Which airlines went that 'extra mile' for their customers?

wave_rider_2

Whilst we can all judge airlines on their price and the service they offer under normal circumstances, the recent ash cloud debacle gives us the opportunity to compare them when things go awry. Most companies can perform acceptably when all goes to plan, but the real test of a company's commitment to its customers is when things go wrong. Over the last couple of weeks, just about all the major airlines have been put to the same test – allowing us to compare them on a 'level playing field'.


This is an opportunity for us to support 'customer-focused' airlines (through our future buying decisions) and to show all airlines that customer commitment in these circumstance is paramount.


So which airlines actively helped their customers to cope with the distress of the delays at the 'point of departure'? Which voluntarily accepted their responsibilities under EU regulation 261/2004 and provided food & accommodation or, at least, the assurance that the costs for such would be fully reimbursed? Which airlines helped to allay anxieties and made the best efforts to get their customers home?

Tojo_Ralph

.....
Based on the first hand experiences of friends, family and colleagues, I would suggest that through all of this chaos, Ryanair have proven that they are 100% customer focused, that they are close to the customer and that they operate with a real "can do" attitude that ensures that they deliver on customers expectations regardless of monetary concerns.

Regards,

Tojo "straightjacket" Ralph

ukmike

Monarch were superb for me,couldn't fault them.

simongregson

Easyjet were fine after a few days, but to begin with they didn't really know what to do. Some customers had their hotels provided directly by easyjet, but they refused the same same for us. I suspect that this was the case with most carriers though as logistically there was a huge number of customers to deal with.

I will be judging it by how long they take to give me my hotel and food money back. At least easyjet haven't argued about their liability on this. All of them knew in advance so I'm afraid I have no time for Ryanair's wingeing, and good on the EU for not allowing them to screw their customers over which they would given half a chance, I'm sure their £5 online check in charges will enough to pay the compensation bill!

Airparks (airport car parking) have been great and not charged us any extra days, so I am very impressed by them.

sloan

I cannot fault British Airways for the impeccable way they dealt with all of their customers here in Los Angeles. We are still here, but think we will have a flight today. I would also like to thank the British Consul General here and the city of Los Angeles which pulled out all the stops to make our enforced stay memorable. All the city museums waived payments on production of a British passport, as ddi Disney, Sea World, Madame Tussaud's, Los Angeles Zoo etc. What started as a calamity turned into a very pleasant experience for us!

[Deleted User]

Easyjet for us, couldn't fault the team at Alicante airport, we had 8 days hotel and food and transport to the hotels.Will give them all my support in the future

Coupon-mad

ukmike wrote: »

Monarch were superb for me,couldn't fault them.

Well I can fault Monarch and would NEVER use them or Cosmos again.

I am guessing you were on a Monarch package holiday or were staying in your own accommodation with no extra costs, or work for Monarch?

We were flight-only to Lanzarote and Monarch were absolutely shocking in their rudeness, absolute denial of our Right to Care and complete disinterest in contacting people once flights resumed on Thursday 22nd. Another customer at the Airport spoke to the British Consulate in Spain (I tried but could not get through at all) and among other things they were told Monarch were 'worse than Ryanair' in this crisis.

Apart from not paying for food/accommodation, Monarch also took zero interest in knowing who had been stranded, if you were flight-only. Hence why every single UK-bound Monarch flight out of Lanzarote on Thursday 22nd had dozens of empty seats even though Monarch still had customers stranded who HAD contacted them and given them a mobile phone number. If you phoned their flight booking team and waited 45 minutes to get through, they told you that all flights were booked until May so no doubt there are still people all over Europe sitting it out and believing this was true.

See my thread on how terribly we were treated (family with 4 children stranded for a week with no help whatsoever, can't even begin to describe the stress and worry, never mind the financial implications):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/240873

On the island the Cosmos/Monarch Holidays office Manager was horrendously aggressive and unhelpful. When we asked to leave our mobile contact details so we could find out if a plane was available he refused, he also refused to give us his name. And when we asked for our Right to Care which we had put in writing due to phone calls and emails being ignored, he chased us and another family out of the door 'you are nothing to do with us, take your bits of paper and get out...'.

Got to add that in our hotel, Thomas Cook and Thomson got the gold star for going the extra mile. They paid for all their customers, flight only or not, and were also happy to advise us with what they could find out as well - they were very sympathetic to our plight as were the hotel staff.

ukmike

I am guessing you were on a Monarch package holiday or were staying in your own accommodation with no extra costs,

Package but others at same hotel(Spain) were flight only & got treated just as good.Hotel extra stay paid for,all expenses covered,coach & channel crossing+coach back to Manchester all arranged for free.

or work for Monarch?

Work??Sorry i'm retired!!

Coupon-mad

That's interesting and soooo sorry for suggesting you might work for Monarch - it's just that our experience was so different from yours.

Very useful to know that flight-only passengers in Malaga were sorted out and paid for by Monarch, same as package holiday guests. Our experience was so far-related from yours you would have thought it was a different company we were talking about - and part of the blame for that would lie with the Matagorda (Lanzarote) Cosmos office IMHO.

stephb34

Just got back from the Dominican Republic with Thomas Cook and although we had no problems the people that did were looked after superbly, some had upto 5 days free accommodation on an All inclusive basis and even the TC flight only people got free all inclusive. Unfortunately it wasn't the same for the Thomson customers, the package people were looked after although they did have to move to RUI hotels as they were cheaper, but not the flight only customers, they were literally dumped by the rep he wouldn't even help 1 girl with phone calls. It was 100$ per day for them to stay in our hotel per person.
And yes i do work for Thomas Cook and im extremely proud of them for how they behaved the only thing i couldn't understand was why did our plane come back only two thirds full, when the thomsons people were still stuck there waiting for flights surely on this occasion it would have been better for thomsons to purchase these seats than pay for them to stay more nights in the hotels, you would have thought that due to the circumstances they would have worked together on this one.

old_motters

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Well I can fault Monarch and would NEVER use them or Cosmos again.

I am guessing you were on a Monarch package holiday or were staying in your own accommodation with no extra costs, or work for Monarch?

We were flight-only to Lanzarote and Monarch were absolutely shocking in their rudeness, absolute denial of our Right to Care and complete disinterest in contacting people once flights resumed on Thursday 22nd. Another customer at the Airport spoke to the British Consulate in Spain (I tried but could not get through at all) and among other things they were told Monarch were 'worse than Ryanair' in this crisis.

Apart from not paying for food/accommodation, Monarch also took zero interest in knowing who had been stranded, if you were flight-only. Hence why every single UK-bound Monarch flight out of Lanzarote on Thursday 22nd had dozens of empty seats even though Monarch still had customers stranded who HAD contacted them and given them a mobile phone number. If you phoned their flight booking team and waited 45 minutes to get through, they told you that all flights were booked until May so no doubt there are still people all over Europe sitting it out and believing this was true.

See my thread on how terribly we were treated (family with 4 children stranded for a week with no help whatsoever, can't even begin to describe the stress and worry, never mind the financial implications):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/240873

On the island the Cosmos/Monarch Holidays office Manager was horrendously aggressive and unhelpful. When we asked to leave our mobile contact details so we could find out if a plane was available he refused, he also refused to give us his name. And when we asked for our Right to Care which we had put in writing due to phone calls and emails being ignored, he chased us and another family out of the door 'you are nothing to do with us, take your bits of paper and get out...'.

Same happened to Monarch FO people in Goa. A friend of mine was out there with Thomas Cook flight only, Thomas Cook put them up B&B in reasonable accommodation and was satisfied with their response. Was very pleased that he hadn't flown Monarch.

As the OP says, this kind of situation really sorts the wheat from the chaff.