getting bumped

[Straighten Up]

Perhaps someone can help as I sit in the world's smallest lounge (VVI) typing this. We booked with aerolineas Argentinas via lastminute.com a flight from VVI (Bolivia) to MDZ via EZE. the flight was booked and we received our confirmation on Sunday just gone.

Arriving at VVI airport tonight (Thurs) we were told that our flight from EZE to MDZ at 07:20 tomorrow morning has been cancelled and we now need to fly from AEP at 15:25 so a 2 hour layover in one airport has changed to a 10 hour layover and a change of airports. There are 2 other earlier flights but apparently they are both full.

2 questions. 1 can they do this (I worry yes) and 2 any idea what compensation we may be entitled to - I know Europe and US are relatively generous if more than 4 hours delay or IDB.

We didn't even receive an email notifying us of this. :mad:

[Hartington]

1) Yes they can (and that's partly why the USA and EU have rules about it).
2) I diubt it.

[ExXB]

Well technically you were not bumped (oversale), your flight was cancelled and AR appear to be attempting to reroute you to your destination.

In Europe the cancellation would be subject to Regulation 261 but if it was outside of their control (for example weather) no compensation would be payable. They do have an obligation to reroute or refund.

In the US I don't believe airlines have any other obligation than to reroute or refund.

I tried to find AR's conditions of carriage but could not. They should have one somewhere and it should detail their responsibilities. But I doubt they would offer anything other than reroute/refund.

Good luck

[Straighten Up]

Thanks for the replies. The answers were yes and sweet FA. Finally got to destination 36 hours after starting and 14 hours later than scheduled. Bolivia is a damn hard place to get out of. As the crow flies we are now 2000km from our staring point but it's taken 36hrs.

They were at least kind enough to cut the TSA approved lock off my gf suitcase and ruin the zip at AEP though and have a good root through though. Probably just checking she hadn't accidentally left something valuable there so they could notify us.

[ExXB]

I hope you reported the damage before you left the airport. The Montreal Convention (MC99) gives you rights to claim provable loss and/or damages, up to a maximum of 113,100 SDR. (For international journeys, wholly domestic is different)

If you didn't report the damage, the ability to prove damages gets tougher. However I would still make the claim, a new suitcase can be costly.

[Hartington]

I've only been to the continent 4 times and the flights have been OK. Well, mostly. In 1979 we boarded a LAN Peru 727 to find a totally Lufthansa interior right down to the emergency cards in the seatback. We were on our way from Lima to Cusco and took a long delay. They fed us the breakfast we were due to get in flight while we were still on the ground then unloaded us. We deplaned using the ventral airstair beneath the central engine of the 727 and the woman in front of me lit her cigarette as soon as she set foot on the tarmac.

Anyway, we got there "did" Macchu Piccu and took the train (it was a real train, not the tourist version you see today) down to Puno on Lake Titicaca. We took the ship overnight to Guaqui from where we were supposed to take the train into La Paz. We were told the railway was on strike so we all piled aboard a bus. About half way to La Paz someone with a radio managed to discover that there had been a revolution overnight.

If you think Bolivia was difficult to get out of try it when the army and the unions are arguing about the next goverment and taking pot shots at one another; tanks on the streets (literally). One of the bus companies operating around Lake Titicaca had a bus trapped that they wanted to get back to Peru and, on the 2nd attempt (24 hours apart) we made it - the first time the strikers were rolling rocks down onto the motorway out of La Paz. I believe the day after we left they army went round the hotels, rounded up the foreigners and flew them out to Lima.

Trouble was that we were now well and truly off route back in Puno and the planes from Puno to Lima were full and infrequent. So we had another train ride, this time to Arequipa (well worth the ride and a city worth visiting) to get a plane back to Lima.

14 hour delay? Try 4 days!

[Basil]

Initially misread the OP title - thought Celts had been playing 'Gers again :}