HEBRIDEAN HIKES

A £652 charge to change from Edinburgh to Inverness? Simon Calder tells how changing travel plans can be pricey

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Many transatlantic flights overfly the Outer Hebrides; my British Airways flight last week from London to Denver did just that.

But for the residents of Scotland’s wonderful Western Isles, reaching America proves a palaver.

Dolina MacLeod and her husband face a long journey in October when they travel from the Outer Hebrides to visit their daughter in New York. “We booked some time ago on British Airways from Edinburgh to New York via London Heathrow, both ways,” she says. “Since then, flight schedules have updated.”

Many people like to book flights months ahead. You have a fair chance of getting a better fare. But one downside is that airlines may tweak their schedules. A one-hour shift earlier or later is not much of a problem for straightforward point-to-point flights. But for connecting flights, it can mean an extended wait and a much longer journey overall.

“I enquired with British Airways to change the last leg of our journey - from Heathrow to Edinburgh - to an Inverness flight,” says Ms MacLeod. “This provides easier transportation links to return home to the Outer Hebrides.”

The extra distance is 112 miles. The extra cost? “I was incredibly shocked to be quoted £652 as the charge to make this change,” she says.