Flight rescheduled - is it possible to claim expenses?

slicendice

My brother has a flight for him and his 2 kids from Los Angeles to Manchester via Dublin on Aer Lingus. The LA flight arrives into Dublin at 14:30 on Thu 7th August and the flight from Dublin to Manchester was later that same day (Thu 7th) at 20:20.

He's recently been told by Aer Lingus that the Dublin to Manchester flight has been changed and they are now on the 06:30 flight the following day on Fri 8th August - which means they now need an overnight stay in Dublin.

Apparently the Aer Lingus representative he was speaking with said he could "apply for a refund" of expenses due to having to stay overnight in a hotel. That doesn't sound very convincing to me as it sounds like he was saying "well, you can try if you want..."!

If a flight is rescheduled by the airline more than 14 days in advance, and it directly causes the need to pay for hotel accommodation, should that be something that can be claimed back from the airline? Has anyone had any experience of this?

Thanks!

(I realise this is more reimbursement than compensation but I wasn't sure where else to post!)

Ms_Chocaholic

Were both legs of the journey booked on one trip or did your brother book them separately

slicendice

They were both booked as one complete trip direct with Aer Lingus

flaneurs_lobster

Could your brother/kids use one of the 2 Ryanair (I know) flights that leave that evening? Presumably Aer Lingus would refund the last leg or pay for the rebook? 

Having to get up at very early o'clock to get that 06:30 could be very nasty, jetlag after an 8 timezone east jump will be cruel.

slicendice

flaneurs_lobster said:

Could your brother/kids use one of the 2 Ryanair (I know) flights that leave that evening? Presumably Aer Lingus would refund the last leg or pay for the rebook? 

Having to get up at very early o'clock to get that 06:30 could be very nasty, jetlag after an 8 timezone east jump will be cruel.

That's exactly what I got him to ask the Aer Lingus rep he was speaking with but the response was that "it is not possible for him to book with another airline".

I thought that Aer Lingus and Ryanair did share flights...? But either way, he got a flat no to that option.

flaneurs_lobster

There's availability on the 21:20 says Google, £16. I know that once you've added luggage etc it'll be considerably more but personally I'd just book it.

Aer Lingus' stance on using another carrier just sounds wrong to me but others will have far better knowledge of the rules when flights are re-timed.

eskbanker

slicendice said:

My brother has a flight for him and his 2 kids from Los Angeles to Manchester via Dublin on Aer Lingus. The LA flight arrives into Dublin at 14:30 on Thu 7th August and the flight from Dublin to Manchester was later that same day (Thu 7th) at 20:20.

He's recently been told by Aer Lingus that the Dublin to Manchester flight has been changed and they are now on the 06:30 flight the following day on Fri 8th August - which means they now need an overnight stay in Dublin.

Apparently the Aer Lingus representative he was speaking with said he could "apply for a refund" of expenses due to having to stay overnight in a hotel. That doesn't sound very convincing to me as it sounds like he was saying "well, you can try if you want..."!

If a flight is rescheduled by the airline more than 14 days in advance, and it directly causes the need to pay for hotel accommodation, should that be something that can be claimed back from the airline? Has anyone had any experience of this?

Thanks!

(I realise this is more reimbursement than compensation but I wasn't sure where else to post!)

Where an airline cancels a flight (which would include a significant reschedule) and rebooks the passenger onto a flight the next day they are obliged to arrange hotel accommodation at no cost to the passenger, so it's not even a case of reimbursing, the airline technically has to book it and pay, together with the cost of transport between airport and hotel, and reasonable meals.

Point them towards article 5(1)(b) of the EC261 regulations:

Article 5

Cancellation

1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:

(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and

(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of re-routing when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and [...]

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261

The bolded wording is what requires them to arrange hotel, meals and transport under article 9:

Article 9

Right to care

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

(b) hotel accommodation in cases

- where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or

- where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;

(c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

Westin

Could your brother travel a day earlier from LAX? There is still a valid connection for the arrival on 6th for the onward DUB MAN flight.

I would add caution to the suggestion of just booking a RyanAir flight on the 7th without discussing this plan with Aer Lingus.   If your brother is listed as a no-show for the DUB MAN flight then all onward sectors on the same ticket could be cancelled - so any return MAN DUB LAX flight lost.

If 7th arrival is still desired, with onward flight the following morning, then I think Aer Lingus would pay reasonable hotel costs given the rescheduling.

slicendice

eskbanker said:

slicendice said:

My brother has a flight for him and his 2 kids from Los Angeles to Manchester via Dublin on Aer Lingus. The LA flight arrives into Dublin at 14:30 on Thu 7th August and the flight from Dublin to Manchester was later that same day (Thu 7th) at 20:20.

He's recently been told by Aer Lingus that the Dublin to Manchester flight has been changed and they are now on the 06:30 flight the following day on Fri 8th August - which means they now need an overnight stay in Dublin.

Apparently the Aer Lingus representative he was speaking with said he could "apply for a refund" of expenses due to having to stay overnight in a hotel. That doesn't sound very convincing to me as it sounds like he was saying "well, you can try if you want..."!

If a flight is rescheduled by the airline more than 14 days in advance, and it directly causes the need to pay for hotel accommodation, should that be something that can be claimed back from the airline? Has anyone had any experience of this?

Thanks!

(I realise this is more reimbursement than compensation but I wasn't sure where else to post!)

Where an airline cancels a flight (which would include a significant reschedule) and rebooks the passenger onto a flight the next day they are obliged to arrange hotel accommodation at no cost to the passenger, so it's not even a case of reimbursing, the airline technically has to book it and pay, together with the cost of transport between airport and hotel, and reasonable meals.

Point them towards article 5(1)(b) of the EC261 regulations:

Article 5

Cancellation

1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:

(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and

(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of re-routing when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and [...]

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261

The bolded wording is what requires them to arrange hotel, meals and transport under article 9:

Article 9

Right to care

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

(b) hotel accommodation in cases

- where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or

- where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;

(c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

Thanks for that info, much appreciated 👍 

Is it relevant that the flight hasn't actually been cancelled (that we're aware)...he's simply been bumped off it onto a different flight?

When the rep was asked why this was occurring, he said that he "didn't have that information available". I originally assumed it was due to overbooking (which I believe is commonplace) but if that is the case, it seems very premature to be bumping people off the flight - I'd have thought they would usually wait to the last minute to do that, as there may well be no-shows which would mitigate the overbooking?

slicendice

Westin said:

Could your brother travel a day earlier from LAX? There is still a valid connection for the arrival on 6th for the onward DUB MAN flight.

I would add caution to the suggestion of just booking a RyanAir flight on the 7th without discussing this plan with Aer Lingus.   If your brother is listed as a no-show for the DUB MAN flight then all onward sectors on the same ticket could be cancelled - so any return MAN DUB LAX flight lost.

If 7th arrival is still desired, with onward flight the following morning, then I think Aer Lingus would pay reasonable hotel costs given the rescheduling.

Unfortunately, flying a day earlier isn't possible...he has shared custody of the kids and they're not with him until the day of the flight. 

flaneurs_lobster

Westin said:

I would add caution to the suggestion of just booking a RyanAir flight on the 7th without discussing this plan with Aer Lingus.   If your brother is listed as a no-show for the DUB MAN flight then all onward sectors on the same ticket could be cancelled - so any return MAN DUB LAX flight lost.

Oh that's a very good point. I had assumed (it seems wrongly) that LAX-DUB-MAN was the return half of the trip.