Can I claim for this?

bcl999

Don't want to start a debate about whteher I am entitled or not, just an answer to the following will suffice.

I missed a connecting flight due to the late arrival of my incoming flight. The airline, after a bit of pushing, provided accomodation & food vouchers and I got an onward flight the next morning. Instead of arriving at my destination at 22:42hrs, I didn't arrive until 12:50hrs the next day.

I had a hotel booked (non-refundable) for the night I should have arrived but in the event never even saw the place! Should I have put in a claim either with the airline or with my travel insurance?

I am not out of pocket as such as I needed a hotel somewhere for that night but am now thinking that I would have got the airline hotel due to the missed connection even if I was staying with friends ( or indeed lived) at the final destination so looking at it another way, I am out of pocket for the unused hotel.

Can someone with experience advise please?

Caz3121

Sounds like the airline got you on the next available flight and provided care while you waited and assuming you were on one ticket then this was the right thing to do (if it was separate tickets it will over and above)

there is some info here on flight delays
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays

note that compensation for delays is currently on hold whilst the airlines appeal through the courts.

Your travel insurance may have a token payment, normally about £20-£30 for each 12 hour delay

Alan_Bowen

I think we might need a little more information, were both flights on the same airline, where were the flights to and from and which airline, if there were 2, looked after you. Was any explanation given for the late arrival of the incoming aircraft?

bcl999

Alan Bowen
Delta AMS - FLL via Detroit. When booked, it was quoted as via Chicago with a 3hr stopover which I thought was fine. A week after booking they sent an amended schedule saying now via Detroit with a 1.5hrs stopover which i thought was cutting it fine due to having to go throug immigration & retrieve baggaage for security etc. I e-mailed them and was told that it was plenty of time. I e-mailed them back and said what happens in event of missed connection. (I could see it was the last FLL flight of the day.) They said they would provide hotel etc. At the Detroit transfer desk I was told initially they did not provide hotel. (I think she said something about "wind" but there was no reason given on the plane for late arrival.) Fortunately, I had copy of the e-mail saying they would provide hotel and, on being shown, the transfer desk supervisor authorised it.

Caz3121
Thanks for link. I did have a look at the insurance and there is the provision for the 12hr delay payment though it seems to be a departure delay rather than an arrival delay, if you see what I mean.

As I said before, I needed a hotel somewhere for that night. I paid for one and I got one - though not the one I had paid for and 1000 miles away from where I was supposed to be. Just wondered if ther ewas anywhere I could claim for the unused hotel.

richardw

Help not appreciated.

Voyager2002

Travel insurance should provide something based on the amount of time you lost (a payment per twelve hours that your actual arrival was after your scheduled arrival).

Under European law you are due a cash payment of Euro 600 for the delay (based on the difference between your actual and scheduled arrival times), but such compensation for delayed flights is under review by the courts: look at the long thread on compensation for delayed flights to learn all about it.

bcl999

Thanks for the further replies. I just phoned the insurance company which was a waste of time. It seems I am not covered for the hotel cost as Delta "didn't leave enough time for the connection". (Even though I pointed out I have an e-mail from Delta saying that minimum connection time is 1hr 15mins and that they say the 1hr 40mins they allowed was "plenty of time" according to them.) As for the delay payment, she just tried to argue that my departure wasn't delayed, it was the arrival. So much for Aegeas Travel Insurance. Maybe I should move this to the Vent board!

richardw

help not appreciated.

ian41

Sorry but there is no basis for a claim against the airline for the pre-booked hotel in/near FLL. So unless this is covered by your travel insurance which is unlikely, you should forget about it. No airline will re-imburse you for it.

However, you have a potential claim against the operating air carrier for Euro 600 per passenger. To establish whether you could proceed with a possible claim, could you confirm the following:

1. Was the through flight from AMS to FLL booked at the same time by you under one PNR or booking reference? Or was your AMS to ORD (then changed to DTW) booked first and then the flight to FLL added subsequently? I presume the former but it is critical.

2. Do you live in Holland or did you start your journey somewhere else other than AMS? If there was another flight to AMS where was this from and on which airline? Was this flight also included in the same PNR or booking reference as the flights shown in 1 above?

3. Flights are often marketed by different airlines. For example, I have bought transatlantic flights from Delta but the actual operating air carrier was KLM. Who was the actual operating air carrier on your flights from start to finish i.e.who supplied the aircraft and crew?

4. What time were you due to arrive at DTW and what time did you actually arrive?

Some of the information earlier in the thread did not give a complete picture of the current position regarding pursuing a claim. So please read on.

If you started your journey in AMS and flew to FLL via DTW under one PNR/booking reference (using Delta or KLM) and arrived at FLL more than 3 hours later than scheduled, then you have the basis of a claim for Euro 600 pp against the operating air carrier of the AMS/DTW sector. The airline can claim but has to prove a defence of extraordinary circumstances to avoid such payment.

A claim for such a delay could be started immediately if you live in Holland (or elsewhere in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway but excluding the UK)as it is only in the UK that there is a stay on such claims pending clarification from the ECJ. Other EU countries have accepted the Sturgeon ruling and airlines flying from those countries are meeting claims for long delays - albeit reluctantly. Once again, the airline can claim but has to prove a defence of extraordinary circumstances to avoid such payment.

If you live in the UK, started your journey in the UK and AMS was a transit point for you (and your whole journey was under one PNR), then before you can pursue action for compensation for a long flight delay against any airline flying out of the UK, you will need to wait for the ruling from the ECJ. As announced in other threads, there is a hearing of the ECJ in March 2012 to discuss this matter. See here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=51223083&postcount=1401

If you can clarify your position, then we can offer further help

bcl999

richardw wrote: »

Which airline operated the flight from AMS-DTW, was it Delta or KLM?

How late were you arriving at DTW?

What was the reason for the late arrival at DTW?

See post 4.

About 30 minutes.

See post 4.
.

bcl999

ian41
Thank you for your detailed reply.

1. Yes, it was one journey on the same PNR.(actually GLA-FLL)

2. Journey started GLA and the GLA-AMS sector was a codeshare with KLM - operated by KLM; the rest was Delta.

3. see 2

4. Scheduled arrival was 17:55hrs. Actual touchdown was 18:35hrs. There was a further delay while we waited to be towed to the gate and I disembarked at 19:00hrs. I reached the Delta HelpDesk at 19:30hrs (actually reasonably quickly considering I had to go through Immigration and retrieve my checked bag for another security scan). Scheduled departure of FLL flight was 19:35hrs.

5. I reside in UK.

Let me know if I have missed anything.