Flight cancelled

mogora

Hi forumites, 

I was due to fly home on 27 July with the 2nd leg being from Izmir to Manchester. 
I got an email from the Travel Agent to say, it had been cancelled with less than 3 days left. 

In the email they offered me a different route with 2 stops and a much longer journey,
The flight was with Sunexpress, who did not contact me by phone or email or SMS. 

After sending many emails to and fro and phone calls with the Travel Agent, we managed to get a flight for 28 July through another route. 

The overall delay was more than 14 hours. 

Sunexpress on their site, mention I should have been offered. 
Breakfast or lunch depending on the time of the day in addition to hot and cold beverages.
Additional hot and cold beverages and an additional snack in addition to hot and cold beverages and breakfast or lunch depending on the time of the day
One or more than one night’s accommodation is necessary, accommodation at a hotel or at an appropriate accommodation facility.
Transfer between the accommodation and airport
Communication Two telephone conversations, fax messages or e-mail services without any time limitation may be offered 

They offered me none of that. How do I claim for that retrospectively?
 

When I have tried claiming compensation on their site, it says 400 Euros, but as there was a prior flight linked to this one which became void, it would make the return journey longer than 3500 km, which will result in 600 €. 

How do i get the difference from them please?

I have never been in this situation before, so really appreciate your advice in the above. Thank you

eskbanker

First things first, it's not apparent that the EU 261 flight cancellation/delay regulations apply at all to a Sun Express flight departing from Turkiye to the UK, as these are generally for flights departing from the EU (or from the UK for the UK equivalent).

However, if their online form suggests that compensation may apply, then it would appear that they consider such flights to be eligible, although it'll depend on the root cause of the cancellation, i.e. if extraordinary circumstances beyond the airline's control then it's not payable.

In terms of total distance, multiple legs of the same flight booking will generally be added if it's a joined-up booking of connecting flights with a single reference number, where luggage would be booked through from first to last airport - where were you flying from and was it all on a single booking reference?

Regarding expenses, if you incurred out of pocket expenses for accommodation, transportation or subsistence (and the flight is deemed to qualify for EC261) then you should be able to reclaim relevant costs if supported by receipts.

Voyager2002

Here is a summary of Turkish law about compensation to passengers when airlines let them down:
https://web.shgm.gov.tr/doc4/shy-passenger.pdf

If you search Reddit you will find some interesting experiences when people used these rights to claim compensation, and encountered some resistance from the airlines.

mogora

eskbanker said:

First things first, it's not apparent that the EU 261 flight cancellation/delay regulations apply at all to a Sun Express flight departing from Turkiye to the UK, as these are generally for flights departing from the EU (or from the UK for the UK equivalent).

However, if their online form suggests that compensation may apply, then it would appear that they consider such flights to be eligible, although it'll depend on the root cause of the cancellation, i.e. if extraordinary circumstances beyond the airline's control then it's not payable.

In terms of total distance, multiple legs of the same flight booking will generally be added if it's a joined-up booking of connecting flights with a single reference number, where luggage would be booked through from first to last airport - where were you flying from and was it all on a single booking reference?

Regarding expenses, if you incurred out of pocket expenses for accommodation, transportation or subsistence (and the flight is deemed to qualify for EC261) then you should be able to reclaim relevant costs if supported by receipts.

It was all on the same booking reference. 
The return flights were an initial internal Turkish flight, then from Izmir to Manc. 
The second one was cancelled, meaning the first one became void too. 

I've filled in their form, and await a reply. 
But their customer services seem to think, as I paid for the ticket through an online travel agent, I need to chase them for any refunds or compensation. Is that correct?

saajan_12

There's two separate claims here
1) Rerouting & sustenance - covers reasonable food, hotel, transport, etc. Sometimes they'll give vouchers or pay directly, but if not then you have to submit the receipts for what you actually spent over what was expected anyway.
(eg would you have faced hte transfer cost anyway, if it was the same hotel?). You can't forgo those and then claim money. 

2) Compensation - Thats the fixed EUR 400 or 600 or whatever, dependent on the length of the journey, where the airline is based, and whether the cause of the delay/cancellation was within their control. This is additional to the reimbursement above for the inconvenience of it all .

mogora

saajan_12 said:

There's two separate claims here
1) Rerouting & sustenance - covers reasonable food, hotel, transport, etc. Sometimes they'll give vouchers or pay directly, but if not then you have to submit the receipts for what you actually spent over what was expected anyway.
(eg would you have faced hte transfer cost anyway, if it was the same hotel?). You can't forgo those and then claim money. 

2) Compensation - Thats the fixed EUR 400 or 600 or whatever, dependent on the length of the journey, where the airline is based, and whether the cause of the delay/cancellation was within their control. This is additional to the reimbursement above for the inconvenience of it all .

For no. 1  I have approached the airline and not had a reply for 3 weeks. I have tried the insurance company and they seem to think this scenario is not covered by my policy, which I find odd. The most they will pay is £20. 

For no. 2, the airline clearly states I should get the compensation, but their form mentions 400 instead of 600 EUR. Still no contact from them as of yet. 

Any idea what next steps I should take for both points please?

Thanks

Westin

#1
When you say you approached the airline do you mean you completed a claims form for your expenses and attached receipts?  If you however stayed with a friend or don't have receipts for food/refreshments over the delay to travel period then they may reject your claim.

#2
The €400 figure would be correct if you are looking at EU261 (although I think the Turkish laws would apply in your case as linked by @Voyager2002).

EU261 for cancellations within <14 days of departure date are set at €400 for flights more than 1 500 km within the EU and all other flights between 1 500 and 3 500 km.  Over 3,500km it increases to €600.  Distances are measured from capital city of one country to capital city of another - so Ankara to London, which is about 2,850km.  Therefore €400 is correctly quoted.

eskbanker

mogora said:

For no. 2, the airline clearly states I should get the compensation, but their form mentions 400 instead of 600 EUR.

The Turkish regulations linked earlier differentiate between domestic Turkish flights and international ones, so that's presumably why the figure corresponds only to the distance (and delay) of the international leg:

When referred to this article, a compensation of Turkish Lira equivalent of 100 Euros shall be paid to passengers for domestic flights. For international flights, the passengers shall be given;

[...]

b) a compensation of the Turkish Lira equivalent of 400 Euros for all the flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometers, 

If there'd been a claim under the EU or UK regulations then case law established that compensation is based on the total distance for connecting flights on a single booking, but if there's similar for the Turkish regulations then you'd need to find a relevant citation.

eskbanker

Westin said:

Distances are measured from capital city of one country to capital city of another - so Ankara to London, which is about 2,850km.

I've never heard that before and always assumed it was the distance between the actual departure and arrival points - could you clarify where the capital city calculation is specified please?

Article 7 of the regulations states that the "distances given in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be measured by the great circle route method" and the same wording is mirrored in the Turkish equivalent, whereas I'd have thought that this section would be an obvious place to refer to distances being measured between capital cities?

Westin

@eskbanker
That was my impression. I’ll dig deeper and look for a reference.

fifeken

Westin said:

@eskbanker
That was my impression. I’ll dig deeper and look for a reference.

I think you'll find that's what's used for calculating APD.