Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Dean.Patrick

Dear MSE,

My wife and i were delayed on the return leg of our SWISS flight from Singapore to Manchester, with a scheduled change at Zurich. The flight left approximately 6 hours late, missing the connection and requiring a second change at Munich. We eventually landed approximately 9 hours late. This meant that I missed a day at work and my wife missed a day that she had booked off work.

SWISS handled the situation well and provided hotel accommodation and refreshments, but I believed that I was entitled compensation to the value of €600 euros each and submitted a claim in writing. I was aware the problem was attributed to a technical fault and so quoted the Huzar v Jet2 ruling.

I have received a reply offering us SWISS vouchers to the value of £80 each, valid for one year, and told that "The aircraft which was planned for the flight experienced a technical defect prior to the previous flight in the rotation, which resulted in its cancellation. This, in turn, caused the unavoidable and extensive delay of your flight. Such a technical incident cannot be totally excluded even if all precautionary measures are taken and all maintenance instructions are complied with. As this incident is considered to be the result of extraordinary circumstances, no EU261 compensation can be granted."

Should I take the airline's word that the nature of the fault was extraordinary or pursue this further?

Thanks,
Dean

Tyzap

Dean.Patrick wrote: »

Dear MSE,



Should I take the airline's word that the nature of the fault was extraordinary or pursue this further?

Thanks,
Dean

Nothing extraordinary about it, you have a valid claim.

Good luck.

Caz3121

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

The tag she got at check in must have shown arrival as LGW not LAX indicating no through check, supporting the idea that the onward flight was not with BA as they will normally through check on their own flights even if they are on two separate bookings. This suggests a different airline and an insufficient time allowed for the connection in which case she was very lucky to be put on another flight at all

Assuming arrival Gatwick departure Heathrow
It is possible that the onward flight was also BA however bags are not transferred between London airports so they need to be collected and taken with the passenger.
I believe there is a 3 hour MCT between Gatwick and Heathrow for booking tickets but, given that bags can take an hour to come off at Gatwick this would have been a poor choice of connection (it would have shown as a change of airport)
I am pretty sure that BA do not protect transfers so, if she missed her flight as she was transferring airports, being accommodated and rebooked was a good result
From my guesswork I cannot see EU261 applying - should always book a connection at the same airport (bags would be transferred) or leave a lot longer between flights

supersaverg

Saffyre wrote: »

16th May 2015
Flight - Gatwick to Dalaman
5 hour delay due to oil leak
Received £7 per person vouchers for food and drink at the time

On our return, a week later, we applied for compensation through the Thomas Cook link on the main MSE Flight Delay page and included a scan of the flight delay apology letter which we were handed at Gatwick with our food vouchers.

Today we received a voucher to use on any Thomas Cook holiday for £1180 - equivalent to €400 per person.

Whooppeee!!!!! We're going back in October now for another week!!!!

Thank you MSE and the fellow passenger who gave us the heads up to look into flight delay compensation x

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :T :T :T :T :T :j :j :j :j :j :j

Great news. Well Done.


easyJet haven't even bothered to acknowledge any of my correspondence, yet!

Janus1991

I'm on here trying to pick up as much info as I can on claiming back off the airlines for compensation due to a delay I had a while back while flying with Wizz Air from Budapest to Luton. We were delayed for seven hours, no food or water provided, and literally just having to sit around and hope for the best, and I'm trying to figure out how much to claim for, I know that in the past they have paid out 250 euros but I honestly am just curious how hours waiting factors into this. especially given the fact that we were waiting for seven hours to depart. frankly the experience left me frustrated, tired and not really wanting to frequent their services again. But I digress; how much is actually claimable in this circumstance?

Thanks for your time and help.

Heleno44

In summer of 2011, me and Hubbie and two children were delayed for 8 hours on a holiday to Malaga. The plane actually departed on time but returned to Manchester due to a fault and we finally landed 8 hours late in Malaga.
I used the proforma last summer to claim and received a letter back from jet2 saying we couldn't claim the 400 euros each as it was more than two years ago.
We kept meaning to challenge it, but never quite got round to it. Today, totally out of the blue we received a cheque for the 1600 euros (over £1000) from jet2 apologising for our delay! We can't quite believe it! thank you for your guidance on the website! A big win for us!!

Caz3121

Janus1991 wrote: »

We were delayed for seven hours, no food or water provided, and literally just having to sit around and hope for the best, and I'm trying to figure out how much to claim for, I know that in the past they have paid out 250 euros but I honestly am just curious how hours waiting factors into this. especially given the fact that we were waiting for seven hours to depart.

there are 2 factors here, compensation and duty of care
Compensation, this is a fixed amount based on distance and is the same amount whether the delay is 3.5 hours or 30 hours.
Also it the delay is outside the control of the airline such as weather, ATC, no compensation is payable
Duty of care is relevant even when the airline is at no fault. You should be provided with or reimbursed for refreshments whilst you wait. Some airlines issue vouchers, others will reimburse when you send in receipts
re your claim...
If delay within the airlines control and you have refreshment receipts you will be claiming €250 and reimbursement of expenses
If the delay was outside the airlines control and you have no receipts to be reimbursed then there is nothing to claim
worth having a good read here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5173888

Tyzap

Caz3121 wrote: »

If delay within the airlines control and you have refreshment receipts you will be claiming €250 and reimbursement of expenses
If the delay was outside the airlines control and you have no receipts to be reimbursed then there is nothing to claim
worth having a good read here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5173888

Hi Caz,

This is the quote from Vaubans guide on the subject of Duty of Care.

3.0 Duty of Care

3.1 In addition to flight delay compensation, you are also entitled to reasonable care and support at the airport. This is the case even if the cause of the delay is “extraordinary circumstances” (when delay compensation would not be due). Depending on the length of your delay, you are entitled to meals and refreshments (not alcoholic drinks) as well as hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary. Passengers should also be offered two phone calls home.

Caz3121

Caz3121 wrote: »

Duty of care is relevant even when the airline is at no fault. You should be provided with or reimbursed for refreshments whilst you wait. Some airlines issue vouchers, others will reimburse when you send in receipts

Tyzap wrote: »

3.1 In addition to flight delay compensation, you are also entitled to reasonable care and support at the airport. This is the case even if the cause of the delay is “extraordinary circumstances” (when delay compensation would not be due). Depending on the length of your delay, you are entitled to meals and refreshments (not alcoholic drinks) as well as hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary. Passengers should also be offered two phone calls home.

I believe we are saying the same thing
The airline should have offered this as the poster was entitled to it so, as they were not given anything, they are entitled to be reimbursed their costs that they spent on the elements that the airline should have provided - the poster did not mention if they actually spent anything to be reimbursed and there is no financial compensation for not being offered (all be it bad behaviour by the airline)

TrAr

Hi everyone,

Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere, I have looked but can't find any mention.

We were caught up in the Air France pilot strike in September 2014; I initially thought we wouldn't be entitled to compensation as it's industrial action and therefore exceptional circumstances. However, I have recently read here and elsewhere that strikes by the airlines staff aren't including in exceptional circumstances.

We were due to fly out from Mauritius with Air France on Wednesday 17th September, flying to CDG and then on to Manchester on Thursday morning but our flights were cancelled. We were informed the day before and were given alternative flights leaving early Thursday morning from Mauritius with Air Mauritius (part of AF group) to Johannesburg where we had an 8 hour wait before getting on a BA flight to Heathrow and then finally another BA flight to Manchester, eventually arriving on Friday morning.

On being offered these flights, we expressed that we weren't satisfied with them, that we had checked the Emirates site and were aware that there were still flights available on their flight from Mauritius to Manchester leaving slightly earlier on the 17th, and we wanted putting on this flight, but had no success.

We also requested access to the AF lounge at Johannesburg as obviously we had no SA Rand, but got no response from AF, no help at the airport and no support with food and drink.

Do we actually have a claim?

Thanks in advance.

Tara