cbrmanf4

Flight info:
Airline: WOW Air
Flight: WW174 (LAX-KEF), July 2017
Reason: Overnight delay (~17 hours) due to mechanical issue
WOW did not issue hotel/meal vouchers (passengers were told to submit expenses for reimbursement later)

I submitted a reimbursement claim for my hotel/meal expenses (about ~$250) a few months ago, but I have not received payment for this yet.

Based on what I've read, it sounds like my flight delay actually qualifies for €600 compensation under EC 261/2004. I think it also says airlines are responsible for accommodations and meals that's separate from this compensation, but I'm not 100% sure and wanted confirmation from someone.

Before submitting another claim under EC 261/2004, I wanted to double-check a couple things:

1. Am I eligible for the €600 EC 261/2004 compensation *in addition* to my hotel/meal reimbursements? If not, can I update my existing $250 hotel/meal reimbursement claim to the full €600 EC 261/2004 compensation?
2. On my later return flight (but still on same itinerary/booking), I was assigned a standard seat instead of an extra legroom seat I paid $50 for. Should I file this refund separately from the EC 261/2004 delay claim? Or do all claims on the same itinerary/booking need to be filed together?

Thanks!

CPH-Flyer

Generally speaking yes, you are entitled to €600 compensation for the delay.

Extraordinarily circumstances are excluded, but there are very few examples of mechanical issues that are classed as extraordinary so most likely you are due the 600 euro.

cbrmanf4

Thanks for the reply CPH. I figured there's a pretty good case for the €600, but do you think that's *in addition* to my reimbursement on accommodation/meal expenses too (i.e. total compensation = $250 + €600)?

CPH-Flyer

That's in addition to 'duty of care', i.e. covering hotel and food within reason

highpeaklad

Send them a separate claim specifying EC261 for the €600.

Cintact customer services for the seat refund

cbrmanf4

They finally updated my status claim. Unfortunately, they only paid ~€570, which covers most but not all of the EC261 €600 compensation. But they *did not* reimburse any of the hotel/meal expenses or provide a refund for the seat fee.

When I emailed about the remaining claim amount, they said it was "too late" to request those reimbursements. I reminded them it was their claims department (not I) who was stalling the last 6+ months. They haven't responded to any of my emails since last week.

I spoke with a phone rep yesterday about the situation. She asked me to email them my boarding passes, and said they'd process the claim in 6-7 days. I asked for confirmation in writing but never got anything.

I can wait another 6-7 days but I'm not hopeful for a positive response. At this point, what other options can/should I try? I'm not a fan of using social media but do I need to resort to Facebook or Twitter?

I think I can file a credit card dispute for the $49.99 seat fee since it's a case of services not rendered. For the remaining ~$250, should I enlist Airhelp or similar agencies to chase down the remaining amount (or if they even do these cases)?

irishguy28

You are mixing up several issues.

There is a "duty of care" requirement; if a flight for which you have checked in on time for cannot operate, and the airline cannot fly you until the next day, they have a duty of care to provide meals, accommodation, and transport to/from the accommodation, until such time as they can fly you out.

This applies regardless of the reasons for the cancellation/delay.

There is also a "compensation" clause if a delay is sufficiently long and is deemed to be within the control of the airline.

Airlines have typically said that mechanical faults are "exceptional events" and not covered by the regulation, but the case law is beginning to go the other way. You should claim for the compensation (€600 per person, if a long-haul flight and the delay stretched to the next day, as appears to be the case for you) and expect that they will first knock you back.

You really like to mix everything into one!

Not getting a seating option has nothing to do with EC261/2004. That is a competely separate issue.


EDIT: I now see that this all happened a long time ago, but you should have approached the 3 separate issues in this order, with the "cheaper", uncontestable claims lodged first:

a) firstly lodge a claim for the hotel and meal costs; this should be straightforward as they really have no reason at all to refuse payment.
b) lodge a claim for refund of your seating option; this should be straightforward as they really have no reason at all to refuse payment (assuming that the T&Cs didn't state something to the contrary when you bought the option).
c) once a and b are resolved to your satisfaction, then lodge a claim for the EC261/2004 delay compensation. And be prepared to fight!

irishguy28

Your credit card provider may balk at the request filed so late; but certainly try it.

If you can find an agency that handles customers residing in the US (I assume that is where you are based) then go for it; most agencies, however, will only deal with claims from customers living in a narrow geographic spread, based on their ability to actually go to court in a limited number of countries.

However, given that the airline has apparently "settled" your claim (you haven't explained how the amount was reached), I don't think any agency will take this case now. They work on a commission of the received amount, and they are not going to want to chase down a missing €30, for which their cut will be only a fraction of that...

I think you will have to chase up the missing €30 yourself; a good riposte from you is to point to the regulation showing that the amount, for the delay alone, is €600 per person. [Are you sure that the missing €30 isn't down to fees charged by your bank for, say, a wire transfer or cashing a check or something?]

cbrmanf4

Thanks, sorry for all the confusion.

As you described above, my original claim was for the hotel and meal costs (~$250). I guess when I tried to add the EC261/2004 compensation to the claim too, they seem to have dropped or "forgotten" about the hotel/meal reimbursements and only looked at the EC261/2004 compensation. Perhaps I should've done as you said, file and wait for each claim payment separately instead of combining them.

Since my seat fees weren't included in the original claim, I can file a separate claim for that now.

However, for the original hotel/meal costs reimbursements that I filed, do you recommend that I file a new claim for those or would it look like I'm filing a duplicate claim?

Regarding the EC261/2004 compensation, if there are bank wire fees, who's responsible for them? The airline or myself? It seems unfair to push their bank fees onto me since my bank doesn't charge me those fees. For any future reimbursements, is it reasonable to ask them to credit the payments back to my credit card or send me a check to avoid dumping these fees on me?

irishguy28

As you have a claim filed, why not follow up on that?


In what form was the money transferred to you?

The amounts are fixed, and if you choose a method which will involve fees (which, to be honest, are unavoidable to the best of my knowledge when transferring money from the SEPA to the US - except for those airlines, such as AF/KL, that have their US partner issue such refunds domestically, and in dollars) then you will receive less than the nominal amount.

You've still not clarified what the response of the airline was, and what they told you they were compensating/re-imbursing you for, and what the total money they were paying out was going to be.

While an airline may make a refund to a credit card if that was the original form of payment, they cannot pay out compensation to a credit card.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight...thod_of_refund

cbrmanf4

Since they've marked the claim as "resolved", I'm not sure if anyone is still looking at it for the hotel/meal reimbursement. I haven't received any response for a week now.

They transferred money via bank wire. If you're asking what type of currency, I'm not sure. I only see the US dollar amount (~$670) in my bank statement.

In short, they never said how much they would pay or what they would pay for. After filing the initial claim for hotel/meal expenses, the website offered €700-800 in flight credits, which I declined in favor of cash. Months later, I got a claim alert, saw it was marked as "resolved" online, then saw the $670 payment in my bank account a week later. When I inquired about the missing reimbursement, they claimed I agreed to a €600 payment and was not entitled to these reimbursements. My best guess is they made payment toward EC261/2004 and ignored the rest.

Sorry if it's not a clear enough answer, but I'm a bit frustrated with it too.

Good to know. I assume the $49.99 seat fee still counts as a refund and can be returned back to the credit card instead of bank wire?