Disruption isn’t going away – so know your rights

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE: £20 FOR 1 YEAR]( June 02, 2023 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( The latest IT meltdown to afflict British Airways passengers happened last Thursday afternoon and evening – but the BA schedule saw wave after wave of cancellations right up until Friday night. [Departing soon? British Airways aircraft at Heathrow last Friday, during the IT disruption](   [Get inspired...]( Cotswolds charm]( Discover a range of ways to explore this quintissentially English region on foot, with this pick of seven of the [best Cotswolds walks]( [I'm an image]( [Food for thought]( If you're someone who likes to experience a destination through their tastebuds, book onto one of our [unique foodie trips]( designed for culinary enthusiasts [I'm an image]( [Art attack]( Follow in Van Gogh’s footsteps on an off-the-beaten-track [Netherlands tour](; it turns out there was plenty of Dutch drama before the ear and the pistol...   Simon’s dispatches With a British Airways booking from LHR to Prague on Friday, I had some skin in the game – and a grandstand seat for each batch of cancelled flights. I calculate that [200 BA departures were grounded as a result of the technical failure](, affecting 30,000 passengers. My teatime trip to the Czech capital was added to the “red list” of cancelled flights at around 3pm. Being a solo traveller appears to have helped: I was last to squeeze on board a later flight – the final departure of the evening – and reached my hotel after midnight. (According to the latest airline assessment by Which?, it serves me right for booking with “[a thoroughly mediocre airline](”.) While I flew to Prague, stories began to emerge of another, unrelated IT failure hitting travellers to the UK. Anyone whose flight to Heathrow wasn’t cancelled discovered an hours-long line for passport control. [All the eGates that normally allow swift access for the majority of arrivals failed](. The whole UK Border Force business model – including staffing last weekend – is based on the premise that a large majority of arriving passengers (typically 70 per cent) are able to use the eGates. As well as British citizens, EU nationals, Americans, Australians, Japanese and other nationalities can go through them, so long as a child under 12 is not in the party. Checking that a passport is valid, that it belongs to the traveller presenting themselves, and that they are not wanted by Interpol is a transaction that is normally easily and efficiently achieved by eGate technology. Manual checks for all drastically increases the processing time – leading to extreme queues at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and other leading UK airports. You might conclude from the weekend’s chaos that civilised travel is unravelling – and/or that my colleague Helen Coffey was wise to use coaches and trains for her journey to and from southern Spain last week. Both British Airways and the Home Office know they need urgently to work out what went wrong and how to minimise the chances of a repeat. But most airline passengers reached their destinations and, I hope, enjoyed a rewarding journey that made the miles worthwhile. When aviation goes wrong, as it seems frequently to do, [the key is to understand your rights](. Ignore any offer from the airline to refund your fare, unless that is the best option for you. Most of us need a replacement flight (or, depending on the journey, a train), which should be organised and paid for by the airline that cancelled the flight. Importantly, ignore nonsense from the carrier such as: “Sorry, your flight to Rome is cancelled and the next available seat is in two days.” If any airline has space on the same day as you were originally planning to travel, the cancelling carrier must pay for that ticket – as well as for an overnight stay and meals if required. And if the airline is at fault, you are due cash compensation. The affected British Airways passengers are, I estimate, owed around £8m. But that is small change: BA’s parent company, IAG, predicts full-year profits above €2bn (£1.75bn). [Your flight rights when things go wrong](     Tip of the week: Meet the islanders this weekend Can you get to Cambridge this weekend? “Islanders: The Making of the Mediterranean” is an outstanding – and free – exhibition about the confluences and conflicts of the ancient world. The presentation at the city's Fitzwilliam Museum ends on the afternoon of Sunday, 4 June. You must [book online](; as of 5pm on Thursday afternoon, a wide range of time slots are available on Friday and over the weekend. [Best hotels in Cambridge]( Deal of the week: Bulk-buy Grand Central tickets Grand Central, which connects West Yorkshire, northeast England and York with London King's Cross, [has a “carnet” of 10 single journeys]( that can be used as you wish within a six-month spell – and which offer a one-sixth discount on normal flexible fares. They can be shared with family members and colleagues and can be used on a “turn up and go” basis with no reservations required. Grand Central is not involved in the current round of rail strikes. [More rail strikes today and tomorrow to hit train passengers]( £99 £20 for 1 year ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   Question of the week: Day trips from Estoril in Portugal? Q We are flying into Lisbon but staying in the nearby resort of Estoril. What excursions do you recommend? A On the coast 12 miles or so west of the Portuguese capital, the seaside resort of Estoril is an excellent place to stay. At this time of year you can expect warm sunshine to take the edge off the still-chilly Atlantic, and Estoril makes a good location for exploring the region. [Read our Lisbon city guide]( Your first outing should be just two stops down the suburban line to its terminus in Cascais, with a beautiful old town and some fine places to pause for lunch and/or a drink. It also has a wide network of bus routes threading north, including one that goes to extremes: Cabo da Roca, a half-hour ride away on bus 1624 from Cascais. This is the spectacular west end of Europe, where the Continent reaches a suitably spectacular conclusion before crumbling into the Atlantic. Cascais is also the starting point of bus 1623, taking 30 minutes to [Sintra: a lovely town in the hills](, with a marvellous palace complex to explore. Finally, if you are thinking of renting a car for a day or more, use it to head back towards Lisbon but then cross 25 April Bridge (Portugal’s take on the Golden Gate) to the fascinating Setubal peninsula, with lovely coastal drives. This is a smart option for your last day, if you can arrange a car rental to drop off at Lisbon airport. [What to do in Cascais, next door to Estoril]( STAT OF THE WEEK 16 Age, in years, of the [Airbus A380 jet bought by Global Airlines for its planned flights from London to New York and Los Angeles](. What you might have missed... - Weigh to go: [Air New Zealand asks passengers to hop on the scales]( - Electric dream: [Airline sells flights on electric planes – in 2028]( - Emergency drill: [JetBlue accused of abandoning diverted passengers]( SIMON'S DIARY Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder]( I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder]( Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder]( Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder]( Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel]( Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel]( [INDYBEST]( / [BEST TRAVEL BUYS]( [Best kids luggage: Suitcases, rucksacks and carry-on cabin bags for every adventure]( From ride-on [Trunkis]( to [personalised suitcases](, these are the [best luggage](options for kids. [Shop now]( Trending: [Aldi's stand-up paddleboard is back]( Essential reading The top things to do in Cornwall when it rains](   Articles available exclusively to subscribers Is this ordinary city in Germany really an Asian food hotspot? 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