Bigbrian

Here's the situation

I booked some flights ex Heathrow to Helsinki on British Airways, then
some separate flights on Flying Finn from Helsinki to Rovaniemi (a
three day short trip to see Santa before Christmas), and back via the
same routing.

Today I got an e-mail from Flying Finn advising that, just over two
weeks before departure, they have rewritten their flight timetable,
and now, their only daily flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi is going
to depart before the incoming flight from LHR arrives. They offered to
move me to that flight, or the same flight the following day. or
refund.

I can't take the flight they've changed it to without changing the BA
leg (at considerable cost, since its a non-refundable ticket)

The following day's flight means a day less out of a three day trip.

In the end, I've rebooked the internal flights on Finnair, which means
a) a lot of hanging about in Helsinki for the connections and b) much
greater cost

I have an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy (rated the best in
consumer surveys) but they say they won't pay out, since it doesn't
amount to a delayed start to the holiday (the BA flights haven't been
changed) or a curtailment (BA will happily book me on a flight to HEL
the previous evening for additional £700 for three tickets enabling me
to make the internal flights as booked, after incurring a further
night's hotel accomodation in Helsinki airport), and in any event,
they don't cover missed conections. I tried to argue that a multi trip
policy should cover each trip separately (LHR-HEL as one trip, and
then HEL to ROV as another) but they regard a trip as starting when
you leave the UK and finishing when you get back.

I do understand, having flown on many such airlines in the past, the
dangers of booking low cost/ non-refundable tickets, but I think this
situation is different from, for example, where the international
flight had been delayed and I'd missed the connection. They've
rewritten their entire routing at two weeks' notice.

So, am I really supposed to be hugely out of pocket because of the
short notice rescheduling of an airline's timetable? Why? Is there
anything I can do about it?


Brian

Hatunen

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 00:57:21 +0000,
bigbrian<> wrote:

    >So, am I really supposed to be hugely out of pocket because of the
    >short notice rescheduling of an airline's timetable? Why? Is there
    >anything I can do about it?

You need a lawyer/barrister, not rec.travel.europe.


************* DAVE HATUNEN () *************
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Me

bigbrian<> wrote in message news:<>...
[snip]
    > I do understand, having flown on many such airlines in the past, the
    > dangers of booking low cost/ non-refundable tickets, but I think this
    > situation is different from, for example, where the international
    > flight had been delayed and I'd missed the connection. They've
    > rewritten their entire routing at two weeks' notice.

But I'm curious what part about this you think is an exception
to the non-refundable aspect of your tickets? You knowingly
bought the tickets realizing the potential danger of what your
are doing. The reason you got these tickets cheaper is in part
because you were willing to accept the risk of these kinds of problems.
The airlines involved, aren't carrying any of the risk since the
tickets aren't connected to each other.

Your problem was created by the connecting airline, and they
have offered you a refund. That's about the limit of their liability.
They don't consider themselves any more liable for your connecting
ticket than they do for any lost deposits at lodgings and such.

    > So, am I really supposed to be hugely out of pocket because of the
    > short notice rescheduling of an airline's timetable?

Yes.

    > Why?

Well, that's a tad complicated but the easy answer is "because you
agreed to". If you had wanted a ticket that would protect you against
this, you should have bought it (as I do). If you had wanted insurance
that would have covered the risk, you should have bought it. Another
way to look at this situation though is from a "self insured" point of
view. Yes, on this one trip there is a fairly large cost. However,
booking tickets and accepting this risk may, over the total life of
your travels, may save you much more than the occasional time it
does not work. 700 BP may sound like alot, but over several trips,
it starts to become a small amount, kinda like the cost of insurance.


    > Is there anything I can do about it?


You can always try. It sounds like you've exhausted your options with
the connecting carrier. You could try with BA. I'm dubious but they
MIGHT be able to be persuaded. If you were working with a good travel
agent, they might have more sway. Is there a financial advantage
to canceling the whole trip? You might lose a little, but avoid
a forced expenditure of much more. BA might even give you a little
bit of transferable credit for the unused ticket.