Compensation Qatar/Virgin Australia delayed flight = missed connection?

id1979

Hi All,

Hoping someone can give us some advice on this please?

Me and my wife were travelling back from visiting our son in Brisbane to Manchester on flights booked through a travel agency in the UK on Qatar Airways but the first return flight which was Brisbane-Sydney was operated on Qatar's behalf by Virgin Australia and was just over an hour late which meant they wouldn't let us on our connecting flight to Doha (2hr layover) and instead put us up in a hotel in Sydney overnight (also paid all but about £10 of the taxi charges on a prepaid voucher) for the 21hr wait until the next available flight to Doha and then we had a 9hr layover in Doha so eventually arrived back in the UK a day late so the wife and I both had to take an additional day off work and obviously accrued meal costs and also the extra 60-odd quid for overstaying on Manchester Jetparks 3 by a day.

Travel insurance supposed 5 star defaqto jobbie through coverwise/AXA says £40 for every 11 hrs delay and there's a £50 excess so we'd get all of 30 quid off that so not gonna bother.

Looks like it's not covered by that Europe directive but may be covered by the Montreal convention but looking at that it seems really vague and difficult, combined with the fact it was a Qatar flight but operated by Virgin Australia that was late but only by an hour which set off a chain reaction, who is responsible?

The wife is pushing me to pursue it but I'm thinking it just seems too much of a ballache to bother with unless anyone can tell me it's not and will most likely end in a successful claim of several hundred.

Thanks in advance.

eskbanker

What was the reason for the delay to the internal Australian flight, and in particular to what extent was it the airline's fault?

As with the UK/EU regulations, which, as you say, don't apply here, the Montreal Convention has a similar exemption:

The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage or
cargo. Nevertheless, the carrier shall not be liable for damage occasioned by delay if it proves that it
and its servants and agents took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage
or that it was impossible for it or them to take such measures.

id1979

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81899057#Comment_81899057

Thanks for the reply.

It was a technical fault that caused the initial delay, Do you think as the flight was operated by Virgin Australia for Qatar that it would be VA that would be liable if at all? I've looked on their website and this is what they state, which based on this I'd be able to claim very little at all, certainly nothing like if it under UK/EU. Like £15 per meal each and that's it because they paid our overnight stay and taxi pretty much. thinking putting in a bill for a lost days work for each of us and the parking charges is going nowhere.

The types of costs you may be entitled to claim in the event of a disruption to your booking are outlined in this section 8. You may also be entitled to reimbursement of additional costs if we have not complied with the Consumer Guarantees page under the Australian Consumer Law. Please see our Consumer Guarantees page for more information.

If Virgin Australia delays or cancels your flight due to factors within its control and as a result you are delayed overnight while you wait for your new Virgin Australia service, you may submit a claim for the following costs:

• The reasonable cost of hotel accommodation (if you are not at your home port and if we do not organise accommodation for you) up to $200 per room per night;
• The reasonable cost of airport transfers (for example, taxi, Uber, train, ferry or bus);
• Reasonable meal costs (up to $30 per night per person if you are not at your home port); and
• Cost incurred for reasonable personal items (if you are not at your home port).

In addition, if you are delayed for 2 hours or more at the airport, we will provide reasonable meal costs for the duration of your delay at the airport (if we do not provide you with meal/refreshment vouchers).

Virgin Australia considers the following matters to be within its control:

• Crew shortages;
• Unscheduled aircraft maintenance or other engineering issues;
• Malfunction of Virgin Australia IT infrastructure (other than malicious attacks);
• An aircraft has been overbooked;
• You are denied boarding (either voluntarily or involuntarily) for reasons other than your conduct on your day of travel;
• You miss your connecting Virgin Australia flight because we delayed or cancelled a flight for one of the above reasons; or
• We decide to stop operating services on a specific route for commercial reasons. 

Your claim should be submitted to our Guest Relations team using our Online Feedback Form. Please keep receipts for all amounts you are claiming, and upload with your claim. We will not be able to reimburse you for any costs if you are not able to provide us with evidence to our reasonable satisfaction that you incurred these costs. Where possible, you should take steps to mitigate costs or expenses you incur.

saajan_12

The main UK261 or EU261 fixed compensation wouldn't apply as its a non-UK/EU airline not leaving from a UK / EU airport.

However they would have to cover the duty of care costs - in addition to the taxi and hotel, it also includes reasonable food and drink for the extra day. So if you kept your receipts, you could claim that (not fancy restaurants or alcohol, but reasonable basic meals.

Beyond that, you would need to look into any Australian / Qatari regulations which would compensate.

eskbanker

To be honest, I find the Montreal Convention pretty impenetrable so would struggle to clarify which airline would bear any financial liability!

I can see the argument that additional parking charges would be an out of pocket expense incurred as a result of the delay, but whether that could be pinned on the first leg carrier is another matter, and I doubt you'd be able to make any claim stick for an extra day off work, unless perhaps you were self-employed and could make a direct correlation between time and money, rather than simply losing a day's annual leave allowance from an employer. Neither would be claimable under the UK/EU regulations, which are typically seen as quite generous, although that doesn't necessarily prejudice any claim under the Montreal Convention.

If your wife is pushing for this, is she able to construct a cogent and supported case for reimbursement?!