Holiday Insurance - Cancelled Flights.

Markw

I would appreciate advice as to where I stand with this issue please.
I flew to Guernsey for Christmas with Aurigny Airline.
We were booked to return on 27th December and arrived at the airport in good time. We sat at the airport for 8 hours after which we were advised that our flight had been cancelled.
We were told to book an alternative flight.
The earliest available was on 30th December. Aurigny is the only airline which flies Guernsey - Gatwick. I purchased these tickets (£390 for 2 of us)in somewhat of a panic as I thought the tickets would be sold and we would be delayed further if I waited.
I returned to my family who we were staying with in Guernsey and they suggested that it may be possible to get an earlier flight with Blue Islands to Jersey (£180) and Easyjet to Gatwick (£383).
We purchased these flights for 28th December.
On arriving home I spoke with Aurigny and they refused to refund the flights I purchased for 30th, and stated that they would not reimburse me for the Blue Islands - Easyjet flight.
They have issued a credit note for the flights on 30th although I have no use for them.
They did however invite me to submit a claim for the cancelled flight which would be £212 if they honour it.
With additional car parking fees I stand to be £791 out of pocket if Aurigny repay the £212.
Is there anything I can do?
I would appreciate some advice on this.

mr_stripey

Aurigny customer service is abysmal
I'm not sure of the legalities and rights here (I think UK/EU regulations to not apply to Aurigny flights FROM the Channel Islands - or so they told me)

Everyone you speak to in Guernsey says how rubbish Aurigny are - but I;m not sure the limit of their obligations in your circumstances?

Does your travel insurance cover any of the expenses?

Markw

Thank you. Couldnt agree more about Aurigny!!
It seems to me that they were unable to offer an alternative flight within a reasonable time frame and therefore should be liable for my additional cost of flights.
I submitted a claim with my insurance company and they stated that additional costs should be recovered from the airline.
Aurigny state that no claim by email will be considered and that claimants should use their online form. However this does not provide a section to claim for flights by another airline.

saajan_12

Markw said:

It seems to me that they were unable to offer an alternative flight within a reasonable time frame and therefore should be liable for my additional cost of flights.

This I agree with in principle, caveated with how long is reasonable - arguably if you were booking flights a couple of days later and if the alternative flight wasn't full then you could have waited a few more hours for the airline. 

Markw said:

I returned to my family who we were staying with in Guernsey and they suggested that it may be possible to get an earlier flight with Blue Islands to Jersey (£180) and Easyjet to Gatwick (£383).
We purchased these flights for 28th December.
On arriving home I spoke with Aurigny and they refused to refund the flights I purchased for 30th, and stated that they would not reimburse me for the Blue Islands - Easyjet flight.
They have issued a credit note for the flights on 30th although I have no use for them.

However I think the problem will come when trying to argue this double booking - if you took matters into your own hands then I think its on you to be reasonably confident that will be the final itinerary. IMO you have a good argument for the Blue Islands flights given its only a day later and not TOO much more expensive. But that would leave you sitting with the 30th Dec flights (or now the credit that they have kindly sent) and not a refund there. 

Markw said:

They did however invite me to submit a claim for the cancelled flight which would be £212 if they honour it.
With additional car parking fees I stand to be £791 out of pocket if Aurigny repay the £212.

Do you mean the £220 fixed compensation for delayed or cancelled flights - if so assuming UK261 applies in Guernesey, then that's an extra fixed amount which I usually think of as covering the inconvenience as well as knock on damages eg car parking. Basically anything beyond the actual flights / transport to get you to your destination airport and the minimal food / care costs. 

mr_stripey

Do you mean the £220 fixed compensation for delayed or cancelled flights - if so assuming UK261 applies in Guernesey, then that's an extra fixed amount which I usually think of as covering the inconvenience as well as knock on damages eg car parking. Basically anything beyond the actual flights / transport to get you to your destination airport and the minimal food / care costs. 

I don't think it does - at least that's what Aurigny told me. A quick google revealed this AI answer which seems to validate that.

"UK261 does not apply to flights departing from Guernsey to non-EU destinations because Guernsey is not part of the UK. This includes flights operated by non-EU/UK airlines, such as Blue Islands."

Markw

Thank you all.
Not sure how to proceed with this. Aurigny clearly state they will not entertain any claims for flights which are not submitted on their official claim form, but all that contains is sections for Booking Reference, Flight number, Departure Date and Departure Time, so they clearly dont give the option to include flights with other airlines. They make it as difficult as possible.