Scammed by Norweigan Airlines?

twirlie

I appologise for being alarmist to those it caused offence to. I did put the ? in but I guess irony is best kept for in person conversation instead of message boards.

I'm not too sure what's happened, to be honest - it looks like they've cancelled all flights on that day throughout the entire month, and consolidated the 2 flights we originally had to choose from - the one we're now on isn't appearing on their website - which leads to an interesting dilemma. What happens if they find themselves in an oversold situation and the next direct flight is the next day? Surely the amount of compensation they would have to pay customers, not to mention the cost of putting them up in hotels etc (especially those like us who bought bottom rate fares) could potentially leave them in the red.

It might not be a scam but its still left a very bad taste in my mouth. I'm someone who would go out of my way for a bargain - I have done odd connections for 10 years, but when I choose peak rate flights I expect to receive them - or close to them, anyway. Those of you saying it won't be hard to wrestle 4 kids (3 of which will still be under 2!) to the airport aren't considering the logistics. Fly at 7am, 1 hour and a bit drive away - we'll end up leaving at 2-3am, thus flying for an entire day on no sleep. Not exactly what we thought we were paying for when we booked 2pm flights. I was considering using Norweigan for transatlantic flights in the future (of which we take many!) but after this experience I think I'm better off sticking with the bigger players. At least they have options if things don't go according to plan.

twirlie

richardw wrote: »

Has the flight number changed or does it remain the same with a different time?

If the number has changed then you have a cancellation with re-routing rights under EC261/2004.

I believe it has.

Thats my question - when you say re-routing rights, do you mean like for like? It's the day before school term restarts, hence my allegation of scam!!!! There will be many many people who will HAVE to cancel if they can't make that 7am flight on any day, which in my mind isn't fair when you've taken money for a service you're now not willing to provide. I've never heard of an airline removing all flights bar one on such a popular route in mid-summer. :S

jpsartre

twirlie wrote: »

while I think its morally wrong and a poor business practice to sell SUCH cheap fares (I'm talking £40ish per person return!)

Cheap fares come with a cost, in this case it's the low frequency of flights. EasyJet has about 8 flights to Malaga per day, BA has 4-5 flights per day, Norwegian has 5 per week. Hence you'll have much fewer options with the latter if there's a schedule change. And yes, it happens with every airline, even easyJet.

They've offered you a different flight on the day, IMO that means they've satisfied the duty to re-route you under EU regulations though I'm sure some people will disagree.

twirlie

jpsartre wrote: »

Cheap fares come with a cost, in this case it's the low frequency of flights. EasyJet has about 8 flights to Malaga per day, BA has 4-5 flights per day, Norwegian has 5 per week. Hence you'll have much fewer options with the latter if there's a schedule change. And yes, it happens with every airline, even easyJet.

They've offered you a different flight on the day, IMO that means they've satisfied the duty to re-route you under EU regulations though I'm sure some people will disagree.

I'd never looked at it that way before, thank you. I appreciate you answering my question too. Makes it easier to decide what to do if we know they've acted in accordance with their obligations. Just out of interest, how would it work if the flight was oversold? Its been something of a fascination with me since Delta voluntarily denied us boarding last year. Flying home first class was AMAZING and the compensation vouchers have paid for an entire new set of flights. Obviously with these flights being within the EU I don't expect the same scenario, nor do I expect that to happen on every flight I take now (would be nice if it did!) but considering I was completely unaware of the possibility of it even happening before, it's something that crosses my mind these days. Especially in the case of Norweigan who, like you say, don't have a huge variety of flights to work with the way the other operators do.

jpsartre

If the flight was overbooked and you were bumped as a result you would entitled to cash compensation and re-routing.

zaax

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/columnists/sophiebutler/8717501/Travel-advice-compensation-for-flight-time-changes.html

richardw

The regulation days 'comparable'

"(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; "

Is the flight time 'incomparable'?

jpsartre

I think it's comparable although I don't think the "comparable" condition is intended to include time anyway.

alanrowell

richardw wrote: »

easyJet doesn't seem to do this.

I have had an email today stating that our return flight time has changed, this is the second time change since we booked the flight.

Easyjet have changed my flight time

Easyjet have changed my flight times

Easyjet have changed my flight

When we tried to check in at the recommended time we were told that the flight had departed due to a change of schedule.

richardw

Thanks Alan, good to Know.