Not allowed to fly - airline's fault...

siross

Hi all,

I recently booked a package holiday through Tui, which was actually a First Choice holiday but the flights were with Tui.

My wife (Caitlin) was due to be 28 weeks pregnant at the time of the outgoing flight so I checked the Tui website which stated we needed a fit to fly letter. I made initial enquiries before booking and was told that this would not be a problem from Caitlin's midwife.

Caitlin had an appointment to see her midwife on Friday 7th June and we were due to fly Tuesday 11th at 6:00. After asking at her appointment it became clear that the NHS were reluctant to provide a letter, which apparently is unusual at such an early stage of pregnancy. However, they were willing to do so if Tui could provide a form and or wording that they required.

This led to lots of telephone calls to the Tui customer helpline who were absolutely horrendous in actually helping, just re-iterating that a "fit to fly" letter was required which helped nobody.

However, after being passed from person to person at the Tui helpline, I got through to someone who then took the issue to their management, who subsequently checked their terms and conditions which stated we DO NOT need a fit to fly letter at 28 weeks, and flying back 29 weeks pregnant. Please take the above paragraph as what I was told happened, not what actually happened...

I was sceptical at this point and asked them to confirm:
a) the call was recorded - yes it was.
b) a note was put on our booking so that any issues at the airport could be easily resolved - yes it was.

Therefore Caitlin left the midwife appointment without a letter, safe in the knowledge that it was not required.

Fast forward to 4 am on Tuesday trying to check in and being asked for our "fit to fly" letter. This led to leaving the queue and going to their main customer service desk at Terminal 2 where we were told Caitlin could not fly without a letter. After trying to contact midwives at 4 am proving fruitless we ultimately were not allowed on the flight.

Tui did find the note on my booking eventually but this took them around an hour, so they admitted fault and were perplexed as to why we were given this advice.

We were then offered another flight later that day at 19:15 with Easyjet, which we took. We then travelled back home to speak to Caitlin's midwives who then provided a letter to state she was fit to fly during the holiday dates specified.

Tui have accepted responsibility and that they will need to refund elements of the holiday but we have not gone in to detail at this point. But I would be expecting as a minimum:

- Cost of taxi from Alicante airport to Hotel (85 Euros), I have the receipt for this.
- Cost of fuel/time to travel to and from the airport an additional time.
- Cost of extra leg room seats which I paid for both ways, this was not available on Easyjet flight.
- Refund to compensate the lost holiday time. We were due to arrive in Alicante around 10am. Instead we arrived just before 11pm, 13 hours later.

I know the last point isn't the same as the flight being delayed 13 hours but our holiday was delayed through no fault of our own. Not to mention the stress, upset and anxiety this caused on the day to both of us.

What can I expect in this situation? Would it be worthwhile seeking the compensation for a delayed flight, even though the flight wasn't delayed but we were?

Appreciate any advice before I start talking to Tui about this.

Thanks,

Simon

DUTR

I don't understand this bit
- Cost of taxi from Alicante airport to Hotel (85 Euros), I have the receipt for this.
- Cost of fuel/time to travel to and from the airport an additional time.

What do your insurers say, do you have a claim?

siross

DUTR wrote: »

I don't understand this bit
- Cost of taxi from Alicante airport to Hotel (85 Euros), I have the receipt for this.
- Cost of fuel/time to travel to and from the airport an additional time.

What do your insurers say, do you have a claim?

Hi, sorry I should have been clearer.

The package holiday included a shuttle from Alicante to the airport but as we were not on the original flight, we missed this and had to get a taxi from the airport to the hotel.

In terms of the second point, we were dropped off by my father in law, who then had to come and get us and drop us off a second time that evening, which meant additional trips due to the mess up.

I haven't contacted the insurance company, I didn't realise this was the course of action to take?

CardinalWolsey

I would be looking in to an EU261 denied boarding claim.

We then travelled back home to speak to Caitlin's midwives who then provided a letter to state she was fit to fly during the holiday dates specified.

Happy to provide a letter at short notice with no pro-forma example on this occasion, but not on the first? Just an observation.

siross

CardinalWolsey wrote: »

I would be looking in to an EU261 denied boarding claim.


Happy to provide a letter at short notice with no pro-forma example on this occasion, but not on the first? Just an observation.

Thank you, I'll look in to it.

Your observation is correct and something that perplexed me when we went back but it transpired that it was down to another midwife being awkward at the original appointment!

lea2012

It sounds like you've been misinformed by more than one person during all of this.

A fit to fly letter is quite a common document so it's a shame that your midwife couldn't do that for you or didn't know what it was. Normally you can just call reception at your GP and they will arrange it for you at a cost of £10-20.

I'm not sure what the cut off date is for airlines, I thought it was about 26 weeks now but again it should all be in the t&c's when you booked. If they told you otherwise on the phone then you're right to seek recompense for the taxi and extra travel journey but not sure if they'll cover you for the missed time. Government mileage rates are currently 45p per mile so I'd stick to this to work out costs for the extra journey.

siross

lea2012 wrote: »

It sounds like you've been misinformed by more than one person during all of this.

A fit to fly letter is quite a common document so it's a shame that your midwife couldn't do that for you or didn't know what it was. Normally you can just call reception at your GP and they will arrange it for you at a cost of £10-20.

I'm not sure what the cut off date is for airlines, I thought it was about 26 weeks now but again it should all be in the t&c's when you booked. If they told you otherwise on the phone then you're right to seek recompense for the taxi and extra travel journey but not sure if they'll cover you for the missed time. Government mileage rates are currently 45p per mile so I'd stick to this to work out costs for the extra journey.

We found out about the ability to get a letter from the GP on the day of travel, but because we were misinformed it was too late unfortunately.

I'm still going to try for missed time and hopefully denied boarding compensation.

Am I best waiting for Tui to contact me, which they should have done by now, or log a complaint directly?

Kind regards,

Simon