Stuck in Lanzarote and paying accommodation - Monarch grrr!

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Also, another passenger here in the same position as us, has said that the Monarch website has been changed in the last few days to remove a paragraph which said ¨If your flight is cancelled by us we will provide meals/refreshments/accommodation¨.

Is this true, can anyone find the cached page or help me to look for it next time I am on here? Thanks for all help, it is much appreciated. x

Many, many thanks for the info, I have emailed Tim Jeans and will also ring the Foreign Office Helpline shortly.

Nothing has changed yet but have given Tim Jeans this morning to reply with Monarch´s last word on our case (as opposed to the rude staff we have spoken to on the phone and here in Lanzarote, Cosmos staff washing their hands of us because we are not pakage holdiay guests).

Anyone techy who knows how to find the cached page above, and whether Monarch did alter their website this week?

Browntoa

if you find the exact page on the monarch site using google then the word "cached" appears underneath

Browntoa

found it, dated 10th april

section 6 of this cached page

http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:m7eVs40VTMsJ:holidays.monarch.co.uk/popup/terms+monarch.co.uk%2BIf+your+flight+is+cancelled+by+us+we+will+provide+meals/refreshments/accommodation&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Please note: this clause only applies to charter flights.

For holidays including scheduled flights any arrangements provided in the event of flight delay are only provided at the sole discretion of the airline concerned.
We wish we could guarantee to you that your flight will never be delayed, but unfortunately delays still occur. If and when this happens we will be on hand to look after you. If an outbound flight from the UK is delayed by over three hours we will endeavour to provide light refreshments* and, in the case of a delay of over four hours, a meal* at mealtimes. If your flight home to the UK is delayed, we will arrange for you to remain in your accommodation, or be transferred to another accommodation closer to the airport*.

lky2k23

I am in similar situation but stuck in new York. Booked with aa direct. Was due to fly out this morning. Not offering anything and it seems like they don't have to is this right? The big problem we have is they said we will fly out Tuesday whereas others we are with who booked with agents are booked next Saturday onwards which seems lot more realistic. Any help please email me liamkeefe@googlemail.com as we are running out of money and have a mega doubt we will be flying home that soon!

Debt_Free_Chick

Browntoa wrote: »

found it, dated 10th april

section 6 of this cached page

http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:m7eVs40VTMsJ:holidays.monarch.co.uk/popup/terms+monarch.co.uk%2BIf+your+flight+is+cancelled+by+us+we+will+provide+meals/refreshments/accommodation&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Please note: this clause only applies to charter flights.

For holidays including scheduled flights any arrangements provided in the event of flight delay are only provided at the sole discretion of the airline concerned.
We wish we could guarantee to you that your flight will never be delayed, but unfortunately delays still occur. If and when this happens we will be on hand to look after you. If an outbound flight from the UK is delayed by over three hours we will endeavour to provide light refreshments* and, in the case of a delay of over four hours, a meal* at mealtimes. If your flight home to the UK is delayed, we will arrange for you to remain in your accommodation, or be transferred to another accommodation closer to the airport*.

Interestingly, that page starts with the words ....

"Monarch Holidays is a trading name of Cosmos Holidays plc."

And goes on ...

"Where in these Booking Conditions we refer to “we”, “us” and “our”, this means Cosmos Holidays plc trading as Monarch Holidays and Monarch."

I wonder who the OP's contract is with and whether Cosmos at the resort really do have an obligation to help him out ....?

CouponWoman

Hi Coupon mad

Someone on the coupon thread mentioned your "holiday" problems.
.
I hope you get everything sorted, I don't know the answer to your problem, but my best wishes are coming your way. Keep your chin up.

Good luck
CWxx

withabix

CouponMad, you will probably have to pay for your accommodation and then claim it back when you get back to the UK, simply because Monarch don't seem to understand their obligations under EU Regulations. Clearly someone will have to pay your hotel bill when you check out and it will undoubtedly be you, because it will take longer than the date of your return to the UK to resolve the argument with Monarch.

To be honest, the EU Regs weren't written to cover severe widespread disruption such as this - trying to get companies to direct-pay individual hotels during this disruption is unworkable. Unfair as it may be, refunding their customers expenses in the UK is a more practical solution.

The EU Regs covering air travel are unique and will probably send some of the airlines out of business.

There will undoubtedly be a template letter and verbatim reproduction of the rules posted on MSE as a sticky or website page within a few days, so you can use that when you get back home. Weather forecast suggests that flights will resume by about Thursday/Friday this week following a change in wind direction.

On the following link:

http://www.monarch.co.uk/news/holidays/travel-alerts/icelandic-volcano

it says

Avro ZB Flight-Only travellers may contact the Call Centre to transfer their flight, once operations restart, or claim a refund for the cancelled ZB inbound sector. Airlines may consider reasonable claims for receipted out of pocket expenses.

AVRO Flight-Only pax on Charter Flights (Monarch, ThomsonFly, Thomas Cook etc,) should liaise with the local Tour Operator Representative, as they will be notified when the Charter operation resumes, but also to ensure that we have a local contact number for them. Airlines may consider reasonable claims for receipted out of pocket expenses.


They may argue about paying for you to stay in the hotel of your choice at the AI price you are paying. Clearly three meals a day and soft drinks/tea/coffee is reasonable, but paying for you to get drunk and to eat/drink 24/7 clearly isn't!

(I'm not criticising you - I'm looking forward to my 4* AI holiday to Lanzarote in two weeks....hopefully)

I would suggest that you check some prices for alternative accommodation on a full board basis to make sure you are paying a reasonable cost. If you are in a 5* and 3* is available, you may end up with an argument there, although in reality you coud bill them for accommodation and all meals and drinks separately, which would obviously cost more.


Your flight will have been a 'ZB' scheduled flight and not a 'MON' charter flight, as they operate a scheduled service to Lanzarote, HOWEVER, you presumably booked a CHARTER ticket on a SCHEDULED flight, as you booked via Avro.

Contact numbers for flight customers are apparently:

08719 40 50 40 - if calling from the UK
+44 8719 40 50 40 - if calling from overseas on a UK mobile
800 099 260 - if calling from Spain, the Canary or Balearic Islands (landline only)
20041169 - if calling from Gibraltar
800 860270 - if calling from Portugal
800 95242 - if calling from Cyprus

The biggest problem I can see is not actually getting your out-of-pocket expenses back. I see the problem being who you get it back FROM.

I can see there being business carnage in the travel industry - some low cost airlines and tour operators probably won't be around in a few weeks time, as they just won't be able to survive this.

sher60

Sorry you are still stuck in Lanzarote, have you thought of coming home by train, coach or even hire a car, it would probably be faster than waiting for a flight also might be cheaper than paying for accommodation while you are stuck. Good luck to you and your family! I hope you have a safe journey home whichever route you take. Bet you never thought your holiday would turn into such an adventure!

Willip

It's an island...:T

Debt_Free_Chick

Willip wrote: »

It's an island...:T

True - but Southern Europe is not affected by the closure of air space, so a flight to Spain could be an option, with road/rail/ferry from there.