Money Moral Dilemma: Should I claim for a cancelled flight when airlines are struggling?

[Deleted User]

This isn't a dilemma at all. Claim claim claim and then claim some more. The airlines won't hesitate to screw you if they can and expect you (via taxes) to bail them out anyway.

Consider1

I think you should not claim but reschedule for a later date unless unable to do so. Freddie Laker caused a sharp drop in airline prices, so now airlines make minimal profits per seat (it's reported about £5 a seat). They still have to maintain aircraft sitting on the ground as well as parking fees. If everyone claims they WILL definitely go under, As it is expect prices to go up in the future. For considerable time planes will be unlikely to be full. Extra costs will be incurred by the airlines such as deeper cleaning and social distancing on board will be a feature.  COVID is not going to be easily controlled and precautions will have to be carried out even after this emergency.  Flights will be more expensive. I do not want a countries taxpayers to have to cover rescue of failing airlines. The users should pay.  My flights have been  re scheduled, and so I have extended the re schedule to next winter (airlines will probably extend deadlines - mine is to 31 December 2020). When I see how things are shaping up then I will consider whether to cash in. 

SashikoStitcher

meknowalot-51 said:

These large companies have insurancies to cover unforeseen situations.

@meknowalot-51 despite the name, you don’t know a lot about insurance. Airlines cannot buy insurance to cover them for their EU law liability to compensate passengers for delay and cancellation. The payments come out of their bottom line and affect their cash flow. 

mattsearle

This is a business transaction and you're entitled to the claim so I would get it in.

Be prepared for a fight though, which may affect your desire to chase things. I had to go to small claims court before BA would refund me the money that they owed me (flight was cancelled because inbound flight was cancelled because of technical problem that meant the crew had been waiting too long and they didn't have a reserve crew because they'd sent them home).

Good luck and get what you're owed

SevenOfNine

No, I wouldn't. But the culture nowadays is to run around screaming"compensation" for just about everything, & boast about achieving it.

Too dim to realise it's themselves & the rest of us that pay for it in the long run, increased prices, decreased interest rates on savings etc etc.  Then those same people who think they deserve compensation all over the place whine about that!

Confuzd16

I imagine your claim would be covered by an airline's business insurance, which they would probably not have recourse to for paying staff. From that perspective as well as from a moral point of view, there's no reason not to claim.  The worst they can do is say "No".

afis1904

How is that a dilemma? Of course you should, airlines aren't exactly Mother Theresa. This is like saying no if a bank offered you £100 out of nowhere. You have to be incredibly privileged to not claim and even then, why exactly is an airline something you want to support with your money?

SashikoStitcher

Confuzd16 said:

I imagine your claim would be covered by an airline's business insurance, which they would probably not have recourse to for paying staff. From that perspective as well as from a moral point of view, there's no reason not to claim.  The worst they can do is say "No".

You imagine wrong @Confuzd16 . And you might want to read the whole thread before commenting as I have already clarified this three times! 

Scrapit

Is claiming money exactly what this forum and website is all about?

crmism

Simple answer is - no you shouldn't.
The decision to holiday abroad and thereby increase the chances of spreading the current pandemic was yours, and you haven't suffered in any way, have you?
I thought society had moved on from the claims culture and was showing a little more sympathy and understanding of those who helped you get abroad in the first place.