Monarch cancelled on me..may they rot in Hummus

dawyldthing

I should imagine it might be due to the delayed flights as apparently there often delayed from there sadly. I know mine was a few years back for over 5 hours

sillygoose

For many years we used to go from Birmingham to Corfu regularly to hired villas and always used Monarch for flights, we thought they were great, never a problem and bypassed all the big Thomas Cook queues at Corfu.

My understanding is Monarch/Cosmos have been making bad losses and are still doing so. The reduction in routes and rationalising of Cosmos into Monarch are part of the cost reduction plan to get back into profitability.

The question is why did they sell me a holiday a couple of weeks ago on a route they must have known they were going to scrap shortly so couldn't fulfil the contract!

that's what peeves me.

oh yes, and I got an email from them today confirming that they have cancelled the holiday "free of charge" which is terribly generous of them as they cannot even supply it any more!!! never mind free of charge, should be an extra £50 goodwill compensation added on for the inconvenience of having to rearrange my holiday.

budgetflyer

As Richardw said, you could have insisted on re-routing. That is your statutory right under EU Aviation Law.
It happens all the time. ALL AIRLINES do it, regardless of customers booked.
In the great numbers game, just like you, most people just accept the refund, Only a few insist on them fullfilling their re-routing obligations

SW17

sillygoose wrote: »

My understanding is Monarch/Cosmos have been making bad losses and are still doing so. The reduction in routes and rationalising of Cosmos into Monarch are part of the cost reduction plan to get back into profitability.

The question is why did they sell me a holiday a couple of weeks ago on a route they must have known they were going to scrap shortly so couldn't fulfil the contract!

The Monarch Group was sold about a year ago, the new owners put money in, and the staff voted to accept pay cuts of up to 30% (plus a bunch of redundancies) to keep it going. In the first half of the current financial year they reduced losses by nearly half (it's pretty common for a travel company with their profile to make losses in the winter), and they say they are on track to return to profitability by the end of the financial year.

Changing Cosmos to Monarch is largely a marketing and branding exercise, though they do say they will no longer sell holidays using flights from other airlines.

As to why they sold the holiday, can't be sure but airlines review route viability constantly and this sort of thing is not uncommon. It's pretty normal to keep selling until a final decision is made and announced, though understandably frustrating for those whose trips are affected.

As mentioned above, it's also common for companies to try and get away with the minimum cost on this, even when people have a right to more. All airlines do it, if you are an early booker the chances of getting caught by this one day are higher.

peachyprice

richardw wrote: »

For compensation yes, for re-routing perhaps not, but it's a 'holiday' booking.

budgetflyer wrote: »

As Richardw said, you could have insisted on re-routing. That is your statutory right under EU Aviation Law.
It happens all the time. ALL AIRLINES do it, regardless of customers booked.
In the great numbers game, just like you, most people just accept the refund, Only a few insist on them fullfilling their re-routing obligations

We've had this discussion on here before, if you read the ruling properly it says you're only entitled to re-routing if it's 14 days of less before departure. Although there are some who choose not to read it like that.

1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:
(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and
(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of re-routing
when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the
cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and
(c) have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 7, unless:
(i) they are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or
(ii) they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are
offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their
final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival; or
(iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing,
allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less
than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
2. When passengers are informed of the cancellation, an explanation shall be given concerning possible alternative transport.
3. An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the
cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had
been taken.
4. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation
of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier.

SW17

peachyprice wrote: »

We've had this discussion on here before, if you read the ruling properly it says you're only entitled to re-routing if it's 14 days of less before departure. Although there are some who choose not to read it like that.

Hmm, well it's not entirely clear, but BA is one of the some who choose not to read it like that. Their interpretation is that the 14 day rule only applies to compensation (point 1c in your quote) and not to points 1a/b, you can ask for reroute get when they cancel more than 14 days out (you have to ask though). The numbering of those clauses (with i, ii, and iii as sub clauses of 1c) would also suggest that it only applies to compensation.

richardw

SW17 wrote: »

Hmm, well it's not entirely clear, but BA is one of the some who choose not to read it like that. Their interpretation is that the 14 day rule only applies to compensation (point 1c in your quote) and not to points 1a/b, you can ask for reroute get when they cancel more than 14 days out (you have to ask though). The numbering of those clauses (with i, ii, and iii as sub clauses of 1c) would also suggest that it only applies to compensation.

Correct.

When lewroll challenged Jet2 on this, Jet2 didn't let the case go to a hearing, they didn't want to risk it not going their way https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3070460

More on this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2287415 with WickedWolfie's posts highly relevant

So Jet2 and bmibaby paid out.