Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Alias_Omega

cmatt360 wrote: »

easyjet flight cancelled - train booked (£65 first class to london no less :-)) and I am off to see public image limited tonight with london mates. Refund applied for - and 'alternative travel' form filled in ;-) Probably won't get the £65 back - but trying it on anyway

Told at the the airport that no flights will be available today or tomorrow

What I thought was a bit silly - was that they were putting people onto coaches from edinburgh to gatwick... surely with the current weather conditions this is a bit er dangerous? :-S

Not really, the A1 is pretty much nearly all 2 lanes down from edinburgh through newcastle, north yorkshire. Where they could pick up the M1 or even the A1 to the M25.

M1 being 3 lanes, A1 being mainly 2 lanes.

All pretty clear as major routes.

apt

Axiom wrote: »

My story:

We went to Gran Canaria for a week (From 14/12 to 21/12). Upon getting Las Palmas airport, we found that our flight back to Glasgow was going to be delayed for at least 12 hours. We had two young children in our party (one of whom was two years old); we had no baby food, clean clothes, nappies or anything of that nature, as we did not expect to be delayed. As a consequence, we paid to get on another flight that was leaving around the same time (yet, perplexingly, was not delayed.) Our original - delayed - flight, was supposed to land at 1950 yesterday evening, yet landed at 1035 this morning.

Given the circumstances, to whom would I speak to in order to get compensated for the money spent upon getitng aboard the other flight? Would I claim back from my travel insurance or from Thomas Cook? (TC being the company we booked the holiday from).

Many thanks.

As an earlier reply states whether you stand a chance of getting more than a nominal insurance sum for a 12 hour delay depends on what the airline/tour operator offered at the time and whether you gave them a reasonable chance to make arrangements. If they refused you accommodation and food or a transfer to the flight you ended up taking then you would have an arguable case. If you did not give them a reasonable opportunity then I don't expect you will get your money back.

GemmaZ

Hi, Am new to this and would really appreciate some advice on the following:
On Sunday my mum and I flew from Manchester to Dublin with Ryanair. We suffered serious delays due to the snow. We were meant to fly at 10.10am, but didn't board until 12.30ish. We then sat on board the plane waiting -for the plane to be de-iced, runway to re-open etc etc. At 3ish we did make it to the runway and were then sent back to the gate due to the plane in front being struck by lightening. We then had to wait again for de-icing, runways to open etc etc. We finally took off at 5.40pm ( a delay of 7.5 hours, 5 of which were sat on the plane.)
I appreciate that the circumstances of the delay were due to weather, but what has really irked me is that during those 5 hours on board a very hot plane we were not even provided with a drink. I asked for a drink of water to be told that they did not have permission to open the bar until the plane was in the air. Why could bottled water not have been brought to the plane? - A man came to collect passengers who wished to leave after approx 3 hours. Finally at 4.30 they decided they did have permission to open the bar whilst we were still on the ground and started taking orders for hot snacks - but we had to pay, even for water. I paid 18euros for 2 paninis and 2 bottles of water.
I have been reading about the duty of care regulations but cannot find anything about how these pan out if you are actually grounded on the plane rather than delayed in the airport lounge. Can anyone help?
To add insult to injury it was actually my birthday on Sunday, and the reason we were travelling to Dublin was for a Paul McCartney concert, which started at 8pm. Thankfully we made it by the skin of our teeth - even had to take our bags into the arena! (He was fab!!)
Going to compose my letter to Ryanair today - any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks you.

Axiom

apt wrote: »

If they refused you accommodation and food or a transfer to the flight you ended up taking then you would have an arguable case. If you did not give them a reasonable opportunity then I don't expect you will get your money back.

When we spoke to them about getting a transfer to the flight we ended up taking in lieu of the delayed flight, we were told that they could not help us because it was with another airline (Thomson, instead of the original Thomas Cook flight.)

morleymackam

morleymackam wrote: »

I've had a similar issue. Had a flight cancelled after 4hrs delays from East Midlands to Prague. We were assured by the people at the airport that we would get compensation as the cancellation was due to snow in Venice (where the flight was coming from) causing a delay meaning our crew had worked their hours.

Speaking to Easyjet on the phone they have said we won't get compensation as it's due to weather reasons. Any info I can chuck at them?

Just an update. Have now had 3 phone calls with Easyjet at a total cost of over £20! The most recent one we were initially told that we weren't due a refund or compensation as we had been emailed and told the flight was cancelled. It appears the customer service monkey had seen we were sent an email and just assumed this. In fact the email was telling us of a 10 minute change to our return flight.....

When we cleared that up we were told that the flight was cancelled due to poor weather at East Midlands which goes against absolutely everything that we had been told by staff at the airport. Is there anyway of gathering our own evidence of why the flight didn't operate? I have an audio recording of the supervisor at East Midlands explaining that they cancelled the flight due to staff already working their hours and that we would 100% be given compensation.

I'll be honest this whole affair has made me think twice about flying with Easyjet again, it wasn't even a cheap flight!

cmatt360

morleymackam wrote: »

Just an update. Have now had 3 phone calls with Easyjet at a total cost of over £20! The most recent one we were initially told that we weren't due a refund or compensation as we had been emailed and told the flight was cancelled. It appears the customer service monkey had seen we were sent an email and just assumed this. In fact the email was telling us of a 10 minute change to our return flight.....

When we cleared that up we were told that the flight was cancelled due to poor weather at East Midlands which goes against absolutely everything that we had been told by staff at the airport. Is there anyway of gathering our own evidence of why the flight didn't operate? I have an audio recording of the supervisor at East Midlands explaining that they cancelled the flight due to staff already working their hours and that we would 100% be given compensation.

I'll be honest this whole affair has made me think twice about flying with Easyjet again, it wasn't even a cheap flight!

i would imagine that the flight crew ran out of flying time. As the BA gatwick flights were operating however only delayed for 15 minutes.

oh - and not ALL the a1 edinburgh > newcastle is 2 lanes i have done that run more times than i care to remember!

just waiting on the refund now

bazbaz2

similar thing happened to us dec 22 dur to fly home from dominican republic to manchester then nat express to durham
delayed 13hrs due to weather so we lost our nat express connection - alternatives were staying in hotel then trying to get a seat on nat express on x eve - so we paid £97 for train to durham on dec 23

this has happened to us before- it cost us £300 for a room & a flight for 2 people both with thomsons although the first time it happened we were assured by the thomsons rep that all expenses could be claimed back, but it was not to be
don't suppose we will be reimbused for £97, we can claim £40 for delay with our own insurance

it seems to me it would be wise not to have connecting flights & buses in case of delay which adds on to the holiday cost, only fly from local airports
Baz

robot1000

I've written a complaints letter to BMI following a 6 hour delay with them. I would appreciate comments on it and if the rights that I quoted are all correct.

Thanks

Booking Reference ******

I have just returned from 1 week in Israel having travelled with my family under the above booking reference.

Our experience at Heathrow airport on 23 December 2009 was totally unacceptable and I set out below a catalogue of problems that we encountered.

• We arrived at the check in area at 9:10am for a flight scheduled to depart at 11:20am. When asked where to proceed, the BMI staff told us that they were not checking in anyone for the Tel Aviv flight at the moment and that we should just wait in line. No explanation was offered as to the reason for the delay, although it became obvious after standing around for some time that the flight would not be departing on time.
• After waiting approximately 30 minutes, we were invited to proceed to the automatic booths to print boarding passes. I explained to the staff that I had not been able to check in online at home as your computer system was bringing up the wrong passenger details against the e-booking numbers. Nevertheless, we attempted to book in at the booth only to find the same problem occurring. When we advised the staff member, we were moved to the front of a different queue which we were led to believe would lead us directly to the check in desks.
• After a further period of time, a different member of staff came along and asked us to follow her. Unfortunately, this was not to the check in desks, but to yet another queue where we joined 8 other traveller groups.
• We waited in this queue for a further 1 hour during which time no-one on our flight was checking in, although those with boarding passes already printed were being directed to a different queue. When I asked what was going on, I was told that priority was being given to those with boarding passes and that those without would have to wait to the end. I complained that this was unfair and that I had arrived earlier than many people who were now being given priority.
• Eventually the check in desks opened and the other queue started to move. The queue that my family was in were then told to join the back of the other queue. Once again I complained that this was unfair and indeed even pointed out to your staff other passengers who I had originally been speaking to when I first arrived had now successfully checked in. It was at this point that your supervisor explained to us for the first time that the original plane had developed a fault in Tel Aviv and that a new (smaller) plane was being flown to Heathrow for our flight. He also advised us that as this plane was smaller, passengers in front of us were invited to accept £300 and fly the following day.
• When we eventually checked in, not unsurprisingly we were unable to get seats together and my daughter and son-in law were unable to get a seat with a bassinet.
• In conversation with other passengers, we had heard that, because of the delay, we were entitled to receive food vouchers. There was no official advice about this and after check in we had to ask if this was correct. Clearly many passengers would have been unaware of this.
• The information boards in the departure lounge showed that the flight was now expected to depart at 3:00 pm although the boarding gate was not even published until after this time. We were eventually advised which boarding gate to proceed to and when we arrived there we were again held for a further 45 minutes approximately in an area which was totally inadequate for the number of people flying.
• Once on the plane, the captain apologised for the delay and said we would be departing shortly. A short while later, he then announced that the baggage had been brought to the plane in the wrong sized containers and that all the baggage would have to be off loaded and placed into smaller containers.
• The plane we were now on was an A321. As you are aware, this plane has no onboard entertainment.
• There was an inadequate supply of pillows and blankets on board for which the captain again apologised and said he had chosen not to wait any longer at the airport for these to be delivered to the plane.
• The plane eventually departed at 5:20pmn, 6 hours behind schedule.
• When we collected out baggage at Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, one of our cases and contents was soaking wet. This was obviously the result of the off loading at Heathrow. I registered the complaint at Tel Aviv and will be making a separate compensation claim for this.
• As a direct consequence of arriving 6 hours late at Tel Aviv, I was charged an additional £20 for the transport from the airport to my accommodation in Netanya.

I have now had an opportunity to investigate what procedures BMI should have adopted at Heathrow, and what my rights are.
1.An official announcement should have been made at check in advising passengers of their rights.
2.Under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, the delays entitle us meals and 2 free telephone calls. We received the meal vouchers but not the phone calls.
3.As the flight was delayed for more then 5 hours, we should have been offered the option of cancelling and receiving a full refund. No such offer was made.
4.As the distance to Tel Aviv is 3,590 km and the flight was delayed more than 4 hours, we are entitled to statutory compensation of 600 Euros per person. This right to compensate for flights delayed more than three hours is not set out specifically in Regulation EC261/2004, but follows a European Court of Justice ruling on the Regulation on 19 November 2009. The reasons for the delay do not fall within the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” As you will be aware, in December 2008, the European Court of Justice made a ruling that, as a general rule, airlines should not refuse to pay compensation when a flight is disrupted due to technical problems.
In the light of all the above, I believe we should be further compensated for the way we were mistreated at the airport and that the on board service was not as it should have been. I therefore now look forward to receiving in addition to the 4,200 Euros compensation for the delay, further compensation for all the other factors described above. The 7 passengers in my party, with e-booking numbers, were:
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******
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Yours faithfully,

robot1000

^^

I found these 2 articles which seem to back up my claim

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6606813/European-judgment-boosts-air-passenger-compensation-rights.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1119/aviation.htm

17lbp

Hi
Looking for a bit of advice - sorry its a bit long winded.
We booked flights with delta from Edinburgh to Tampa - Edinburgh to Amsterdam (KLM), Amsterdam to Detroit (Delta) and Detroit to Tampa (Delta).
We boarded the KLM flight at Edi on 23rd Dec for a 5.55am take off, after boarding the airport was closed due to snow, we sat on aircraft until 1pm when we eventually took off - KLM looked after us exceptionally well, food, drinks etc. The time we arrived at Amsterdam we had missed our connection, KLM then booked us onto flights the next day (24th Dec) - AMS to Curaco (KLM), Curaco to Miami (American Airlines) and Miami to Tampa (Continental Gulfstream). KLM gave us 10euro each food voucher, phone cards and a 50 euro voucher for future flights. They would not pay for a hotel as the delay was due to weather - we paid this ourselves at a cost of 64 euro.
When we finally arrived at Tampa on Xmas eve at approx 8pm we discovered that all our luggage was missing - we reported it to Continental and was given usual paperwork etc. 3 of our bags were delivered to us on 26th Dec at 4am!!!! and the other came about 11pm on 26th. Obviously between arriving on 24th and getting our bags we had to buy some clothes etc.
I really want to know what I can claim for and from whom. I think I can claim my purchases from my travel insurance (or should i claim this from the airline???) I'm unsure about my hotel room and if I'm entitled to any compensation from the airline for the delay???
I'd appreciate any advice.