Changed flight times are we entitled to refund ?

[stanleycamel]

Originally Posted by Bee happy

BA have changed our flights from Gatwick to MCO 31st July from 10.45 to 13.25, this was changed sometime ago but wondering if we had grounds to cancel for full refund as they have changed times of flight ?
We obviously had everything crossed we could travel but now looking highly unlikely if we cancel would receive a voucher would obviously prefer a refund.
Thanks in advance

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BA's schedule at one point had two Gatwick flights

BA 2037 dep 1045
BA 2039 dep 1325

available to book and due to the present situation schedules are constantly changed/cancelled.

From what the OP has said BA have changed their flight from the 2037 to the 2039. Oddly if you check the BA flight schedule the BA 2037 is still operational (at the time of checking) and no sign of the BA 2039.

The OP should check on Manage My Booking or if not familiar with this phone BA and find out what their flights are and if they have been changed from 2037 to 2039 they should be entitled to a refund - it isn't a schedule change.

If they have not booked direct with BA then they should contact the agent they booked with for clarification and it would be interesting to here back from the OP for an update.

[Peko]

It’s not clear if this was booked flight-only or as part of a package (With car and/or hotel) with BA Holidays. If the latter, BA has far greater latitude to deny a refund, since package T&Cs define a significant change as greater than 12 hours, and a flight cancellation does not carry the same weight as with flight-only.

Regarding flight only, if the flight is cancelled, the law is clear as stanleycamel has stated above. If not, the regulations (EC261/2004 and its UK successor) do not allow the airlines full freedom to define the triggers for refunds and/or compensation. The airlines can be more generous than the regulations, but not less. BA was previously much more generous in allowing refunds due to schedule changes, but changed its policy from 2 hours to 4 hours sometime last Autumn.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by disneymike

Before Brexit, this was all governed by the often quoted EU regulation 261/2004, a wonderful creation that once allowed me to claim 600 pounds back for a delayed 'Wow' flight that only cost me 200. Luckily, one thing the government managed to do right before Brexit was port that whole regulation into domestic law, the catchily named 'Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019'.

Now ridiculously, both the EU reg and UK law leave it up to the airlines to define what counts as a significant change, but in the case of BA, for many years they have defined it as 2 hours. The low cost airlines have historically been a bit less generous and defined it as longer periods.

So to cut a long story short, whether this is a flight number change or not you should be able to beat them into a full refund in your case.

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BA increased this to 4 hours last year. So at the moment, it doesn't qualify as a significant change unless as others have said, the flight number changed as this may point to cancellation rather than rescheduling.

[disneymike]

Ah...was not aware of this 2 to 4 hour change...what a shame, although I suppose the pandemic is bound to lead to many T&Cs getting tightened up.

[Claudette]

Originally Posted by disneymike

Ah...was not aware of this 2 to 4 hour change...what a shame, although I suppose the pandemic is bound to lead to many T&Cs getting tightened up.

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I don’t know about BA specifically but four hours was quite normal for the definition of “significant” for long haul pre pandemic.

But I wonder if you have considered the nuance Stanleycamel has mentioned. As I read it, the four hours rule applies when there is a scheduling change, whereas in your case it could be that you have been moved to a completely different flight, rather than there has been a schedule change. It might be worth looking into the before and after flight numbers and see if it has changed. Apologies in advance if I have misunderstood anything.

[YorkshireT]

As above if your flight is cancelled, you are automatically entitled to a refund under EU Art 261/2004.

[bighal]

Originally Posted by Bee happy

BA have changed our flights from Gatwick to MCO 31st July from 10.45 to 13.25, this was changed sometime ago but wondering if we had grounds to cancel for full refund as they have changed times of flight ?
We obviously had everything crossed we could travel but now looking highly unlikely if we cancel would receive a voucher would obviously prefer a refund.
Thanks in advance

See more...

The question here is how long ago did your flights change? You say 'sometime ago'. BA can argue that as you did not say you wanted a refund at the time that you have accepted the change so if you want to cancel now you would have to abide by BA's cancellation policy which probably at best now means a future travel voucher. You would not be automatically be entitled to a full refund. Timing is everything in these situations.