Kuwait Airways cancelled flight in 8 days time

Halle71

Edit: 6/7 days - this time next week we should literraly getting off a 14 hour flight to Sri Lanka.

I feel sick.

We are (were?!?) going on the holiday of a lifetime to Sri Lanka in a group of 18 friends.
We booked our flights last spring and got a good deal on the flights with Kuwait Airways.

We are due to leave on Thursday 24 March and return on 8 April, spending 11 nights at a villa with the whole group, before a two night, three day trip with the four of us to the tea region to take the Kandy/Ella train journey and explore inland.

At 5.30 today, 6 days before we are due to fly we received an email saying our flights have been cancelled and the whole trip bought forward by a day.

However, while it may seem a minor inconvenience, we can't do this. As anyone with kids in the UK knows it is impossible to take them out of school during term time and both my husband and I have either used or booked up all our holiday as we have a family wedding in the summer and childcare to cover. We literally do not have one day left. And I can't negotiate or beg with work - there were redundancies in my department 2 weeks ago, I just won't be allowed.

Even if we could leave early it has significant repercussions on the holiday. We arrive a day before everyone and would be a wasted day as we would just have to bunk somewhere cheap until the villa is ready and it ruins our trip at the end - without that clear day in the middle it makes the travel with a three and six year old too long and stressful. We would literally go on a five hour drive to Ella, stay the night, then get five hour train to Kandy early the next day and get picked up by a driver to take us to an airport hotel for a snooze before our 5am flight to LHR. It just wouldn't be manageable with the kids.

We have already spent about £3500 on this holiday and we literally may not be able to go.
Because we got the email so late this evening we haven't been able to speak to anyone and I think it's going to be a sleepless light ahead.

Can they do this? Is there a minimum amount of time before a flight that it can cancelled? Are we eligible for compensation? We have annual travel insurance but I'm too scared to look at it because I'm pretty sure we won't be covered and can't take much more tonight.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant. I'm in shock.

Caz3121

Halle71 wrote: »

Can they do this? Is there a minimum amount of time before a flight that it can cancelled?
Are we eligible for compensation? We have annual travel insurance but I'm too scared to look at it because I'm pretty sure we won't be covered and can't take much more tonight.

It sounds like you have booked a number of separate elements rather than a package. As such the airline are responsible for the issue with the flight only
As you have been given less than 14 days notice of the cancellation, compensation should apply
I would suggest not going into details when speaking to them (trips booked etc as these are separate contracts) and keep to the facts...you have flights booked for x date and they have cancelled the flights and offered an alternative that is not suitable. (the system will automatically move people to an alternative date but they will not know it does not suit you until you contact them)
I would suggest doing some homework before calling...do Kuwait have any other options that fit your plans? If not, the issue will be that, whilst EU261 talks about rebooking, it does not state that the airline must include other airlines in the rebooking options and many don't so you may want to look into alternatives yourself and find whether a refund + €600 compensation each will cover booking alternative flights elsewhere
good luck, what a horrible thing to happen so close to a long planned trip

Halle71

Thank you for your responce.
Does EU261 definitely apply to international flights/airlines?
And, if so, am I guaranteed to get a full refund plus €600 each or would we have to fight for it.

Amazingly I have found flights that would work - we booked for £400 per person with 14 hour flights and the majority are now circa £1500 with 30/40 hour legs!!

Wow I feel rubbish after 3 hours sleep......

Caz3121

Halle71 wrote: »

Does EU261 definitely apply to international flights/airlines?

I am assuming the cancelled flight is one departing the UK. EU261 covers EU airlines departing or arriving the EU and non-EU flights departing from the EU
There is no cover for non-EU airlines departing from outside the EU
It is worth having a read of Vauban's guide

Halle71

The LHR to Kuwait leg is still running!

However, they have moved us off it to the day before because there is now no connecting flight.
So basically they have cancelled us off it....

Would this still count?

kazwookie

Ring them up and see what they do have flying

Good luck

Halle71

Can't call til 9am and the replacement flights I had found have just increased by £260 in the last 30 mins!

Worked out that if we both take a day of unpaid leave and pay the school fine, this will cost us £600!!!

JPears

The airline are obliged to put you flights that are convenient to you, even if that means putting you on different airlines. Hopefully you have got somewhere with the airline concerned.
This is precisely what reg 261/2004 is designed to discourage.
You are almost certainly due the €600 compensation each, including the kids.
You need to read Vauban's guide to ensure you have all the legal facts and airline's obligations to hand.

Halle71

So, a long and stressful day punctuated with a holiday haircut, a friend's birthday lunch and a school dance show :-)

It transpires that the airline informed the travel agent of the change on 24 September 2015 so I presume that they only informed us when they were required to confirm the alternative flights.

Before I even knew it was their fault, I had a horrible phone call with the TA who refused to speak to me on the phone but asked me to email my preferences and said they would reply by then end of the day. They put the phone down on me when I said I wanted it resolved immediately. They were angry and almost threatening with me telling me I wouldn't get a penny of compensation.

I'm not particularly happy about it, but we went direct with Kuwait Airways who were extremely helpful, and we have accepted the earlier flight and pushed back the return date by 2 days (they didn't have a flight the next day) so we can still do our trip. We will have to cut short the week off we have booked at Oct half term and we arrive back at 5pm on the Sunday night which is not ideal for work and school on Monday but it will make the most of the holiday. Given there were less than three working days until the flight and I had lost all confidence in the TA it seemed the only option. Flights were literally going up by hundreds every half hour.....

So, the upshot is 3 extra nights in Sri Lanka, a not very happy school or employers and a stonking headache. And a lesson in booking cheap flights.

Alan_Bowen

Glad you got it resolved, you might like to name the agency that knew for 6 months but forgot to tell you, so we can all avoid them.

I hope they told you that Kuwait Airways is a completely dry airline so you can't even have a G & T to drown your sorrows....Whatever you do, do not read reviews of the airline and bring something long to read as one of the many other complaints is that in flight entertainment is often out of service and others report they simply ignore correspondence and as for EU261, well its just as well you can't make a claim.....

Caz3121

Halle71 wrote: »

It transpires that the airline informed the travel agent of the change on 24 September 2015 so I presume that they only informed us when they were required to confirm the alternative flights.

that gets the airline out of any EU261 claim...and a TA off your Xmas card list!
I have have cancelled flights in the past and it is really stressful trying to sort out alternatives and rearrange so well done on at least getting your holiday sorted, all be it not ideal
For future, even when booked direct with the airline, I always check my airline booking at least once a week (my cancelled flights I spotted before the airline informed me) it puts you in a better position as could be more options available than late on....I am guessing if you knew in September, you could have got a better deal on replacement flights, took a refund and stuck to your original planned dates. Whilst you should be notified you really cannot rely on it...emails ending up in spam folders etc
I have an app on my phone that alerts me to any changes in my flight bookings (although it does not do all airlines)