Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Tennaelena

Hello, does anyone know if a claimant has to accept a voucher or is entitled to a cheque?

We flew to Cuba with Thomas Cook last October and were delayed for over 3 hours. I was expecting a cheque but they have sent us a voucher.

Whilst I am appreciative to have received some compensation, I wrote my complaint on behalf of 15 people. Thomas Cook have not stated how they arrived at the voucher sum of £4320 nor have they stated who the voucher is compensating... In fact the person named on the voucher who was the lead on the booking, travelled to Cuba the week before our group, and wasnt even delayed! (some went for 14 nights and some, like us who were delayed, only 7 nights)

Anyway, 4 of us inc the previous lead traveller who has to be on the booking, have tried to use the voucher for a trip to Dubai but have been told that we can't use the voucher for our chosen hotel.

I don't know if we should just accept what we have been given and choose an alternative holiday or press for them to change the voucher for a cheque or the holiday that we want.

I would appreciate anyone's comments on this situation.

Many thanks.

Elena.

Vauban

Tennaelena wrote: »

Hello, does anyone know if a claimant has to accept a voucher or is entitled to a cheque?

We flew to Cuba with Thomas Cook last October and were delayed for over 3 hours. I was expecting a cheque but they have sent us a voucher.

If TC believe you qualify for compensation, you are entitled to the cash, as determined by the regulations. But I think you need to be clear quickly though that you're not accepting the vouchers (assuming you don't want to). Trying to book a holiday with the vouchers could reasonably be construed as having accepting them in settlement of the claim.

eddiemacthedog

Mark2spark wrote: »

Send the initial letter as detailed in the FAQ's to the airline that you flew with.
If they no longer exist, no claim can be made.

should i write to thomson as it was a package holiday through them or mytravel as it was their flight?

thanks

rotterdam0892

My Bristol to Paris flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties - supposed to go from Bristol to Paris and then Paris to San Francisco. It was cancelled a few hours before departure. I was "re-booked" on flights which took me from Bristol to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Atlanta and lastly Atlanta to San Francisco - landing shortly after midnight, over 11 hours after I was due to land... And then no luggage but let's not get into that!

I tried to claim compensation for the delay and was told this: "Thank you for your message dated 03 January 2013 regarding the cancellation of your flight AF1573 from Bristol to Paris on 21 December 2010 due to an unforeseen technical problem.

As you would expect we will make every effort in our power to avoid a flight cancellation. That said, despite our very best efforts, unfortunately the reality is that there are rare occasions when - due to a random mechanical failure that could not have been foreseen through usual means of identification - we are forced to withdraw an aircraft from operations.

On your request, we have reviewed your claim. A technical issue like this, that is encountered unexpectedly, which presents itself beyond our scope of influence and is a threat to flight safety, can be regarded as an extraordinary circumstance and therefore is not one where there is an entitlement to compensation under EU regulations. As a result, we must respectfully decline your request for legal compensation.

However as a gesture of our genuine regret for the inconvenience caused on this occasion, I have issued a travel voucher to the value of 150GBP per person. The vouchers and their terms and conditions are included below.

Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to clarify our position in this matter. I do hope that we will have an early opportunity to service your travel needs again in the future."

Obviously, I am happy to have been offered this but £150 per person seems quite a low amount for the delay. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Many thanks.

Mark2spark

eddiemacthedog wrote: »

should i write to thomson as it was a package holiday through them or mytravel as it was their flight?

thanks

I can't make it any plainer. You write to the airline that operated the flight. If they no longer exist due to going into administration, there's no one to claim against. If they have been taken over by a parent company, then you write to the parent company.

Mark2spark

rotterdam0892 wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Many thanks.

You could write to the CAA and see if they agree with AF's explanation of EC's.
Or you could decide to challenge their summisation of the tech difficulty in Court.
IMO waiting for a CAA report might save you a court fee, but the CAA are overwhelmed and they are currently stating that a reply will take 18 weeks. If you were to go to court after that, it might take a further 3 months.
So be prepared for the long game whatever you choose to do.

richardw

Mark2spark wrote: »

I can't make it any plainer. You write to the airline that operated the flight. If they no longer exist due to going into administration, there's no one to claim against. If they have been taken over by a parent company, then you write to the parent company.

My travel was part of airtours which was taken over by Thomas Cook, so contact TC.

Mark2spark

richardw wrote: »

My travel was part of airtours which was taken over by Thomas Cook, so contact TC.

But the OP also said it was a Thomson package, hence my not being able to go any further.

radiobabylon

Hi
Went from Manchester to NYC in November, the booking flight codes start BA, it was a BA flight operated by American Airlines ergo a shoddy AA plane, however BA claim that it AA who are responsible for compensation.

Does anyone know if that is correct?

Thanks

richardw

radiobabylon wrote: »

Hi
Went from Manchester to NYC in November, the booking flight codes start BA, it was a BA flight operated by American Airlines ergo a shoddy AA plane, however BA claim that it AA who are responsible for compensation.

Does anyone know if that is correct?

Thanks

.....yes. But if the delayed flight was JFK to MAN you have no claim because you were fying outside the EU on a non-EU carrier.