New York flights cancelled

gemsdt27.

Dear All,


I am looking for some advice on our recent trip to New York. We went to New York in January of this year. We went for 6 nights and on the day we were due back New York state was hit with a snow blizzard. The city itself was not too bad but the airport (JFK) was affected as well as surrounding areas. We contacted American Airlines who informed us that our flight had been cancelled and we had been put on a flight 2 days later. We later found out that we were one of the latest flights out at around 9pm at JFK. We asked what our options were and it was explained to us that we could make our way to the airport to see if they could find us alternative accommodation. They could not guarantee this and we didn't want to take the chance of going to JFK and then not be able to get back and be stranded in the airport for over 2 nights. We tried our luck in the hotel we were staying in to see if they could accommodate us for another 2 nights. Luckily we got the chance to stay in our room. We book in and got on to our insurance (Halifax through one of our bank accounts). They said they would not cover the additional costs as this falls on the airline as they cancelled the flight. We asked if there was any way we could claim food and expenses - they declined this. So there we are in New York after forking out over £250 for 2 extra nights and spending money on things to do and also food etc. Turns out it was all a fuss over not much!! It was the areas around the airport and the airport most affected.


We flew back with BA although this was booked through AA. We got back to JFK for our flight and I was annoyed as I had paid extra for a direct flight from JFK to Manchester and this way were required to fly from JFK to Heathrow then Heathrow to Manchester - Again through BA. When we got to Heathrow we were told out flight had been delayed and we were both given a £5 food voucher each. We eventually got on the plane after a few hours (cannot exactly remember the total time delayed) and after almost an hour sat on the plane they then cancelled the flight completely. We were told we could hang around and wait for a new flight or arrange alternative transport. This was due to heavy snow in Manchester which we were not aware of.
We had arrived in Heathrow around 11am I think and eventually got back to Manchester sometime after 7pm.


I lost 2 days pay as I was due back in work on the Friday and Saturday but was just too jet lagged. I was working on a zero hour contract at the time so if I didn't work I did not get paid.


I got in touch with BA who told me to contact AA as they were the original operator and they rescheduled the flights.


After several emails to their refunds dept at AA I was eventually told that they could not offer us compensation as this was something beyond their control.....


Does anybody know If I have a case or some kind here? I know that the laws apply to EU flights but a point in any direction would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you kindly in advance


Gemma

Caz3121

gemsdt27. wrote: »

After several emails to their refunds dept at AA I was eventually told that they could not offer us compensation as this was something beyond their control.....

I am afraid they are correct. Travelling on a non-EU airline, EU261 only covers flights departing from the EU (not the return) had this been on the outbound or the return was with an EU airline then you would have received duty of care (reimbursement of food, accommodation) but not compensation or cover for consequential losses (not sure whether your travel insurance would cover this, you would need to check your policy)
all covered in the guide here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5173888

Did you check your travel insurance and challenge the refusal to reimburse? American carriers tend not to provide accommodation etc when the issue is due to weather so insurance should have picked this up