GREAKLY

A few months ago I was supposed to be flying from Chicago IL (ORD) to Helsinki, Finland (HEL) via Washington DC (IAD) and Munich, Germany (MUC) on United Airlines (first two legs) and Lufthansa (last leg). The first flight (UA, ORD-IAD) was delayed due to mechanical reasons to a point where I would have surely missed my connecting flight in Washington. Because of that I have been involuntary rebooked on a direct UA's flight ORD-MUC with further connection to Helsinki on Finnair. Also I was told that I would receive the boarding pass for the Munich-Helsinki flight from Finnair’s staff in Munich (United’s agent who did the rebooking was unable to access Finnair’s system). However, I was given the itinerary printout with AY's flight on it (but NO boarding pass).

Upon arriving to Munich I was denied boarding the Finnair flight. Neither Finnair, not United employees were able to explain me the reason for denied boarding. They mentioned something about the rebooking been done incorrectly. Nevertheless, once again I have been involuntarily rebooked. This time on a later LH’s direct flight MUC-HEL.

As a result of all that ordeal I have arrived to Helsinki seven hours later than I was supposed to. Am I entitled to compensation under EU 261? At first glance it seems NOT, since it was UA's flight to EU which caused the delay. However, once in EU I was denied boarding on AY's flight and had to spend a few extra hours in MUC after second rebooking. Could that be the moment when EU 261 kicked in?

Often1

Your claim would be against AY as the operating carrier of the flight on which you were denied boarding.

But AY says that you were not properly ticketed by UA and UA is neither the operating carrier, nor an EU carrier, nor did it deny you boarding. So, nothing there.

I would make a claim against AY for being denied boarding under EC 261/2004 and see what comes back. If your claim is denied for not being properly ticketed, you will have a heck of a time proving otherwise and it may well be that you were not.

It is not uncommon for ticket reissues not to push correctly to another carrier. While you should not have to do so, my practice is to ask for a paper ticket for the other carrier's segment. UA and other carriers hate this, but UA will do it. In that instance, so long as you show up for departure at AY with your ticket in hand, you will either be permitted to board or not, but if not, clearly entitled to compensation under the Regulation.

As a side note, you were not "involuntarily" rebooked by UA. That term has a specific meaning and it is not met here. UA could quite well have sent you on to IAD and sorted the miscconect at IAD.

ajeleonard

Your likelihood of successfully getting compensation with the facts as you describe is very low

Often1

I think that "very low" is a significant over-statement.

AY's statement at the gate has the ring of truth. It's unfortunately common on reroutes with partner ticketing that the partner never gets the reissued ticket.

I am frankly surprised that UA took OP as a volunteer given the international routing and other carrier involved. An experienced GA would have passed this over absent no other option.

sbm12

It was INVOL.

I assume this was the case.

GREAKLY

Do you mean that even if I volunteer for rerouting "on the books" it still says INVOL?

SK AAR

Yes, that is very likely because the agent needs to put a note in your reservation why you have been extraordinarily rerouted - invol shedule change or rerouting is an easy way out.

You were not "denied boarding" for the AY flight. Apparently, you never had a correctly issued ticket. Denied boarding requires that you would otherwise be able to board the flight. You need to take this up with UA.

GREAKLY

I did ask for the printout. This is what I've got. Does it look like incorrectly issued ticket?

GREAKLY

On a slightly different topic. If I were to fly from some EU country (which signed Montreal convention) to a non-EU country (which also signed the Montreal), which one would prevail: EU 261 or Montreal?

Often1

There is no way to tell from that document whether any onward carrier has had the ticket pushed to that carrier. The receipt shows a reservation on AY 804, but a reservation is not a ticket and it is the ticket that gets AY paid.

The only rational way to confirm this is to look at your booking on the other carrier's website, to call, or to hold a paper ticket which would include a flight coupon for the AY flight. The first two may be a bit tough depending on your timing. The third is annoying for the agent and for you as well as whoever is standing behind you. But, despite the fact that this is 2017, these systems don't all talk to each other correctly, agents are unevenly trained and as fair warning, the average gate agent could screw this up in a second.

Bottom line is that UA documents won't help much with an AY claim that it had no record of your ticket and never received anything to indicate a ticket.

Often1

As to what?

Montreal deals largely with baggage and EC 261/2004 deals exclusively with delays, cancellations, downgrades and the various issues surrounding denial of boarding.

If your bag doesn't make it and is lost or damaged, your claim is under the Convention. If you are late, it is under the Regulation.

GREAKLY

Article 19 or the Montreal establishes carrier's liability for the delay of not only baggage but also passengers. Article 22.1 limits such liability to 4694 SDR. EU 261, on the other hand, provides the compensation of 600 euros to passengers of long-distance flights delayed for 8 hours or more.

If I were to fly from, say, Germany to Canada and my flight is delayed for 24 hours, causing me to miss my vacation flight on the next day, what would be airline's scope of liability: 600 euros or 4694 SDR?

GREAKLY

So, in the above-mentioned example if the passenger gets delayed for 8+ hours, will 600 euros be the minimum or the maximum compensation? In other words, if he can prove that the delay caused him significant financial losses (i.e. missed vacation), could the amount of compensation be as high as up to 4694 SDR?

The Law99

i recently got delayed on a flight and the airline is asking for a picture of my passport and my bank and routing number in order to give me the compensation. first time ive had a delayed flight in the EU and i want to make sure that this is the normal procedure. thanks in advance

malmostoso

I had the same with TP, while LX paid without any additional documents. So the answer is "depends".