British Airways foul flight time changes

[Strandfan]

We thought we'd try BA from Heathrow to and from Larnaca for a change from the problems of flying into Ercan with Pegasus.
Looked up the flights coming and going - great timing for August and October 2013
Excellent leaving and arrival times for both flights. Booked the flight and paid for them last October.

Now we have just had an email announcing changes to both flights to deeply unsatisfactory times
of departure and arrival. eg instead of arriving at Larnaca at 1450 hrs the change is to 0505 hrs (ie now a night flight).

BA seem to do this frequently now - this is the third time they have done this to us on long haul flights. You think you are buying one satisfactory product and then find out you have been sold a quite different and inconvenient one.

Their customer service is a joke. We ended up feeling sorry for the poor sods who have to field complaints from angry customers.The whole thing is cynical and seems to be premeditated policy. Can we do nothing about this con?

Buyers beware..

Has anybody had any success with challenging BA to, for instance, the Office of Fair Trading or the travel press?

[Munchkin]

Hello Strandfan

I was informed today that my BA flight will now be changed to a night flight ? god knows why ? I have looked at the BA site and it seems like a permanent change ? changing to terminal 3 was bad enough which is a pit of a terminal on the best of days, now I will have to find another way to fly, this is not a good move by BA I'm sure they will lose a lot of custom over the change. below is part of the e-mail they sent in reply it basically says like it or take your money back, I'll find another airline until they change the times to a more
acceptable time of day.


If, after you buy your ticket, we make a significant change to the scheduled departure time of your flight
- You find this change unacceptable, and
- We or our authorised agents cannot book you on another flight which you are prepared to accept then, we will give you an involuntary fare refund.

[karakum5c]

I have booked for October with BA back to the UK but Easyjet out as they have better times and prices.

Easyjet flights are out now today!

Book them and get your refund from BA for the flights out to Cyprus, they dont quibble and will give you an automatic refund, i have done it 3 times with them now unfortunately.

[Terri299]

I've just received the same email regarding the flight time changes for May. They offered to change the departure day to the day before or cancel with a full refund. The lady on the phone even said she couldn't understand why they have chanaged to these awful times. So have cancelled and rebooked and saved £70 in the process.

[andrew4232]

cyprus is not long haul, and someone has to have night flights planes have to be used 24hrs a day there not just there for day flights

[cyprusishome]

What the change probably means is that some poor b***er who has been suffering lousy flight times now gets good ones. S**t happens!!!

Why not just do what hundreds of others do every day and fly Pegasus or Turkish who have quite sensible times of departure and arrival!!

[Strandfan]

Long haul - I was referring to flights to India where the same thing happened to us.
You pay for one service and you end up with something different.

Of course there have to be night flights.
What we object to is selling a flight as a reasonable one and then changing the times to something completely different.
The BA people themselves said to us that it was a mad policy, changing from convenient to inconvenient times, and that the company woulds lose customers as a result.

[BrightonJim]

BA must have known months ago that the flight times were going to or were very likely to be changed but they let people book flights on the false pretence that the flights were at civilised times. We booked our flights almost a year ahead thus getting the best seats. (I am tall). Had we been advised of the possible changes we would have booked with another carrier and secured exit seats which are now not available.
Had a small company deceived it's customers like this it would have been in trouble: I intend to complain to the OFT or another relevant body.
I will probably get nowhere but it will cause BA some hassle and make me feel better!

[jim]

If you cancel the bookings they inform you that refunds will take up to 6 weeks because they have too many refunds to process because of hurricane Sandy. Was told yesterday when I cancelled some.

[scarlets]

Just received a call myself regarding my March/April booking and all OK as my flight out is at the original time but returning home earlier

Something I was NOT aware of was that I return to a different terminal.

Heathrow terminal 3 to Larnaca

Larnaca to Heathrow terminal 5

Very strange way of doing things

[Strandfan]

We cancelled the two flights on the 7th December. Promised a refund of course. In spite of five telephone calls we still have received no refund on the 4th January. Four weeks and a lot of hassle. We are promised it "any day now" - it was a business class flight so that's £1290 STG.

BA say their backlog is enormous - hardly surprising. At least they no longer claim to be the world's favourite airline, and at least they didn't have the nerve to charge a fee for the not-yet-arrived-refund.

[Terri299]

I cancelled my flights at about the same time in December, my refund came through on 3rd January, so hopefully you'll get yours soon

[Ballyboffin]

The new flight time will suit people like ourselves who have to fly to LHR to connect with the flight to Larnaca. Before we had to fly the previous day and stay overnight, same on the return. This will save us the price of hotels and the hassle.

[belle]

cyprus is not long haul, and someone has to have night flights planes have to be used 24hrs a day there not just there for day flights

Andrew are you AJ in disguise, lol, you sound just like him.

[belle]

Just booked for the Sunday coming with BA and all is same as it was in November, I love BA, good aircraft, good food, staff and a movie, can't beat them as far as I am concerned.

[barrysnakes]

To get a full refund, you have to phone, it can not be done on line as this will only part refund you with a £15 charge. I have just phoned 0044 844 493 0787 and got a full refund, she said 3 days to be back into my bank account. Regards, Mrs Snakes.

[How188]

I have had the same problem with flight time changes for flights bookand paid for last year, I called the BA number, no problem at all. Said the full cost will be refunded. Call was on about the 15th of December, re-booked with Cyprus Airways from Heathrow for the same dates and very similar flight times.
REFUND ARRIVED TODAY 07/01/213. Ok by me.
Real pity for us who would like to use and support the UK airline though as I used to use BA 4 or 5 times a year, now I will be using Cyprus Airways as I had done last summer, only downside is the lack of free alcholic drinks!!!!

[Cyprus Hector]

I too have had my travel plans ruined by BA. I'm wary of booking with Cyprus Airways due to their terrible financial situation though.

[AJay]

belle
'Andrew are you AJ in disguise, lol, you sound just like him.'

I can assure you that Andrew is not me in disguise and I will never comment about a subject I know nothing about. I do not fly anywhere anymore, I have done too much of that in my working life. I reside permanently in the TRNC and do not intend going anywhere in the future.
You need to apologize to Andrew because I think he would be horrified to think he was being accused of being me.
AJ

[belle]

Ajay I certainly agree about my thinking Andrew is you on second thoughts an apology is winging its way, you are a one off .

Seeing as you never leave the Island maybe that is the problem, Island fever