VivoPerLei

Is there anyway to find out prior to submitting an EU261 form what the airline considers the source of a delay to be? Wife was on a delayed Ryanair flight that should be due compensation under the rules, but since no reason was ever given at the airport for the 4 hour delay seems like they can just about say whatever they want. Last time I filed a claim it was rejected in less than 24 hours as an 'extraordinary circumstance' which would have saved me the hassle of filing a claim if they had bothered to communicate any reason for the delay in email or at the gate.

I was thinking there should be a website somewhere that tracks this

Mwenenzi

This BA forum thread may be of assistance http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...61-2004-a.html
Will be a battle to get money from Ryanair

VivoPerLei

Possibly so, but I'd like to think the decision would be made on the flight as a whole, and if anyone gets compensation, everyone should get it. We'll see

WorldLux

No, because even with EU261, there are plenty of passenger that aren't aware of their rights. And that's where the system is IMO flawed. Compensation should be automatic (if applicable) and airlines should only be exempted by showing that there were extraordinary circumstances in play.

Right now the situation is that you ask for the compensation and - unless it is a crystal-clear situation - the airline refuses to pay by invoking in general terms technical problems or extraordinary circumstances. If you want the compensation, you'll have to sue them. In a lot of European countries, that gets considerably more expensive that giving up on your claims.

The alternative is to commission specialised providers (that take a ~20% cut out of your claim), but Ryanair is fighting viciously against those too.

VivoPerLei

I'd be willing to fight the fight, but it's somewhat difficult when it is so difficult to get the facts. If I had the straight up sequence of events leading to a flight delay I could decide for myself whether it was worth pursuing.

ft101

They do that to most claims - as long as some give up at that stage it's worth the airlines time.

Type your flight details into one of the NWNF lawyer websites with a search facility and it'll tell you if they'll take it on. That usually means it's a dead cert.

LondonElite

No need to do all of that. If they don't explain extraordinary circumstances, just reply with a Letter Before Action and inform Ryanair that you'll be filing a MCOL. That usually gets things going.

deniah

try those aforementioned flights-claims operators.

ive made eu261 claims myself successfully.
ive used their services for claims successfully.
ive used their services for 1 rightful claim...unsuccessfully.

but in that last case, i probably wouldnt have been any more successful trying to pursue it myself.

they take a small fee off the award, but its largely a hands-off process. hope for the best, expect nothing.

VivoPerLei

Ryanair is supposedly disallowing those. I just went on ahead and submitted the claim myself. I did look at several of the flight-claim websites, entering my flight details to see if I had a legitimate case and they all said yes, so we'll see. Interesting that I did not get an automated email back from Ryanair saying they were in receipt of my claim and would respond after consideration, but maybe they don't do that.

ft101

I think it's got to be the European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) for Ryanair.

LondonElite

You may be right, but if the flight was from the UK, I believe you can file with the UK subsidiary.

JY1024

Moving to the Other European Airlines forum for further discussion. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator