jbb

A friend of mine was recently on a flight in Y from JFK-DXB-DUR with an originally scheduled 2h10min transit in DXB. The flight left JFK 3 hours late because of a 'late incoming aircraft'. They managed to make up an hour on the way, but still arrived 2 hours late and as a result she missed her connection and was put on the next day's flight. There is only one flight per day between DXB-DUR, so what was supposed to be a 2h10min transit turned into 26hrs. Emirates offered her hotel accommodation at the Copthorne, but as she had her own travel insurance, she opted to stay at a 5-star luxury resort instead and charged meals to the insurance.

I was a little surprised that Emirates only offered the hotel and my friend explicitly stated that no meal vouchers were offered. Considering the length of the delay caused by Emirates (24 hours), I was surprised they didn't offer the meal vouchers and was also wondering if other compensation should have been offered. She was not allowed to pick up her luggage in DXB so had no change of clothes. Again, her insurance saved her and with the $500 benefit she had, she was able to get a very nice hotel room (Park Hyatt), meals and a new change of clothes without thinking about getting anything from the airline.

But, I was just wondering if she did NOT have the insurance, what could/should she have pushed for from Emirates? Or is just a hotel standard practice even for a 24 hour trip delay on an international itinerary mid-transit? I sort of feel like not getting any food benefit doesn't exactly meet a basic 'duty of care' Emirates is obligated for an international traveller in-transit.

I'm asking not because I want or expect my friend to push anything with Emirates, I'm just genuinely curious as to what the standard practice should be in this circumstance. I always travel with insurance just so I don't have to rely on an airline in precise circumstances as this. .

Yoshi212

No meal vouchers were offered but did she ask about them? Not sure what the obligation is for EK at DXB but sometimes you have to ask/push to get things from them.
The real question was couldn't your friend have routed via JNB and done a short hop to DUR arrive much earlier?

jbb

Emirates had chosen to rebook her on the next day's DUR flight. They had already changed her itinerary mid-flight from JFK-DXB (I know because I checked her itinerary and noticed it had changed while she was in the air). From Emirates' perspective, I presume it wouldn't have made any business sense to fly her to JNB and for them to then have to pay for another airlines' connection on to DUR. (From my understanding, airlines don't rebook you onto another airline unless they absolutely have to).

I do not know if she asked for meal vouchers or not... but really, if it's something she's entitled to and it's their fault she's stuck for 24 hours in Dubai, wouldn't it be basic customer service to offer it instead of trying to be cheap and withholding it unless the customer asks for it? But this goes back to my original question, what is she actually entitled to under Emirates' own standards of practice and/or precedent? What have other customers in similar situations received?

I've noticed from the info on some other discussion boards that had the flight originated in the EU, she could have pushed for EUR600 compensation... although there is some dispute between how Emirates' interprets the EU regulations on this and this, of course, does not apply for US-origin flights.

Yoshi212

EK is known for poor irrops handing when it comes to this kind of stuff. They always will opt for the easiest EK itinerary and move on to the next person. There are complaints about his here on FT, TripAdvisor and other forums. While I agree that airlines should be proactive as a good customer service action doesn't mean it's a reality nor something people should just expect to happen.

A 2012 Gulf News reports that delayed passengers are entitled to :
• Meals and refreshments and two telephone calls/fax/email and (if overnight until the new flight)hotel accommodation and transfers (if cancellation is communicated to the passengers when they are already at the airport). So it seems your friend should have had transfers, hotel and meals covered along with basic toiletries and clothing reimbursed. Some airlines have these items in the baggage office for delayed travelers at no cost. But once again you have to ask about them.
• Compensation in a certain amount depending on the length of the flight to the final destination which varies between 250 euros to 600 euros. (the article is focused on EU flight delays).

From EK's COC for customer's rights in a delay for flight selection:
9.2.2 You will be entitled to choose one of the following three available remedies if we cancel a flight; fail to operate a flight reasonably according to the schedule; fail to stop at your destination or Stopover destination; or cause you to miss a connecting flight with us or with another airline for which you hold a through booking/confirmed reservation and adequate time existed to make the connection after the scheduled time of arrival of your flight. The three available remedies for you to choose from are available without extra charge and are set out in Articles 9.2.2(a) to (c) below. See also Article 9.2.3 for
limitations on your rights and our liability.
9.2.2(a) Remedy One - we will carry you and your Baggage as soon as we can on another of our flights on which space is available and, where necessary, extend the period of validity of your Ticket to cover that carriage.
9.2.2(b) Remedy Two - we will re-route you and your Baggage within a reasonable period of time to the destination shown on your Ticket on another of our flights or on the flight of another airline, or by other mutually agreed means and class of carriage. We will also refund you any difference between the fare, taxes, fees, charges and surcharges paid for your carriage and any lower fare, taxes, fees, charges and
surcharges applicable to your revised carriage.
9.2.2(c) Remedy Three - we will give you an involuntary refund in accordance with Article 10.2.

Dave Noble

With the hotel that Emirates booked, did the room booking include meals and so meal vouchers were not required ?

Without insurance, she could have put in a claim for the meals and necessary incidentals against the airline afterwards if not provided

With insurance can just easily take what insurance will provide and let the insurance company put any claims back against the airline

DYKWIA

The hotel voucher is normally good for meals also - it states on the voucher (Dinner/Breakfast/Lunch etc.). I guess she didn't get the hotel voucher, so wouldn't have noticed.

skywardhunter

The hotel voucher would have included all meals at the hotel as mentioned (3 daily). This is the standard Dubai Connect hotel used for Y pax so there are many EK pax already staying there on a daily basis and meals are arranged with the hotel.

jbb

Yeah, this makes sense. She had already decided to go the insurance route and booked the Park Hyatt at this point so did not scrutinize what came with the Emirates-offered hotel.

Nonetheless, good to know in future that the hotel would likely provide complimentary meals.

jbb

I did not get many details, but my friend did say she was very disappointed with the customer service handling the IRROPS and the whole experience turned her off. Previously, she had really good experiences with Emirates customer service (though she had been flying in J!)

In her words: "The emirates staff at the transfer desk outright ignored me and they were dismissive when I asked if I could retrieve my baggage (this was a 26 hour layover caused by Emirates)"

pokeable

Yup. Emirates lost one of our two bags on our most recent trip (the one with all our clothing). Thankfully, clothes in SE Asia are cheap, and eventually (about 6 weeks after coming home) were reimbursed for our clothing purchases. It was a funny story: instead of being sent to Malaysia via SIN, our bag was sent to Timbuktu, Nepal.

Besides that, we didn't even get a standardized apology email. And this is flying F-J. Emirates IRROPS handling is terrible. Given the tight connections in DXB ex-US, we are seriously considering flying west via ICN and KE in the fututre.

ft101

Has it moved?

jbb

How Emirates handles IRROPs and what to do in the event of an extended delay in DXB is something I am following quite closely. A close family member recently retired (lives in North America) and will be going to South Africa at least once a year from now on. She travels in J and enjoyed flying Emirates last time, but I'm always scanning what's the best option for her in terms of service, schedule, price, transit and hard product. Other family members based in North America will be going to SA periodically too (my sister, her husband and two kids recently opted for KLM J via AMS, JNB).

In related news, my friend loved the Park Hyatt, and so that seems like a good option for an insurance-charged trip delay hotel near the airport.

DYKWIA

The Park Hyatt is a great hotel, and the venue for a few Emirates Forum Friday Brunches in times gone by.

oruvin

Earthquakes, you know...

geminidreams

Last time I visited it was in Mali