Jul 18, 2019, 5:20 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishes common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91.
Best FT thread for referencing EC261/2004: The 2019 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation EC261/2004
Note update - 2016 June 10
EU clarification on EC261/2004
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes...16)3502_en.pdf
Where and how to address for EC 261 claims:
Link to article on Wikipedia: "The Flight Delay Compensation Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 is a regulation establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations, or long delays of flights. It repealed Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, and went into effect on 18 February 2005. It sets out the entitlements of air passengers when a flight that they intend to travel on is delayed or cancelled, or when they are denied boarding to such a flight due to overbooking, or when the airline is unable to accommodate them in the class they had booked." It applies to Member States and includes French overseas territories.
Heretofore, the ruling only applied to flights leaving Europe on all airlines, or flights from anywhere to Europe, on European airlines. Most recently (July 2019), a new European Court of Justice ruling commands that even flights which connect to non-EU airlines, but were booked as one ticket from the EU must be compensated. (link to article on godsavethepoints.com)
Link to EC 261/2004 text in several languages.
Link to language (English) Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) of EC 261/2004
Link to description by Air Passenger Rights a "multilingual consumer website explaining the rights of air passengers in the European Union."
Link to contact details of EC 261/2004 enforcement bodies
Link to English language EC 261/2004 compliaint form PDF
Email for EC claims at (to determine)
Link to BAEC Forum lengthy EC261/2004 thread.
Link to thisismoney.co.uk article explaining EC261/2004.
Emirates told to pay out on missed connection claims, by Mark Caswell, Business Traveller, 19 Mar 2018
“Despite all this, expect airlines to give you a hard time with your claim. File a claim on your own, but if you find yourself stonewalled or denied unfairly, enlisting a firm like AirHelp or Bott & Co can be huge, since they fight the case for you, in exchange for a 25% cut of the recovered cash. A 75% chunk of something is better than 100% of nothing.” (godsavethepoints.com)
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
Best FT thread for referencing EC261/2004: The 2019 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation EC261/2004
Note update - 2016 June 10
EU clarification on EC261/2004
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes...16)3502_en.pdf
Where and how to address for EC 261 claims:
EC261/2004 claims should be lodged with the operating airline.
Go to the complaints page, select "Submit a complaint", and select "Delay" in the drop-down box.
Keep the comments to the bare minimum - stick to the facts, and best to use bullet points. Keep all commentary about anything other than the bald facts of the case out of the submission ("We were very upset and disappointed..." etc etc) and make no reference to any of the topics already explained to you in this thread to be of no relevance to the airline or to this claim ("We lost the first pre-paid night of our vacation as we had a non-refundable hotel booking" etc etc)
Attach scans/photographs of your boarding passes - the original boarding passes showing the original departure details, and the replacement boarding passes showing the later actual departure details - and include the original e-ticket receipt and any communications/emails/texts from the airline notifying you of the delay.
I would also advise you specifically write that you want the €600 per passenger in cash (transferred to your bank account) rather than a voucher to be used with TAP within 12 months of 50% greater value...unless this truly is your wish. I've explained above why it is generally a bad idea to accept a voucher in lieu of cash.
Go to the complaints page, select "Submit a complaint", and select "Delay" in the drop-down box.
Keep the comments to the bare minimum - stick to the facts, and best to use bullet points. Keep all commentary about anything other than the bald facts of the case out of the submission ("We were very upset and disappointed..." etc etc) and make no reference to any of the topics already explained to you in this thread to be of no relevance to the airline or to this claim ("We lost the first pre-paid night of our vacation as we had a non-refundable hotel booking" etc etc)
Attach scans/photographs of your boarding passes - the original boarding passes showing the original departure details, and the replacement boarding passes showing the later actual departure details - and include the original e-ticket receipt and any communications/emails/texts from the airline notifying you of the delay.
I would also advise you specifically write that you want the €600 per passenger in cash (transferred to your bank account) rather than a voucher to be used with TAP within 12 months of 50% greater value...unless this truly is your wish. I've explained above why it is generally a bad idea to accept a voucher in lieu of cash.
Code:
The regulation applies to any passenger: - departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies;
Code:
The protection accorded to passengers departing from or to an airport located in a Member State should be extended to those leaving an airport located in a third country for one situated in a Member State, when a Community carrier operates the flight and where a community carrier is defined as any carrier licensed to operate within that community.
Code:
- departing from an EU member state, or travelling to an EU member state - on an airline based in an EU member state if that person has: - a confirmed reservation on the flight, and - arrived in time for check-in as indicated on the ticket or communication from the airline airline, or, if no time is so indicated, no less than 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time of the flight or - have been transferred from the flight for which he/she held a reservation to some other flight unless - the passenger is travelling on a free or discounted ticket not available to the general public, other than a ticket obtained from a frequent flyer programme. It does not apply to helicopter flights, to any flight not operated by a fixed-wing aircraft, nor to flights from Gibraltar Airport.[1] (wikipedia)
Heretofore, the ruling only applied to flights leaving Europe on all airlines, or flights from anywhere to Europe, on European airlines. Most recently (July 2019), a new European Court of Justice ruling commands that even flights which connect to non-EU airlines, but were booked as one ticket from the EU must be compensated. (link to article on godsavethepoints.com)
Link to EC 261/2004 text in several languages.
Link to language (English) Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) of EC 261/2004
Link to description by Air Passenger Rights a "multilingual consumer website explaining the rights of air passengers in the European Union."
Link to contact details of EC 261/2004 enforcement bodies
Link to English language EC 261/2004 compliaint form PDF
Email for EC claims at (to determine)
Link to BAEC Forum lengthy EC261/2004 thread.
Link to thisismoney.co.uk article explaining EC261/2004.
Emirates told to pay out on missed connection claims, by Mark Caswell, Business Traveller, 19 Mar 2018
“Despite all this, expect airlines to give you a hard time with your claim. File a claim on your own, but if you find yourself stonewalled or denied unfairly, enlisting a firm like AirHelp or Bott & Co can be huge, since they fight the case for you, in exchange for a 25% cut of the recovered cash. A 75% chunk of something is better than 100% of nothing.” (godsavethepoints.com)
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
GUIDE: EC261 / EC 261/2004 “EU” complaints, compensation and TAP
Mar 1, 2018, 5:32 pm
#16
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
I have 2 EU261 claims against TP. They are both over 2 months old and TAP continue to ignore further mails via the web form and feed me BS when I call. I will complain to the Portuguese regulator and put my lawyer on them. They have always been slack but I now believe this is deliberate stalling.
Mar 1, 2018, 11:57 pm
#17
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, UA Gold
Posts: 9,919
I have 2 EU261 claims against TP. They are both over 2 months old and TAP continue to ignore further mails via the web form and feed me BS when I call. I will complain to the Portuguese regulator and put my lawyer on them. They have always been slack but I now believe this is deliberate stalling.
It is too bad because the flights weren’t half bad, and I liked the LIS lounge, but from now on I’m avoiding TP.
Mar 2, 2018, 12:02 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
I have 2 EU261 claims against TP. They are both over 2 months old and TAP continue to ignore further mails via the web form and feed me BS when I call. I will complain to the Portuguese regulator and put my lawyer on them. They have always been slack but I now believe this is deliberate stalling.
Have you tried ANAC? Its response is at best patchy but it's probably better to involve them rather than hammer away at the closed door of TP. If you ever get through that door you're likely only to find a firewall of oddly constructed apologies and excuses.
I'd go straight to one of the claim handling organisations: give up a slice of your compensation, but let them take the strain.
Mar 29, 2018, 11:35 am
#19
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, UA Gold
Posts: 9,919
TP refused to work with Aviation ADR because I didn't fly through UK. What's my next step? Small claims court? Use one of the groups who take 25% of the compensation? I'm not giving up on this, TP has really pissed me off.
Apr 11, 2018, 5:45 pm
#21
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
I contacted TP on twitter and of course got ignored. Then later I got one of those public tweets of theirs about the latest offer. I tweeted back publicly which prompted a DM response that they would raise my cases with customer services. Lo and behold, today I received 2 mails asking if I would prefer €400 cash or €500 travel voucher for each claim. TP are getting a lot of bad publicity in Portugal and public attention seems to wake them up.
Apr 12, 2018, 12:42 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, UA Gold
Posts: 9,919
I contacted TP on twitter and of course got ignored. Then later I got one of those public tweets of theirs about the latest offer. I tweeted back publicly which prompted a DM response that they would raise my cases with customer services. Lo and behold, today I received 2 mails asking if I would prefer €400 cash or €500 travel voucher for each claim. TP are getting a lot of bad publicity in Portugal and public attention seems to wake them up.
Apr 13, 2018, 11:38 am
#23
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
I was caught up in disruption again this week FRA-LIS and I was told that it was due to the ground handling strike in Germany, which might have been an excuse if the strike hadn‘t ended before the TP aircraft even left LIS. At LIS the new policy of TAP was to tell all stranded passengers to wait until 00:30 for a hotel at which time they had an organised bus to a cheap hotel 25km away and a fixed time bus return of 6:30am next morning regardless of when your onward rescheduled flight departed. Needless to say, I did not join that party.
Jul 16, 2018, 11:31 am
#24
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 189
Didn't want to start a new post so I thought I would check in and see if there was any resolution on this. I recently was flying from PDL to LIS and the flight departed 4 hours late and arrived around 3:50 late because of a late inbound aircraft. I filed the complaint through the TAP webform on July 9th and other than the "we've received your complaint", I haven't gotten any response. Any ideas on how long it normally takes to hear anything or how long it takes to resolve? Seems pretty open and shut since it didn't involve any connections and was clearly over the time limit. Would rather not give up 33% if it's just a matter of waiting.
Searches don't show any posts where people actually resolved anything with TAP.
Searches don't show any posts where people actually resolved anything with TAP.
Jul 17, 2018, 7:36 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,057
I filled out the online complaint in January for a missed connection that caused me to spend the night at LIS. To add insult to injury, I probably could've made the connection but they had already offloaded me and three other BRU-bound passengers... and then the outbound left an additional half hour late so we definitely could've made it 
They still hadn't gotten to it last week so I gave up and hired one of the agencies to chase them down.
They still hadn't gotten to it last week so I gave up and hired one of the agencies to chase them down.
Jul 17, 2018, 9:11 pm
#29
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA Premier Gold (*G), IHG Platinum & Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 1,456
Submitted a formal complaint on 11 June via the TAP website (which was auto acknowledged) and followed up multiple times via email, Twitter and call centre. Eventually got put through to the complaints team after a little HUACA and was advised by the lady that TAP will respond after 28 business days.
It's somewhat coincidental that the Portuguese authority for enforcing EU261, the Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil (ANAC), has this to say on their English complaint form (bolding mine):
2) Should the airline fail to provide you with a reply within 6 weeks of receipt or, if you are not satisfied with their reply, this form (a copy of the original form sent to the airline may be used) should be sent to the national enforcement body in the Member State where the incident took place.
Will be following up with TAP later this week once the 28 business days have elapsed.
Jul 18, 2018, 3:48 am
#30
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: GVA,OPO
Programs: BD the last decent FFP
Posts: 1,856
my last time was probably around 3 yrs ago. but I had a "slam dunk", cancelled flight and a paper from Swissport, Geneva airport stating "Lack of crew".
My family was also compensated for hotel and meals booked on their own from a diverted flight - took 10 months but got the money back