When booking a flight, most holidaymakers expect to fly on an aircraft belonging to the airline they’ve made the reservation with.
But the practice of ‘codesharing’ is on the increase. More than 100,000 codeshares operate out of the UK every month, with two or more airlines having listed the flights under each other’s names. It means travellers will find themselves on a plane belonging to another carrier.
Often this doesn’t affect the journey to a great degree – but a new report by Which? claims to have uncovered hidden dangers with the practice, that if something goes wrong passengers may be left without rights to compensation and in some cases hundreds of pounds out of pocket.
The practice of ‘codesharing’ is on the increase. More than 100,000 codeshares operate out of the UK every month, with two or more airlines having listed the flights under each other’s names. It means travellers will find themselves on a plane belonging to another carrier.
It turns out that if you book with the likes of BA, Virgin Atlantic or another European airline, under EU law, you can be entitled to up to 600 euro compensation if your flight is cancelled or delayed.
But if the flight ends up as a codeshare with the likes, say, of Delta or AA, you’re only covered if you fly from a European airport.
Two passengers who fell foul of the codesharing practice were married couple Chris Pile and Laura Trevino, who booked flights through British Airways from Washington DC to Alicante in Spain.
The Which? report tells how they were due to fly from Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport to New York on BA’s codeshare partner American Airlines.
However, American Airlines cancelled the flight, which in turn meant they missed their connection in New York to London.
They then took a $100 taxi to Dulles airport in Washington in order to catch a BA flight to the UK.
But when they arrived at Dulles, they discovered they were on stand-by and could only guarantee seats on the flight by forking out $760 (£570) to upgrade to the premium economy cabin.
They claim they were told by BA to keep their receipts so they could claim back their extra expenses.
But they say BA later refused to reimburse them, claiming it wasn’t its fault for the initial cancellation.
Meanwhile AA also would not compensate them fully.
It said: ‘Your tickets were booked through British Airways. They have received the funds for your trip and we are unable to refund any money that we did not receive. Please contact BA directly to further escalate your claim.’
AA offered an apology and $200 in vouchers that had a 12-month shelf life – leaving them out of pocket. And they arrived home 20 hours late.
Meanwhile, said Which?, BA walked away with a profit – having sold an unexpected upgrade purely because its codeshare partner had cancelled a flight.
It turns out that if you book with the likes of BA, Virgin Atlantic or another European airline, under EU law, you can be entitled to up to 600 euro compensation if your flight is cancelled or delayed. But if the flight ends up as a codeshare with the likes of Delta or AA, you’re only covered if you fly from a European airport
The report also claims that one Which? member was offered just a $200 voucher when her flight from Chicago to Manchester was cancelled.
Despite having a BA flight number, the service was actually being operated by AA, meaning she wasn’t entitled to the EU compensation.
Regarding the case of Mr Pile and Ms Trevino, AA told Which?: ‘Our system is only able to confirm passengers on alternative flights where seats are available. You will have to speak to British Airways regarding the couple’s experience at Washington Dulles.’
Meanwhile an unapologetic British Airways said that the couple had enjoyed a larger, more comfortable seat with increased legroom, a more exclusive cabin, a premium three-course meal and a larger baggage allowance after upgrading to premium economy.
And it told Which?: ‘Customers hugely benefit from codeshare arrangements with other partner airlines, which allow them to take advantage of great-value fares and more convenient connecting flights via just one booking.’
Mr Pile took British Airways to its arbitration service, CEDR. But CEDR ruled in favour of BA on the grounds that the carrier hadn’t operated the initial cancelled flight. Unfortunately, it had no power to consider American Airlines’ behaviour, as it is not signed up to CEDR’s scheme.
Another issue that Which? claims to have identified is that some websites don’t make it clear that a codeshare is in operation.
Its report states that sites such as Edreams and lastminute.com often don’t display this information clearly.
However, Edreams told Which?: ‘We are addressing a technical issue which affected the way some of our flights which included a codeshare element were displayed, resulting in the ‘operating carrier’ not being identified.
While lastminute.com added that the information is available on its ‘search results page’. It only appears, though, if you click ‘details’. The company said that it was ‘looking into’ providing this crucial information at the booking stage.
Trevor Baker, who investigated codeshare practices for Which?, said: ‘Codeshares between airlines are a good idea when they allow us to make connections and bookings more easily.
‘But passengers need to be aware that they have some significant downsides.
‘We know that many customers have been confused and disappointed to discover that they’re not flying with their chosen airline, and so the information provided by booking sites needs to be much clearer.’
Emma Grimster, spokeswoman at TravelSupermarket, said: ‘It is important passengers are clear which airline is operating their flight when booking to save any confusion at the airport, as well as around the airline’s policies on check-in times, baggage allowances and any other charges. Such policies do vary from carrier to carrier and making a mistake on an item such as baggage could not only be inconvenient, but also costly if you exceed your allowance.
‘Knowing your carrier becomes more relevant again if a flight is delayed. Passengers would be entitled to compensation for delayed flights if operated by a EU-based carrier or if they are departing from an EU airport, however, if they have booked through an EU-based carrier, but are actually flying with a code share partner based outside of the EU and are departing from an airport outside of the EU, this would mean they are not due the same rights as they won’t be protected by EU law.
‘If booking online, the operating carrier name should be visible before you send payment. It will also appear on your eticket or email confirmation. If you are in any doubt, contact your booking site to double check.’