Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

cwoolhouse_2

I personally wouldn't have booked on a flight with an airline that'd been bankrupt for a decade. Might explain the delay. :-)

carlosthejackal

My flight was cancelled in 2008. We were travelling from Miami to Newcastle via Heathrow. We arrived into Heathrow fine but the Heathrow to Newcastle flight was eventually cancelled after a long wait to see what was happening (3+ hours) due to snow. I understand I am entitled to a refund but not compensation as it was not the airlines fault but how do I claim if I don't know the value of that Heathrow to Newcastle flight as I paid a single sum for a return from Newcastle to Miami??

Thanks MSE family

athelstan

We flew with friends and family to Cyprus in August this year for my son's wedding. We left Gatwick around 7 hours late (at about 4:30) on two planes instead of one, and when we arrived at about 1 a.m. our luggage was on the second plane. Only Thomas Cook didn't tell anyone; not only us, but also the airport at Larnaca or indeed their own hapless reps. Eventually the second plane arrived (after a further delay due to a burst tyre at Gatwick) and many people had gone on to the hotel as they had small children and anyway we were ushered out of arrivals after reporting our 'missing luggage' and leaving descriptions to local staff (it's rectangular, black, with wheels!)

Our luggage finally arrived and an hour after coming off the plane was wheeled out into a public area on trolleys by the local reps. They had no more idea about this than we did. Chaos, as you can imagine. We arrived, shattered and fed up, in our hotel at dawn; we should have arrived in time for a late swim and dinner the previous evening.

Anyway, to the point: I did send a letter of complaint to Thomas Cook, and quoted the ECJ ruling. Basically they are ignoring it. Their exact words are:

I can see that you have made reference to the recent case in the European Court of Justice which indicates that there may be an entitlement to compensation in the event of flight delays of more than 3 hours. Like the rest of the European airline industry, Thomas Cook Airlines has been giving careful consideration to the recent case, and to the potential impacts that it may have on its customers. We have noted that the case remains under consideration in the German courts and that a number of legal commentators have questioned the validity of the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In particular, it has been suggested that the decision appears to contradict earlier rulings both of the ECJ and various other national courts, and has appeared not to have taken into account the Montreal Convention, to which the European Union and all its members are signatories, and which lays down the framework for compensation in relation to flight delays. In the circumstances, we regret that we cannot therefore entertain any claim for compensation for your flight delay.

So apparently the ruling means nothing? Quite apart from ignoring any responsibility for the customer service shambles inflicted on us by Thomas Cook (who were the suppliers of the flight as well as the package), they aren't paying any attention to the ruling.

Anyone else had something like this? It looks like a standard paragraph to me!

When my daughter complained they sent her a £200 voucher; we got a letter saying get lost. Funnily enough I'm not impressed!

Cheers!

asher3

We were left sitting on the plane at London Heathrow on the tarmac for 7 hours and then they canceled or more accurately delayed the flight until the following morning and put us in a hotel. We only had 2 days in Rio so after the delay it was not worth going.
This was in 2010 so we dont have the paper work any more, but I have just spoken to BA executive club and they gave me the flight and booking number.
We were told that the flight had been delayed and not canceled and so we could not get a refund at the time.
I am going to chase this one up.

Veggie61

Just wondering if I claim from my holiday insurance (who originally turned me down) or direct from the airline? Was on
TOM092 Gatwick to Cancun 27-01-2011. I too was on this cancelled flight and tried to claim from my travel insurance (Insureandgo). They flatly turned me down as they stated the flight wasn't cancelled but the 'delay' was caused by Thomsons rescheduling the flights. If I remember correctly when I booked in at Gatwick at 0600 the sign above the check in desk said TOM092 was cancelled. So what does cancelled mean in English Law. Did anyone manage to get a rebate from their insurance company and if so I would love to see a copy of their letter from Thomson as it must be different to mine.

Never_Enough_Money

Hi hoping someone can help me, my daughter was also delayed on a monarch flight from Gatwick to faro on 24/6/12, her flight was due to depart at 3.40 and land at 18.25 on 24/6/12, she eventually landed at Faro at 03.18 on 25/6/12, she hadn't realised she could claim compensation from Monarch until now. The problem is that Monarch sent her a apology email with an attachment detailing the delays on her flight but have listed them incorrectly, she has phoned them today and they are saying that they cannot find the correct final arrival time info and that after checking their records that she landed at 10pm at Faro, but she definately didn't, but doesn't know how to prove this. Does anyone know if there is a website that lists all of the actual arrival times of delayed flights, she ended up on a different flight number out of gatwick as the original plane was damaged and never arrived at Gatwick. Monarch had to put the passengers on two other flights to Faro in the end.

Just need to be able to prove this to be able to claim compensation, any help would be greatly appreciated. I wonder if Monarch are being difficult so that she cannot make a claim for compensation? Her travel insurance doesn't pay out for a delay less than 8 hours, not sure about the compensation that she can claim from Monarch under the EU ruling.

Thanks in advance

KrisB wrote: »

Our flight from Gatwick to Faro on 10th June 2012 was delayed by nearly 17 hours due to a 'technical problem with the operating aircraft' (Monarch helpfully sent me an email with this information which I will certainly retain). I believe I have a good claim for EUR800 (two of us at EUR400 each), depending on the outcome of the Sturgeon case of course, as this flight is just over 1500km.

I would like some advice before sending a letter notifying them of my intention to claim. I have been unable to find the answers to these when searching this forum but apologies if they have already been answered;

1) Is a claim via my travel insurance provider (Nationwide) likely to affect my rights to compensation from the airline? Nationwide's cover states that they will reimburse £250 (minus £50 excess) for flights delayed over 3 hours. If I accept this money am I still entitled to pursue compensation from the airline under the EU regulations and is it likely to affect the success of this? EUR800 is more than £400 after all (ideally I would like both of course!).

2) I see an example letter several pages back on this thread addressed to Mr Geoffrey Atkinson at Monarch. I understand he is the group lawyer for the airline. Should I address my first letter notifying them of my intent to claim to him or to Monarch's customer services in the first instance (and then to him if they reject my claim)?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

MamanDavies

We have had an ongoing battle to get compensation from Easy Jet since 2007. When my husband was to take our son to Toulouse to watch the rugby as an 18th birthday present. The flight was cancelled, at the last moment, due to problems with the tarmac at Bristol airport. He attempted to change the flight to Gatwick but he would have had to pay an extra £200.00. He was then told that the flight would leave the following day but from Cardiff at 09.34 the following dayl, but they were to book in at Bristol 2 hours before hand.

The following day my husband and son went to Bristol only to be informed on arriving at Cardiff that the flight would not take off until 13.40. However, at 13.05 he managed to ascertain, from an Cardiff airport supervisor that there were no planes due to land within the next hour. This would have made them too late to attend the rugby match. The plane actually arrived at 20.00 hours, to add insult to injury he was told to make his own way back to Bristol from Cardiff. We have had much correspondence with a Mr Richard Logan at Easy Jet even informing him of the change or regulations changing airlines liabilities all to no avail. However, we will now start again

essjaytee

Travelling back from Cancun to Manchester in April 2007 we were told at the hotel on our day of departure that our plane travelling to us from Manchester had been delayed due to problems (we weren't given any exact details at the time). We stayed another night in the hotel and then flew home the next day giving us a 24 hour delay.

I am just about to type out my mse template letter for compensation for this delay but as it was so long ago I no longer have any paperwork or the flight number or booking reference number. I do know the dates and that the flights were with Thomson.

Am I better contacting Thomson first to get this info before sending my letter? Or should I just send the letter giving as much info as I have?

russetred

After reading this thread yesterday and getting some help from Centipede 100 and blindman I have found all the relevant information for my family's flights and have used the CAA template letter for my claim. I will post this, with POP of course, tomorrow to Monarch. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I will keep updating as I hear back from Monarch. Thanks to centipede and blindman for your help.

Reue

Just had a call from Thomson saying they had recieved my claim letter and it would be handled by the appropriate department within 4-6 weeks. Seems like a long wait