Airline Compensation

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 08:49

Has anyone here had any success using Resolver to claim compensation for cancelled flights?

I was in Paris last week, went on Monday back on Friday evening, flew with Air France, myself my wife and 5 month old baby. My flight back was 8.45 local time on Friday night to Edinburgh, staying the night at an airport hotel with onward flight home on Saturday ( I had a family function to attend on Saturday night so had to be back).

I woke up on Friday morning to a text from Air France saying they had cancelled our flight and had put us on the next one which left at 7.10 on Saturday morning. No explanations offered and no further info.

As that was no good to me I had to rebook with another airline, fly in the afternoon to Glasgow and make my own way to Edinburgh to ensure I was there for Saturday to catch my onward flight home.

The details of my own predicament are unimportant I suspect but on the basis of the cancelation of the flight with less than 24 hours notice and the rebooked flight being inappropriate and also the cancellation not being down to weather is this the sort of scenario where the standard level of compensation would be due to me?

Anyone had any experience of this?

Delvis · 4 Apr 2018 at 08:51

You need to check the airline, they will have detailed cancellation details and the terms for it

Rotty · 4 Apr 2018 at 09:38

you need to know the reason for the cancellation

booyaka · 4 Apr 2018 at 09:58

Rotty said:
you need to know the reason for the cancellation

This - if there is a "Valid" reason for the cancellation of the flight, bad weather etc - then there is nothing you can do. You need to contact the airline and find out exactly the reason why it was cancelled.

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:00

booyaka said:
This - if there is a "Valid" reason for the cancellation of the flight, bad weather etc - then there is nothing you can do. You need to contact the airline and find out exactly the reason why it was cancelled.

What constitutes "valid" outside of weather conditions?

Rotty · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:07

ATC strikes/failure, airport closure

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:11

Rotty said:
ATC strikes/failure, airport closure

Ok it certainly wasn't any of those AFAIK given that I flew out of CDG that afternoon and there was a full programme of flights on the board, but yes, I see I'll have to do a bit more investigating. TBH Im back at work and as a result of being off on said trip to Paris I have a lot to catch up on so was really wondering if handing it all over to Resolver to sort out was a good way of avoiding having to do any spadework myself!

EvilRob · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:14

placeholder said:
Has anyone here had any success using Resolver to claim compensation for cancelled flights?

I was in Paris last week, went on Monday back on Friday evening, flew with Air France, myself my wife and 5 month old baby. My flight back was 8.45 local time on Friday night to Edinburgh, staying the night at an airport hotel with onward flight home on Saturday ( I had a family function to attend on Saturday night so had to be back).

I woke up on Friday morning to a text from Air France saying they had cancelled our flight and had put us on the next one which left at 7.10 on Saturday morning. No explanations offered and no further info.

As that was no good to me I had to rebook with another airline, fly in the afternoon to Glasgow and make my own way to Edinburgh to ensure I was there for Saturday to catch my onward flight home.

The details of my own predicament are unimportant I suspect but on the basis of the cancelation of the flight with less than 24 hours notice and the rebooked flight being inappropriate and also the cancellation not being down to weather is this the sort of scenario where the standard level of compensation would be due to me?

Anyone had any experience of this?

Yes, I have used resolver successfully several times for airline compensation payments with BA, Monarch and Etihad. You can start the claim through resolver and if the airline has a specific process or form, they will let you know.

Contrary to what other posters have suggested, you don't need to know the cancellation reason up front. You can just go ahead and make the claim. The airline will let you know if it was a reason that means they don't have to pay compensation. Of course, knowing the reason puts you in a better position in case the reason somehow "changes".

MacRS4 · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:53

Possibly not that helpful but BA were really weird with our compensation when flying back from Cape Town in January. Two separately booked tickets. On the way back they canned the flight as a faulty plane, resulting in two extra days in J'Burg.

Anyway, for one ticket they gave me 600Euro in compensation, and for the other approx 2.1k. I understood it to be the statutory 600EUR so never spoke to them about it, just kept quiet

Robi · 4 Apr 2018 at 11:33

placeholder said:
What constitutes "valid" outside of weather conditions?

This MSE article should explain everything: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays

In my experience the Resolver tool was useless. My return flight from LAX to Manchester with Thomas Cook was delayed for around 5 hours due to a technical issue with the plane (there was a letter from Thomas Cook at check-in explaining this). I setup a Resolver case pretty much the day after arriving back, but didn't hear anything for months. I then used the compensation/complaint form on the Thomas Cook website and received compensation for everyone in the group booking after a couple of days; totalling about £1600!

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 11:56

Ok thanks for everyones input. Ive asked Air France for the reason for the cancellation and Ive downloaded their T&Cs which on face value would suggest I have a valid claim (depending on their response I suppose). The standard compensation would at least cover the cost of the flights I had to book and the travel costs of buses and taxis to get me between Glasgow airport and my hotel outside Edinburgh airport. Just have to wait and see what comes back now.

EvilRob · 4 Apr 2018 at 12:25

placeholder said:
Ok thanks for everyones input. Ive asked Air France for the reason for the cancellation and Ive downloaded their T&Cs which on face value would suggest I have a valid claim (depending on their response I suppose). The standard compensation would at least cover the cost of the flights I had to book and the travel costs of buses and taxis to get me between Glasgow airport and my hotel outside Edinburgh airport. Just have to wait and see what comes back now.

As I said, I would just go ahead and submit the claim. If they have a valid reason for not paying it, they will tell you when they respond.

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 12:27

EvilRob said:
As I said, I would just go ahead and submit the claim. If they have a valid reason for not paying it, they will tell you when they respond.

Yeah will do, it seems pretty straight forward to get it started anyway.

Lmg80 · 4 Apr 2018 at 20:30

Travel insurance

placeholder · 4 Apr 2018 at 20:56

Lmg80 said:
Travel insurance

Which I completely forgot had expired before I went. Sods law that the only time Ive travelled in my adult life without travel insurance is the time I have an issue.

Air France have replied to say the flight was cancelled due to "technical issues" and I have completed the form on the Resolver site so we will see.

Lmg80 · 5 Apr 2018 at 21:00

placeholder said:
Which I completely forgot had expired before I went. Sods law that the only time Ive travelled in my adult life without travel insurance is the time I have an issue.

Air France have replied to say the flight was cancelled due to "technical issues" and I have completed the form on the Resolver site so we will see.

Given it ain't a 'no frills' airline you might be in luck, but yeah hindsight is a wonderful thing