Flight Cancellation Compensation

Cross_Man

MalMonroe said:

"Hope they sort out the flight cancellations quickly."

I hope they all get better quickly.

We all do, obviously, but staff absence due to sickness is a predictable and manageable business risk.  It is not being managed well.

Unions going on strike would be totally avoidable.

Failure to open all check in / border gates etc has been going on for many months now and the travel industry are simply shrugging their collective shoulders, failing to deliver a good travel experience and saying "not our fault".  Willie Walsh and his compatriots need to demonstrate they are worthy of their generous salaries and they are failing at present.

Thrugelmir

Cross_Man said:

MalMonroe said:

"Hope they sort out the flight cancellations quickly."

I hope they all get better quickly.

We all do, obviously, but staff absence due to sickness is a predictable and manageable business risk.  It is not being managed well.

Don't recall anyone predicting Covid and it's impact on staff absence. Not only impacting airlines. Only making headlines as it's visible. First world problem yet again. 

PaulandMargaret

Beware - claim companies can be questionable and are unregulated. Flight Reclaim Limited lost around £2,450,000 belonging to 4,500 clients. That’s monies paid by the airlines to Flight Reclaim Limited for their clients but not passed onto those clients by Flight Reclaim Ltd as expected. They’re being investigated but little hope.

Henders888

Great article on claiming flight compensation. Can anyone tell me my rights in the circumstances EasyJet have bestowed on my wife and I by cancelling one of our flights.

We ended up cancelling both flights and got a refund because there were no viable alternatives.

The problem is that they did not contact us to let us know about the cancellation.  They only way we found about the cancellation is because I checked the flight status on line to find the flight was cancelled. This meant that we found out about the cancellation 13 days before the date of departure, ie less than 14 days.

Are we entitled to compensation?

eskbanker

Henders888 said:

Great article on claiming flight compensation. Can anyone tell me my rights in the circumstances EasyJet have bestowed on my wife and I by cancelling one of our flights.

We ended up cancelling both flights and got a refund because there were no viable alternatives.

The problem is that they did not contact us to let us know about the cancellation.  They only way we found about the cancellation is because I checked the flight status on line to find the flight was cancelled. This meant that we found out about the cancellation 13 days before the date of departure, ie less than 14 days.

Are we entitled to compensation?

Theoretically yes, unless EasyJet can claim extraordinary circumstances, which seems unlikely.  Note also that the onus is on them to prove they notified you, but how confident are you, for example, that an email didn't go into your spam folder?

3. An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

4. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier.

Kambo

This article is very helpful. It mentions that individuals are entitled to compensation if they are given less than 14 days notice before a flight. Can I please check if individuals can claim compensation if their flight was cancelled and they had to rebook another flight (for a flight that was less convenient) with more than 14 days notice? 

eskbanker

Kambo said:

This article is very helpful. It mentions that individuals are entitled to compensation if they are given less than 14 days notice before a flight. Can I please check if individuals can claim compensation if their flight was cancelled and they had to rebook another flight (for a flight that was less convenient) with more than 14 days notice? 

No, the compensation rules being discussed only apply to cancellation notification within 14 days of departure.

However, an airline cancelling more than 14 days out may still be on the hook to arrange alternative flights or to reimburse additional consequential costs of these if the traveller does so - what are the details of the scenario you're thinking of?

Henders888

Thanks guys fir your answers! Much appreciated! Here is another twist to the way we have been treated. You may be able to offer your opinions.

We originally booked our 6 days in Croatia in March last year.

We chose flights out of Luton because they were the nearest option from our home in Yorkshire.

However earlier this year EasyJet cancelled the flights and booked us on alternatives flying out of Gatwick. We we were worried that this would give us a longer journey time and we would probably find it to be physically difficult and stressfully challenging at our age (74 and 73).  Also, because of the much earlier flight time of 6.20am we recognised that we would need to stay at the airport overnight.

We were encouraged by knowing that the the regulations governing airlines nowadays requires EasyJet to compensate their passengers for any reasonable expenses incurred by cancelled flights, etc.

Are we right to think that EasyJet would have paid us for our extra costs of driving to Gatwick instead of Luton?

And would we have been entitled to them paying for our modestly priced room at the Premier Inn.

But we never got to find out from EasyJet because they cancelled the flights from Gatwick as well. More than that, we never got to Croatia either because there were no viable alternative flights.

Therefore my wife and I had a hotel room booked at Gatwick which we could not use. 

We see EasyJet as being responsible for us booking the hotel room in the first place due to them cancelling the Luton flights and we also feel that they are culpable for us not getting to use the hotel because they cancelled the Gatwick flights.

And then there is the question of who pays for our lost costs of the hotel and transfers in Croatia! Why should our insurance company have to pay (and us lose the excess charge) when we reckon that the fault lies with EasyJet! Or are we mistaken?

Guidance would be welcome!

silvercar

Henders888 said:

Thanks guys fir your answers! Much appreciated! Here is another twist to the way we have been treated. You may be able to offer your opinions.

We originally booked our 6 days in Croatia in March last year.

We chose flights out of Luton because they were the nearest option from our home in Yorkshire.

However earlier this year EasyJet cancelled the flights and booked us on alternatives flying out of Gatwick. We we were worried that this would give us a longer journey time and we would probably find it to be physically difficult and stressfully challenging at our age (74 and 73).  Also, because of the much earlier flight time of 6.20am we recognised that we would need to stay at the airport overnight.

We were encouraged by knowing that the the regulations governing airlines nowadays requires EasyJet to compensate their passengers for any reasonable expenses incurred by cancelled flights, etc.

Are we right to think that EasyJet would have paid us for our extra costs of driving to Gatwick instead of Luton?

And would we have been entitled to them paying for our modestly priced room at the Premier Inn.

But we never got to find out from EasyJet because they cancelled the flights from Gatwick as well. More than that, we never got to Croatia either because there were no viable alternative flights.

Therefore my wife and I had a hotel room booked at Gatwick which we could not use. 

We see EasyJet as being responsible for us booking the hotel room in the first place due to them cancelling the Luton flights and we also feel that they are culpable for us not getting to use the hotel because they cancelled the Gatwick flights.

And then there is the question of who pays for our lost costs of the hotel and transfers in Croatia! Why should our insurance company have to pay (and us lose the excess charge) when we reckon that the fault lies with EasyJet! Or are we mistaken?

Guidance would be welcome!

Looks to be an insurance claim at this point in time.

In retrospect, you could have claimed for the costs of getting to Croatia if you had booked your own flights when Easyjet cancelled without giving you an alternative. British Airways and Croatia Airlines both fly direct.

Easyjet won't be liable for a third party booking like the airport hotel or your holiday in Croatia. so it's an insurance claim for that.

Fibreglass5

I have return flights booked with Ryan Air. The outbound flight has been cancelled today, over 14 days beforehand on 6/6/22. Ryan Air have offered a refund of the outbound flight only. My initial flight booking on the 3/3 has already been cancelled leaving no viable near alternative. 

Do I have a chance of claiming for both flights and what is the best path to approach this?