fuyao

If you don't want to have much work, then go with one of the agencies that want 25%
I always go with my personal lawyer, he doesn't charge me a dime since he just bills the airline

When I Travel The World

My flight was delayed today leaving ARN-DUS, it basically just departed late , arrived into DUS late and I ran from the plane to the gate and they had closed the door on my flight to LAX and despite me asking, they said there was nothing they could do.

So i'm now stuck in DUS for the night. I went to Air Berlin ticket desk and they rebooked me tomorrow via LHR to LAX on British airways.

Do i have the right to claim EU261/2004 ?

Any help would be great

snangel

Anything over 4 hrs, you can claim but it depends on the reason for the delay. I'm still trying to claim mine =/

Often1

You have cross-posted in violation of FT rules. You have great advice on the other thread and ought to follow that advice.

As to Snangel, he will have to file in Germany. Can't file in the US courts because AB has not violated US law and US courts only enforce US laws.

While I share the generalized views above that turning these claims over to the bottom feeders is bad policy, there likely isn't a better alternative given the relatively small amount (it's EUR 600, not 1,200 as it is one ticket and it is the delay at the "final ticketed destination" which the rule speaks of). But, EUR 450 is better than nothing and time is money.

seawolf

If I recall, over 3 hours will get you compensation not 4 hours due to Sturgeon ruling.

Jasper2009

The LBA is a toothless agency and has no means to force airlines to pay compensation.

I doubt a Mahnbescheid will be very successful, and the days where a letter sent by a lawyer impressed big corporations are long over.

I always start by sending a letter, but whenever an airline refuses to pay, I just hand it over one of the specialized law firms such as EUClaim etc. Life is just too short.

Reifel

I was able to claim compensation but only with a Lawyer, and then only when the Lawyer reminded AB after the first letter announcing the submit of the formal law suit with the competent tribunal.

I personally don't see the need to use such agencies like Flightright. These are usually crystal clear cases that you can only win, and if it's not crystal clear the agencies will not accept your claim anyway. At least in Germany, if you win, and you will, then the airline needs to pay for your lawyer costs anyway. Just go with a specialized Lawyer. Some airlines will just pay if they already see which lawyer is sending them a letter

The LBA can not do anything for you. They could in theory fine the airline (but will not do it anyway) but they can't force the airline to pay a compensation for you. This is not what they are there for.

warakorn

And wait 3 years before Euclaim starts sueing the airline?

Most airlines in Central Europe have a clear internal process on handling EC261/2004 claims.

1. The first claim is always denied - with some bogus excuse and sometimes some godwill gesture (miles)

2. If the passengers persists, the claim is more scrutinized. The claim will be assigned to these five categories (A. pax will most likely win a court case; B. pass will probably win a court case; C. It is a toss-up; D. pax will probably loose; E. pax will most likely loose).
If A, B, C, D the airline will give another more detailed response, but will still deny paying out.
If E the airline is not going to spend any effort on writing a new response.

3. If the airline receives a Mahnbescheid or a letter before action from a lawyer ->
If A, the airline will pay out the compensation
If B, C, D the airline will do nothing, yet (just object to the Mahnbescheid)

4. If the airline is sued ->
If B, the airline will try to settle as soon as possible.
If C, the airline will wait until the airline is able to determine, to which side the judge is leaning to; if the judge leans towards the pax, the airline will try to settle; otherwise the airline will continue the fight, however, the airline will always settle once the airline is convinced to loose the case.
If D, the airline will continue the court fight and trying to get a pro-airline judgement.

Esp. some so called low-cost carrier have another internal process, which is more simple.

1. All claims (made by the pax or his lawyer) are ignored.
2. A Mahnbescheid will be objected to.
3. If the airline is sued, the airline will fight - even with some bogus counter-arguments. If verdict against the airline is near, the airline will try to settle.

Reifel

Warakom is absolutely right. This is how most European airlines handle their compensation claims. Had this with airberlin, Air France, Air Europa, Condor i.e.

Airlines that usually are less reluctant are non EU Carriers (since they have less cases I suppose), but I also had good experiences in the EU with Lufthansa, Malev (RIP) and SAS. Malev and SAS actually offered to take the compensation in Cash or the double of the compensation if a voucher is taken, which I accepted and which may also have expediated the claim.

Teechop

Dear Community,

I'm hoping you can help me with the best way forward on the following scenario:
- miles based ticket from TXL to DUS
cancelled by airline (AB) less than 24hrs prior to departure.

- rebooked by airline to earlier flight

Am I right to assume that the rebooking to a different flight does not prevent me from claiming EU 261 for flight cancellation? What's the best way forward? If I remember correctly there is a forum member here who's a lawyer and will help with claims? Could somebody pls point me in his/her direction?

Thank you,
Tee

bagspacked

This reminds me of what New York city does with parking tickets. If you appeal a parking ticket they have some amount of time (30 or 60 days) to respond to you. In the interim they'll send you an offer to settle for less, usually half the amount. This is good info, thanks!

Djokison

So you arrived at your destination earlier than you were supposed to? No compensation is due.

Teechop

I am utterly astonished to find a reply from Airberlinbin my inbox already today. It says I can either get 250 Eur in cash or 350 as a voucher. They sent the voucher code and pswd attached to the email so I could accept their offer directly. Totally not the ordeal I was expecting and quite frankly an amazing customer experience on how they dealt with my request.
Maybe being a (revenue earned) platinum status member with them helped? Or is this the sign that they are seizing business next week and they will never have to make good on the voucher anyway..

Still can't believe how quick and easy this claim was dealt with.

rev

Backstory: Had a Flight CPH-FRA with a layover in TXL. The departures board said 'wait 30 minutes for details' when we arrived. It kept resetting to 30 minutes when it got to about 10 minutes over and over, and when we asked an agent what was going on, they had no info about our flight. After about 2 hours a gate popped up on the board as 'boarding' - we ran to the gate, and though we were on time for it, it turned out there was a small group of us who's final destination was FRA that were told was rebooked on a flight direct to Frankfurt that already left an hour ago.

None of us were given notification, they acknowledged the mistake, sent us to the customer service desk, and in two hours we got a new ticket for the first flight in the morning, a hotel reservation, and a train ticket to the hotel.

Short version:

Seems that AB acknowledged their mistake, so when I claimed I was due 250 Eur because of 261/2004, they got back to me a week later with a voucher code for a $150 'courtesy'. Can I still demand the 250 Eur cash? I definitely didn't ask for a voucher or given an option, and I'm a little unsure if it really is an 'inconvenience courtesy' since I'm a US citizen claiming EU regulations, or they're trying to low-ball me for something I'm legally owed.

Superroddy

rev - Do NOT accept their voucher. You are entitled to 250 Eur, it makes no difference whether or not you are a US citizen. Read this thread Air Berlin vs EC261 for good advice on how to successfully pursue your full claim.