Flight compensation - Anyone claimed?

[Haggisman]

We claimed a few years ago when BA cancelled our flight after the cleaner unplugged their data centre (or something along those lines XD)

We ended up flying out 24 hours later, iirc they paid ~£130 for a night in a hotel + shuttle to the airport, plus ~£600 in compensation for 3 of us (so ~£200 each) was pretty easy to claim, filled in the form on their website, attached scans of the receipts, wait 2 months, profit

 

[Stumble Bum]

I had this but for Norwegian airlines. The idiots tried to reject my claim when I knew full well I was entitled to the full compensation. I had to go through Bott & Co solicitors online to get my compensation which ends up costing Norwegian a lot more money, and yet I have to miss out on about a 1/3 of the money.... bit ridiculous these airlines really. Can't trust any of them.

 

[FishFluff]

I've had to claim from Thomson before when they cancelled our flight so that they could use our plane to take a bunch of people from Heathrow to Cancun instead. We ended up using a claims company as it was taking so long. They took a cut, but it saved us a lot of stress

 

[SexyGreyFox]

In 2017, 25 of us were delayed 4 hours going out to Cyprus and then 4.5 hours coming back so we all put a claim in with Thomsons.
All 25 of us received £700 each which was more than the flights cost.

Whatever you do don't go via Google eg typing 'Ryanair flight claims' because you will end up at some agency site. Me and the wife very nearly got caught out - Booking with eSky/Ryanair

 

[arknor]

I got compensation from easy-jet one time for a cancelled flight I think it took around 1-2months to get payment.
Also I submitted an expenses claim for the train to the airport and the train back where I was staying on the other side of switzerland. lol
Guess it was cheaper than a hotel though.

I didn't need a template their was a quick form on the easy jet website that took like 3minutes and a separate form for expenses which was my train journeys.

BTW at the airport the gate staff said the flight was cancelled because of bad weather and they couldn't land at the airport which has a small thunderstorm, but other planes were mostly taking off and landing still, basically only easyjet flights were cancelled.
which would have been circumstances out of their control so they wouldn't have to pay up, but the response to my claim said it was a technical or mechanical issue with the plane! so don't always take what the gate staff say as gospel, it appears they try to dissuade people from claiming


Must have been really annoying for everyone who didn't have a place to stay.
easyjet app said they had no hotels available from their "partners" so you would have to find your own.
Couldn't actually get the hotel thing on their app to work until past midnight.
couldn't change the flight to a different one until past midnight

They didn't put an extra flight on and they only fly 2 times a week.... with only a handful of free seats on these 2 flights
The smart people paid for their own seat on the next flight and got the current flight refunded.

the people who waited until the app let them choose a new flight would have had to wait almost a full week for an easy-jet flight from airport A to airport B and non of the other airlines flew between A and B
So must have been a nightmare for some people to return home, flying to the wrong part of England with another airline etc

I always wondered how long a hotel stay easyjet would really pay for I'm guessing only 1 day even if they can't provide a flight until a week later

 

[Jean-F]

A few years back, we were booked on a scheduled Delta flight, from Tampa FL to Atlanta GA, to pick up an onward Delta flight from Atlanta to London Gatwick.
A PA announcement asked everyone on the flight to check with the Delta desk.
I left my wife in the bar, and went to the desk, the agent said that the plane that was due to take us to Atlanta had a mechanical fault, and another plane would be coming from Miami, to do the Atlanta leg.
This would get us into Atlanta in time for our flight, but lots of Americans weren’t happy to be getting there maybe two hours later than scheduled, so they were issued with dinner vouchers, for about $50 each, and promised $X amount of airline tickets.
We got the $50 each vouchers, plus an upgrade to business class on both the internal and international flights, a result.
Couldn’t see where we could complain about that, I just hoped that it might happen again sometime.

 

[NVP]

We got a free flight with delta *spits on floor* because of pretty much the exact thing. I can't eat dairy and apparently delta didn't get the memo (something about not having the system from KLM pass it to them) so just gave me ham and strawberries iirc.

I didn't care, I'd stuffed my face at BK before hand anyway but my wifey is rowdy and kicked up a fuss after they were fiving us attitude for "not being grateful" for my ham and strawberries. And yeh, she asked for a complaints form and pursued it also via Twitter I think and Delta *ptoo* said we could fly anywhere for free. There was a lot more to it all actually but that's the gist, the ignorance of Americans is astounding!

 

[chanjy]

OP how late was the flight out? Might be a reduced compo situation if less than 4 hours

There is a specific EU261 section on the BA website but be warned it can take them a month to reply sometimes (and given all the recent issues I wouldn't even bet on that right now)

 

[VincentHanna]

OP how late was the flight out? Might be a reduced compo situation if less than 4 hours

There is a specific EU261 section on the BA website but be warned it can take them a month to reply sometimes (and given all the recent issues I wouldn't even bet on that right now)

It was 5 hours late taking off and arrived 4 hours and 7 minutes later than scheduled.

I took a picture of the map screen as proof

 

[Jean-F]

We got a free flight with delta *spits on floor* because of pretty much the exact thing. I can't eat dairy and apparently delta didn't get the memo (something about not having the system from KLM pass it to them) so just gave me ham and strawberries iirc.

I didn't care, I'd stuffed my face at BK before hand anyway but my wifey is rowdy and kicked up a fuss after they were fiving us attitude for "not being grateful" for my ham and strawberries. And yeh, she asked for a complaints form and pursued it also via Twitter I think and Delta *ptoo* said we could fly anywhere for free. There was a lot more to it all actually but that's the gist, the ignorance of Americans is astounding!

While it must have been annoying and frustrating for you to suffer the culinary screw-up, it’s a bit of a stretch to insult all Americans for Delta’s inability to install the correct computer software to liaise with KLMs computers.
On another subject, I bet my wife can be worse than your wife when she’s annoyed.
We landed at Tampa International once, a long time back, and for whatever reason, the guy at immigration and passport control got a bit hinky about the fact that my wife was travelling on ESTA, but I had a multiple entry visa in my passport.
He was asking leading questions as to why I had a visa, did I not qualify for ESTA?, (I didn’t), if not, why not?
My wife, who had cracked away at the Merlot on the flight, was anxious to pick up our rental car, get to the house we’d rented, and crash out by the pool, she interjected, using all her recall of American cop movies.
“What’s with the third degree? He’s got a valid visa, issued by the U.S. embassy in London, what’s the hold-up for Chrissakes?”
While I dug my fingernails into her hand, the official said, “If I’m not satisfied with the answers I get ma’am, I have the power to refuse you both entry into the United States, you got that?”
That got her attention, for once in her life, she shut her pie hole, while the official stamped ADMITTED into our passports, phew!

 

[mid_gen]

Claimed a while back for a delayed flight, filled the form in on my phone while sitting in the airport. Had the money in a week. It's all EU mandated, no arguments. Just go to the airline website and find the claim form.

While you can of course....I'm sure British carriers will be ditching the compensation as soon as we're free of these awful pro-consumer EU regulations.

 

[uncle_rufus]

“If I’m not satisfied with the answers I get ma’am, I have the power to refuse you both entry into the United States, you got that?”

Have been reading up on guidance on this for our trip and the part that worries me is the advice that says "Give clear straightforward answers, don't make light of the situation or try to be funny, do not smirk" - I seem to involuntarily smirk sometimes when I'm nervous; once got stopped by Police when I ran a red light on my (pedal) bike (pulled away a second or two before I knew it was going to go green as it was a familiar junction - I was absolutely in the wrong but hey I was young(er) and stupid(er))... 99% sure they were just going to tell me not to do it again but they said I seemed to think it was funny (stupid smirk ) and I got slapped with a fine...

So yeah, hopefully I don't smirk my way into a full cavity search or worse when we go through immigration over there

 

[NVP]

While it must have been annoying and frustrating for you to suffer the culinary screw-up, it’s a bit of a stretch to insult all Americans for Delta’s inability to install the correct computer software to liaise with KLMs computers.

True. It wasn't really a blanket all as I have many American family members (some of whom prove my point ) but there is a majority of Americans who are ignorant of people from a different culture - we got all the "better than air india" remarks from staff etc. - and my sensationalist remark was simply to highlight that

 

[arknor]

Claimed a while back for a delayed flight, filled the form in on my phone while sitting in the airport. Had the money in a week. It's all EU mandated, no arguments. Just go to the airline website and find the claim form.

While you can of course....I'm sure British carriers will be ditching the compensation as soon as we're free of these awful pro-consumer EU regulations.

most of them are changing their operations to be EU based though so there's no restrictions when the UK leaves the EU.
easy bought a HQ in Austria and rebranded a bunch of their planes to easyjet Europe or whatever it was

but ofcourse brexit didn't cause another company to leave the uk fear mongering remainers!

 

[NVP]

but ofcourse brexit didn't cause another company to leave the uk fear mongering remainers!

Hold your horses there buddy

 

[Liquidfox]

I always wondered how long a hotel stay easyjet would really pay for I'm guessing only 1 day even if they can't provide a flight until a week later

They're obligated to pay for a seat, even if that means with another airline.

While you can of course....I'm sure British carriers will be ditching the compensation as soon as we're free of these awful pro-consumer EU regulations.

If you're flying to a European airport it'll still apply anyways.

 

[CircleFaust]

if you've nothing to lose make a claim, if everyone just said nothing they would try and get away with this all the time
well they do i suppose but yeah make the claim

 

[arknor]

They're obligated to pay for a seat, even if that means with another airline.

but say you fly to London instead of Newcastle, then do they pay for your hotel for the night in london if the flight arrives late? then all the trains or a second flight to Newcastle?

Do they even pay this upfront or are you expected to claim it back and not see the monies back for like 1-2months, some people probably don't even have the luxury of paying out of their own pocket
isn't it supposed to be plane tickets at a similar price as well, so if it's with a budget airline they won't pay the £800 or whatever it would cost to fly with someone like BA if your original flight was like £100 they would only give you some of the money back.

in my experience your pretty much left to fend for yourself when a flight is cancelled, all the gate staff disappear quickly before it shows on the screen to the public....
then the only airline staff you see are giving out fliers that basically tell you to go the airlines website and the flier might not even be in your language.

when i was left high and dry by easy jet in Geneva they gave me a flier in French.... when they knew full well a Geneva to England flight is going to be 90% english people.

luckily for me I could just jump on the last train back to Zurich and go to my apartment, I imagine a few people ended up sleeping at the airport on the floor.


the compensation might seem like a lot but when you consider how wrong it can go and how unhelpful some airlines are it's not really that much

 

[builder22]

I wonder how the airlines decide if they'll either just pay out if they get a claim (when they know they should be paying), or risk refusing and hoping the customer doesn't go to a lawyer and end up costing them more

wonder what the ratio of claims to payouts is without lawyers etc getting involed

 

[weringo]

We had to divert to another airport on route to Austria and landed at about midnight. Airport staff advised to stay at the local Ibis and claim the cost back from BA. After seeing the queue we couldn't be arsed to wait and headed off to the airport Hilton at £200 / night. BA repaid it almost immediately after making a claim.

Had a similar experience with Ryanair after a cancelled flight - paid the claim for the hotel, taxi and meals with no quibbles.

Considering BA and Ryanair aren't exactly the best regarded airlines I'm surprised others have had so much trouble.