When Adam Smith and wife Katie woke up at the beginning of half term, they saw an email no family jetting off on holiday wants to see: ‘Flight cancelled.’
The couple, both 41, and their family had been looking forward to a seven-day stay in Dubai spending time in waterparks, visiting landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and relaxing from their busy life in Kingston, south-west London.
‘We specifically booked the flights for around midday so we would get there before midnight,’ says Adam, managing director of communications firm Teamspirit.
They’d spent in the region of £5,000 for their four return premium economy flights with British Airways for Adam, Katie, seven-year-old son Jude and Katie’s mother, 68.
But at 3am, just nine hours before they were due to take off, BA emailed to say their flight had been cancelled. It had placed them on alternative flights with airline Saudia.
Instead of arriving in Dubai just before midnight – so they could rest before their first day in Dubai – this flight left Heathrow at 6.50pm, involved a connecting flight from Riyadh and didn’t arrive in Dubai until 9.25am, almost ten hours later than originally planned.
British Airways loyalist: Adam Smith with his son Jude, seven missed out on a night in Dubai after the airline cancelled their flights
Adam says: ‘I knew we were going to be tired getting there at 9.30am having not slept. Plus, we’ve lost an evening at the hotel we’ve already paid for.’
The couple are loyal BA flyers, with Adam a silver member and Katie gold, but even this didn’t help when they called to find alternative flights.
Then Adam remembered that a helpful consumer rule – known as UK261 – states that the airline must place them on a comparable flight, even if that is with another airline.
He found the perfect flights – leaving just one hour later than they were originally meant to take off – with Emirates. The only problem? Four one-way tickets were around £6,000.
Adam decided to swallow the costs on his credit card on the promise that BA would reimburse him on his return to the UK. But as he clicked ‘buy’ via an online travel agency, a message popped up on the website.
‘The airline has increased the price by £14,048.99.’ Within minutes, these one-way flights were now £20,000.
Even with the promise of reimbursement from BA, this was an unthinkable amount for Adam to shell out.
Break: The Smiths had been looking forward to a seven-day stay in Dubai (pictured) spending time in waterparks, visiting landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa
The family had no choice but to accept the inconvenient alternative flight with Saudia, losing the night at the hotel they had paid for.
As the rearranged flight delayed their arrival time and the flight was cancelled with less than seven days’ notice, Adam can claim compensation. In total, the family should get £2,080.
When Money Mail asked Emirates why the prices soared by £14,000, it explained that fares vary depending on the seats and classes available.
Once a class sells out, the system will display the next available option, which may be more expensive.
British Airways was asked to comment.
