Airline Cancelled Flight 4 days before scheduled date

c.p.w.g.w

So my airline has just cancelled my flight.

Due to fly out of America to Ireland Monday.

Now the options are
A later flight to my original destination from different airport
Or
Same time flight to different destination from original airport

Both put me out of pocket, have already booked transfer to airport which isn't refundable.

Am I entitled to recoup any of these costs

ted1

Look up eu261. They’ll owe you about 600 euro

ratracer

Is it with Norwegian?

k123456

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

So my airline has just cancelled my flight.

Due to fly out of America to Ireland Monday.

Now the options are
A later flight to my original destination from different airport
Or
Same time flight to different destination from original airport

Both put me out of pocket, have already booked transfer to airport which isn't refundable.

Am I entitled to recoup any of these costs

I'm not sure Eu261 covers flight not originating from EU

ted1

k123456 wrote: »

I'm not sure Eu261 covers flight not originating from EU

He’s flying from the EU.

Zaph

ted1 wrote: »

He’s flying from the EU.

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

Due to fly out of America to Ireland Monday.

Unless the US becomes part of the EU to replace the UK in some weird post-Brexit scenario, then I'm afraid he's definitely not.

banie01

ted1 wrote: »

He’s flying from the EU.

He's not you know

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

Due to fly out of America to Ireland Monday.

c.p.w.g.w

No Air Lingus...

It's 4 days out, cancelled because of technical issues.

Been on the phone for nearly an 2 hours on the phone with them between different calls.

Looks like I could be out of pocket for $175 plus phone call costs too.

Absolutely fuming.

ted1

Zaph wrote: »

Unless the US becomes part of the EU to replace the UK in some weird post-Brexit scenario, then I'm afraid he's definitely not.

Sorry I read it as flying out to..

Credit Checker Moose

EU261 applies as it is a EU airline flying to the EU.

endofrainbow

EU261 or travel insurance

dudara

Credit Checker Moose wrote: »

EU261 applies as it is a EU airline flying to the EU.

It’s Aer Lingus, so EU261 definitely applies

dennyk

Under EU261, they definitely owe you rerouting to your original destination airport at the earliest opportunity (or at a later time if you agree to it, e.g. if you'd rather depart tomorrow than take a red-eye flight or whatever) OR a full refund of the flights you will not be using (including your return flight as well, even if it wasn't on the same ticket, e.g. if it was a Ryanair flight or another similar carrier who books all journeys as separate tickets). If they want to fly you to or from a different airport in the same destination city, they can, but they have to pay for your transportation to your original airport (or somewhere in the vicinity if you prefer, e.g. a nearby hotel).

Note that the airline is not required to directly reimburse you for any of your other nonrefundable expenses such as an unused airport transfer, hotel booking, etc. that might have gone unused or been otherwise affected by the delay or cancellation. You may want to check with your travel insurance provider to see if they would cover some of those expenses for you, however.

Unless your alternate arrangements are getting you to the original destination airport no more than two hours later than originally planned and leaving no more than one hour earlier than planned, they will most likely also owe you cash compensation. This should be €600, unless you were rerouted and arrived less than four hours later than originally planned, in which case it would be €300. This cash compensation is in addition to any refunds, reimbursements, or rerouting costs which the airline must also cover. This payment must be made in cash or the equivalent (bank transfer, cheque, etc.) unless you specifically agree to accept something else in lieu. They may try to get you to accept vouchers or some **** in lieu of cash, but you DO NOT have to accept that, so DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING if they try to give you vouchers (unless what they're offering you is genuinely of a significantly higher value and you actually would be happy taking it instead of the cash, of course...).

They will probably try to weasel out of the cash compensation bit by claiming "extraordinary circumstances", but "technical issues" do not usually fall under this category unless they were truly extraordinary and entirely out of the airline's control. For instance, the recent Boeing 737 MAX 8 groundings would most likely fall under that category if that had been the cause of your cancellation. However, Aer Lingus has no MAX 8s in service as far as I know, so that almost certainly is not the cause in your case.

If they do deny you compensation, you will have to decide how to proceed. You can try filing a complaint here:

https://www.flightrights.ie/make-a-complaint.10.html

but it could take a long while to have it investigated and actually receive anything. Failing that, there are companies out there who will pursue your claim for you with the airline, even including taking it to court if required, but they'll take a hefty chunk of your compensation amount if they win. Otherwise your option would be to take the airline to court yourself, which would likely be far too expensive and impractical if you live overseas.

Edit: If you haven't submitted your compensation request to Aer Lingus yet, you can also do that using their form here:

https://www.aerlingus.com/support/forms/post-travel-enquiry/

Just select the EC261/2004 options under the "Issue" section.

paddy19

In the distant past I used the small claims court and it worked a treat.

Sounds like a right pain but it is very simple.

No need for a solicitor just make the claim on line to Swords District Court, costs €25.

There is a limit of up to €2,000 on the amount that can be claimed.

Don't be put off by the courts website, it's a bit old school.

http://www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/F9B49A71A85F662C802580B100635032?opendocument&l=en

Just be careful you get the company name and address correct. Check you receipt to see who actually sold you the ticket.

https://www.aerlingus.com/support/legal/company-registration-details/

dartboardio

paddy19 wrote: »

In the distant past I used the small claims court and it worked a treat.

Sounds like a right pain but it is very simple.

No need for a solicitor just make the claim on line to Swords District Court, costs €25.

There is a limit of up to €2,000 on the amount that can be claimed.

Don't be put off by the courts website, it's a bit old school.

http://www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/F9B49A71A85F662C802580B100635032?opendocument&l=en

Just be careful you get the company name and address correct. Check you receipt to see who actually sold you the ticket.

https://www.aerlingus.com/support/legal/company-registration-details/

Why would op need to go anywhere near a court yet they haven't even applied for the refund yet.

This happened me in the snow in feb 2018 got stranded in denmark flight cancelled had to book 3 nights in a hotel,

Applied for a refund with all hotel and food receipts to their website and they refunded me every penny after a couple of weeks.

Op yes you are entitled to a refund for the expenses you incurred because of the cancellation. Get your receipts in order and find out how to apply for reimbursement on the airlines website. Simple.