Flight cancellation, earlier flight offered, holiday ruined.

Finiardo

I was recently given notice by an airline that the first leg of a long haul flight was cancelled. The notice was given at 1230 the day before the original flight, which was due to go at 5pm the following day. They offered me an earlier flight at 11am, on the same day I was originally due to fly. It would have meant a 24 hour trip instead of an 18 hour one, with an 8 hour stopover. I couldn't face it (unfit and getting too old for long haul tbh) having been unwell during a long stopover on a previous longhaul, so I cancelled the whole trip. A full refund is supposedly on its way. I'm livid coz I feel the notice was ridiculously short and it would have been a pain to travel so much earlier, longer stopover etc. Question: would I be entitled to compensation under new EU regs, assuming cancellation was not an act of god?

lawred2

Finiardo wrote: »

I was recently given notice by an airline that the first leg of a long haul flight was cancelled. The notice was given at 1230 the day before the original flight, which was due to go at 5pm the following day. They offered me an earlier flight at 11am, on the same day I was originally due to fly. It would have meant a 24 hour trip instead of an 18 hour one, with an 8 hour stopover. I couldn't face it (unfit and getting too old for long haul tbh) having been unwell during a long stopover on a previous longhaul, so I cancelled the whole trip. A full refund is supposedly on its way. I'm livid coz I feel the notice was ridiculously short and it would have been a pain to travel so much earlier, longer stopover etc. Question: would I be entitled to compensation under new EU regs, assuming cancellation was not an act of god?

can't see anything coming your way beyond a refund.

Cessna_Pilot

For the sake of a few hours I'd have just accepted the offer of an earlier flight.

lifeandtimes

Not really any chance of compensation, the airline offered you an alternative flight which only an hour before the other one,you'd have been in the airport for that time anyway,also stop over times wouldn't be their concern as you would still be getting to your destination,their job is to get you from a to b, as this was declined they offer a refund which is all they are obliged to do.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but just my advice

Finiardo

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Not really any chance of compensation, the airline offered you an alternative flight which only an hour before the other one,you'd have been in the airport for that time anyway,also stop over times wouldn't be their concern as you would still be getting to your destination,their job is to get you from a to b, as this was declined they offer a refund which is all they are obliged to do.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but just my advice

Thanks, however it was 6 hours before the original flight, a substantial difference imo.

lawred2

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Not really any chance of compensation, the airline offered you an alternative flight which only an hour before the other one,you'd have been in the airport for that time anyway,also stop over times wouldn't be their concern as you would still be getting to your destination,their job is to get you from a to b, as this was declined they offer a refund which is all they are obliged to do.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but just my advice

was 6 hours

KeithTS

If you took the earlier flight (6 hours is not a long time for a lot of people) you would most likely have been able to claim for food and drinks from the airline (I have done this many times before in similar situations) very easily by explaining what happened to staff at the destination airport in a nice and friendly manner. When you're pleasant to deal with in this world, generally you'll find people will help you where they can.

Based solely on your attitude here I have a feeling staff at the airport would have strongly denied your requests for any food or drinks vouchers so it's probably best you cancelled the trip.

to answer your question, I do not think that you're entitled to compensation..

Irish Steve

The people who participated in this train wreck of a thread, and our regular readers will recognise that most of this mess has now been removed, and I am not going to reopen it as there is no point in allowing yet more aggravation, trolling and gratuitous insults, and the original poster has received a reply that is indicative of the likely situation raised by the original question.

A number of people came very very close to being sanctioned, and we will be less tolerant going forward if the sort of attitudes shown in this thread are repeated.