Aknoff

Flying AB7472 (BOS-DUS) this coming Saturday en route to Italy. It looks like every flight for the past week has either been delayed over an hour or outright cancelled. Does anyone have any insight on what's going on? Was this weather, mechanical, or something else? It's a big family trip with a 1.5 hour connection in DUS, so I want to keep expectations in check...

As a follow-up, can anyone look at loads for this coming Saturday's (July 8th) flight? Thanks!

tsolaaa

It is a long shot but it may be related to the massive delays still happening at TXL, I think quite a bit of passengers from Berlin take this connection. I actually took it 2.5 weeks ago and we were delayed in DUS for about 1.5 hours.

Funny enough, we were actually only a few minutes late landing in DUS but there was some mechanical issue with the plane.

IIRC, there is only one non-stop flight from DUS to BOS daily with AB (AB7472 @ 15:15 - 17:10). The returning flight BOS > DUS (AB7473 @ 18:55 07:45)

Looking at FlightAware (or similar site) almost every time the flight from TXL > DUS was late, so was the DUS > BOS flight, which would make the return BOS > DUS late.

Gus2013

Just based on what I see out the window and my own flying (but not through DUS), weather must certainly have been a factor from mid last-week through the weekend.

Aknoff

I guess somewhat expectedly tonight's BOS-DUS is delayed 2 hours on account of the inbound being delayed. Given our connections it's looking like we potentially have a valid EU261 claim. Does anyone know, or know how to figure out, why the inbound, AB7472, was delayed on Saturday July 8? Thanks all.

seawolf

7472 (DUS-BOS) and 7473 (BOS-DUS) operated by D-ALPF.

No idea why D-ALPF sat on the ground in DUS for close to 4 hours on JUL 8 before flying to BOS.

TT-Jones

Why would you care what the reason was?

Submit your claim, stick to the facts you know. See how they react.

There is a high chance they will pay up without much ado. So no need to dig something up upfront...

Aknoff

Good to know. Just wanted to confirm it wasn't weather-related (seemed unlikely based on other flights but you never know). Thanks for the info, we'll see how it goes...

seawolf

How much were you ultimately delayed by? Did they already rebook you when you arrive in DUS or you had to speak to someone?

Aknoff

We ennded up reaching our final destination (Milan) 6.5 hours late. They had rebooked us on a later connecting flight before we left Boston despite my asking if anything could be done to help us make our connection, since we were slated to land 20 minutes before the connection departed. The Boston Swissport employees were useless and refused to even engage in a conversation. Upon landing is DUS I ran upstairs and saw our original connection pushing back. Very frustrating since they likely could've held it 10 minutes to get 9 of us on (with our extended family). I then asked if AB could put us on their next Alitalia codeshare flight (which had availability) and got nowhere. So, ultimately we hung out around Düsseldorf for 5 hours, finally reaching LIN 6.5 hours later than originally planned. Pretty frustrating since there were two feasible options I offered. So, we'll submit a claim and see what happens...

seawolf

I suggest reading up on the EC261 claim experiences other had with AB and stand your ground if they come back with excuses. €600 times 9 passengers is a major payday.

TT-Jones

Just stick to the facts when you submit the claim.
Write a short and succinct summary - and of course add one sentence that this was a major inconvenience to you and your family. But don't rant.

The clearer your claim, the easier to handle for AB and the higher the chance for this to go though without much ado.

I am 4/4 for recent claims following the playbook above.

Germanfflyer

Lately they just pay EU261 without much questions or excuses.....

Aknoff

Can anyone provide a link to the online claim form? I've scoured their website and all I could find was their legal language on what they're required to pay, but no direction on where/how to submit a claim. Thanks for the guidance and help.

TT-Jones

https://www.airberlin.com/en/feedback/complaint

flyingfkb

Do not even bother with the Airline. File your claim directly here

Flightright

They take of all the discussions it airberlin.