Manchester-Houston cancelled - what about accommodation and food?

buel10

Hi all,
A 78 year old good friend was due to fly back home to Austin, Texas, via Houston on Wednesday. Singapore airlines would take him to Houston and then United airlines were due to take him to Austin.

Both flights were cancelled so I contacted Singapore and they agreed to pay for BA flights tomorrow from Manchester to London and then on to Austin, which is great. However, they have refused to reimburse him for his accommodation and food costs. Is this correct, please?

And can my friend claim his missing flight with United?

Thank you in advance.

jonesMUFCforever

I think they are correct - this might be covered by a travel insurance policy as long as the hurricane is not classed as an act of god.

I take it the friend is a U.S. citizen and booked via an American agent? If so American law takes precedent not UK or EU laws.

buel10

Actually, I paid for them. Doh!

buel10

I received this reply from another website:

'The EU rules applies to any flight from an EU airport.

My reading is that SA should refund up to E300 for accommodation, food, because the cancellation meant having to go to a nearby hotel to await a rebooked flight.

I know airlines have argued that an extreme weather event was beyond their control, but i thought if this was at destination point and airline could have made alternative flight arrangement, then they are are still liable.'

Justice13075

What was the reason the 2 flights were cancelled

Vauban

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I think they are correct - this might be covered by a travel insurance policy as long as the hurricane is not classed as an act of god.

I take it the friend is a U.S. citizen and booked via an American agent? If so American law takes precedent not UK or EU laws.

Are you saying that only EU passengers would qualify on this flight, not American passengers? Are you sure about that?

Vauban

buel10 wrote: »

I received this reply from another website:

'The EU rules applies to any flight from an EU airport.

My reading is that SA should refund up to E300 for accommodation, food, because the cancellation meant having to go to a nearby hotel to await a rebooked flight.

I know airlines have argued that an extreme weather event was beyond their control, but i thought if this was at destination point and airline could have made alternative flight arrangement, then they are are still liable.'

This isn't correct either.

Caz3121

buel10 wrote: »

Hi all,
A 78 year old good friend was due to fly back home to Austin, Texas, via Houston on Wednesday. Singapore airlines would take him to Houston and then United airlines were due to take him to Austin.

Both flights were cancelled so I contacted Singapore and they agreed to pay for BA flights tomorrow from Manchester to London and then on to Austin, which is great. However, they have refused to reimburse him for his accommodation and food costs. Is this correct, please?

And can my friend claim his missing flight with United?

What do you mean by claiming for missing United flight? I assume the SA/UA tickets were on one ticket so was MAN-AUS via HOU which have now been changed to MAN-AUS via LHR with BA
EU261 compensation does not apply from SA or UA as extraordinary circumstances
EU261duty of care should apply for expenses whilst waiting for the rebooked flight and Singapore Airlines should be paying this (even though it was extraordinary circumstances causing the cancellation) - what reason did they give for refusal?

buel10

Apologies for the delay and thank you very much for the answers.

What do you mean by claiming for missing United flight?
I mean that this was also cancelled due to the hurricane.

I assume the SA/UA tickets were on one ticket so was MAN-AUS via HOU which have now been changed to MAN-AUS via LHR with BA
The Singapore Man-Houston and United Houston-Austin were two separate bookings although both were return flights. My friend flew on the original Austin-Houston and Houston-Manchester flights.

EU261duty of care should apply for expenses whilst waiting for the rebooked flight and Singapore Airlines should be paying this (even though it was extraordinary circumstances causing the cancellation) - what reason did they give for refusal?
Singapore rang me to tell me that they would not be paying for my friend's expenses but did not give a reason so I emailed them to ask how I can appeal. I have received this email:
Dear Mr XXXX,

Thank you for your e-mail.

We understand that you are seeking reimbursement towards the cost of the accommodation as the original flight was on Wednesday and due to Hurricane Harvey the flights were cancelled.

Please be informed that we have forwarded your request to our head-office for their necessary assessment and action. Please be informed that it is only a request that is sent, we would not be able to guarantee the outcome of it.

We appreciate your patience in this regard.

Yours sincerely,

XXX

In addition to this, please can I ask am I able to get a refund on the United Houston-Austin flight as this was cancelled?

buel10

Also, if it helps, this is a reply that I have received from another site:
The Manchester-Houston flighticon is indeed covered by Regulation 261/2004. Since the cause of the delay is presumably either the closure of the airporticon or "meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight", this would constitute "extraordinary circumstances", which means the usual €600 would not be payable. However, even if the cause of the delay is "extraordinary" the airline is responsible for the accommodation, food and (non-alcoholic) drinks costs, plus local transportation incurred during the overnight wait. You friend needs to submit copies of the receipt and explain that they are making a claim under 261/04. Just to be clear, there is no €300 for this (not sure where that came from?) but the claim for the expenses incurred does need to be "reasonable".

buel10

Soooo....any thoughts on what I should do?