KLM refusing claim for expenses

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81921892#Comment_81921892

Just to be clear, I believe that the airlines responsibility to reroute "under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity" means that they were required to get you to Bangkok in two legs, rather than to Warsaw in one (initially), assuming this was all on one through-ticketed booking rather than self-transfer arrangements, so if a single-stop routing via Oman was viable then they should have offered this if aware that they needed to improve on their initial offer. Was there any discussion at all about the potential options, or was it literally a case of them offering the Denmark routing and you going to your TA without intimating to KLM that you considered their offer unsuitable?

Sugarbar

Hi,

Just to clarify, KLM was only responsible for Edinburgh to Warsaw flights with stopover in Amsterdam. The other part of the itinerary was with another airline, all organised through Mytrip. In summary, KLM could not have organised the flights through Oman to Bangkok as it wasn’t their responsibility.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81922207#Comment_81922207

Ah right, so as far as KLM and the regulations are concerned, your journey was just Edinburgh to Warsaw if you were self-transferring there for the Bangkok leg - was there availability on better direct flights from Amsterdam to Warsaw than the indirect ones offered by KLM?

Sugarbar

It would be hard to know what was available on the day. There must have been direct flights to Warsaw on the day but fully booked considering it was the weekend before Christmas.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81922627#Comment_81922627

I think it weakens your position significantly if you chose to reject KLM's proposed rerouting but without identifying a better alternative (for travelling to Warsaw), so in turn that then makes it harder to sustain an argument that they're on the hook for accommodation and transport costs while in Amsterdam, given that this is explicitly applicable in the event of rerouting, rather than refunding, but let's see how AviationADR views it…

Sugarbar

@eskbanker

Thank you, that’s very helpful. Just wanted to know what was the likelihood of my claim being successful.
I may just ask to be refunded for the unused leg of the flights. Expenses were only €281 for the 4 of us so the flight refund may be not too far from the reimbursement of expenses.