Flight refund grinds to a halt

Anne Trevelyan spent £1,145.55 on three British Airways flights from London Heathrow to Aberdeen through the travel website Expedia. However, days later Anne received an email from Expedia to say her outward flight was cancelled. Anne agreed to Expedia transferring her booking to an alternative BA flight that was due to depart the same day – but when this transfer failed, she had to purchase new tickets at the airport. Anne later requested a refund from British Airways for the money she paid for the cancelled flight, but she was told that as she booked her tickets through an agent, a refund could only be processed if Expedia requested it. Expedia declined to make this request, so Anne contacted Which? for advice.

The law

Regulation EC261/2004, as retained in UK law, states that airlines are required to reimburse passengers when a flight is cancelled.

Our advice

We advised Anne that her contract was with British Airways, not Expedia, so Expedia wasn’t required to request this refund on her behalf. Anne escalated her complaint to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, which ruled in her favour and stated British Airways should refund Anne directly. British Airways said: ‘When a flight is cancelled by us, customers are always offered a range of options including a full refund. Whilst we have provided a refund to the original form of payment, we’re looking into this to ensure the customer has received it.’