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One reason not to fly SilverJet

A few months ago, I was going to book a JFK-LHR flight with BA in June/July, when I saw an ad for SilverJet offering a free segment for NYC-LON flights. I booked with SilverJet instead. $1084 return - hooray!

They just called me to say that the 16:45 return flight I booked is "no longer available" and I can take the 10:00 that day or the 16:45 the next day. My schedule does not permit either, so now 24 days before departure, I have to start looking for a new flight.

I guess that's what you get from an operator with a handful of planes. :mad:

Try entering a Scandinavian character in the booking field for name. It's rejected, but in your passport there is an ß. So TSA think you're a terrorist and you are refused permission to fly. And all because Silverjet can't get a decent booking engine.

Did they say why it was cancelled? They are covered by EU regs which means a €600 compensation unless they reroute you with a departure no more than one hour early, and arrival no more than 2 hours late. Or you can opt for a refund and the €600.

This is unless they claim safety/unavoidable reasons of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pauldb (Post 7852243)

Did they say why it was cancelled? They are covered by EU regs which means €600 compensation, and your choice of a refund or equivalent rerouting, unless of course it was for "safety" reasons.

No they're not. That only applies if they cancel with less than 14 days notice. OP said his flight is 24 days away. This is a common trick by the airlines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pauldb (Post 7852243)

Did they say why it was cancelled? They are covered by EU regs which means a refund and €600 compensation, unless it was for "safety" reasons.

Thanks for the tip - a quick Google search on that subject told me that I would only get the compensation if they had told me less than 2 weeks before departure. At this stage they are only required to offer me a full refund, which they have done.

Sorry- read that as 24 hours. :o

Edit: Actually maybe not. I read it that they don't owe compensation (this is where two weeks comes into play), but you still get the choice between a refund and a reroute.

Quote:

Article 5
Cancellation
1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers
concerned shall:
(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance
with Article 8; and
(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance
with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of rerouting
when the reasonably expected time of departure of
the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it
was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified
in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and
(c) have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier
in accordance with Article 7, unless:
(i) they are informed of the cancellation at least two
weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or

So Article 7 (compensation) depends on the notice given, but Article 8 always applies.

Quote:

Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall
be offered the choice between:
(a) — reimbursement within seven days, by the means
provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket
at the price at which it was bought, for the part or
parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts
already made if the flight is no longer serving any
purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel
plan, together with, when relevant,
— a return flight to the first point of departure, at the
earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their
final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their
final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience,
subject to availability of seats.
2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose
flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement
where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.
3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served
by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a
flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking
was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring
the passenger from that alternative airport either to that
for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination
agreed with the passenger.

By "not available" do you mean that the flight is cancelled or that they are simply canceling your reservation (but not the flight) for some unknown reason?

If it's a flight cancellation 24 days out it is fair enough in my book, but if it were to be the latter I would be very unhappy. A certain airline used to do this to people who were confirmed in lower fare buckets when there were people waitlisted for higher ones.

Well, they did offer me 10am the same day or the next day, so I guess that covers them there too.

I think that on paper they are doing it right. In reality they are totally ballsing up my plans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by herbchris53 (Post 7852376)

Well, they did offer me 10am the same day or the next day, so I guess that covers them there too.

I think that on paper they are doing it right. In reality they are totally ballsing up my plans.

I guess it depends what "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity" means (and it's not really defined). Does it mean the next SilverJet flight, or are they required to buy you a ticket for the next flight on whichever carrier? Personally I think the regs were written with the latter in mind.

SilverJet are taking delivery of a Second aircraft which would have enabled them to operate 2 flights a Day.

The Second aircaft is still being delivered on schedule, but they have now decided to take the First Aircraft out of service for a 'C' Check early than anticipated due to recent reliability problems [Their flight was cancelled again on Sunday]

This has resulted in a delay of the introduction of the Second Daily Service.

Sure the OP would prefer being advised a few weeks in advance than having the flight cancelled a few hours before. I agree with SilverJet that getting the reliability should be Paramount. ^

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-HQC (Post 7852360)

That's a good question. I assumed that due to the fact that I was getting the return leg free, I was being bumped due to a paying passenger buying a ticket.

Either way I'm ready to wash my hands of them and go back to BA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VC10 Boy (Post 7852194)

Interesting -- not surprising -- that the DHS/TSA thinks a "ss" or other variations for ß on a ticket/boarding pass is a ticket/boarding pass-ID mismatch, thus requiring SSSS treatment even while much of the rest of the DHS bigger buck employees and biggest buck contractors were told to specifically consider such characters.

What would happen if you used "B" instead of "ss" or something else less obvious to people not familiar with the use of ß?

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleDude (Post 7852820)

Sure the OP would prefer being advised a few weeks in advance than having the flight cancelled a few hours before. I agree with SilverJet that getting the reliability should be Paramount. ^

With respect, the circumstances surrounding the cancellation are irrelevant in terms of my original point, which was that they don't have the ability to honour my reservation.

It's something to consider when you book a flight with a fixed schedule in mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VC10 Boy (Post 7852194)

OTT what Scandinavian language includes "ß"? Or do you mean German?

I too took advantage of the $1000 fare for my mom and they have just cancelled her flights. They've moved her to the other flight each day which is a bit inconvenient having to go to Luton at 7.45am on a Saturday.

When i last checked the seat map, about 1 week ago, there was 1 other pax on the outbound and 5 on the return for flights in early/mid July.