flight cancellation compensation

[Greenie from Hell]

Could anyone point me in the right direction with regards to what compensation (if any), airlines are required to offer in the event that they cancel a flight.
As it's still quite a while until I travel, I'm sure there will be some smallprint excluding liability, but if not, I'm sure someone here will know the answer.

I was booked up (confirmed ticket) to fly to the USA in early December, but the airline concerned have now changed their schedule, and there are no direct flights available. They offered to re-book me on a different route, but this means travelling via Paris or Amsterdam, which adds approx a 7 hour stopover each way, and changing aircraft.

I've managed to book on a different airline, but I have had to cancel a couple of hotel bookings, and one internal flight in the USA, (now flying on a different day), and neither of which are refundable.

I could ask the airline, but I know that they will just try and BS me!!

[TightSlot]

Air France to LAX maybe?

If so, standard EU T&C's should apply

[leisurelad]

Hello,

From what i believe, because they have cancelled the flight so far in advance i don't believe the EU rights come into effect as it would be classed as a schedule change.

The EU rules have soo many gray areas that there is a clause on so many of the rights they have put in. If it was cancelled on the day then yes you would be entitled to something but so far in advance i don't believe they are entitled to pay anything plus they won't be held responsible for any hotel bookings you may have made.

Allways best to double check but i wouldn't hold out for anything.

Cheers

[Greenie from Hell]

Air France to LAX maybe?

What really pi***d me off, was that the first I knew about it was when I went into my frequent flyer account to check that some recent flights had been added.

I noticed that the reservation in question was no longer showing, so I phoned them up. The response from the woman I spoke to was basically "It's been cancelled. didn't you receive an e-mail or phone call about it"

I've now booked up on Virgin, which was only a little more expensive, and re-booked my arrival hotel, so I'm not greatly out of pocket.
It's just their "couldn't care less attitude" (normal with Air France) that's prompted me to see if they are required to pay out anything.

[san diego]

So long as the cancellation occurs more than 14 days prior to departure, no compensation is payable, even by the French!

[jettesen]

the airline is entitles to make schedule changes ( as stated in the tems and conditions of carriage ) . Read the smal print on your tickets, as they can change when the like, as long have they give you notice - which they have. Hotels should refund you too if you cancel in advance. They cannot keep your money as you have cancelled in advance. Get on to your hotel

[Final 3 Greens]

They cannot keep your money as you have cancelled in advance.

T&C may also apply here, some rooms are non refundable.

[Greenie from Hell]

Thanks for all the replies.

The hotel will refund my money, but they take a £50 fee. (I can live with that). I've looked at their "smallprint", and this seems to be a standard clause.

To be honest, the rescheduled Virgin flights work out better than the original AF ones, so as I said earlier, I'm not pi55ed off because of the cancellation, as I fully understand things like this can and do happen.

It's just that I think something is seriously lacking in a customer service department when passengers find out about cancellations from their frequent flyer account rather than from the airline themselves.

It's now 4 days since I found out about the cancellation, and I've not yet received any official notification, nor a refund of the money I paid.

[EagleStar]

Try looking on these sites below....

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_po...ts_form_en.pdf

http://www.cloudworks.co.uk/node/274


EagleStar

[Greenie from Hell]

It`s as I expected, no compensation due, not that I really expected any.

I`ll be happy with just getting my payment refunded.
An acknowledgement from AF, admitting that they screwed up in not letting me know what was happening would also be nice, but I don`t hold out too much hope of that.

I know that when it comes to service a lot of people bash British companies, but whenever I`ve dealt with Virgin or BA, I`ve never once had reason to complain.

Thanks for all the replies.

GFH

[PAXboy]

Greenie from Hell

something is seriously lacking in a customer service department when passengers find out about cancellations from their frequent flyer account rather than from the airline themselves.

Sorry to advise but that is an everyday occurrence with airlines. On one occasion (SH), checked my email and the online schedule late the previous evening and arrived on time to discover that the flight was closing. I had hand luggage only and ran to catch it. The check in agent said, "It's your fault as we would have sent you an email".

I found out about one LH schedule change through online access and decided to wait and see how long it was before the carrier contacted me - two weeks - and that was my favourite carrier of 22 years standing,Virgin Atlantic.

As one who worked in IT for 25+ years it is very irritating that they can take bookings online, confirm tickets online and then fail to send an automated e-mail to the same address that they used to send the confirmation.

[inglebyboro]

sorry to jump on this thread but

If you receive less than 24 hrs notice of a flight cancellation, and the new flights get you to your destination over 2 hours later than the orig. itinery, what compensation can you claim?

Reading the "rules", I know I am entitled to claim, but I dont know how much. It was the middle flight out of 3 that has been cancelled, and had no choice to leave 1st departure point any later, as this was a code share flight, and the airline with the canx leg 'had no seats left on it, and they refused to purchase a seat on the later flight', which would have reduced the now 7 1/2 hour wait at Heathrow.

Cheers
IB