Easyjet E261 advice please

jimi_man

No there isn’t as far as I know. You used to be able to get it from Expertflyer but not any more. 

NoodleDoodleMan

Got a confirmation email from Easyjet today acknowledging their receipt of my E261 claim - with an indication they would reply within 28 days.

It reads that I have the additional right to claim from the following three options.

Additionally, as your flights have been cancelled, you are entitled to any one of the three options mentioned below:

• A free flight transfer within the same country.
• A full refund for the cancelled flight to the original mode of payment.
• A full refund for the cancelled flight in the form of a voucher.

The second of these is the only choice I would consider if appropriate - and all else fails.

Question is - if the E261 claim is succesful, am I also entitled to this additional offer ?

I would have thought it was one or the other ?

Our out of pocket expenses for meals etc. amounts to just under £120 - I took advice from AXA travel insurance staff - I can claim this amount through the policy, as long as compensation is not received from another source.

saajan_12

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Got a confirmation email from Easyjet today acknowledging their receipt of my E261 claim - with an indication they would reply within 28 days.

It reads that I have the additional right to claim from the following three options.

Additionally, as your flights have been cancelled, you are entitled to any one of the three options mentioned below:

• A free flight transfer within the same country.
• A full refund for the cancelled flight to the original mode of payment.
• A full refund for the cancelled flight in the form of a voucher.

The second of these is the only choice I would consider if appropriate - and all else fails.

Question is - if the E261 claim is succesful, am I also entitled to this additional offer ?

I would have thought it was one or the other ?

Our out of pocket expenses for meals etc. amounts to just under £120 - I took advice from AXA travel insurance staff - I can claim this amount through the policy, as long as compensation is not received from another source.

The compensation is if the cancellation was directly EJ's fault, somewhat to cover inconvenience, concequential losses etc.

They still (additionally) have to perform what they said they would or refund you  - that means reroute you to your destination via another flight(s) or give a refund in the original payment mode. If the rerouting takes longer, they have to give you basic accommodations eg food / hotel if appropriate. 

What actually happened when your flights were cancelled? Did you get rerouted onto another flight to get to your destination, or find your own alternative flights, or abandon the trip? Seems EJ are covering this liability with a few more options eg offering a flight transfer to another date / airport in the same country or a voucher. You can ignore these and go for the refund (assuming you didn't travel at their cost). On the food / expenses, what does the £120 cover and for how many people? They would be liable for basic costs only upto your destination airport, not beyond that point, and the amounts are often limited so not fancy restaurants or alcohol. 

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Question is - if the E261 claim is succesful, am I also entitled to this additional offer ?

I would have thought it was one or the other ?

It's important to understand that there are three separate aspects of financial redress associated with delayed or cancelled flights, and they're essentially unrelated, so you can claim for one, some, or all of them, according to your circumstances.

They're explained in articles 7 to 9 of the UK261 regulations, and these rights are mirrored in EasyJet's own policy, as published at Notice of your rights in case of flight delays, cancellations and denied boarding | easyJet

So, even if article 7 compensation doesn't apply because of extraordinary circumstances, EasyJet are still obliged to offer you the choices you describe as an 'additional offer', i.e. rerouting or refund, under article 8, so it's not additional as such, it's a fundamental part of your rights under the regulations.

What exactly did you claim for, under these three headings?

NoodleDoodleMan

Thanks.

I haven't claimed for anthying (yet) under these three headings - I wanted to confirm (amongst other aspects) that claiming for one of them would not prejudice a parallel claim under E261 legislation.

They effectively abandoned us airside at Schiphol by cancelling flight to Edinburgh at short notice with no assistance of any type offered.

The £120 was for meals at airport hotel (dinner and breakfast) overnight stay plus same (snack meal and dinner) onboard ferry to Harwich - all paid by my card with printed receipts in order to maintain a paper trail of expenses.

Our travel package provider, Newmarket Holidays, provided hotel, ferry and road transport from Amsterdam to Scotland.

I'm obliged for your guidance - never been left stranded in a foreign country in such a challenging mess in 65 years of travelling abroad.

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Thanks.

I haven't claimed for anthying (yet) under these three headings - I wanted to confirm (amongst other aspects) that claiming for one of them would not prejudice a parallel claim under E261 legislation.

I'm still not sure we're on the same page - for the avoidance of doubt, those three headings are your rights under the EC/UK261 legislation, not something different, so there's no parallel claiming involved?

NoodleDoodleMan

Looks like we are not on the same hymnsheet right enough.

My fault for being a bit slow on the uptake.

In the first instance I'm primarily focused on the £220 / €250 compensation for flights of 1500 km or less in respect of the cancelled flight - hoping Easyjet can't play their extraordinary circumstances card. That remains to be seen.

Is that per person or per booking/reservation ?

Thereafter compensation for the subsistence expenses of £120 (ish) as mentioned.

All now much clearer.

eskbanker

Probably best to make a clear distinction between compensation and reimbursement - in the context of the regulations, compensation refers specifically to the fixed tariff distance-banded payments you mention (which are per passenger not per booking), whereas reimbursing out of pocket costs isn't compensation as such.

The legislation actually envisages the airline offering meals and accommodation rather than reimbursing such costs, but in the real world the passenger will often pay and reclaim, especially in the absence of any contactable support.  You should probably expect some resistance if you're hoping for all meals all the way home, even while travelling!

Regarding the refund of the ticket cost, your situation may be clouded by your package provider stepping in to cover the lion's share of the rerouting costs that should have been picked up by the airline, so there may be an argument that you shouldn't also claim a refund from the airline, as that would effectively result in your travel home being free (except the incidentals) - presumably the travel agent may be claiming that refund from EasyJet themselves anyway, if they booked it for you?

NoodleDoodleMan

Yes, so many variables come into play.

Indeed it does help greatly to get the correct terminology in place

I know from talking with our travel provider casually that they'll pursue Easyjet for their expenses - having to accommodate us in a hotel overnight, plus onward travel costs for the party.

As for the meals - a breakfast, two main meals and a snack x 2 persons for a delayed arrival to Edinburgh of 35 hours is not unreasonable IMO.

I intend to wait until the smoke clears before submitting any claims.

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

I know from talking with our travel provider casually that they'll pursue Easyjet for their expenses - having to accommodate us in a hotel overnight, plus onward travel costs for the party.

As for the meals - a breakfast, two main meals and a snack x 2 persons for a delayed arrival to Edinburgh of 35 hours is not unreasonable IMO.

Sure, but the regulations envisage rerouting under comparable transport conditions, so the expectation would be that you'd take a later flight on the same route (there was another that evening and another eight the next day, including KLM's, plus some to Glasgow) and that EasyJet would pick up the tab for costs incurred while waiting - I don't know why your agent put you on a lengthy ferry routing instead of another flight or even trains, but doing so doesn't in itself oblige the airline to keep feeding you en route.  Sometimes airlines may take the pragmatic approach, recognising that the ferry fare may have been significantly cheaper and turning a blind eye to other costs, but as I say, they might not....