Coming and Going

Trouble at Heathrow

UPRIGHT AND LOCKED

Trouble at Heathrow

Passengers flying British Airways into London Heathrow have good reason to worry that they'll get caught in the massive problems that occurred last week as the airline moved into its new home in Terminal 5. But here's a bright spot for Washington area travelers: BA f lights from Dulles and BWI are still flying into the old terminal and aren't scheduled to move into the expensive but troubled new terminal until the end of April .

The opening last week of Terminal 5, built at a price of more than $8 billion, ended up being a "national embarrassment," in the words of one British politician. The high-tech baggage system was such a disaster that tens of thousands of bags were misplaced , and the airline canceled hundreds of flights .

Last week, British Airways spokeswoman Michele Kropf said she couldn't predict when passengers and bags would be reunited but said everyone was working around the clock to sort things out . The number of flight cancellations, she added, was quickly being reduced.

The terminal was built specifically for the use of British Airways, and eventually all BA flights will arrive at and depart from Terminal 5. Luckily, though, flights from New York and Washington weren't to start using Terminal 5 until the end of this month. The troubled terminal now is being used for short-haul flights within the U.K. and for flights to and from Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C.

Passengers whose flights were canceled were, as of last week, being offered the option of later bookings or refunds . Under European Union rules, passengers whose flight delays last overnight must be given lodging, food, drink and transportation between hotels and the airport. The standard advice to check your flight's status before leaving for the airport is especially critical if Terminal 5 plays any role in your plans.

TRIP INSURANCE

A Day by Any Other Name. . .

When a United Airlines flight to St. Maarten was diverted back to Dulles with mechanical problems and didn't get fixed until the next day , Julie and Neal Hedlund of Arlington were inconvenienced, but at least they weren't worried about losing the money they'd spent for their first night's lodging on the Caribbean island: They'd bought insurance that would reimburse them for prepaid lodgings if their flight was delayed at least 24 hours. According to information collected from official sources by the Web site http://www.flightstats.com, the flight was delayed 24 hours and 13 minutes.

The Hedlunds needed proof of that delay and, from shortly after the original Dec. 8 flight until spring, kept asking United for a letter they could give the insurance company. Finally, the couple called CoGo. Soon they received a letter from the airline stating that the flight had been delayed, and "you took a flight the next day ."

But the insurance company's policy specifies "24 hours." CoGo explained the nuance again and asked that the letter be specific about 24 hours. Soon after, the Hedlunds got another letter from the airline stating that their flight had been delayed 23.75 hours . It said the flight had been scheduled to depart at 8:35 a.m . Dec. 8 and actually departed at 8:32 a.m. Dec. 9 . Official records, however, show that the plane departed at 8:48 a.m.

Contacted again by CoGo, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said that the flight left the gate at 8:32 and that perhaps the 8:48 time in official records referred to the time the flight left the runway .

In fact, that is so. The detail might have prevented the Hedlunds from collecting the insurance for the resort room they couldn't use. But finally they did what you should do in such a circumstance: They submitted the detailed flight info provided at FlightStats , and the insurance company paid for their loss.

WEB WATCH

Hyatt Checks In With Tips

Hyatt has come up with a clever way to provide useful content for travelers by calling on the knowledge of three sources: the concierges at its many hotels worldwide; its well-traveled, frequent-stay Gold members; and Frommer's guidebooks.

The results can be found at the unfortunately named http://www.yattit.com (a play on Hyatt, without the "H"). Choose a country and a city, and you'll find advice on what to see and do, where to eat and local culture . Additionally, Gold members can post up-to-the-minute tips, and some will appear on the home page.

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

British Airways is offering spring and summer sale fares to Europe. Round-trip fare from BWI or Dulles to Amsterdam, for example, starts at $636 (including $144 taxes) for travel through May 25, and $1,047 (including taxes) for flights May 26-Sept. 3. Fare on other carriers starts at $828 and $1,225, respectively. Lowest prices include a $20 discount for registering and booking online at http://www.britishairways.com. For best fares, travel Monday-Wednesday. Book by April 10.

Reporting: Cindy Loose

Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to cogo@washpost.com.