Avarice31

Hi - as it's hard to find the relevant information on Opodo / Cathay Pacific's websites, presumably because they'd prefer to keep it hidden, I'd like to ask for some advice/knowledge.

I had a return flight at 19:75 on Friday 6th March from Hanoi to Manchester (via Hong Kong) with a 3 hour stopover.

Cathay have said the return flight will now be 11:00 Thursday 5th March and the layover is 13 hours 30 minutes. This change was made within 14 days of the outbound flight date (16th Feb)

The consequence of the changes is that I'm losing a day and a half of my holiday AND the return travel time has almost doubled from 18 hours to 30 hours.

I've called Opodo and have been unable to find an improved alternative set of flights, despite even looking at a return from Ho Chi Min City and on multiple different days. All options have a 30+ hour travel time with a long layover or two changes.

Opodo have said I'm likely to get a full refund if I want it. The issue is I and my partner have both booked three weeks off work. It's also too late to rebook any similar holiday as flight costs are too high so close to the outbound date (15th/16th Feb).

I've read Cathay Pacific material talking about compensation for delayed and cancelled flights but it doesn't exactly detail this situation. downnloads.cathaypacific.com/cx/misc/CathayPacific_passagiersrechten_brochure.pdf#page= 4

What about in this case, where the flights have been moved a day and a half earlier, and with much worse travel time? Is it possible to accept these substandard flights (because we can't really rebook a similar holiday at this point) AND to receive compensation of some sort?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Mwenenzi

Is there a CX flight HAN-HKG on 6 March?
Or other CX flight HKG-MAN with better times?
If you try to fly from/to different airports the airline/TA will consider that a voluntary change all at your own cost [probably $$$$$]
With the conavirus issue many flights are changing/cancelled in Asia.
Booking via Opodo and not direct with the airline is not helping: will be a major hindrance to resolving.
What did your travel insurance say when you contacted them?

SK AAR

Welcome to FT

You do realise that CX are in the middle of the virus storm right now? - many flights cancelled and thousands of passengers in the same boat as you. You should have a look in the dedicated CX forum about the Corona virus disruptions/cancellations - plenty of information of passengers in the same situation as you.

Anyway, I will provide the answers: no compensation and no rebooking to other airlines. CX is not subject to EU Reg. 261/04 for flights TO Europe as CX is not a community carrier; moreover you are more than 14 days out of your return travel date so yet another reason for no compensation. If you can find other CX flights that suit you better/will reduce the layover at HKG there might be a (remote) chance that you will accomplish to get rebooked to these flights. Most likely you will have to accept the new itinerary unless you want to accept a refund of the return part of your ticket and book new tickets on your own.

As stated above working through Opodo doesn't make it easier.

writerguyfl

The reasoning behind this accurate statement might not be self-evident to a non-frequent flyer. So, a brief explanation:

When you purchase an airline ticket through a travel agency (a "real" one or an online one), that agency becomes the owner of the ticket. The airline pays out a commission with the understanding that the agency is responsible for handling any issues that arise before the day of travel.

Effectively, that puts a person between you and the airline. In olden days when travel agencies had actual local offices, you had a decent shot of having a competent person advocating for you. Unfortunately, online travel agencies (OTAs) only give you a phone number to call. That means you're stuck with whoever answers the phone. While you might get a superstar agent, you also might get someone on their first day of work.

Most frequent flyers will tell you to completely avoid OTAs. Chances are strong that you will get roughly the same price by booking directly with the airline. When you book direct, you can call the airline yourself.

Next time you purchase airline ticket, purchase direct.

In terms of your current problem, you'll just need to deal with your OTA. I'd follow SK AAR's advice. Look at Cathay's schedule and see if there are any better connections. If you find one, call your OTA and be very specific. Something like: I want Flight 888 departing from XXX on March 6, connecting in YYY to Flight 999 on March 7. By providing a solution (if there is one), you'll get better results than simply calling and saying you need help.

That said, you need to be realistic. The Coronovirus is creating major issues for many travelers. There may not be any alternatives. Sometimes major world events (weather, terrorism, volcanoes, and now viruses) happen and they ruin vacations.

Duke787

Plus even if CX was a community carrier, I would expect a force majeure claim by the airline which means no EU261 payout. I believe this is the view being taken by all the EU carriers and is a reasonable stance to take in this circumstance even though it is highly disruptive to your travel.

Did you purchase travel insurance or use a CC that provides travel insurance? You may encounter the same force majeure claim depending on how the policy is written but you may find some monetary relief there.

chgoeditor

Moving this to our Cathay forum.

chgoeditor
co-mod, Info Desk

pogonation

Surely the obvious thing to suggest is change it to HAN-HKG-LHR on the 6th. Leaves at 10:50 am so you lose a bit of your last day but you still keep an extra day and have better connections back to UK then you could catch the train up to Manchester (No MAN connection available for CX253)

Often1

Bottom line here is that CX will not touch this ticket until the day of travel. Until that day, OP must work through Opodo. Generally a very bad place to be. But, in this particular instance, it is not likely significantly worse than what CX would do directly.

Bottom line is that OP will likely be routed on any available CX flights of his choosing, but needs to have done the research and have the specific flights handy before calling Opodo.

There are already a number of other threads on the compensation issue and it seems clear that CX will not pay any and that, where there is a regulatory scheme such as EC 261/2004, it won't likely result in compensation, although the reroute may be a bit easier to achieve.

SW7London

Cathay cant have this both ways - claiming force majeure due to the virus - yet not allowing passengers to cancel due to the virus(unless its a flexible ticket)

Additionally, CX is cancelling flights for economic reasons, yes in turn caused by the virus however it is for economic reasons. CX allowing some flexibility here (being reasonable) will help if anybody does this to a small claims court if they breach EU261 rules

garykung

The first portion is incorrect. Only 1) flight from EU and 2) community carrier (regardless directions) are qualified.

So CX's HKG-MAN is not subject to EC261/2004, especially given the added complication that the U.K. is no longer a EU member (the transition period issue is still not yet known).

percysmith

MAN is an economic case - it can’t be force majeure if they’re still flying there. They can’t claim that and asking to be taken to court (or better still the EC261 firms)

brunos

Compensation: As mentioned before, CX is not subject to EC261 for its flights TO EU. As a side note, the date of your outbound flight is irrelevant. Your cancelled flights is in more than 14 days The reason for cancellation (force majeure or reconomic) is irrelevant.

Rerouting: The big issue is that CX cancelled most MAN flights, including yours. Furthermore KA cancelled many flights to VN. There is only a morning flight departing from HAN.

If you want to save a day of holiday, you might consider proposing OPODO the routing to LHR on 6 March and CX251 as suggested by pogonation. You will still have a long layover in HKG and arrive at LHR not MAN.

It's late, but you might consider what AF/VN have to offer.

Also note that the coronavirus situation could evolve fast. If the situation in HK worsens significantly, Vietnam might consider again banning flight from HKG.

Flyhard111

Missed that somehow... Sorry for confusion!

RDP

Did the original flight get cancelled or "fail to operate a flight reasonably according to the schedule"? Then another carrier is also an option at the OP's choice in 10.2.2.2, or refund in 10.2.2.3

https://www.cathaypacific.com/conten...baggage-en.pdf

RDP

SW7London

My HKG-CNX flight was canceled, and now I've got a 17 hour overnight connection at HKG, reducing my 6 night vacation to 5 nights. My original flight is from LHR with a 1.5 hour connection to KA232 to CNX.

CX cancelled KA232 with less than 14 days notice, I've asked them for full refund. If they dont respond/aknolwegde prior to next Wednesdays departure from LHR I'll be disputing the charge on credit card and raising a small claims court case for the EU compensation

(and yes my LHR>HKG flight has not been cancelled, only the HKG>CNX regardless the new proposed itinerary and trip is unacceptable)