KLM - short-notice cancellation/re-route

Snudge88

Morning, all!

I was due to be flying from Norwich to Berlin next Friday (30th September) via Amsterdam with KLM, with the following original itinerary:

0605hrs - Depart NWI
0800hrs - Arrive AMS
0845hrs - Depart AMS
1005hrs - Arrive BER

A couple of months ago, KLM moved me from the 0845hrs from AMS over to the 1015hrs from AMS, arriving into BER at 1130hrs - which was broadly fine.

This morning, I've received an e-mail stating that the 1015hrs AMS-BER has now been canceled, and my itinerary is now as follows:

0930hrs - Depart NWI
1125hrs - Arrive AMS
1400hrs - Depart AMS
1525hrs - Arrive CDG(!)
1800hrs - Depart CDG
1940hrs - Arrive BER

(Hopefully) understandably, I'm utterly livid, as this knocks out an entire day of my holiday at extremely short notice. KLM are offering me a refund for the affected flight but, having booked months in advance, there's not a hope in hell that the sub-£100 refund will come anywhere close to the cost of re-booking a more appropriate flight at such short notice.

Having had a look around, there is a better option out of Norwich which arrives at 1640hrs, or I could fly from London City with BA at 0825hrs (arriving 1110hrs), or on BA from Heathrow the night before, leaving at 1925hrs and arriving at 2220hrs.  What are the chances of KLM agreeing to me flying with a non-KLM carrier?

On the assumption that KLM will refuse to let me rebook outside of KLM, what options do I have for rectifying the issue myself, whilst maintaining my maximum entitlement to compensation here?

Westin

You posted the same on Trip Advisor this morning and already have quite a few good replies.  Have you checked those?

eskbanker

Snudge88 said:

On the assumption that KLM will refuse to let me rebook outside of KLM, what options do I have for rectifying the issue myself, whilst maintaining my maximum entitlement to compensation here?

If KLM are unwilling to reroute you according to your preferred flights then chances are they'd also reject a later reimbursement claim for costs incurred in you booking these yourself, so you'd be likely to be in the hands of ADR or a court if you chose not to accept their offered alternatives.

There is always going to be scope for debate about acceptability of rerouting options, but perhaps worth reading the CAA's interpretation in chapter 4 at http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/Re-routing Guidance (CAP2155).pdf - in particular they seem to consider same-day alternatives as generally acceptable, although the regulations do require the airline to offer you rerouting 'under comparable transport conditions', so an extra leg that adds several hours to the journey time might not be seen as comparable....

Having said that, if KLM have cancelled one of your flights then, regardless of their refund/rerouting liability, unless due to extraordinary circumstances they'd also be due to pay compensation, which may cover some or all of the difference in flight costs should you be unable to persuade KLM (or any further body) that they should be funding more convenient flights.

Caz3121

I would think the chances of rebooking on BA from London would be slim. They would be responsible to rebook you from your original origin to original destination.

k3lvc

Whilst Schiphol continues to struggle this seems to be a common issue with KLM at the moment. My last three trips have been affected and next weeks has already seen 4 changes in times - to be fair they've offered to reroute from another airport and via Paris on AF with much higher priced flights at no additional cost. 

All part of the new reality/recovery of air travel

Having consulted the oracle that is Skyscanner why not go with KLM the eve before ?

Cheap flights from Norwich to Berlin at Skyscanner