British Airways has come under fire after failures stopped a passenger from visiting her dying grandmother. The BA customer has written into the Guardian newspaper consumer affairs section, saying: “She wanted to see my newborn baby but I couldn’t even board the plane because of a problem with my ticket”.
The passenger wrote: “British Airways’ failures deprived me of the chance to say goodbye to my dying grandmother. After she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, my mother and I booked flights from Hong Kong, where I was working, to the UK so she could meet my newborn baby.
“Shortly before our trip in September, we learned that her condition had deteriorated and she was asking for us. She was desperate to hold her granddaughter before she died. My mother called the BA executive club line and our booking was changed to the earliest available flight.
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“We duly received confirmation emails. However, at the airport I was told there was a problem with my ticket which could not be resolved before takeoff. My mother, on the same booking, was checked in successfully and I was forced to return home. I was told I could not take my original flight, either, because my ticket had been resold.”
The BA customer added: “BA has since refused to refund either my original booking, or the subsequent one, and has told me I’m not eligible for compensation for denied boarding. Because of its errors I am out of pocket by £3,500, and my grandmother never got to meet her great-grandchild.”
“When a customer doesn’t have a valid ticket, they are not entitled to denied boarding compensation,” BA said. “We know the ticket failed to produce on this occasion, however the reason it happened is not eligible for compensation,” the airline went on to add to the newspaper.
