Flight delay compensation, all other EU airlines

dinomel1

Hi all,
my family and I were stuck on a plane in Dublin on the way to Chicago in July of last year. We were stood still for around 3 hours and 45 minutes. We were informed that there was a fault with the plane.
I have contacted Aer Lingus in November using their online feedback form and have a case reference number.
Like other members, I have not had anything back from the airline.
I used the proforma from the MSE web page in my original correspondence.
Any advice about my next step- cant seem to find a contact number for the department that I need to contact.
Thanks for any help!

Caz3121

dinomel1 wrote: »

Any advice about my next step-

read Vauban's guide (last link in the sticky) issue NBA giving them 14 days to pay up and then start court proceedings

Twiglet12

Hi all, I've tried to claim with Alitalia for a cancelled flight last October.

Long story short, they've said they cancelled the flight for commercial reasons 18 days before departure. We didn't know until we arrived at the airport for our return flight (status on their website was running on time 3 hours before the flight). We were re-routed but on a flight with a connection and to a different destination airport.

The flights were booked through Expedia. Alitalia claim they told Expedia on the day the flights were cancelled and they owe us nothing. Expedia has offered us some compensation but this is nowhere near our entitlement under the EU regs.

So, my question is, does the airline need to inform passengers directly of cancelled flights, or does them telling Expedia suffice? If the latter, we'll accept the lower compensation Expedia is offering but we want to make sure. Thanks!

JPears

This is a tricky one as to who is ultimately repsonsible for ensuring you are informed of the cancellation. My thoughts are that both Expedia and the airline are responsible.
Expedia really should be offering you a full refund.
Presumably you incurred extra costs in transfer from the new destination airport?
It is for Expedia to prove that you received notice of the cancellation.
Lesson learnt - always, where possible, book directly through airline.

Twiglet12

JPears wrote: »

This is a tricky one as to who is ultimately repsonsible for ensuring you are informed of the cancellation. My thoughts are that both Expedia and the airline are responsible.
Expedia really should be offering you a full refund.
Presumably you incurred extra costs in transfer from the new destination airport?
It is for Expedia to prove that you received notice of the cancellation.
Lesson learnt - always, where possible, book directly through airline.

Expedia have offered us a refund equal to half the cost of the return flight but this only amounts to £60 which doesn't cover the extra costs of the transfer from the new airport. The claim to Alitalia was for €250 (scheduled flight length 1420 km, delay to final destination over 4 hours). We would never have accepted the alternative flight had we been notified in advance as it was non-direct and arrived after 11.30pm; we'd have taken a refund and made alternative arrangements.

We can prove Expedia didn't notify us - the flight was showing as the same on our schedule right up to the day after we returned and complained, when it changed to 'cancelled'. Expedia won't budge at all on the compensation, saying they aren't liable to the same compensation levels as the airlines.

We will settle for the Expedia compensation if we have to, but wanted to make sure we've exhausted other avenues first.

I won't be booking with Expedia (or Alitalia) again!

Caz3121

Twiglet12 wrote: »

I won't be booking with Expedia (or Alitalia) again!

If you had booked with Alitalia direct and they had not informed you then you would have a claim. The fact that you booked through a third party means you do not even know what details Expedia passed on to the airline. Alitalia may not have had visibility of any contact details for you within their system. Alitalia's responsibility would have been to notify the passenger via the contact details, in your case the contact details would have been Expedia
Have you spoken to your travel insurance re reimbursement for your expenses

JPears

Expedia may not be exposed to the same leves of compensation as the airlines, but they are still repsonsible for any additional costs you incurred as a result of their negligence.
And additional goodwill payment for inconvenience.

dinomel1

received two emails back from aer lingus on the same day after their "indepth" look into my case, only to be told that it was due to exceptional circumstances. I used the template letter from Vauban's guide and emailed it off. I have also looked into the cost for small claims and am ready to take it all the way if needs be. Worst thing- I was referred to as MR. (surname).

RustyLogix

I was on Aer Lingus EI 121 on December 9th from Dublin to Orlando. The flight had taken off and was en route near Iceland when the plane turned around and went back to Dublin. The flight was cancelled due to technical issues and we were given a room and meal at a nearby hotel. We were then placed on a flight the next morning from Dublin to Manchester where we took a Virgin Atlantic flight back to Orlando. The total delay from the original arrival time of the first flight was 23 hours.

I filed a claim on the Aer Lingus website using the following link:
aerlingus com/help/help/ forms/customerrelationsform/

I received a case reference number on December 15th but have not heard anything since. Did I use the correct Aer Lingus contact form or is there another email address that I should send the claim to?

Thank you for the help.

NoviceAngel

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