Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

N9eav

Cityboy wrote: »

Yes you are. The airline is unlikely to pay compensation without you threatening or actually issuing court action.

I have read the legislation and case law and it is still unclear how we gain the upper hand. How can I threaten them?

richardw

easyJet have cancelled my flight today, so is snow and cold at Gatwick 'extraordinary'?

HXDave

Richardw, unfortunately that is not covered for cancellation compensation. However you maye be entitled to 'Right Of Care', however i have just heard Gatwick not due to open until 6am tomorrow morning at the earliest!

richardw

Thanks, didn't think it was, just waiting for the other flight to be cancelled so I can re-arrange the trip.

Other flight now cancelled, so rebooked for Tuesday.

dzug1

meteorological conditions incompatible with

the operation of the flight concerned

are defined in the EU regulation as being extraordinary circumstances.

N9eav

Cityboy wrote: »

The only thing that will make the airline sit up and take notice is the issuing of a County Court claim either at your local court (form N1) or via MCOL

Trust this helps but if you don't want to go through a court case including spending time researching for it or have not got legal expenses cover then don't send it as you are wasting your time. There is no easy way to obtain the compensation owed other than a small claims court action as the airlines rarely back down in this situation as they know that the vast majority simply give up.

If you are not one of the vast majority and have patience, some time to prepare and are of no little determination, then go for it!

Be aware that court fees are payable up front and (if you are successful) are added to your claim and reclaimable from the airline. These will include an application fee, allocation to track fee and hearing fee. Dependent on the value of your claim these can add up to about £300 or so. If you have legal expenses cover, then you won't need to worry about these.

Thanks. I will try this route.

It would be fair to say that they have given us a £100 travel voucher each, but that is lame compared with the compensation.

I will ask for the technical reasons as outlined in your letter. However the plane arrived in Chicago and was immediately examined for a fault to the engine. I would say known well before our departure. After a further 12 hours and once almost all other flights had left they cancelled.

Who will determine if that technical fault is extraordinary? Or is it the whole deal, such as in that 11 hours they could have got another plane or put us all on other carriers?

clairey22

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Have you contacted the airline? In a situation like this it would be good practice for them to meet your additional transport costs, whether or not they were legally obliged to do so.

Hi,

I have received a reply from the airline, they have said that as the flight was not cancelled (just delayed arriving into LGW by 4 hours) then we are not entitled to any compensation.

Is this correct?

We ended up getting a taxi home but stupidly didnt ask for a receipt as it was the end of a very long day!

Thanks
Clairey

Vern58

Hi there,

I've just returned from a 6 day holiday to Florida booked with Thomson. It should have been 7 days but our flight from Gatwick to Sanford was delayed by 24 hrs and 23 mins (figures are according to Thomson themselves). We were originally delayed by a few hours and handed a £5 refreshment voucher. Just prior to boarding, we were all told to report to the information desk where we were handed a letter by Thomson staff stating that the flight would be delayed overnight due to a "technical fault" and that they were expecting our flight to leave at the same time the next day. Interestingly, a member of ground staff at the boarding gate (who understandably wanted to remain anonymous) stated before the announcement that there was no way that the replacement plane would be leaving today as it had suffered technical problems preventing it flying on the previous two days.

Rather unhelpfully, they said that "there is no hotel accommodation available in the area", presumably due to the adverse weather conditions and Spanish Air Traffic Controllers' strike. This was plainly inaccurate as my father and I managed to get a nearby hotel room within 15 minutes and several fellow passengers also managed to book hotels. We received no help from Thomson at all except to get our checked-in luggage back.

When we arrived at Sanford the following day, we were handed a second letter stating that the delay was caused by "a combination of adverse weather conditions at Gatwick and an unoffical strike action". This obviously conflicts with the original letter, and they go on to imply we claim through insurance.

I'd like to know what course of action we should take to claim expenses and compensation for missing a day of our holiday (which included car hire and hotel stay). I've kept receipts for the hotel and our evening meal. Is the claim for expenses separate from the claim for compensation? I'm expecting a long and painful process...

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Vern58

Thanks for your reply Cityboy. The flight number was TOM046 and it was due to depart 4/12/10 at 10:10am. It actually did depart on 5/12/10 at 10:33am. How can I find out if it was cancelled or delayed (or is that a trade secret )?

Also, the holiday was booked as a package on the Thomson website, which included the hotel and car hire. So from your post I guess this means they are responsible for that?

Thanks again.

richardw

Vern58 wrote: »

How can I find out if it was cancelled or delayed (or is that a trade secret )?

There is a website https://www.flightstats.com if you create a free log-in historical information is available.