Help & Advice missed flight due to stolen passport.

HannahBeh

Hi all! My first post, please be kind

Actually posting on behalf of a friend who has ended up in a tricky situation. At the end of December her ( P ) and my other friend ( J ) were flying to Colombia. Flight path was London>Barcelona>Madrid>Medellin with return flights direct from Medellin>London.
Whilst on their layover at Barcelona P's passport was stolen. In the process of getting a temp passport, police crime report sorted she missed her flight to Madrid, J also stayed with her.
As they missed the flights they were marked as no shows and their flights cancelled.
Determined to make the holiday they booked new flights to Madrid, then onto Colombia.
Now, they are due to fly back on the 14th but it transpires that they were also marked as no-shows on their return flight, and are now going to have to front more money to get home.

Apparently the insurance company will only cover the lost passport (£100) and the rest is up to discretion of airline.

Can anyone advise me (to advise them) on whether they have any options here? The airline (Latam) supposedly has a policy that if one flight is missed, all are marked as no-shows, is this legal and fair? Do you think there is a case for a no win no fee lawyer here, or some sort of tribunal? Please advise me on the best way to go about things! P is paying for everything as has taken full responsibility (technically J still could have got on original flight) and is now looking at being £7k out of pocket after everything, desperate to try and help her in what is an unfortunate situation but one that seems unfair even still.

Hope this wasn't too long a post for you, fingers crossed for some helpful replies!

Hannah :beer:

Caz3121

HannahBeh wrote: »

The airline (Latam) supposedly has a policy that if one flight is missed, all are marked as no-shows, is this legal and fair

This is common with airlines (excluding LCCs like Ryanair/Easyjet)
The terms will show that all sectors need to be taken in sequence and missing a leg means all subsequent legs on the same ticket will be cancelled

jpsartre

HannahBeh wrote: »

The airline (Latam) supposedly has a policy that if one flight is missed, all are marked as no-shows, is this legal and fair?

It cannot be obviously illegal as such a policy is standard with most airlines and have been for decades.

daveyjp

As they have found losing a passport can end up being very expensive - yet many insurance companies exclude cover for what is quite a common event.

Insurance is however available to provide far more cover than just £100 for a new one.

The airline have done nothing wrong as it is standard airline practice to cancel returns for no show passengers on an outward leg - to the airline the person hasn't travelled out so they won't need their return ticket!

It also stops people buying cheaper tickets just for the return leg.