hexagon

Hi all,

I'm currently in Shanghai now.

I had a flight yesterday (7 june) from TPE-PVG at 18:40 with China Eastern. Afterwards i should have a connecting flight at 23:40 from PVG-CDG also with China Eastern.

This is the problem: due to bad weather in Shanghai the first flight got delayed until 20:20 (boarding time). Once we boarded we sat another 2h in the plane to leave TPE at 22:25. In the meantime we asked groundstaff and flight attendants whether we would still be able to get our connecting flight. They told us that because of bad weather every flight has been delayed, so normally we should be able to get the connecting flight. Then the flight attendant said that she was going to write our names and flight no down just in case.

We arrived at PVG at 00:15 june 8th. Ground staff told us that the flight to CDG has left on time... We stranded in Shanghai with around 40-50 people from the flight from TPE. We heared also that more passengers to CDG haven't arrived yet. This means either that the 2nd flight left half full or they have overbooked and let all the standby passengers get on.

The most furious thing is: we didn't get any compensation for the loss (paid hotel stay in France, paid transportation fee, further connecting flight fee,...) . We got another flight on the 8th at original time 23:40 (24h delay), but that isn't satisfactory. We have been put in an suburban hotel at 1h away from the airport.

My question is now: is this common that we don't get any compensation because it is caused by bad weather. In my opinion we can all understand that the weather condition is the cause of it, but fault lies at the tower personel who let the plane leave. If we can wait for 4h, what is the harm to have the connecting flight delay for 1-2h so that more people can get on it right?

Is there anything that we can do except for calling 9530 (China Eastern complaint line) to get the most out of the loss we have suffered...?

Chinatrvl

Flight operating to the EU falls under EU regulation for compensation for delayed/canceled flights (and now apparently also applicable for missed connections). Good luck.

To be honest, I would have been furious if I had been on the flight to CDG and it had been held for "1-2 hours" for connecting passengers - eventually making me miss my connection in CDG; not even considering that the China-bound return flight would also have been delayed due to late arrival in CDG. 50 passangers less doesn't make a 332 "half full" - and I doubt any airline would hold an intercontinental plane for that.

hexagon

we all were. Stayed there for 3h arguing eventually gaining nothing...

choupeo

Do you have any travel insurance ? That should cover the loss of prepaid hotel and transportation bookings the first night in France.

Chinatrvl

EU compensation is notoriously hard to get from European carriers as well (lawyer up and (threaten to) sue) and never paid on the spot. Do a little search, also here in EU carrier forums, for procedures and chances.

hexagon

We have an insurance on our credit card, but i called the CC (AMEX) company and they said they only cover hotel expenses up to 6500 NT. But hotel has been paid by China Eastern already.

An extra insurance i didn't buy thinking that flight delays of 24h wasn't possible (silly me...).

Thanks for the suggestions though

YVR Cockroach

OP would have only been covered if the delay was on an E.U carrier (flying to or from the E.U. e.g., if you were flying AF, KL or AZ) or a non-E.U. carrier flying from the E.U. (e.g., if this had happened while you were leaving Europe) In this case, neither of the two previous conditions apply. By accommodating you, MU has pretty much taken as good care of you as the E.U. requires.

jiejie

You lose me right here. And you seem to not understand how this all works. Tower personnel have the aircraft assigned a departure slot, which it's up to the airline pilot/dispatch center to make. This was an MU decision.

As to harm, there is harm to all the other people who have to wait around. The needs of the others outweigh the needs of the 50. A delay ripples throughout the system with aircraft not being where they are supposed to be. Finally, the crew, if they delayed per your desires, may have faced "timing out" which would have set everybody back to square one waiting for a fresh crew to be assigned.

It's just bad luck, sooner or later happens to everybody who travels enough. I'm not sure if you'll have any luck getting anything more out of MU or anybody else.

On a general note: with connections like this, via coastal cities in China during the summer, always prepare for a lengthy connection longer than you might imagine due to bad weather. Make your destination plans accordingly flexible.

domirule

OP, for the hotel in France, why don't you try to negotiate with them and see if they can issue you a refund? from my own past experience dealing with such situations, if you give a call to the hotel and explain the situation, people are usually quite understanding and accommodating. hotel will usually request a flight irregularity report from the airline though... and your chances may have been better if you had actually called them prior to missing the night so they could release the room, instead of calling them after the fact.

Chinatrvl

Thanks for the correction - and sorry for my wrong information. I wasn't aware of that and probably would have fiercly battled with airline staff in such a case assuming it was to and from the EU

However, in this case, I think there's nothing more to gain for the OP.

moondog

IME, fighting with Chinese airlines is almost always more trouble than it's worth. In my 18 month battle with CZ, I ended up getting compensated about $5 per hour for my wasted time.... and that was with ~$1,000 on the line, rather than a hotel night.