consumer rights regarding Flight Delays and Cancellations

consumer rights regarding Flight Delays and Cancellations Flight delays can be a bad dream - waiting for hours on end in an airport with small means of entertainment can be extremely frustrating and leave you feeling jaded when you eventually arrive at your destination. Significantly delayed flights can also be very costly as they can eat into critical holiday time. If a flight is cancelled outright then you will be even more inconvenienced - it might cause you to miss a once in a lifetime event like a wedding, something which no sum of money can make up for.

In up-to-date times there has been a dramatic rise in the number of air voyage customers suffering at the hands of delays and cancellations, in general due to two high-profile cases. Thousands of population have lost out due to the surely immense delays caused by expulsions of volcanic ash from an Icelandic volcano in the first half of 2010, when hundreds of tourists and businessmen ended up stranded abroad. More people's voyage arrangements were ruined by the ongoing strikes by British Airways' cabin crew. If you have been the victim of a cancellation or a critical flight delay then you may be eligible for recompense under Eu law. In the last decade Eu legislation has been brought in that enables disgruntled airline passengers to claim compensation, but only if the delay or cancellation is the fault of the airline. If the airline can claim that "exceptional circumstances" were to blame, they may be exonerated. The qoute with this, however, is that this is open to interpretation and it is not all the time clear what qualifies as exceptional circumstances. But if the airline is surely found to be culpable then they are obliged by law to compensate the customer, either it be by way of a refund, meeting the cost of the inconvenience to the customer, or a recompense sum. In cases where recompense is won, the number paid out is dependent on both the length of the destination and the number of time after the former advent time that the flight ultimately arrived. The additional the flight and the longer the delay, the greater the recompense amount. In the case of delays, airlines are compelled to provide meals, drinks, phone calls, text messages, etc for free in most cases where the delay is more than 2 hours. If, however, the delay comes to 5 hours or more, the customer has options. A full reimbursement of the marker can be taken, or alternatively the traveller can be re-routed to his or her destination for no extra charge, either at the earliest opening or at a later adored time. It is leading to stress that this decision is the selection of the customer, and the airline has no right either to make the decision for them, nor effort to sway them towards either option. The one scenario in which you can claim recompense after a delay is if you are denied boarding after a 5-hour or more delay. Damages paid out by airlines in these cases can be as much as €600. In the event of a cancellation the chances of financial recompense are much greater. After a cancellation a customer is entitled to the usual reimbursement and alternative transport, but if the flight is cancelled within 14 days of the departure date, and the airline fails to deliver enough re-routing services, the recompense sums stipulated by Eu law range from €125 for shorter flights to western European destinations to €600 for flights to more far-flung locations. The recompense will also vary depending on how much of a delay you incur in eventually reaching you destination by other means. Unfortunately Ba are exempt from paying recompense to victims of their worker strike, as this is categorized as wonderful circumstances, but whatever who missed out due to the strike should still pursue a refund. The up-to-date disruption caused by the volcanic ash has been very costly for airlines, as those stranded abroad are entitled to full refunds and free provisions of meals and room while they wait for another flight, on the proviso that either the beginning point or destination lies within the Eu. This has been of huge cost to the airline due to the sheer volume of sequestered passengers. Low cost airlines were hit particularly hard - Ryanair reported that the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had cost them 50 million euros. If you were affected by the volcanic ash episodes and have not already claimed your refund, then the Air converyance Users Council offers advice. British Airways has said that it is still snowed under with claims relating to the volcanic ash cloud that it does not have the manpower to process, so the process may not be the quickest. Nevertheless, you should not let this deter you from claiming what is rightfully yours. When seeking to claim recompense after a delayed or cancelled flight, the first step should be to write to the airline responsible, giving them all the details of what happened and what recompense you believe you are entitled to. Before doing so it would be wise to consult the Eu Regulation 261/2004 (which can be found on the Civil Aviation Authority website), which handles flight recompense cases, to ascertain exactly what you are legally entitled to and also to check the airline's website for any data on course with regard to complaints. Ideally the airline will comply and cough up, but large organizations can be bullish when it comes to parting with their money. If you are unsuccessful in getting recompense directly from the airline then you can try contacting the Air converyance Users Council, providing your flight did not leave from a non-Eu nation. If you write to them with all the details of your unsatisfactory voyage sense along with all the pertinent correspondence with the airline then they will additional your case. Even if the Auc are unsuccessful with your case, you have not yet come to the end of the road. You should still be able to take your case to a County Court and issue a claim under the Small Claims procedures. For more guidance on the Small Claims Court, seek legal advice. If, after trying all of these things, you have not been successful, there is one more selection if you purchased your marker (even if only partially) with a prestige card, and the price of the marker was £100 or more. Under Section 75 of the consumer prestige Act of 1974 there is a possibility that you can claim recompense from your prestige card provider. Section 75 is a little-known law whereby the cost of faulty costly products purchased using a prestige card can be reclaimed. If you have exhausted all your options and are still without recompense then you can still show your contempt for the airline by way of a good old-fashioned boycott. If all disgruntled customers withdrew their institution from associates that have mistreated them, they would be forced to spend more time in customer care. All in all, it is surely worthwhile to try, and if you have surely suffered then you should stand a good opening of success. consumer rights regarding Flight Delays and Cancellations