Aer Lingus delayed flight 13th April Gatwick

elambra

Hi,

Yesterday the 12:40 flight EI245 from Gatwick to Dublin was cancelled as the plane got hit by lightning on the way in from Dublin. We were told about every 1hr that 'engineers were assessing the plane and will be shortly giving us more information as to whether we can fly', and eventually about 3hrs later we were told that the flight had been cancelled and that the first 60 of us could get merged onto the next flight (16:55 I think, which was also delayed by an hour).
The people who weren't part of that 60 had to wait until 9pm to get a flight, and it was mentioned that we would get the £7 meal allowance, but these were never handed out.
the whole time we were dealing with the contracting firm (Serviceair or one of those, not sure which) comprised of either young english people or eastern european girls who didn't have a clue themselves what was going on. The whole experience was a complete mess and I eventually arrived in Dublin after 7pm instead of 2pm.

So.... am I entitled to a refund? that's my only question, other than to complain generally about Aer Lingus but I do realise that when you fly with a cost-cutter you have to expect these things if something does go wrong. Bear in mind that they probably saved money by merging us onto an already-scheduled flight.

Thanks

bren2002

The European Consumer Centre is the place to go for advise. Their website has all of the information you need. Google is your friend.

Cabaal

As far as I know you have to be delayed by a good few hours (maybe 10?) before you will get any compensation...you certainly won't get a refund as they still provided a a service, also the delay was caused by bad weather (act of god) so hardly there fault

10-10-20

Recently, my red-eye flight from Dublin to Heathrow broke down on the tarmac due to a computer cooling fault and we were delayed by 2 hours or so.
While the troubleshooting was going on, we were given scarce updates on the progress, but once the plane was declared 'dead', the move to a new plane took 50 mins or so.
Vouchers for €5 were handed out as we disembarked the broken plane. I would have assumed they would have owed you more than €7 for such a delay though?

BigglesMcGee

Couple of years ago i was delayed for 30 hours on an Aer lingus flight from spain.

The guy driving the steps dinged the door at 3pm.

Flight was cancelled at 2:00am after being told all day that we would be on our way in an hour.

Eventually when we could get an aer lingus rep we had to argue to be put up in a hotel for the night. They put 3 to a room, with people we never even met before having to share twin beds.

Next morning brought us back to the airport at 7 am. No food or meal allowance the whole time.

Kept telling s the charter flight would be in in an hour , all day. 10pm that night got on a flight home.

Asked about compensation. Got told to write to them. Got a reply saying PFO it was technical errors and as such we werent due compensation. Wrote another 3 times before getting solicitor involved (relative). Then we got compensation. Noone we kept in contact with who hadbt got a solicitor onside got compensation, no matter what route they tried.

On the whole a dire experience and i have no faith in Airlines being made accountable at all. They jus keep fobbing you off til you give up.

OP i'd say your chances are slim.

axer

Cabaal wrote: »

As far as I know you have to be delayed by a good few hours (maybe 10?) before you will get any compensation...you certainly won't get a refund as they still provided a a service, also the delay was caused by bad weather (act of god) so hardly there fault

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/air-travel/compensation_for_overbooked_flights/
Delayed flights

In the event of long delays (two hours or more, depending on the distance of the flight), passengers must in every case be offered:

• free meals and refreshments plus two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• when the delay is five hours or longer, passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure.

BigglesMcGee

axer wrote: »

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/air-travel/compensation_for_overbooked_flights/
Delayed flights

In the event of long delays (two hours or more, depending on the distance of the flight), passengers must in every case be offered:

• free meals and refreshments plus two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• when the delay is five hours or longer, passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure.

Aer lingus just ignore this. I sent a copy of this and the bit about automatic compensation based om miles of the flight, with every letter i sent to them.

Their strategy seems to be 'If we ignore them long enough they'll go away'. And it works with 99% of cases.

axer

BigglesMcGee wrote: »

Aer lingus just ignore this. I sent a copy of this and the bit about automatic compensation based om miles of the flight, with every letter i sent to them.

Their strategy seems to be 'If we ignore them long enough they'll go away'. And it works with 99% of cases.

Enforcement of your passenger rights

On 16 June 2005 the Minister for Transport designated the Commission for Aviation Regulation responsible for enforcing the law on compensation for overbooked flights. (That is, enforcing the law set down in Regulation 261/2004).
If you have a complaint about denied boarding and compensation for overbooked flights, you must begin by contacting your airline directly.
If you believe your entitlement to compensation/assistance has not been met, you should then contact the Commission for Aviation Regulation directly. Send details to the Commission in writing, together with any relevant supporting information, You should note that the Regulation only applies to complaints that have arisen since 17th February 2005, the date the Regulation came into force.
Where To Apply

Commission for Aviation Regulation

Line 1:
3rd Floor
Line 2:
Alexandra House
Line 3:
Earlsfort Terrace
Line 5:
Dublin 2
County:
Dublin 2
Country:
IRELAND
Tel:
+353 (0)1 661 1700
Fax:
+353 (0)1 661 1269
Homepage:
http://www.aviationreg.ie
Email:
info@aviationreg.ie

parsi

Actually you have to contact the designated authority for the country from which the flight was operated.

See http://www.aviationreg.ie/Air_Passenger_Rights_HomePage.HTML

"Please note: this office can only deal with flights that depart from Irish airports or fly into Ireland from a non EU country on a EU licenced carrier."

Great isn't it - making the consumer deal with an organisation that may not speak their language ...

BigglesMcGee

good luck with it.
rules and regs all seem clear until you actually go about making aer lingus pay.
then you find things are not really as easy as you thought.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

my reading of those conditions for compensation posted by Axer doesn't suggest that a refund is due. Do other people read them differently?

axer

Roundtower2 wrote: »

my reading of those conditions for compensation posted by Axer doesn't suggest that a refund is due. Do other people read them differently?

Well it depends. In the conditions above it says:

when the delay is five hours or longer, passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure.

That implies that because the OP was delayed by 5 hours or more he/she is entiteled to a refund and the return flight. Not sure if it is a hard fight.

penexpers

axer wrote: »

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/air-travel/compensation_for_overbooked_flights/
Delayed flights

In the event of long delays (two hours or more, depending on the distance of the flight), passengers must in every case be offered:

• free meals and refreshments plus two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• where the time of departure is deferred until the next day, passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation;
• when the delay is five hours or longer, passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure.

That doesn't apply here because the flight was delayed for reasons outside of the airline's control.