Flight cancelled- what do I do

taram

A flight I was on recently was cancelled due to bad weather, I was given tickets for the first one the next morning. I got home safely.

However the issue is that my mother is sure I should have been given a hotel room, or food vouchers or something, is she right? I'm just worried it might happen again, as it was I tried well over 100 hotels, couldn't find anywhere for under 100 pounds (the cash I had on me), slept in the airport, got assaulted, and ended up not eating as my cash was stolen!!

Forest Master

taram wrote: »

I got home safely.

taram wrote: »

slept in the airport, got assaulted, and ended up not eating as my cash was stolen!!

dudara

Here are some links to help

European Commission - link

You are also entitled to identical compensation to that offered when you are denied boarding, unless you were informed of the cancellation at least
14 days before the flight, or you were rerouted close
to your original times, or if the airline can prove that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances.
In addition the airline must offer you the choice between:

* reimbursement of your ticket within seven days;
* re-routing to your final destination under similar conditions;
* and if necessary, care (phone call, refreshments, food, accommodation, transportation to the accommodation).

Commission for Aviation Regulation - link

dudara

taram

Forest Master wrote: »

Meant like I got back home safely post all that hell, they gave me a flight to Dublin, then Cork people got a coach south, they were very apologetic and helpful once in the air. But refused me a hotel that night, and food, which I was confused about. Thanks for the links Dudara.

Heathrow at 4am is a scary place!

snappieT

What airline? With some, I believe the procedure is for you to go ahead and get your own hotel room, and then bill the airline for it afterwards.

There's little you can do now. The airlines are obliged to provide the details of what you're entitle to on request - you should have made this request.

Zab

snappieT wrote: »

There's little you can do now. The airlines are obliged to provide the details of what you're entitle to on request - you should have made this request.

Where does it say he has to ask? The regulations actually say that "In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall ... be offered assistance" and go further to state that "An operating air carrier denying boarding or cancelling a flight shall provide each passenger affected with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with this Regulation". And, of course, he says he did ask for a hotel room anyway.

There are almost certainly things he can do now. Writing to the airline is a good start.

kilbil

snappieT wrote: »

What airline? With some, I believe the procedure is for you to go ahead and get your own hotel room, and then bill the airline for it afterwards.
There's little you can do now. The airlines are obliged to provide the details of what you're entitle to on request - you should have made this request.

The airline has a duty of care to affected passengers, and the regulation clearly states that the airline must provide the affected passenger with a written notice of their rights under the regulation in addition to having notices of rights together with the contact details of the aviation authority displayed via public notice.

If the passenger chooses a re-routing and that re-routing involves an overnight stay, the airline still has a duty of care to that passenger, and part of that duty of care involves the having to provide the passenger upfront with accomodation and meals. In addition to that affected passengers are also entitled to receive free of charge a telephone call, fax and/or access to email.

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago with a particular airline (which is possibly the same as the OP) where the flight was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. When I reached the customer services desk to arrange the re-routing, I asked the person behind the desk specifically about accomodation etc and for a copy of my rights under the regulation. She didnt give me a copy of my rights, nothing was displayed either, and then she tried to assert that because the cancellation was due to bad weather the airline didnt have to provide me with accomodation as it was an act of god! Fortunately, I knew about the regulation, as did many other business passengers on that day.

So, because the airline refused to provide any of us with accomodation or meals, we all booked into a hotel (and it wasn’t a budget hotel either), and we kept all our receipts and claimed these costs from the airline on our return. And because the airline chose to renege on their responsibility to us under the regulation - the airline had no option but to pay all the costs of accomodation and subsistence that was incurred!

Following on from that experience, I alway's carry a copy of Reg 261/2004 with me when I am travelling over to the UK on business! I'd have no problem whatsoever in whipping out that hard copy of the regulation and educating the customer service agent on its provisions....in the nicest of way's....of course!

This is the regulation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:046:0001:0007:EN:PDF

Unfortunately, the OP cannot make a claim for reimbursement as they didn’t incur any receipted food or accomodation expenses.

However, it would be open to the OP to make a formal complaint against the airline to the aviation authority for the airlines non-compliance with specific provisions of the regulation....which judging from the OP post would include the following sections of the regulation;

1. Article 9 (1a): Meals and refreshements.
2. Article 9 (1b): Hotel Accomodation.
3. Article 9 (1c) Tranport to and from the hotel.
4. Article 9 (2): Where passengers should be offered two telephone calls, fax or email facilities and;
5. Article 14 (1): "The operating air carrier shall ensure that at check-in a clearly legible notice containing the following text is displayed in a manner clearly visible to passengers: ‘If you are denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least two hours, ask at the check-in counter or boarding gate for the text stating your rights, particularly with regard to compensation and assistance" and;

Article 14 (2): "An operating air carrier denying boarding or cancelling a flight shall provide each passenger affected with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with this Regulation. It shall also provide each passenger affected by a delay of at least two hours with an equivalent notice. The contact details of the national designated body referred to in Article 16 shall also be given to the passenger in written form".

Zab

kilbil wrote: »

Unfortunately, the OP cannot make a claim for reimbursement as they didn’t incur any receipted food or accomodation expenses.

It would certainly be cleaner if OP had receipts for food and accommodation but I still think the airline owes him money and doesn't have a leg to stand on.

15.2: "If, nevertheless, such a derogation or restrictive clause is applied in respect of a passenger, or if the passenger is not correctly informed of his rights and for that reason has accepted compensation which is inferior to that provided for in this Regulation, the passenger shall still be entitled to take the necessary proceedings before the competent courts or bodies in order to obtain additional compensation."

Writing to the airline is the way to go here. Most of the time they'll just be hoping people won't even question their decision. If they don't play ball then bring in the relevant aviation authority or SCC.

Butch Cassidy

What is the issue with compensation? Could you claim some type of distress compensation or is it merely for your expenses ocurred?

Best of luck to the op, the airlines are bas*ards well the sleazy cheap ones are.

kilbil

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

What is the issue with compensation? Could you claim some type of distress compensation or is it merely for your expenses ocurred?

Best of luck to the op, the airlines are bas*ards well the sleazy cheap ones are.

Even airlines that have so called "good reputations" will try to wriggle their way out of meeting their duty of care to affected passengers.

But the other large part of the problem is regulation. Take for example, the last episode of bad weather that led to all flights being cancelled, and Dublin airport being shut. Where was the regulator, while the passengers were seen on the news to be holding up and having to sleep in Dublin airport? The regulator should have been pressing the airlines to meet their obligations to passengers under the Regulation. And when the scale of the problem was fully realised, the regulator should have come out and provided the necessary information on passengers rights throughout the various media sources.

Getting back to your original question, passengers have the right to "compensation" from the Airline in certain circumstances under Article 7.

Article 7 states;

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to:

(a) EUR 250 for all flights of 1 500 kilometres or less;
(b) EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1 500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1 500 and 3 500 kilometres;
(c) EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b).

In determining the distance, the basis shall be the last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay the passenger's arrival after the scheduled time.

2. When passengers are offered re-routing to their final destination on an alternative flight pursuant to Article 8, the arrival time of which does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked;

(a) by two hours, in respect of all flights of 1 500 kilometres or less; or
(b) by three hours, in respect of all intra-Community flights of more than 1 500 kilometres and for all other flights
between 1 500 and 3 500 kilometres; or
(c) by four hours, in respect of all flights not falling under (a) or (b), the operating air carrier may reduce the compensation provided for in paragraph 1 by 50 %.

3. The compensation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and/or other services.

4. The distances given in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be measured by the great circle route method.

However, there is no right to receive compensation if the cancellation is due to extroardinary circumstances, and the airline can prove that the cancellation could not have been reasonably avoided. Examples of extroardinary circumstances would include bad weather conditions, natural disasters, mechanical faults etc.

However, it is important to remember that the passengers right to receive compensation for situations that do not come down to extraordinary circumstances is entirely different to the airlines obligation to give assistance and their duty of care.

In the case of the OP that should have included basic information on his/her rights, and the right to receive accomodation and subsistence from the airline. So in practice, if the OP incurred costs in relation to accomodation and subsistence, these are costs that the OP could receive full reimbursement on under the Regulation.