One hell of a trip! (compensation query)

Hi, apologies for the long post but...

I have recently come back from a weeks holiday that has put me off travelling abroad for some time...

We booked flights to NYC with a stopover in Iceland on Expedia (and flew with airline Icelandair). The flight was from Birmingham to Iceland where we were going to spend 2 nights and sight see with car hire during the day. We were then supposed to catch a flight to NYC and spend 5 days there before returning to Birmingham with a transfer again in Iceland.

When we tried to check-in the day before our first flight we found that the flight to and from Birmingham had been cancelled and in no way had we been informed about it!

This meant we had a mad rush of getting Expedia to put us on a new flight which happened to be from Heathrow which therefore required us to make last minute travel arrangements to get to that airport instead. This also meant our car parking booking at Birmingham Airport was a waste. We were told we will be able to claim back our travel expenses with Icelandair as well as the unused car parking. We ended up booking a coach but accidentally booked the wrong return date and they wouldn't let us change it, so we had to buy another ticket ( another £50 out of pocket).

After checking-in at Heathrow Airport, we found that the flight was delayed by just over 2 hours due to engine problems. Because of this, some of the passengers were offered food/drink vouchers and were told to go get something nearby, however, the moment we left to get our drinks, they started boarding the plane (but we were now out of earshot of the announcement). When returning with our drinks we suddenly realised they were giving final calls to gate so we had to run to make the flight and then get told we can’t take our hot drinks on board which made the voucher a total waste anyway!

The plane was eventually about to leave but then turned back around and taxi’d again, getting told the engine problem is back and the flight will be delayed until the following day. After hours of pointlessly queueing and waiting in the airport we were eventually offered nearby hotel accommodation to catch the flight the next day, which was rescheduled to 10AM.

The next day, after going through the check-in and security process again, we found the flight got continuously delayed every hour or so and with no information as to why. There was no Icelandair representative available to explain the situation which was very frustrating. Again, the flight was delayed over 2 hours and Icelandair transfers desk opened to offer food/drink vouchers again (which we only found out about from other passengers!).

At this stage, the flight was so delayed that it made it pointless for us even to travel to Iceland as we were to catch another flight to NYC the following morning (having had intended to spend a whole day in Iceland. This also meant us missing 2 nights at a hotel apartment, car hire for 3 days and of course the opportunity to sight see in Reykjavik). Because of this, we asked to get put on a direct flight to NYC to which they obliged and we got put on Delta Airlines flight and got told our luggage will be transferred after giving the luggage tag to Delta when checking-in. This flight was from another terminal in the Airport so we had to rush to make sure we got there in time. We also had to make a last minute hotel booking for the extra night spent in NYC. Just when we thought nothing else can go wrong, when we arrived at JFK Airport in NYC our bags never showed up and we had to make a claim for them from Delta Airlines (but this could have been the fault of Icelandair again - who knows!?). The bags showed a couple of days later but more time of our holiday got wasted buying clothes and necessities whilst we waited for them.

Our flights back were thankfully OK but the cherry on top that sums up our holiday is that the return coach we got home broke down!

I have filed a claim with Iceland air giving them all the details and they said they will give £182 for the travel expenses to the airport.
In regards to loss of prepaid services, they said as no contract was in place between Icelandair and those services, they can not be held accountable for any financial loss due to those services. They didn't seem to mention any compensation about the delayed flight...

I have put a claim to Delta for the clothes/toiletries but have yet to hear back from them.

I have also spoken to Expedia about not being informed about the 1st cancelled flight and they said they were not informed by Icelandair, but Icelandair claim they were informed!

I haven't responded to Icelandair yet. What can I do at this point? Is my only option to take the £182 and try and claim the other stuff through insurance?

Comments

  • jpsartre
    jpsartre Posts: 4,085
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    To any reasonable person you should be due 400 euros (each) for the delayed flight from LHR. Only potential snag is that the Sturgeon ruling explicitly states for a passenger to be entitled to delay compensation, they have to reach their destination more than 3 hours late. Since you never arrived at your destination (RKV) you were technically never delayed! It's a really unfortunate wording in the ruling and I would hope Icelandair doesn't attempt to wriggle out of their obligations on that account.

    As for the cancelled flight, if Icelandair never notified Expedia you have a good case for additional compensation.
  • Voyager2002
    Voyager2002 Posts: 15,234
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    jpsartre wrote: »
    To any reasonable person you should be due 400 euros (each) for the delayed flight from LHR. Only potential snag is that the Sturgeon ruling explicitly states for a passenger to be entitled to delay compensation, they have to reach their destination more than 3 hours late. Since you never arrived at your destination (RKV) you were technically never delayed! It's a really unfortunate wording in the ruling and I would hope Icelandair doesn't attempt to wriggle out of their obligations on that account.

    Depending on the reason for the technical problems, Icelandair might have a pretty good case under "exceptional circumstances".
  • jpsartre
    jpsartre Posts: 4,085
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    I doubt it. It's pretty rare for technical issues to be extraordinary.
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298
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    Could it be due to this? http://icelandreview.com/news/2017/12/17/icelandair-flights-cancelled-delayed-due-strike

    A strike caused flights to be cancelled in December.
  • jpsartre
    jpsartre Posts: 4,085
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    The OP says the were told the delay was caused by engine problems.
  • We were told the flight was delayed by engine problems and after not being able to repair it, said they have to wait for a new part to be flown over from Iceland to repair it the following day. I'm still not sure if they flight ever departed because we ended up get a direct flight to NYC!

    I can see how they might try a wriggle out of paying either due to us not getting to our 1st intended destination or putting the engine fault down to "exceptional circumstances".

    Should I just reply to them saying I am entitled to 400 euro compensation per person for the delayed flight?

    What about the things like pre-booked car hire/hotel, can I push them to claim for things like this or would I need to go through my insurance for that?
  • Voyager2002
    Voyager2002 Posts: 15,234
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    sjenkins2 wrote: »
    What about the things like pre-booked car hire/hotel, can I push them to claim for things like this or would I need to go through my insurance for that?

    Better to go to your insurance.
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