Family forced to take £1,800 taxi after flight overbooked
Roy Ferguson and his family were forced to take a £1,800 taxi ride from Aberdeen Airport to Gatwick, after British Airways overbooked their flight.
The 48-year-old, from Alford in Aberdeenshire, was travelling with his wife, their two teenage children, and his 80-year-old mum. They were due to catch a flight to Heathrow, transfer to Gatwick, and then fly to Greece.
They checked in for the first leg of the journey and made their way to the gate. However, at that point Roy told The Sun: "The last passengers boarded the aircraft and we were told we would not be getting on the flight, and to go back upstairs to the check-in desk and our bags would be returned to us."
After a number of phone calls, they discovered that the only way to get to Gatwick in time for their flight to Greece was to drive the length of the British Isles. The next nasty surprise was that they were getting a black cab, so two members of the party had to spend the next ten hours on fold-down seats - travelling backwards - through the night.
The family then endured a nail-biting 550 mile journey, panicking that they may still not make their connection. In the end they made it with just 30 minutes to spare.
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BA told the Mirror: "We are very sorry our customer and his family were unable to travel on the flight they had booked and for the frustration and inconvenience this caused them."
"It is common practice within the airline industry to overbook flights on certain routes where it is known that a number of customers with flexible tickets are unlikely to turn up for the flight. If all such seats were left empty it would prevent other customers from travelling on the day they wanted. The practice also keeps fares low for our customers."
"In this case, although we did all we could to seek volunteers to travel at a later date, no one offered to postpone their journey. Therefore we paid the family the appropriate denied boarding compensation and offered them seats on a flight the following day. As they needed to reach London for a flight with another airline the next morning, we organised transport for them to travel that evening."
Your rights when overbooked
As British Airways points out, it is common practice to overbook flights, so it's important to understand your rights if you are affected.
If you are flexible about when you travel, it can actually be a blessing in disguise, because you are entitled to a refund or seats on another flight, plus 'benefits'. These are not laid down in law, so need to be negotiated. They can include anything from travel vouchers to upgrades on the next flight. The airline should also provide vouchers for meals and refreshments while you wait - and an overnight stay in a hotel if necessary.
If you desperately need to travel on your chosen flight, make sure you check in as early as possible - ideally online. In some cases, the last people to check in will be those who are bumped from an overbooked flight. You also need to get to the gate early. The rules state that you should be at the gate at least 15-30 minutes before departure, so take this rule seriously and get yourself in the queue early.
If you are bumped from the flight, and the airline can't get anyone else to volunteer to give up their seat, you have the same rights as you would if the flight was delayed or cancelled - although you are entitled to your compensation immediately.
If you are flying from or to the EU, you are entitled to a refund or replacement flight, a seat on the next available flight, or a seat on a flight on the next date that suits you. You are also entitled to free meals and refreshments while you are waiting, and a hotel room if you are waiting overnight.
If you are only bumped by an hour (or arrive less than two hours after you were scheduled to) you won't get any additional financial compensation. If you are delayed any longer, you will. Under EU rules this means 250 euros for each flight of 1500 km or less (if you are delayed more than two hours), 400 euros for all flights within Europe and any other flights of between 1500km and 3500km (If you are delayed by three hours), 300 euros if you are flying further and are delayed up to four hours, and 600 euros for delays of more than four hours on longer flights.
