QUALIFY IT
Does it qualify?
Three questions, in order. First: when was your client told? Under 7 days — pay up, unless the re-route left within an hour of the original departure and landed under two hours late. 7 to 13 days — the windows widen to two hours early and four hours late. 14 days or more — no compensation, though care and re-routing rights still stand.
Second: where did it fly? BA is a UK carrier, so both directions are covered — a UK or EU departure qualifies on any airline, and BA also owes on flights arriving into the UK or EU.
Third: did BA offer a re-route your client refused? A refused reasonable re-route complicates the care claim but does not erase compensation for the cancellation itself.
THE MONEY
What is it worth?
£220
Under 1,500 km
£350
1,500–3,500 km
£520
Over 3,500 km
Per passenger, measured on the journey’s great-circle distance.
Under 1,500 km £220 · 1,500–3,500 km £350 · over 3,500 km £520. Heathrow short-haul cancellations sit in the first two bands; the long-haul cancellations are the £520s.
THE PUSHBACK
What BA will say
The Heathrow cancellations that fill agents’ inboxes are usually described as operational — crew shortages, aircraft rotation, ATC flow. Only genuinely extraordinary causes excuse payment: closed airspace, a security incident, severe weather at the time and place the aircraft was due to operate.
BA has to prove the cause applied to this flight, and that it took all reasonable measures anyway. Ask for the operational report. Vague answers lose at CEDR.
THE EDGE
What’s specific to British Airways
BA has no claims email that reliably reaches a handler — file through the Customer Relations form and keep the reference number it issues.
BA is a CEDR member: after 8 weeks of refusal or silence, arbitration is free for your client and binding on BA. Name CEDR in your escalation line; responses change when you do.
England and Wales allows six years — the longest window among the majors — which is why old BA bookings are the ones worth retro-checking first.
THE PLAY
How do you file it?
File through BA’s Customer Relations compensation form and record the reference number.
Attach the booking confirmation, the cancellation notice if your client kept it, and both flight numbers if they were re-routed.
Diary eight weeks. If BA refuses or goes quiet, open a CEDR case.
Or forward the booking confirmation to MyAirAdvocate and this claim is prepared for you — flights watched, the cancellation detected, evidence assembled, deadlines tracked.
See how it works →AGENTS ASK
Questions agents ask
Does accepting a refund cancel the compensation?
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No. The refund settles the ticket; compensation is a separate right under Article 7 and survives it.
BA re-routed them the same day — is it still claimable?
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Usually yes. Same-day re-routing only exempts BA if it lands inside the Article 5(1)(c) windows for the notice given.
Can the agency file on the client’s behalf?
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Yes, as correspondent with the client’s written authorization. BA accepts agency-submitted claims through the same form.
They were told at the airport — does that change anything?
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It puts the cancellation under 7 days by definition, which is the strongest notice position.
The flight was a codeshare on American metal — who owes?
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The operating carrier owes. If AA flew it, the claim is against AA under whichever regime the routing triggers.
General information for travel professionals, not legal advice. Compensation depends on the facts of each disruption and the airline’s evidence. MyAirAdvocate prepares claims; it does not represent passengers and takes no percentage of any compensation.