HSR1234

Currently in Queenstown airport waiting for flight to Sydney which looks like it might be cancelled as no planes are landing due to low cloud.

Our daughter and son in law are on BA16 tomorrow (flight leaves in 26 hours). He has checked his insurance policy and is confident he has cover to buy new flights home. I am less convinced and have been discussing whether they should cancel the flight in the next 2 hours and get their avios and cash back!

any thoughts anyone?

KeaneJohn

Do they have a one way ticket or is this the return portion

HSR1234

It’s the return portion!

Booked with avios

KeaneJohn

My understanding is that it’s not possible to cancel as it has to be done 24 hours before travel starts nit 24 hours before flight. They might be flexible. I’d suggest calling and ask what BA can do ie change for the day after,,, strictly speaking again no changes after travel commences but at this stage anything is a bonus,

Edited to add… it appears my understanding was correct but I wonder if 17.2 would apply ie not being able to reach Sydney?

HSR1234

Thanks for the update. We are struggling now to find a number we can call!

Mwenenzi

Is ZQN-SYD-LHR on 1 PNR? QF~BA? Or separate tickets?

The often recommendation when flying from ZQN is the day before a long haul. More so if separate tickets.
https://www.queenstownairport.co.nz/ shows today's QF121 cancelled.
Many cancellations today https://www.queenstownairport.co.nz/...tures?arrivals

I have been at CHC when flights to ZQN from AU have been diverted.
Edit
QF185 BNE ZQN diverted to CHC. And now scheduled to depart CHC for ZQN 16:45. Tad unusual. Have seen the airlines bus people south.
https://www.google.com/search?client...ox-b-e&q=QF185

Mwenenzi

Try BA SYD. They will be open now. Local time is 14:41
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...boutCountry=AU

nufnuf77

If you cant make it dont cancel but ask them to postpone if possible to eg 6 months later - that way you at least dont lose all the avios/cash.

jeremyBA

Have you considered driving to Christchurch and flying from there. 26 hours gives some flexibility.

Mwenenzi

Note OP is off line.
And a little late. The Wednesday CHC late afternoon ~ early evening flights have now departed.
https://www.christchurchairport.co.n...nd-departures/
But flights from ~06:00 local CHC time tomorrow (Thursday)

EvilDoctorK

Several CHC-SYD flights in the morning and Christchurch shouldn't have weather issues like Queenstown ( Weather looks nicer in Queenstown tomorrow , but no flights to Australia until the afternoon ) ... I'd be doing this if there's no reasonable alternative option to reschedule the SYD-LHR flight

Mwenenzi

These flights tend to be AU-ZQN-AU with the same crew both ways.
The CHC flights tend to be CHC-AU-CHC with the same crew both ways. NZ based crews are paid far less than AU based crews.

HSR1234

Thanks for all the advice. It was a beautiful morning today, we sat out under blue skies and warm sunshine this morning but the clouds descended whilst we were in the airport and watched flight after flight get cancelled as all the incoming flights got diverted to Christchurch.

We are now in a nice airbnb overlooking the lake in Queenstown with 2 more nights in NZ than we expected as the earliest we could get to Sydney direct is Friday. This is fine for us as we don’t fly home till Sunday but less good for our daughter, son in law and 3 month old granddaughter who have missed their flight and now booked themselves with cash onto a Qatar flight home from Auckland on Friday and crossing their fingers that their travel insurance will cover it!

Ironically I had looked into contingency plans before we booked this flight in case it got cancelled and found a few options that involved flying to Auckland or Melbourne tonight and onto Sydney tomorrow but I hadn’t considered all these flights being cancelled too!

Mwenenzi

Enjoy your extra time in Queenstown
Getting to CHC by road would have been the best solution
Assume ZQN-SYD and SYD-LHR were separates tickets.

corporate-wage-slave

Also for the record, Dunedin is a few hours nearer (and a better road overall). This would have involved changing at AKL though. My sympathies to the OP, my father and his family are from Greymouth and the weather down that side can turn bad very quickly.