Were delayed for exactly 3 hours out of NCL airport a few weeks ago...Easyjet offered vouchers without being asked.....GBP3.00 for each passenger !!!!! try to buy something to drink/eat for 3 quid at any aiprot in the UK...... :confused:

We were delayed for 6 hours a few weeks ago and were given just one sandwich and a very small bottle of water. I think I'd rather have had the £3

It is very kind of the EU to offer me this compensation - whether I want it or not - why not give me the choice of paying a tenner less per return flight doing without this 'insurance' which I may already have purchased seperately anyway?

Dear Martin and All

I would welcome your thoughts on the following. I bought a ticket with an airline which involved a transfer in London (from a regional airport through to Europe) - the return plane was delay by just under two hours due to a breakdown. This would have been a minor inconvenience, but as a result of this delay I was not able to make the connection in London. The airline paid for transfer to the hotel and back by taxi, a nights accommodation in a hotel, dinner and breakfast and put me on a flight the following day. As a result I did not get back to my departure airport until over 12 hours after I should have, missing an evening with my family and some of work the following day. I faxed a letter of complaint to the airline using the details as indicated on their website but two weeks on I have heard nothing.

My question is, if the original delay (technical problem as the plane was broken) is under two hours then this appears to be outside the compensation limits, however, I was delayed by over 13 hours due to their technical fault. Do you know what rules apply in this scenario?

Although this is specific to me, it would be interesting to have clarification for others as well as I am sure that this will arise in the future and therefore may be worth a note in the article.

Many thanks

Anon

Anon, was the connecting flight with the same airline on the same ticket or were they two different airlines?

Also the fact that the airline put you up for the night, with food and arranged all your transfers is pretty good. Let's see the likes of Easyjet or Ryanair doing the same. Personally (and its just my own view) I really don't think you have any grounds to complain.

Sounds like you were treated fairly IMHO

Second paragraph here gives a rough guide as to what most decent ailrines do.

You could look at the T&C of the airline you flew with (??) to check but I think you'll find they promise to deliver you to your destination, but not promise to get you there at a certain time.

You MAY have been able to negotiate being put onto another carrier to get to your destination that day or possibly get the train fare etc to get you home.

I was delighted to learn about this new EU ruling which came into effect in February 2005. We had booked to travel with EU Jet from Manston, Kent to Nice in March and our return flight was cancelled without notification to us. This caused us a lot of hassle and extra income in re-arranging many aspects. Despite the local Customer Services Manager being superb, the airline managers couldn't even be bothered to respond to our letters. We applied to EU Jet for this mandatory compensation and were successful. The airlines are aware (even if the consumer isn't) that failure to comply could result in a hefty fine of £5,000 from the Civil Aviation Authority. Needless to say the Customer Services lady has sadly now left the company.

Personally I think Anon has grounds for complaint - well at least compensation.

Regardless of the fact Anon was treated well by the airline, he/she still arrived many hours late.

My son is in a similar dispute. He was booked on a domestic flight in the USA to New York to catch a flight to UK. The domestic flight was delayed 3 hours and he missed his flight to UK. Although put up in hotel etc he still arrived in UK a day late.

He arrived alive and didnt have to travel on an aircraft with a technical problem that could have caused a fatal crash.

Personally i think thats a good thing. Airlines dont cancel or delay flights without a good reason, Do you think they want to pay out to all these passengers?? NOPE

I know i would rather get on a safe, late plane than a dangerous on time one.

Another question id like answered , Why dont we get compensation from the rail company's when the trains are late??? How can they let people randomly walk around or have no seat when the trains moving at such speed. You have to have a seatbelt in the car and on planes, why not on trains???

Anyway i digress!
Sorry ignore my last paragraph its totally off topic

I am struggling to find travel insurance which will cover me for delayed flights internal to the UK. I have 3 weeks of connecting flights from Plymouth to Bristol to Glasgow ahead of me and Air SW's performance last Friday didi not fill me with confidance that I will make it to Bristol airport in time for my Glasow flights (Air SW delayed a 2020 flight until 2315 then flew me to Newquay and bussed me to Plymouth - arriving some 5 hours late at 0230!). Anyone aware of a policy which would allow me to have the flexibility to hire a car to get me to Bristol on time should my Air SW flight be delayed?

How about this: I have written to BMI CEO and only recieved a reply when I emailed his secretary. He passed the matter to his Customer Relations Executive who, after mumbling about addressing staff problems, sent me 75 Euros. On reading your comments on EuReg 261/2004 I sent a formal claim [special delivery] and have been ignored. I don't think they have any intention of adhering to the 261 regulation. the following letter to their CEO explains everything.

For a number of years my wife and I [both retired] have been saving in order to plan, for our 30th wedding anniversary, a trip to New Zealand.

Neither of us fancied the long haul from the UK to Wellington and decided that the only way we could undertake such a journey was to have a three night break, by way of recouperation, in Bangkok on the way out.

We had considered taking the train to Heathrow but since this was a special occasion we decided to fly BMI from Leeds/Bradford Airport [LBA].

What a mistake.

Left home 1600 on the 3rd March. Arrived LBA 1620 in good time to check in for the 1855 flight [BD419] to Heathrow. No information was yet displayed on the monitors.

Eventually the monitor informed us that the flight would leave from gate 7. We sat there becoming increasingly worried as the boarding time went by and we were fast approaching the departure time.
Then came an announcement that the flight was delayed until 2030. This meant that making our connection to Bangkok was impossible.

Typically there was no one around at the time of the announcement to answer any questions we might have. I, in fact, had to go to the airport shop to use the phone to try and contact a member of the 'Aviance' staff.

That too was a fruitless exercise since nobody answered the phone. Eventually after many enquiries we were told that a member of staff would be at gate 7 shortly. This member of staff simply told us to go to the ticket desk where we would be rebooked on a flight the following day. We were - the 1510 [BD417] with an assurance that it was better to take the earlier flight which would give us plenty of time to make our connection and if there were any problems a bus could be organised to take us to London or Manchester.

We then had to hang around for an hour whilst our luggage was brought from the aircraft. During this period one of Aviance staff conceded that the aircraft had developed technical problems. I later discovered that this was a problem with the braking system and the parts required to fix it were stored at the East Midlands Airport.

Finally, at our insistence, a taxi was organised to take us home [£25?].

Left home at 1300 on the 4th March. Arrived LBA 1320. Nothing on the monitor. We were then informed that an announcement would be made with regard to the flight at 1400. This was then revised to 1430.

I immediately approached a member of staff, asked what the problem was and told her that if there was a 1% chance that this flight would be cancelled would she please tell me because I had plenty of time to catch a train from Leeds which would make my connection from Heathrow to Bangkok. I would have got a more sensible response if I had been speaking to the wall. She simply kept repeating that she had no information.

Three times I approached her and suggested that I catch the train and each time I got the same negative result. Ironically whilst I was doing this her radio phone came on with a message, presumably from the maintenance crew, which said "we are no nearer fixing this thing". Strange that she kept telling me that she had no information.

I also discovered that this was the same aircraft that had been cancelled the previous evening and the fault was exactly the same - the braking system. On inquiring if it had been grounded all night I was informed that it had completed two routes that morning. I wonder what the passengers would have thought if they had known they were on an aircraft with suspect brakes?

Shortly after this somebody hit the panic button and I cannot recall ever seeing such a display of incompetence and a serious training need. The supervisors and staff were running around like headless chickens and did not seem to have a clue what to do.

All those with connections from Heathrow before 2030 were told by one person to gather at the top of the lounge, someone else said go to gate 7. One announcement was made that actually said "go to the top of the lounge as gate No7 has no door".

Finally, having mustered in the proper place we were told that there was a flight from Teesside Airport at 1810 that would easily make our onward connections. One of the Aviance staff then invited us to follow her and set off towards the duty free area whilst another member of staff said the same thing and went in the opposite direction, through the arrivals area back to the ticket desk where we were booked on the Teesside flight.

Once again we waited for our luggage to be taken from the aircraft, after which we were escorted to the taxi rank. There must have been at least 20 of us and I guess 10 taxis [£78 x 10 = £780] were used to transport us to Teesside.

We arrived at Teesside and were met with undisguised amazement from the Teesside front line staff. Nobody could understand why we had been sent there since they had been experiencing delays all day. When the LBA staff had contacted them they were told that the 1810 was delayed [some said by an hour others said 40mins].

I am not an airport worker so cannot claim to have the knowledge that the staff at LBA are supposed to possess, but within 15 minutes I had discovered the aircraft in question was one hour [40mins] behind schedule when the original query was made but it was a progressive delay. It seemed obvious to me that the LBA enquirer did not seem to have enough common sense to ask at what part of its route it was currently on when it was delayed by one hour [40mins] and what was its anticipated time of arrival at Teesside.

When we arrived at Teesside the flight was 2 hours behind schedule, primarily as a result of massive hold ups in London which the Teeside staff claimed they had been experiencing all day. This meant, of course, that, once again, we would not make our connection to Bangkok.

Again we were sent to the ticket desk to rebook a flight for the next day to Heathrow. We were booked on the 1145 from LBA which I took as an indication of the lack of confidence in any BMI flights that leave LBA after noon. It also meant that we would have a nine hour wait in Heathrow.

We were then taken to the taxi rank and returned home to Leeds. Some people chose to stay in a hotel at Teesside.

I find it beyond my comprehension that a company such BMI should place the care of their customers in the hands of such incompetent staff.

I do have the names of the two supervisors who were responsible for sending us on the Teesside wild goose chase but am reluctant to apportion individual blame when it seems to me that the Company Training Programme appears to be completely devoid of lateral thinking or common sense.

A 30th anniversary holiday that we had dreamed of was completely ruined due to a stressful start that took us most of our time in New Zealand to recover from. Our plan to spend three leisurely days in Bangkok [which we still had to pay for] turned out to be one evening and a brief morning and that after an eleven hour flight from London left us, on our arrival in New Zealand, in a worse state than if we had flown non stop.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irhonically during our stay in New Zealand I developed a leg injury that required wheelchair assistance on my return. The service provided all the way home by Quantas and British Airways was first class but non more so than that provided by the BMI staff at Heathrow. Nothing was too much trouble for them and I was very impressed by their attitude and general demeanour. A credit to BMI. and what a contrast to LBA.

But to finish how I started: At every airport a wheelchair was waiting to take me from the aircraft on arrival and another one to take me to my next flight for departure.

On approaching LBA one of the stewards apologised and told me that although they had informed LBA that I would require wheelchair assistance no one had bothered to tell the people who provided the wheelchair and I would have to manage on crutches.

Why am I not surprised?

Needless to say I will not be using LBA to fly to Heathrow ever again.

Some interesting facts: It took us from 1600hrs on 3rd March to 2145hrs on 5th March
to finally board our flight to Bangkok - a total of 53.75 hours.

In that same period Great North Eastern Railways ran Approximately 50 trains from Leeds to Kings Cross

National Express delivered around 40 buses direct from Leeds to Heathrow


Yours sincerely




M Ryan

We live in Spain most of the time, however, we make min of 3 flights per year and this year I will be travelling back and forth at least 5 times.
On 17th May I was booked on the 1700 Monarch scheduled flight from Gatwick to Malaga. At check in I was told there was a 1.5 hr delay, but when I got through passport control the screens informed me that my flight would leave at 1900. It actually did, the plane was "pushed back" dead on 1900.

Monarch said "we apolagise for the delay etc etc several times but offered nothing. No food, no drink no phone calls.

Two questions
1. The two hour rule. Is it zero to exactly 2 hours or from 2 hours 1 second thatthe rule applies? Does the 2 hours mean push back or elapsed time or what? All a bit hazy. If the screens in my case had said 2 hours 15 mins would they have had to offer the food and drink?

2. Does any one out there think I stand a chance of any compensation?

The original article in Martins email said over 2 hours one could claim €125, is this really true.

Thanks in advance

Reference previous posting

My flight [from Leeds/Bradford] was cancelled on Thursday Afternoon [technical] put back into service on Friday morning and grounded on Friday evening with the same fault. I was taken to Teesside Airport on Friday evening to discover that the flight there was 2 hours late and of no use.

BMI offered £75 and claimed "extraordinary circumstances". To my mind a better description would be poor maintenance.

I contacted the Air Transport User Council and they informed me that BMI had fulfilled their obligations under [EC] 261/2004]. Great it seems that the airlines can claim anything as "extraordinary" and have the blessing of the ATUC.

A few weeks ago, we were delayed by 7 1/2 hours on a BA flight from Gatwick to Crete, and whilst we were adequately sorted out at the airport (with £15 each of vouchers) I'm not sure we are going to get anything else. Our first day's holiday was ruined because we arrived at 0600 at our hotel instead of 2200 and we missed a whole night's sleep.

The new legislation seems far more helpful to those whose flights are cancelled than those whose flights are delayed - in my view, a 7+ hour delay is a serious disruption to your plans and just getting subsistence during that delay is not adequate compensation.

Insurance (mentioned above) is all very well, but my travel insurance pays out £10 (LOL) for a >12 hour delay - no help at all in my circumstances and not much help if it was such a long delay either!

The ATUC have told me they can't investigate my claim because they have no regulatory powers to do so. I've queried this. Each European member state has a duty to appoint a body to enforce the legislation. Either the UK has failed to do so adequately, or the ATUC has misunderstood its obligations.

In the meantime, I've served a claim on the airline through the County Court, costing me £50.

By the way Mick, in my opinion your letter to the airline is far, far too long. You'd have a better chance with a succinct account of all the relevant facts - the events and their consequences for you.

Unfortunately I think the article is a bit misleading.
The possibility of receiving compensation isn't simply related to the start point or end point of a flight being in the EU, the more important factor is whether the airline in question is registered in the EU.

So, I think that if you were flying Qantas from London to Sydney, or American from London to New York, I don't think the legislation applies (though I'd be very happy to be corrected on this).

As it is, I suspect that the airlines will claim exceptional circumstances for every aircraft which goes technical and won't pay out anything in the end.

J

This is a forum with tales of woe. You all have my sympathy and here is my story and I need some serious help.

KLM deneid us boarding against our will on a flight from Cape Town to Amsterdam. They have admitted this in writing.

They are refusing to pay us 600E in compensation because they reckon the EU regulation does not apply because the flight did not start in the EU.

They say they gave us assistance in SA and that is all they have to do. Their assistance was only given under duress.

The regulation (copy in fromt of me) makes it quite clear that because they are an EU registered airline and the flight was to the EU the regulation does apply.

There is a vague suggestion that they should follow South African regulations for denied boarding compensation instead of the EU ones. I cant seem to find any information on these.

We have referred the case to the Authority in the Netherlands but havent heard anything yet.

So can anyone help me find more information on my situation? I am concerned we may have to take this to court. I'd like to know if South Africa have any regualtaions to cover this or where I might be able to find out.

KLM have been really rude to us and treated us very very badly over this situation which they have at least admitted was their fault. But they keep trying to palm us off with paultry amounts of money.

So any advice would be gratefully received.
I'd love a phone number for their customer services so I could give them a peice of my mind

KLM have very bad customer service (this is based on 3 seperate flights where I had to chase them for compensation). They will initially send you a standard letter denying they owe you compensation and referring to any costs you incur as consequential (even if they are direct costs attributable to a delay/cancellation on their part). Best thing to do is carry on writing to them and threaten legal action or even to set up a web site to highlight their bad service. They soon change gears and get your statutory compensation sent and any other expenses you incur as a result of their bodge ups.

Did you get your compensation in the end and may I ask what the flights were and how much you got?
We really do believe that KLM are playing with us. We are going through the relevant authorities at the moment but I am wondering if I should just get a solicitors letter or something to chivvie KLM along. Their customer service is rubbish, I wish there was some way of highlighting this. Do you think there would be much interest for a website shaming KLM?