British student’s harrowing balcony plunge

Thankfully, even flying millions of kms throughout my life and career, I have only had to make one travel insurance claim and it was for the on-going consequences of a travel delay in the autumn of 2012. I was flying BA from Edinburgh to Munich via Heathrow (for mileage and points reasons although there was an EasyJet aircraft on the next bay flying non-stop to Munich). I was then connecting to a cheap €90 Lufthansa return flight purchased months beforehand to get me to Dresden.

At Edinburgh, we were all boarded on time onto a totally full 767. Then we waited. And waited some more, before the captain informed us of an hour's delay as a result of strong winds at Heathrow. As we waited, the cabin crew came round checking our onward tickets to ensure we were rebooked on to the next flights. That slightly worried me as the next BA flight ex LHR to Munich would make the connection to Lufthansa relatively tight. But stuck in a metal tube with the doors closed, what can one do?  

Arriving at LHR, of course I had missed the Munich connection and waited in the lounge for the next flight which was on the departure screens as leaving on time. But . . . I quickly realised that with most incoming flights delayed I needed to know where was my aircraft would be coming from and its likely arrival time at LHR. The BA staff in the lounge were totally hopeless. I went down to the general enquiries desk, waited 15 minutes before being informed the Munich aircraft was coming in from Paris and was subject to almost an hour's delay. So I would not get to Munich in time.

My problem was Dresden is not served from LHR. Although it is only 350 kms from Munich I was on the last flight of the day. If I missed it, that flight and the return to Munich would be cancelled on the LH computer system. I'd also lose a night at my pre-paid hotel in Dresden. I checked train timetables - nothing that late.

Naturally, as the BA flight landed, the LH flight was taking off. The LH staff were very helpful but there was nothing they could do. So I had to cough up around €420 for new full fare LH flights plus around €80 for the Holiday Inn Express hotel at Munich airport. Unfortunately with tickets on 2 separate airlines and bils from 2 separate hotels, that makes claims much more complex. The insurance company wanted paperwork from each confirming reasons for delays and hotel costs. As I was then a BA top tier Execuitve member, the member services agency in Sydney  processed that quickly. LH was much more complicated. But after filing the claim along with reams of paperwork, I did finally get the costs less the small deductible reimbursed around 2 months later.