Final destination

B1B2B3

KLM cancelled my return flight to Bristol and were unable to offer an alternative flight until the day after I was due to fly. I accepted an alternative flight to Birmingham, which arrived in Birmingham 30 mins later than my original flight was planned for Bristol. I had to arrange collection from Birmingham and transport to Bristol to collect my car (which was parked at Bristol). I submitted a claim for direct costs which I considered reasonable (parking pick up and drop off, overstay parking charge, plus mileage between Birmingham and Bristol). I also claimed for compensation as I arrived at Bristol >3hours later than planned.
KLM say that as the delay to Birmingham was only 30 mins, I am not entitled to compensation. They also say that the expenses submitted were indirect and so refuse to pay.
I have argued that my ‘final destination’ was Bristol and that the costs were incurred as a direct result of them cancelling the flight. They are ignoring me!
Am I right in my understanding of the final destination being Bristol, and should I be compensated?
I should add the cancellation was due to technical fault and I was informed 24 hours before the flight. This has been ongoing since November 2023.
Any advice much appreciated 

DullGreyGuy

How did you get from Birmingham to Bristol? Did you get a friend/relative to collect you/drop you off or book at taxi? Sounds like the former in which case what did you actually pay the person and how did you calculate that figure?

When was your original flight cancelled relative to your travel? A day before? A month before?

eskbanker

B1B2B3 said:

I submitted a claim for direct costs which I considered reasonable (parking pick up and drop off, overstay parking charge, plus mileage between Birmingham and Bristol). [...] They also say that the expenses submitted were indirect and so refuse to pay.

They are obliged to transport you to your final destination, so should stump up for a train fare between the two, but the regulations don't hold them liable to reimburse the other costs you've incurred, so those would be a matter for your travel insurance if you're unable to persuade KLM to refund them.

B1B2B3 said:

I accepted an alternative flight to Birmingham, which arrived in Birmingham 30 mins later than my original flight was planned for Bristol. [...] I also claimed for compensation as I arrived at Bristol >3hours later than planned.
KLM say that as the delay to Birmingham was only 30 mins, I am not entitled to compensation.[...]
Am I right in my understanding of the final destination being Bristol, and should I be compensated?
I should add the cancellation was due to technical fault and I was informed 24 hours before the flight.

You are correct that your final destination is the airport to which the booking was, i.e. Bristol.  If you're informed the day before the flight then they can only avoid compensation if the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond their control (not applicable here) or you were "offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival", which also doesn't apply here.  Bear in mind your compensation claim is for a flight cancellation, not a delayed flight as such....

B1B2B3

Thanks for your advice. As a newbie I’m not sure how to respond to each comment!
Anyway, to Dull Grey Guy - my husband collected me from Birmingham and dropped me at Bristol. I took his total mileage and multiplied by 45p, which is the HMRC guide. I then had receipts for his pickup and drop off parking costs, and my penalty parking charge, as I was late back to my prepaid car park (obviously) My flight was cancelled the day before, so roughly 24 hours.
Eskbanker - my insurance say they won’t pay as it’s 100% KLMs responsibility.

eskbanker

B1B2B3 said:

Thanks for your advice. As a newbie I’m not sure how to respond to each comment!
Anyway, to Dull Grey Guy - my husband collected me from Birmingham and dropped me at Bristol. I took his total mileage and multiplied by 45p, which is the HMRC guide. I then had receipts for his pickup and drop off parking costs, and my penalty parking charge, as I was late back to my prepaid car park (obviously) My flight was cancelled the day before, so roughly 24 hours.
Eskbanker - my insurance say they won’t pay as it’s 100% KLMs responsibility.

Unfortunately your insurer is wrong if asserting that refunding those additional costs is 100% KLM's responsibility, although they may not be covered by your travel insurance either.  KLM are liable to pay to get you from Birmingham airport to Bristol airport (unless you waived this when accepting the rerouting) but this will generally be on the basis of public transport costs rather than forking out for all those driving-related ones, and even your prepaid car park charges aren't refundable by the airline, in terms of their obligations under the regulations.

However, they are obliged to pay compensation of €250 or £220, depending on whether you claim under the EU or UK regulations, so that should cover the incremental expenses....

Caz3121

I had a similar case with BA some time ago. Flight to Edinburgh cancelled. They had no issues with providing a hotel at their cost and a flight the next day. I asked about instead travelling to Glasgow and was clearly told if I requested that change they would have no liability to transport/reimburse the travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh as this was my choice. (in my case the Edinburgh cancellation was due to weather so no compensation applicable)

DullGreyGuy

B1B2B3 said:

Thanks for your advice. As a newbie I’m not sure how to respond to each comment!
Anyway, to Dull Grey Guy - my husband collected me from Birmingham and dropped me at Bristol. I took his total mileage and multiplied by 45p, which is the HMRC guide. I then had receipts for his pickup and drop off parking costs, and my penalty parking charge, as I was late back to my prepaid car park (obviously) My flight was cancelled the day before, so roughly 24 hours.
Eskbanker - my insurance say they won’t pay as it’s 100% KLMs responsibility.

I am not an expert on UK 261 so tend to approach these things more from a common law perspective which may mean not everything is correct. 

My understanding is you wouldn't be claiming for the "delay" but the instead the cancellation of the original flight with less than 1 weeks notice. If thats successful will depend on why the flight was cancelled. 

On the costs front I would question if your partner's mileage is claimable as that isn't your cost. In principle getting you back to Bristol should have been comparable standard as the flight you'd booked. A private car transfer is a higher standard than an economy airline seat. Now you could argue the cost is less than a train ticket but its one of those things with strict rules rather than common law (common sense to some degree) where price doesn't matter if its not on the list. 

Did you have a conversation with their staff when you rebooked to discuss how you were to get back to Bristol? I know with my own cancellation flight claim they declined repeating Covid19 tests (back when expensive during 2020) but complaint was upheld as their staff had confirmed they would pay for it before I repeated the test.

B1B2B3

Thanks everyone. Let’s hope common sense prevails… although I won’t hold my breath. Good advice though 

mdann52

Compensation is only payable in the event of rerouting after a cancellation if you are scheduled to reach the final destination more than 2 hours after you were originally scheduled to do so. Birmingham to Bristol is (just!) doable in 2 hours, so the airline might have a defence to the EU261 compensation - I suspect this will not survive at court however, especially if you can prove the time you arrived at Bristol.

Compensation for the delay is claimable if you arrived at Bristol 3 hours after your due time of the rebooked flight. You will need to be able to prove your arrival time to claim this 

Did the airline put on any transport from Birmingham to Bristol?

eskbanker

mdann52 said:

Compensation is only payable in the event of rerouting after a cancellation if you are scheduled to reach the final destination more than 2 hours after you were originally scheduled to do so.

That's certainly one interpretation, but I'd argue that the wording (quoted earlier) would enable compensation if actually arriving at the final destination more than two hours after scheduled arrival time.

mdann52 said:

Birmingham to Bristol is (just!) doable in 2 hours, so the airline might have a defence to the EU261 compensation - I suspect this will not survive at court however, especially if you can prove the time you arrived at Bristol.

Even if it's possible to reach Bristol airport from landside at Birmingham airport in two hours, it seems hugely unlikely that this would be viable using the sort of transportation options that KLM would fund, and in any case, there's no way that it would be feasible to reach BRS within two hours of originally scheduled 'doors open' arrival time after going through all the arrival formalities at BHX, i.e. border control, baggage claim (if applicable), etc, so, yes, I can't see the airline prevailing in court if it got that far!

B1B2B3

mdann52 said:

Compensation is only payable in the event of rerouting after a cancellation if you are scheduled to reach the final destination more than 2 hours after you were originally scheduled to do so. Birmingham to Bristol is (just!) doable in 2 hours, so the airline might have a defence to the EU261 compensation - I suspect this will not survive at court however, especially if you can prove the time you arrived at Bristol.

Compensation for the delay is claimable if you arrived at Bristol 3 hours after your due time of the rebooked flight. You will need to be able to prove your arrival time to claim this 

Did the airline put on any transport from Birmingham to Bristol?

Thanks mdann52. I can prove my arrival
time in Bristol as I have the car park exit ticket. It was far more than 3 hours.

They didn’t suggest any transport between airports so I arranged this myself. My husband collecting me was cheaper than a train ticket tbh. It’s whether they decide to adopt what they deem fair, as then I hope I will come out ok.