Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

richardw

bess wrote: »

I mentioned at the time how would i go about making a claim for denied boarding but was told that this was not the case as they were putting us on a flight.

Perhaps write and ask them to clarify their position and for them to make reference to EU Regulation EC261/2004 which clarifies their position.

My guess is you will get a load of waffle back, but it is necessary to get this in writing first.

ajscott37

Hi

After a piece of advise and I'm not sure I agree with Virgin's stance on my compensation claim.

Background - my claim

We were boarded on to the Plane, whist they were trying to fix an engine issue. We sat on the plane for 5 hours. Finally the flight was cancelled and rescheduled for 24hours later. The problem was engine vibrations.

My claim

Re: European Union’s Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

I inserted the URL to the money saving expert website

Re: 41106/S11 (booking reference)

Hi

Looking at the above legislation my wife and I who were due to fly on VS031 from Gatwick to St Lucia are entitled to €600 compensation as the flight was delayed until 29th June at 10:40. (25 hours).

We were seated at 37H and 37J. Please you arrange for the €1200 to be sent to us.

The response from Virgins was

Thank you for your email regarding your flights to St. Lucia in June. Initially I must apologise for the delay in responding to you. We aim to reply within 28 days but are currently working outside of this, this is completely unintentional and is something we are working hard to rectify.

I’m sorry that your travel plans were so disrupted by the technical delay to our flight to St. Lucia. I realise that this was particularly disappointing as you had already boarded the flight. I can understand your frustrations to be on board for such a long period of time, with very little refreshments.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, the engineers expected to be able to resolve the problem quickly, however after further investigation, this proved not to be the case. Although they attempted to resolve the issue I time, we did eventually have to delay the flight overnight because the crew ran out of their legal flying hours.

Whilst I appreciate your request for EU compensation, in line with EU regulations 261/2004, we do not pay compensation if a flight is cancelled or delayed for reasons beyond our control. These include:

Weather conditions
Air traffic decision
Unforeseen flight safety shortcomings
Industrial disputes
Political instability
Security risks

In accordance with our obligation under EU regulation 261/2004 we supplied overnight accommodation where applicable, refreshments and communications to all passengers affected by this delay. The fault detected before the aircraft departure was unexpected and could not have been prevented even though we had taken all reasonable measures to avoid such an occurrence.

With this in mind I am afraid we won’t be able to meet with your request for compensation on this occasion.

Despite this, we still like to offer a gesture of goodwill and have offered passengers a bumper amount of Flying Club miles. You should have received a ‘Sorry’ voucher detailing this. This offers an additional 12,500 Flying Club miles, on top of the 4,228 that you are entitled to claim for taking the flight. I acknowledge that you are not currently a member of the scheme however, it is free to use and is a fantastic way for us to reward you for flying with us. The 16,728 miles is already more than enough miles to redeem against discounted ‘Miles Plus Money’ fares, a one way upgrade, or a free return trip to Northern Europe using British Midland flights.

If you wish to enrol into the Flying Club and claim these miles you can do so on our website. If you let me know your membership numbers by return email I will ensure these miles are credited for the both of you.

We can only hope this experience won’t deter you from flying with Virgin Atlantic in the future and we that we may have the pleasure to welcome you back on board one of our flights again soon.

Kind Regards,

---

Is this a fair response or should I pursue? I would have thought an engine problem was very much in Virgins control?

How do I progress?

Many thanks for you help and assistance

richardw

ajscott37 wrote: »

After a piece of advise and I'm not sure I agree with Virgin's stance on my compensation claim.

Hi ajscott

Perhaps delete any identifying information from your post, ie booking ref and seat numbers.

You'll get an excellent response over on

http://www.flightmole.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=18

and a post there may be more useful.

jeany78

Thoughts please on my experience:
Our flight from Majorca to Stansted was delayed by five hours. Easy jet said we could either a) wait for the flight b) fly to Luton instead which would be leaving in an hour. They made promises to put on transport from Luton to Stanstead so we chose the Luton flight.
We landed there at 1 in the morning, no Easyjet staff to be found, once we found them they said there would NOT be any transportation put on for us. We paid £101 taxi fare to Stanstead and eventually Easyjet refunded this taxi fare.
My question today, would our situation fall in line with compensation guidelines for a delayed flight, or not as they put us on another one although they didn't keep their word once we arrived at the other end?

richardw

If it went to a small claims court hearing, what would you say to the Judge as the basis for your claim?

You weren't stuck at Palma for five hours and your taxi fare was refunded.

behakerd

Hi all,

This is what happened to us:

Our flight was supposed to depart at 21:30 from Turkey to Luton. First they said we will have 30 min delay, then we waited for 5 hours (2:30am) until they said the flight is cancelled because of technical problems. They said we have 2 options: wait until the next day, or go to Manchester and then Luton. We decided to go via Manchester. We arrived at Luton 10 hours later than the original arrival time.

I sent them a complaint letter saying that under EU 261/2004 I should get a fixed compensation amount of 400 Euros.

2 weeks later they sent me a letter and apologized for the delay and offered me a £90 discount voucher for the future flights. This is a summary of what they wrote:

"We take full responsibility for our service provider not delivering the standard of care that our passengers deserve. This shortfall in service has been addressed. ..... In line with EU regulations, I'm afraid that the carriers are not expected to pay compensation for delay..."

They have not said that the delay was because of extraordinary circumstances which I think is a good sign. but they have denied to pay compensation.

What should be my next step? Shall I ask them again or go straight for the court?

Thanks

richardw

More information about Monarch's approach https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/46147793#Comment_46147793

ncsmummy

I am a little bit confused by the whole thing! On Monday 8th ugust this year we were due to fly with Thomson to Ibiza - I hve hd a letter from Thomson confirming that our flight was delayed for 6 hours and 57 minues due to technical reasons (hydraulic fluid leak). At the airport we were only provided with a £5 voucher each during that time. Instead of arriving at our hotel at around 11pm we didnt arrive until 5am! Therefore losing an entire night of our holiday! We were treated like animals at the airport - to the extent that it was freezing, and all the kids were trying to sleep but they couldnt even provide blankets!
I phoned Thomson wen we arrived home and they told me that the £5 is all they need to provide and that basically it is tough!!!! Is this correct?
I paid a fortune for that holiday and they ruined the first night (and the first day tbh!)

Haggis_Muncher_2

Hi, looking for a small piece of advice:

I booked 4 tickets to fly from Edinburgh to Newark on the 2nd of July 2011. The tickets were purchased through BMI but the flight was operated by Continental Airlines. To cut a long story short the flight was cancelled twice and we arrived in Newark 2 days late!

I have been in touch with BMI but they say they acted only as marketing agents and I'll have to persue my claim for compensation through Continental.

Does anyone know if this should be the case as I would have thought that it should be BMI as they are the company that we entered a contract with?

Thanks very much

richardw

The reg refers to operating air carrier which was Continental.