Germanfflyer

Hi,

CO changed my flights at the end of Feb causing a misconnection.

The only way to get to EWR in time now would be to leave my vacation hotel 4 hours early!

Will they pay for a taxi since busses would not be running that early?
Will they pay for the prepuchased meal that I am missing?

Should I call now or wait and hope for another change in shedule?

Are there any standard procedures?

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Viele Grüße

Oliver

snake

The good news is that you can get a refund even if it's a nonrefundable ticket.

The bad news, don't expect any compensation.

geoffco

They may rebook you on a later flight if one is available. I would research their flight schedule before calling and tell them which alternatives that you are willing to accept.

Germanfflyer

I wonder since this is an international ticket sold in the EU to a EU resident if the "you can have a refund" line is going to cut it. They made a business-decission to change the flights they sold to me, so now I feel they have to pay for the "damage" (taxi, Meals) that occurs too....

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Viele Grüße

Oliver

Threy

Unfortunately they could not care less what you do in the time between your arrival and departure, so forget about the meal and taxi compensation...

They have to fly you to your destination more or less in time ( EU rules have become much more customer friendly recently )and they have to fly you back on schedule as well.

Since it is a non charter operation ( OK, some may say CO transatlantic in Y is indeed inferior to what most charter airlines offer and they have an argument )even stricter EU laws are in effect, but I fear they will offer you a full refund, based on EU laws, as the only compensation they must offer.

BTW, there is a new book called ReiseRecht on the market since some weeks now, so you may want to have a look at it.

Maybe you should go ahead, call them and ask for something like two $ 50 off vouchers for a future flight...
IMO, a fair compensation, if the change is only cutting your holidays by a few hours.

noopsta

Had a similar thing happen to me when CO changed my outbound flight from LGW - EWR. Ended up staying London overnight as public transport in the early hours from outside of London is non-existent

Was compensated by way of 2 PC lounge passes (was offered $50 duty free voucher but negotiated for passes instead). Didn't try my luck getting compensation for hotel costs as the phrase "blood and stone" applied to obtaining just the passes.

Don't know if I got a good deal, but couldn't have been more thankful for the showers in the lounge at IAH during a long layover on my rtn leg! Good luck on the compensation front

thesilb

Actually, I think the fact that you are in the EU means you are particularly screwed here. I was just watching a program in London last week on SKY NEWS about this very issue. Seems the EU has protective legislation for airlines which allow them to make basically unlimited changes and give you no compensation and no refund.

Because some airlines have taken advantage of this, SKY NEWS reported that the EU is considering new consumer protection legislation which would entitle you to a refund, but not to any incidental damages, if the flight is changed by over seven days.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but that's what was reported last week.

Now what the airline might do from a customer relations standpoint is unknown - you should try to get your flight swapped. But I think legally you're spot out of luck. So remember to be nice - they have no obligation to really do anything at all for you, I believe.



[This message has been edited by thesilb (edited Dec 08, 2003).]

thesilb

Now that I think about it, those laws might be only applicable to EU->EU flights. EU->Non EU flights are probably governed by other treaties. You might want to investigate further what body of law governs your contract (Warsaw convention, etc. - I'm not sure). Good luck.