Does anyone know about the delayed boarding regulations?

[karentan]

Our flight has been cancelled and we've rebooked onto a flight tomorrow. Does anyone know anything about the denied boarding regulations? I googled it earlier and the most I could find on it was that the European court of justice ruled in may that people should be able to claim up to 600 euros in compensation if they're delayed more than 4 hours on a transatlantic flight,
But I can't find any info on if this actually got passed or how I even go about claiming this.
Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Maleficent53]

Not sure what regulations are in UK, but in the US denied boarding compensation does not apply to cancelled flights. DB comp is paid by airlines when they oversell a flight and are unable to board everyone that shows up. If you volunteer to give up your seat, you get an amount specified by the airline. If you are involuntarily denied boarding on a flight, there is a formula to calculate how much they pay you (partly based on how much you paid for your ticket).

You might be able to get something from the airline individually by contacting them and explaining how the delay affected your trip (ie money lost/time lost). Just remember you get more with honey than vinegar - be polite in your request.

 

[karentan]

The EU has much more specific rules regarding delays than the UK so hoping that they can offer us something more than the hotel and dinner, we need to go down later and get a voucher for the bus to heathrow for tomorrow.
It never ceases to amaze me how rude some people are to the airport staff, we've witnessed some pretty appalling behaviour today from other passengers, we're always really polite and appreciative of the staff, it's not their fault that the flight is cancelled.
Going to try and get something in writing from them later saying it was cancelled as I've emailed our travel insurance to find out if we're entitled to anything

 

[bazzanoid]

Most travel insurances have cancellation and delay cash you can claim for, most airlines do not...

Specifically, US Airways policy relating to cancelled flights states that your party will be rebooked on the next available flight, provided with overnight accommodation and meals as such, and any ground transportation required to/from hotel and/or airports.

Also having said that, there's an EU ruling up in the air at the moment regarding cancelled flights and compensation. You can put in a claim in writing for 600 euros per person plus the cost of your flights (excluding taxes). HOWEVER, because of the EU ruling and it's implications which have yet to be made law, the airline may delay paying out until that's sorted but they should still acknowledge your claim. AND because they are not an airline based in the EU, they may reject it as they are not bound by EU laws.

 

[Elise79]

This is VA website about the EU compensation: http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/us/en/travel-information/customer-service/eu-regulations.html

 

[karentan]

Thanks for that link Elise, even though it's not the same airline it's given me much more info that I've been able to find on the net so far. Have just emailed US airways quoting the regulation numbers, will see what they say when they reply in a few days.....

 

[Beep]

We were delayed by 24hrs I 2009 and didn't get any compensation as they hid behind something in the regulation. I can't remember the wording but it was a similar situation to yours with work needing doing on the plane and it being beyond their . We were put up in a hotel, fed and watered, and given vouchers for food.

We got someone involved in it to help us with the legalities of the regulations but the airline refused to budge. We got $200 each as a gesture of goodwill towards a flight which suited us as we were flying the next year.

I think a new bill of rights was due to be released this year so not sure if that will have changed things, or whether it just applied to the US.

Good luck, I hope you can get somewhere with them. Oh, also to add that a claim on our insurance wasn't really worth it either at about £40.

 

[chmurf]

Thanks for that link Elise, even though it's not the same airline it's given me much more info that I've been able to find on the net so far. Have just emailed US airways quoting the regulation numbers, will see what they say when they reply in a few days....

The info on virgin website seem to be correct and current

Those regulations apply to any flight departing from the EU (or arriving in the EU) regardless of the carrier

Airlines can invoke a "force majeure" clause (weather or safety issue) to cop out

The 600 euros compensation many passengers refer to, comes from times whe airlines overbooked their flights. They used to ask for volunteers willing to get bumped and they paid them cash (600 is for flights over 3500km) nowdays they do not hand out that kind of money anymore

Basically, if your flight gets cancelled and if the airline books you onto the next f.ight' you'll get meal vouchers' accomodation and transportation if required
Compensation will be more easily obtained by your travel insurance' but amounts are apalling
You may file a comlaint according to EU regulations . First with the airline, and once you get the airline's answer, with your natinal aviation authority (dgac in france, faa in the us, don't know how you call it in the uk)

 

[wayneg]

Just checked our travel insurance (Post Office Premium cover) it says £25 for first 8 hours, £25 for each 12 hours after that.
After 12 hours entitled to abdonment of holiday, they will cover any costs for contracts not covered elsewhere upto £10,000.

Doubt you will get a great deal from Insurance, it would have to be the airline, can't see them parting with much more than they have done. Hope to get something out of them.

 

[karentan]

Have just asked the woman on the US airways ticket desk at heathrow and she seemed to be receptive to the fact that we may get something back from the airline (as opposed to yesterday's people at gatwick who didn't know a thing), she said we need to email customer services which we did last night, and just waiting to hear back.
Also managed to get more info on top of the denied boarding regs, US airways actually have it written in their conditions of carriage that if we are rerouted and get to our final destination more than four hours later than originally scheduled we are either entitled to airline vouchers or 600 euro compensation. Crucial bit I found was that it is at the passengers discretion, not the airline. So waiting to hear what they say when they write back.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Don't count on getting what your rights are, as most airlines will flat out refuse to oblige. Because it is so darn near impossible to get legislated compensation (and beware; this is NOT denied boarding, this is delay. Same goes for rules etc. etc. that apply), at our Dutch side of the Channel it is very common to let your claim be handled by a company that specialises in it for a percentage of it. Biggest advantage is that they can get to official information like why a flight was delayed or cancelled, where you as a passenger can not. Many have been told in the past "weather" (no compensation) when it would turn out to be for very different reasons (and right to compensation). Even they commenly fight for months or years before things are properly taken care off. By the way, this does not just limit to EU-based airlines but ANY and ALL flights departing from, arriving in and connecting within the EU and excludes delays caused by weather, disasters (remember that vulcano? etc. etc. )

Because of this being such a problem of "customer not being able to get their rights", there are major lawsuits ongoing about this. Not that up to par about other countries, but do know that here we've long since passed Dutch court and it has been taken on at a EU level long since. All judgements since have been in passenger favours, but again; airlines are big and refuse to cough up, simply put. Starting to get annoying to all kinds of court options we have in the EU and EU parlement alike. It is under the attention to change things further so if need be airlines can be factually be forced (read; huge fines) to uphold and make it easier for customers to claim and be succesfull themselves. Until then it is hit or miss when it comes to airlines respecting legislation or not. Do know of a US based carrier that did pro-actively take care of this when having cancelled a TA flight last year, but can't remember which one it was right now. It's such a hot button subject here that it is one of the continuing items on consumer right programs, which has been a catalyst for getting certain EU consumer organisations involved, setting up the big law suits (to no or very little costs for the consumer when adding onto) etcetc. Time will tell.


Travel assurance is something that has little to do with this. It's a different subject, where one does not have to bite the other. Not enough into the subject when it comes to UK insurance companies, but when stating "compensation will only be given when no other compensation was entitled" with most -if not all?- Dutch relates to costs like food, shelter etc. Only the daily standard compensation for "lost day of vacation" might sometimes be lowered by monetary compensation given by airlines. Given the time it tends to take in most cases to get entitled compensation, most travel insurances here just pay out the (very low) daily compensation and do not come asking for that amount back when years later a claim finally gets dealt with.

Did a very quick google, but sure enough; first name was a hit. EUclaim also has a branch in the UK. It's one of those companies that takes over a claim for a percentage or set fee (after getting success). Didn't look any beyond but both them and euroclaim are very commonly used here by Dutch passengers and most are positive. Not saying you should use them (you are an adult that can make your own decisions), but they can be a good place to start for getting right information about rights and how easy or difficult it can be.

 

[bazzanoid]

(and beware; this is NOT denied boarding, this is delay. Same goes for rules etc. etc. that apply)

Some excellent info there, but according to US Airway's own rules, a cancelled flight within their control (which includes technical problems) is classed as denied boarding, so hopefully that will help the case