pol212

Hi Folks,
Arrived this morning in HKG from MNL on CX902.
1. Flight equipment swapped from A359 to A330-300. Means a downgrade to Y from PEY...not happy. Lost valuable club points
2. Got hit with MAJOR delays and disappointment after our flight got diverted to Clark MNL for several hours due to weather.
Flights original take off time: 8:20pm.. actual departure was 3:30am and arrival around 5 20a
Understand the situation was out of CX's control...
I assume we are not protected when hit with 7+ hour delays like this?
Is there anything we can do in regards to compensation or are we being too entitled and demanding here?
Had to take a taxi home as the airport express was not running in the am and had to take off work the next day due to illness from being awake all night..

Arbeysix

First of all, my sympathies. I take 903 frequently and rarely have any significant problems even through the wet season when storms will create delays. However on Sunday evening when the storm hit I happened to be in Manila and not having much better to do (!) thought I would check how the incoming air traffic was faring onFR24. By coincidence your flight was lining up for what subsequently became the second (or was it third! ) go around. This, let alone a CRK diversion, is very unusual and obviously highly inconvenient, however ultimately safety has to take priority and the crew was faced with some pretty nasty weather. By all means see if cx will oblige in covering expenses but these things do happen at this time of year and absent a substantial airport upgrade at MNL (I'm still waiting!), these things will happen...

davistev

Unfortunately - weather related delays are almost never compensated by airlines. If the delay was due to a mechanical issue totally under the control of the airline, then you would have a good reason to claim expenses. However, even if this case you would be limited to whatever HKG Civil Aviation Authority deems to be appropriate for travellers rights (if any) for that side of the world.

This is where travel insurance may pick up the tab for unexpected expenses, but the insurance will probably not cover lost income.

Arbeysix

PS. The equipment swap should not mean you acrue less MPC points.

fairhsa

This. Just email them if you don't get the right points, they will give you the right ones, They have every time for me.

I do HKG-MNL very regulary and have done for over 10 years. I've never been diverted to Clark but have had one overnight delay due to a typhoon. Small delays (an hour or two) are pretty much standard on that route due to air traffic control though.

pol212

Yep took all of your advice and shot them an email. Seems like their customer service is backed up though. Received an auto reply "We are currently handling more customer communication than usual. As a result, response times may be longer than normal. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes and will respond to your feedback as soon as we can."

oldchinahand

Yes to entitled and demanding
Why ever do you believe that you are due compensation ?
Who from ? The TV weather man -Manila airport -God ?
Or is it that you believe that Cathay are a soft touch......they are not.
Delays happen.