Malaysian Airlines delay into London - can I claim compensation?

Moonchild

I would have been peeved, but, remembering that KLIA has an amazing hidden food court (if anyone is going that way it's at the back of the airport where the walkway - bridge to the Pan Pacific is) and seen how many Roti Canai I could eat in 4 hours.

However - this is a similar story from another viewpoint. A friend met her unaccompanied child from Singapore on a heavily delayed BA flight which got into Heathrow at 1am. The only way home at that time was a £75 black cab (they don't drive - and the £75 was a lot of money to them). Obviously they were supposed to arrive back at a reasonable hour and jump on the Piccadilly Line home to Finsbury Park.

Do you think BA should have assisted them? Considering it was an 11 year child?

dzug1

Moonchild wrote: »

I would have been peeved, but, remembering that KLIA has an amazing hidden food court (if anyone is going that way it's at the back of the airport where the walkway - bridge to the Pan Pacific is) and seen how many Roti Canai I could eat in 4 hours.

However - this is a similar story from another viewpoint. A friend met her unaccompanied child from Singapore on a heavily delayed BA flight which got into Heathrow at 1am. The only way home at that time was a £75 black cab (they don't drive - and the £75 was a lot of money to them). Obviously they were supposed to arrive back at a reasonable hour and jump on the Piccadilly Line home to Finsbury Park.

Do you think BA should have assisted them? Considering it was an 11 year child?

But it's NOT the only way - buses run every 20 minutes all night from Heathrow Airport to Finsbury Park with one change at Trafalgar Square. £2.20 a ride - less with an Oyster card which living in London they may well have had.

Moonchild

Cityboy wrote: »

Couple of points:

1) BA's responsibility ended once it disgorged its passengers at LHR whether they be children or adults, except that as an unaccompanied minor the child should be delivered to the responsible adult arranged to meet them.

2) Presumably the child's mother is an adult and so there is no consideration for BA to make once the child is reunited at the airport with said parent who can then make the appropriate arrangements to transport themselves home from LHR.

Yep, just to confirm no help was forthcoming, and no compensation was demanded, or was asked for .

Said parent put it down to one of those things. I just thought it was harsh. But again, one of those things!

Moonchild

dzug1 wrote: »

But it's NOT the only way - buses run every 20 minutes all night from Heathrow Airport to Finsbury Park with one change at Trafalgar Square. £2.20 a ride - less with an Oyster card which living in London they may well have had.

Well, yep, technically there are lots of ways around it.

However, a single female parent, with a very tired 11 year old at 2 in the morning, after a 13 hour flight, with 18 hours unaccompanied in Singapore and another flight prior to that, with luggage, in the midst of winter.. i'm not sure it would have been an overly sensible option (at the end of the day, she had access to the cash).

Doshwaster

Moonchild wrote: »

I would have been peeved, but, remembering that KLIA has an amazing hidden food court (if anyone is going that way it's at the back of the airport where the walkway - bridge to the Pan Pacific is) and seen how many Roti Canai I could eat in 4 hours.

Is there? I must have missed that. I had 2 weeks in Malaysia and all of the food was amazing - apart from my last meal which was a revolting plate of overpriced noodles from a cafe in KLIA.

Moonchild

Doshwaster wrote: »

Is there? I must have missed that. I had 2 weeks in Malaysia and all of the food was amazing - apart from my last meal which was a revolting plate of overpriced noodles from a cafe in KLIA.

It's fab, i've had 3 stays at the Pan Pacific KLIA in the last 2 years, and look forward to it for this reason. Dirt cheap too.

You are also allowed in the staff canteen at Singapore Changi - I got taken there - but cannot remember which terminal it is in though - would be interested if someone else knows? There were a few tourists in there.

Doshwaster

Moonchild wrote: »

It's fab, i've had 3 stays at the Pan Pacific KLIA in the last 2 years, and look forward to it for this reason. Dirt cheap too.

Thanks. I'll file that information away in my head for future reference. In general I thought that KLIA was an excellent airport (much better than Bangkok where you spend hours walking for miles) but I was disappointed with the food options that I found. Connecting from an internal flight to an onwards international flight was as easy as I have experienced in any airport anywhere in the world.

ferf1223

richardw wrote: »

Please elaborate, do you think it should be re-written or got rid-off or similar?

How long have you got?

The thing is, my understanding (which could be wrong) is that the legislation is what it is due to the airlines not playing fair historically (massive overbookings, etc)...so from that perspective, OK, I get it...they'll play dirty unless they have real consequences to face.
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But, personally, I wouldn't start looking to the airline for anything (meals included, certainly not financial compensation) until we'd had a reaaaaally long delay. 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours - regardless of how far I'm going? It's bizarre to me that there's any compensation of any kind even considered for delays of that length. At 8 or 12 hours, I might start thinking they should offer to feed me, but that would be about it...if we get to overnight, especially on the return leg where I couldn't just go home, OK, then I'd be expecting a warm bed and maybe some sort of financial compensation due to the loss of part of my holiday.

The whole ash cloud thing? Boggled my mind...why airlines are somehow responsible for hotels/meals for stranded passengers? That's just completely crazy to me.

But again, my understanding is they may have only themselves to blame for the regulations being what they are...so from that perspective, I guess I understand it...but it's still bizarre to me.

I suppose maybe being American, I just don't get the way they do things over here.

stoneman

^^^^^^
What she said, (but then I am American too and you know we don't go in for all this compo stuff)

richardw

ferf1223 wrote: »

if we get to overnight, especially on the return leg where I couldn't just go home, OK, then I'd be expecting a warm bed and maybe some sort of financial compensation due to the loss of part of my holiday.

So the expensive bit for the air carrier in this context isn't bonkers.