Claiming from airlines

guajeingles

Hello there everyone, a newbie here. If I'm posting this in the wrong place, I apologise!

I'm having some issues reclaiming money from an airline (not sure if I'm supposed to name and shame on here?). Basically, in June I took a flight from Barcelona to Oviedo (also in Spain) and the day before I flew they changed the time of the return flight (10 days later) from early morning until late evening, which meant that I would miss my connection from Barcelona to East Midlands.

I complained under the 261/2004 Europe legislation, but haven't received any written replies; my phone calls have been brushed off. I'm still waiting for the refund of the flight, plus €250 in compensation, which I believed I was entitled to, as they hadn't given me 2 weeks notice of the change.

I've now been told that I'm entitled to the refund of the flight, but not the compensation. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Spanish Air Passenger Rights Watchdog organisation for their opinion. Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

Apparently the difficulty could lie in the terms of conditions (which I can't seem to find.) Rescheduling does not count as cancellation or delay, according to what I have been told. Is this correct? I was not even informed of the change of flight time! If this is true, does this mean that technically airlines can reschedule flights whenever they like?

Any advice/help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

dzug1

guajeingles wrote: »

Hello there everyone, a newbie here. If I'm posting this in the wrong place, I apologise!

I'm having some issues reclaiming money from an airline (not sure if I'm supposed to name and shame on here?). Basically, in June I took a flight from Barcelona to Oviedo (also in Spain) and the day before I flew they changed the time of the return flight (10 days later) from early morning until late evening, which meant that I would miss my connection from Barcelona to East Midlands.

I complained under the 261/2004 Europe legislation, but haven't received any written replies; my phone calls have been brushed off. I'm still waiting for the refund of the flight, plus €250 in compensation, which I believed I was entitled to, as they hadn't given me 2 weeks notice of the change.

I've now been told that I'm entitled to the refund of the flight, but not the compensation. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Spanish Air Passenger Rights Watchdog organisation for their opinion. Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

Apparently the difficulty could lie in the terms of conditions (which I can't seem to find.) Rescheduling does not count as cancellation or delay, according to what I have been told. Is this correct? I was not even informed of the change of flight time! If this is true, does this mean that technically airlines can reschedule flights whenever they like?

Any advice/help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not convinced that the EU regs help you.

The compensation is if the flight is cancelled and you are not given two weeks notice. It wasn't cancelled - it was rescheduled, at least on the face of it.

A refund is if you decide not to take a badly delayed flight - but it wasn't delayed, it was rescheduled. And even if you count it as delayed, you (presumably) took the flight and so don't get a refund.

The airline's T&C may allow a refund if rescheduling is more than n hours - but again only if you decide not to fly.

Sorry - I don't think I'm being much help.

Incapuppy

I think this is the chance you take when you book separate legs of the journey with different airlines (which I assume is the case here?)

guajeingles

I realise it was a risk but I am definitely entitled to a refund of the flight because of the rescheduling. The company has assured me of this -I've been chasing the refund for the last 2 months with no luck. They keep telling me that it is being processed and will be in my account by the end of the week. It's obviously a delaying tactic, trying to get me to drop the claim.

The contentious issue is whether I'm entitled to compensation. It's the lack of notice that really annoyed me.

And even if you count it as delayed, you (presumably) took the flight and so don't get a refund.

No, I didn't take the flight in the end, because it would have left me about 250pounds out of pocket. I had to catch an overnight train in the end, which was one hell of an inconvenience.

Does anyone have a copy of Clickair/Vueling's terms of conditions for flying/booking a ticket? I've had a read of some I've found, but there is nothing about rescheduling anywhere in them at all.

As a relatively frequent flyer, but someone without much money, it's the principle that airlines are apparently allowed to reschedule flights whenever they like (even in the 2 weeks preceding the flight) that worries me.