Idea of compensation amount 28 September 2020 at 4:01PM in Overseas holidays & travel planning 8 replies 151 views

queentutti

I have been told we can claim compensation for our holiday due to loss of enjoyment, stress etc but I don't know how much I'm meant to ask for so was wondering if someone could give me an idea please?
Me and my parents recently went abroad but we encountered a few issues. The holiday company never sent boarding passes or checked us in online so when we got to the airport my dad had to pay so we could board. When we landed there was no transfer for us so I rang them and found out it had been cancelled. This was meant to be a relaxing holiday for my dad who is a full time carer for my disabled mum. This upset her and made her want to go home.
I tried contacting the holiday company all over the weekend but got no reply till the Monday. They said they wouldn't reimburse my dad for the money he paid at the airport even though they hadn't sent us anything to check in with. They provide us with our boarding passes every year as we have booked with them 4 times previously. 
I literally spent all the first week of my holiday emailing back and fourth. Im asking for compensation as advised but don't know how much. The holiday cost my dad £7000.

nomoneytoday

Did you book with a proper travel agent?  Usually a personal one sorts this kind of stuff, that's what makes them worth the price.
In terms of comp - I'd expect them to pay the cost of the boarding passes and the cancelled transfer.

queentutti

Yes we book with disabled access holidays. Citizens advice said we can claim for loss of enjoyment as the first 5 days or so I was sending emails off and then contacted cab.

TELLIT01

Why were you sending e-mails for 5 days?  Presumably you had to contact the tour operator to complain about the check in problems and the lack of transfer vehicle. That shouldn't take 5 days.

queentutti

Because they didn't always reply. Also I needed them to sort the check-in for the flights home which also had issues and I was trying to get my dad reimbursed for the money he had spent.

Sandtree

queentutti said:

I have been told we can claim compensation for our holiday due to loss of enjoyment, stress etc but I don't know how much I'm meant to ask for so was wondering if someone could give me an idea please?
Me and my parents recently went abroad but we encountered a few issues. The holiday company never sent boarding passes or checked us in online so when we got to the airport my dad had to pay so we could board. When we landed there was no transfer for us so I rang them and found out it had been cancelled. This was meant to be a relaxing holiday for my dad who is a full time carer for my disabled mum. This upset her and made her want to go home.
I tried contacting the holiday company all over the weekend but got no reply till the Monday. They said they wouldn't reimburse my dad for the money he paid at the airport even though they hadn't sent us anything to check in with. They provide us with our boarding passes every year as we have booked with them 4 times previously. 
I literally spent all the first week of my holiday emailing back and fourth. Im asking for compensation as advised but don't know how much. The holiday cost my dad £7000.

Why did he pay to check in? In some countries there are departure taxes etc that are paid at check in if not prepaid but not in the UK. Once a story starts sounding odd people probe more.

queentutti

Because they hadn't sent us boarding passes we couldn't check-in so ryanair charge £55 per person to board.

lea2012

Just a question but why didn't you call them before travelling to ask where the boarding passes were? If they have sent them to you for the last 4 holidays then surely you wondered why they were missing this time before you got to the airport?

I know it's not the answer you want but the previous posters are correct and you wouldn't be entitled to anything else other than the costs you paid out.
CAB may advise that you will be entitled to some money but it will be a minimal amount, probably not even 5% of the 5 days you were there, and could take you months to get it causing you even more stress and frustration.

If you're lucky they may give you £50 off your next holiday or something, on top of what they owe you, but that's about it.

If you really wanted to push it for stress and loss of enjoyment you would have to provide enough evidence to show that you spent a significant amount of time on email to them for those days so unless you have been sending very lengthy emails every half hour then you won't get far. The time spent in between reading and sending emails you could have been enjoying yourself so that doesn't count unfortunately. 

I think it's best to chalk it up as a bad situation and remember to chase up the boarding passes next time you go if they don't get sent to you. 

NoodleDoodleMan

No direspect to Citizens Advice, they do a fine job - but they are not specialists in this area.

Ryanair are never going to sort out disputes via ongoing email traffic in such a short timeframe. Once you had registered the details of your complaint with them it would be for investigation once you returned home.