-
I have been notified today that my flight from Lisbon to Manchester on April 10th has been cancelled. The flight was scheduled at 8.10pm and they offered me to be rebooked at 7am. I can’t take that flight so using their website I was able to rebook for the following day at 2pm.
When I accepted the change I had to agree to pay for my expenses that night (I don’t mind as I’d stay with family). However I will have to pay for an additional day of parking at Manchester airport and I will miss a day of work.
Am I entitled to compensation? They mention in their website that compensation is only due if you arrive 3 hours later than scheduled, but as they offered me a flight that arrives earlier (like 13 hours) I’m not that sure. Furthermore, if I’m entitled to compensation, could I ask for compensation for an infant (1 year)? Thanks!You’re entitled to compensation for delay of 400 euros per person but only if you were notified less than 14 days before.
Duty of care applies regardless (accommodation in Lisbon and meals – keep receipts).
However, since it’s TAP Portugal and you’re departing from Lisbon, it will have to be enforced through Portuguese courts. My experience with TAP from pre-covid times with this is not great.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 3 months ago by .
Wow. That is mean of TAP. I suspect they will use the ‘get out of jail free card’ that you accepted their terms of paying your own costs for the extra night when you accepted the flight the next day.
I don’t think EC261 mentions compensation for arriving earlier than scheduled but a move to a flight much earlier on the same day does not seem fair. You bought a ticket for a scheduled flight that evening.
I think you are entitled to compensation but as @meta says getting TAP to pay up will involve the Portuguese courts.
I would have requested being put on another airline the same night before accepting the next day flight.
Have you tried talking to your travel insurance to see if they will pay the extra car parking?
Another thing is if the original flights cost more than £100 per passenger and you paid on a credit card you could have invoked s75 and got the credit card company to pay for alternative flights.
They contacted me less than 14 days before. Furthermore when I bought the flight it was significantly more expensive than any other flight that day or the next; but I wanted to stay the max time possible there but still on time to work on Monday. Now all the flights are very expensive plus they didn’t even offer me the flight at 2pm on Sunday (probably it is already full, although they are selling tickets at 400 euros per person). I’m out of Europe and didn’t want to spend part of my holidays calling them to fight plus spend a fortune in phone calls. I don’t want to risk a thousand euros buying another flights for me, wife and son, and then try to argue with them…
Anyway, thank you for your help. After the flight I would ask them for compensation and probably some meals that I would have to pay (I have Amex platinum, so the insurance would cover anyway); most likely they would reject my claim. I may consider giving the claim to one of those online websites that claim for you.
A couple of years ago, AirHelp got me 500 euros with Iberia, after Iberia rejected my claim. They charged me 50% of the compensation (it was 250×4 people) but because they had to go to Spanish Court. As I would never do something like this for that amount of money, it was worth it the fee.@AJA New ruling from end of 2021 means that flights brought forward or cancelled and rebooked an hour more before the original departure time are eligible for compensation. This has already been stated here several times!
- This reply was modified 55 years, 3 months ago by .
@AJA New ruling from end of 2021 means that flights brought forward or cancelled and rebooked an hour more before the original departure time are eligible for compensation. This has already been stated here several times!
@meta do you have details of the ruling or the name of the case. It’s good if there was a decision as the wording of the statute in respect of earlier rerouting is rather ambiguous because of the way it refers later in the sentence to the arrival time.Article 5 (1) (c) (iii)
“or (iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.”
Here’s the press release https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-12/cp210226en.pdf
The ruling completely rewrites 5 (1) (c) (III). It’s cancellation and full compensation applies, no possibility of 50% reduction.
Here’s the press release https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-12/cp210226en.pdf
The ruling completely rewrites 5 (1) (c) (III). It’s cancellation and full compensation applies, no possibility of 50% reduction.
Thank you very much. So now just requires an English judge to accept that post Brexit decision…
Yes, they can, but don’t have to consult it. I bet airlines are going to fight for them to disregard it and doubt the current UK government will write that into legislation.
Thanks for the update Meta. I’ve learnt something new. That amendment is when the airline just brings a flight forward by more than an hour that it must be considered as cancelled. I do hope that this amendment is written into UK law.
OP has genuinely had their original flight cancelled but I have always understood compensation was only due for delay not for arriving before scheduled but it does make sense and is fair that you should expect to arrive on schedule so compensation for losing most of the day seems good to me.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 3 months ago by .
@AJA it’s not written into EU law, it is a precedent, so unlikely UK law will be changed. BA will surely defend this given the ambiguity of the wording.
Difficult to know how in the brave new world an English judge will respond to being asked to apply a post Brexit EU precedent in respect of what is now a UK statute. If anyone is successful, they should ask for a written judgment (judge won’t be pleased though) so that it can be reported. It won’t be binding but might help future pax at MCOL. BA could conceivably appeal such a win.
Surely as flight departs from Portugal then the precedent set using EU261 would apply? I am not seeing why UK legislation has to be called on here.
Surely as flight departs from Portugal then the precedent set using EU261 would apply? I am not seeing why UK legislation has to be called on here.
Not necessarily in an English court; it’s English law that is being applied, so an EU court precedent is not very attractive. If you take the action in a Portuguese court as @meta suggested then, yes, that precedent will apply.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 3 months ago by .
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
