oxtailsoup

Whilst being delayed by four hours on last Friday's BA55 I was trying to calculate the amount of compensation this one flight was going to cost BA.

Given that many of the passengers appeared to be domiciled outside of the UK or not regular flyers, I wonder what % of the passengers would actually put a claim in? BA obviously made no mention of the regulation.

Any thoughts/guesses? I would presume that it would also be dependent on the route.. i.e. a delayed flight from LHR to GLA would probably attract a higher percentage claiming EU261 due to the awareness of the legislation by domestic passengers.

T8191

My only experience, on a LGW-KIN in J with a 24h delay, and with Y and W packed with what would appear to have been infrequent flyers, suggests to me that many, if not most, wouldn't have been told or known about EC261.

BA put us (J) overnight at the LGW Sofitel, and apparently left some 261 info sheets at Reception. I never saw them, and there was certainly no proactive information offered to us. As for the Jamaicans down the back, on an infrequent family visit, I have no idea ... but I suspect they lost out 'big time'.

We were sat outside the Sofitel having a ciggie, and fell into conversation with a lady on the flight. She knew nothing about 261 either ... that upset us.

muishkin

i am not sure but I speculate that the number of ppls NOT claiming might be quite significant. Sometimes I don't claim anything either out of laziness despite knowing about EU261. For example, my recent trip to ARN involved a tight connection at T5 on a JFK-LHR-ARN itinerary. The first leg arrived 20 minutes late and at T5B. I didn't get to the fast track connection in T5A until 28 minutes before the departure of the next leg (BA 776) which caused the system to automatically boot me out of the flight. I was rebooked on the next flight to ARN (BA 778) which arrived 3+ hrs later. To be fair, I didn't care if I arrived in Stockholm in the morning or in the afternoon. Actually arriving in the afternoon worked out better since that is the normal hotel check-in time.. I didn't bother to file a claim since I didn't feel wronged by the delay.

arnie.

I've never been in a position to claim, having only had near moments. Most recently was flying with some friends a few weeks ago and hoping it got to the 3 hour mark so as we'd be able to get some compensation, and none of them seemed to know anything about it. Given that information generally isn't offered unless asked for, I wouldn't assume it's a high % of pax that ever claim, though.

crazyanglaisy

The only time I've been eligible saw a 4 hour-ish delay announced on the app the previous day. The captain told us all that this was due to late finishing maintenance on the plane, and that a replacement plane to ensure an on time arrival couldn't be sourced. To his credit, he also let us know in his pre-flight briefing that this meant we are all eligible for EU compensation and to ask the cabin crew for more details about the online claims process if we needed it.

simons1

Less than 10% I would say.

Knickam

But as time goes on whatever the percentage, It is bound to increase as more and more people become aware of it.

Egoldstein

Before I joined FT, I think I may have vaguely heard about EU261, but certainly wouldn't have thought to apply for it.

kurto1

It would also be interesting to know, of those that do initiate a claim, how many do not pursue it after being fobbed-off with the generic customer service response

T8191

As it is a legal obligation, as opposed to "my steak was tough", I would pursue them to the hilt. 261 isn't an optional requirement.

And, as they are also noted on the Ryanair forum, "Are people being told their rights!"

irish_goat

I had a 10hr delay with AC and the 2 Canadians infront and behind me in the queue knew nothing about EU261 and I'm not sure they even believed me when I told them about it. My guess would be they didn't claim.

steve170461

Plenty more after today's references to it by MOL

ahmetdouas

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ahmetdouas

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EuropeanPete

The airlines have had more than enough time to train staff appropriately and to fulfill their obligations. As they are clearly not doing so and are frequently willfully misleading customers (we're sorry for the delay, here's 1,000 air miles), I agree that it's time that compensation be processed automatically.