600 euros or 300 euros
Hello,
I have a question about how much compensation money I am entitled to. I booked a flight from Heathrow to Baltimore, USA in August this year to fly on 3rd November, departing at 3:15pm. Two days before the flight I was notified that the flight was cancelled due to a scheduling error. I was offered an alternative flight to fly to Dulles (Washington DC) which departed at 11:30am on the same day (3 hours and 45 minutes BEFORE the booked time), which I reluctantly accepted. As far as I understand it in the case of a flight cancellation within 7 days of the scheduled flight I am entitled to 600 euros in compensation, as the distance is over 3500km and I was forced to depart more than 1 hour before the originally booked flight time. The airline has told me "because you arrived at your destination within four hours of your scheduled arrival time, you’re entitled to €300.00 in compensation, which is 50% of the full amount." On the EU page that details my rights it states "if the air carrier has offered you re-routing and you reach your final destination with a delay of 2, 3 or 4 hours the compensation may be reduced by 50%". I did not arrive at the destination airport with a delay of 2, 3 or 4 hours; I arrived at a different airport about 3 hours BEFORE the originally scheduled arrival time (it did however take me 1 hour by road to reach Baltimore from Dulles airport), but I was very much inconvenienced by having to leave London almost 4 hours before the booked time. My question here is am I entitled to 600 euros or 300 euros?
Many thanks,
Jack