthewD5749

I makes sense on BA's part really. I mean if you don't fly out how how are you going to get back. They don't know you changed your travel plans. Instead of just going to the website maybe you should have actually called and spoken to a human being. This is common policy among airlines. You were a no-show and therefore give up the right to your return. You will never get a penny out of them.