How to get reimbursed for refreshments for delayed flight?

kuepper

I was on an internal uk flybe flight whose departure (as shown on the departure screen) kept being delayed by extra 20, then extra 30 minutes etc and when it got to show 2 hours delay we bought drinks and sandwiches. There was no information provided as to what was going on and noone to ask and eventually it left at what flightstats.com say was an 'estimated gate departure' time of 2200 instead of the scheduled 2000. Back home I emailed flybe a copy of the refreshments receipt and heard nothing besides an automated acknowledgement. I heard nothing after 28 days so filled in online CAA form.

I have today had an email from CAA referring to the 'extraordinary circumstances' interpretation and stating that my complaint 'for flight delay compensation' will be reconsidered by flybe in the light of it and they won't enter into correspondence etc . CAA don't seem to have misunderstood I was not claiming flight delay compensation and that I simply wanted reimbursement - or am I wrong and does the extraordinary circumstances interpretation apply to costs of refreshments etc if airline don't provide any? Will I have to go to small claims court?

DTDfanBoy

The regulation states you are entitled to :


(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the

waiting time;

And

2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two

telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.



You obviously have no right to claim the communication requirements as they now serve no purpose, but you clearly have a right to be reimbursed for

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

which for such a minimal delay is likely to be a bottle of water, providing there is no free water available at the airport in question

In the unlikely event that your time has virtually no value to yourself :cool: send Flybe a LBA, then follow through with court action. If everything goes according to plan in about eight months time you'll be cashing a cheque for almost £5 per person :T :T :T

kuepper

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

The regulation states you are entitled to :


(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the

waiting time;

And

2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two

telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.



You obviously have no right to claim the communication requirements as they now serve no purpose, but you clearly have a right to be reimbursed for

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

which for such a minimal delay is likely to be a bottle of water, providing there is no free water available at the airport in question

In the unlikely event that your time has virtually no value to yourself :cool: send Flybe a LBA, then follow through with court action. If everything goes according to plan in about eight months time you'll be cashing a cheque for almost £5 per person :T :T :T

I've been given £10 or more in vouchers before when I've been delayed. A sandwich and coffee was about £40 for all of us, it may be nothing to you but it's plenty to me, about the cost of my flight in fact. Plus I can't even claim for £35 taxi I had to get in lieu of a train as the last train to my town had long gone by the time we got to Manchester.

VOB72

kuepper wrote: »

I've been given £10 or more in vouchers before when I've been delayed. A sandwich and coffee was about £40 for all of us, it may be nothing to you but it's plenty to me, about the cost of my flight in fact. Plus I can't even claim for £35 taxi I had to get in lieu of a train as the last train to my town had long gone by the time we got to Manchester.

Contact your travel insurance. Mine paid out upon production of receipts incurred during a delay. They may also refund the taxi fare if it was incurred as a result of the delay.

DTDfanBoy

In all honesty I assumed your post was a wind up :eek:

If you feel so aggrieved by all means proceed with your LBA then legal action :beer:

Just be aware that the regulation does not specify what meals and refreshments constitute relative to length of delay. Also be aware that a Judge may consider that both a meal and refreshments may be excessive as your delay was also only two hours.

You may also want to note that the in the text approved for the formation of the regulation the paragraph below was included :

Care for passengers awaiting an alternative or a delayed flight may be limited or declined if the provision of the care would itself cause further delay.

As you were delayed slightly over two hours the airline may have quite rightly prioritised boarding the aircraft, over feeding and watering passengers, which obviously would have extended the delay :cool:

Best of luck with your claim, keep us informed of your progress.

kuepper

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

You may also want to note that the in the text approved for the formation of the regulation the paragraph below was included :

Care for passengers awaiting an alternative or a delayed flight may be limited or declined if the provision of the care would itself cause further delay.

As you were delayed slightly over two hours the airline may have quite rightly prioritised boarding the aircraft, over feeding and watering passengers, which obviously would have extended the delay :cool:

Best of luck with your claim, keep us informed of your progress.

The airline weren't there!, no staff from any airline, the only ppl airside of security were the cafe staff . We were the last flight at Belfast City and the plane to Manchester didn't even arrive in Belfast til 10

DTDfanBoy

That is totally irrelevant to the situation, LBA the commence legal action

Mark2spark

It seems that you arrived at the airport at 5.30 pm, and expected to get home at approx 10.30 pm, if the plane had been on time.
(For other readers, keupper has also posted on TA this information as well)

So, did you expect to go 5 hours without eating?

It seems that you had your panini 'meals' before the 2 hour delay threshold was breached is all i'm saying.

kuepper

Mark2spark wrote: »

It seems that you arrived at the airport at 5.30 pm, and expected to get home at approx 10.30 pm, if the plane had been on time.
(For other readers, keupper has also posted on TA this information as well)

So, did you expect to go 5 hours without eating?

It seems that you had your panini 'meals' before the 2 hour delay threshold was breached is all i'm saying.

I didn't expect to go 5 hrs without eating, ? we had a light meal in the departurel lounge around 6. We decided to have the refreshments at 2108 after the departure screen had kept showing later and leter departure times and got up to 2200 and no reason to believe that was the last of it. As I understand articles 6 1 a and 9 1 a, as the airline via the departure screen had indicated they thought we would be delayed '2hrs or more' they should have provided refreshments, nothing is stated about the 2 hrs having had to lapse unless there is some case law about it.

Aedus

Right to meals and refreshments is if your flight is delayed by 2 hours or more. BUT airlines don't have to give them out if they can prove that distributing them would have further delayed the flight, so if your flight departed around the 2 hours delayed mark, they would use that as their defense.

Refreshments, communication and accommodation
When passengers become entitled to these assistances, they must be offered, free of charge,
Meals and refreshments in proportion to the waiting time
Two telephone calls, fax or telex messages, or emails
Hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel, if a stay of one or more nights, or a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary
In the case of a delay, the airline may withdraw or abrogate these entitlements if offering them would delay the flight further.

kuepper

flybe have now reimbursed me the full cost of refreshments