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 It repealed Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, and went into effect on 18 February 2005.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
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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
Jul 31, 2018, 7:29 am
#31
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 189
Thanks, this is a very helpful data point. It's somewhat irritating that no updates are reflected on their website other than the original "complaint received" but I guess that's just how they operate. I'll likely check in just to see but won't expect any response until 28 business days.
In the meantime I'll go back to getting Delta to credit me MQM's for a rebooked flight due to a delay on the incoming connection. Apparently their system doesn't think it's an eligible segment.
In the meantime I'll go back to getting Delta to credit me MQM's for a rebooked flight due to a delay on the incoming connection. Apparently their system doesn't think it's an eligible segment.
My FNC-LIS flight on 10 June was cancelled and the subsequent flight delayed so I arrived in Lisbon 3 hours and 50 minutes later than originally scheduled, which means €250 per passenger.
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):
So reading between the lines, TAP have decided to make customers wait the full six weeks allowed by ANAC before providing any sort of response to delay payment as they know no action will be taken by the regulator before then. I have emailed ANAC twice and have had zero response.
Will be following up with TAP later this week once the 28 business days have elapsed.
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):
So reading between the lines, TAP have decided to make customers wait the full six weeks allowed by ANAC before providing any sort of response to delay payment as they know no action will be taken by the regulator before then. I have emailed ANAC twice and have had zero response.
Will be following up with TAP later this week once the 28 business days have elapsed.
Jul 31, 2018, 9:50 pm
#32
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA Premier Gold (*G), IHG Platinum & Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 1,456
Thanks, this is a very helpful data point. It's somewhat irritating that no updates are reflected on their website other than the original "complaint received" but I guess that's just how they operate. I'll likely check in just to see but won't expect any response until 28 business days.
In the meantime I'll go back to getting Delta to credit me MQM's for a rebooked flight due to a delay on the incoming connection. Apparently their system doesn't think it's an eligible segment.
In the meantime I'll go back to getting Delta to credit me MQM's for a rebooked flight due to a delay on the incoming connection. Apparently their system doesn't think it's an eligible segment.
I've got all the time in the world so will just keep plugging away at our friends in Lisbon (who actually have a good quality in flight product and friendly cabin crew).
Aug 14, 2018, 4:23 am
#33
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA Premier Gold (*G), IHG Platinum & Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 1,456
Another two weeks have now elapsed with zero response from TAP, other than their Twitter team advising I will be contacted as soon as possible by the relevant department.
I've engaged Flight Right to pursue the claim with TAP directly so we shall see how this plays out.
Given TAP appears to be unwilling to engage with a customer directly, I would engage a claims company immediately in future for this airline.
I've engaged Flight Right to pursue the claim with TAP directly so we shall see how this plays out.
Given TAP appears to be unwilling to engage with a customer directly, I would engage a claims company immediately in future for this airline.
Sep 15, 2018, 9:29 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 136
Best email for TAP for North America:
[email protected]
Sep 19, 2018, 12:02 pm
#36
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 regular success getting TAP to pay up. You must be persistent and they will use every delaying tactic at their disposal but as soon as the 6 weeks after the complaint are expired, go to Twitter and write an Email to:
TAP Fale Connosco <[email protected]>
They will at the end also offer you a TAP travel voucher for 25% more than the cash value of your EU261 claim which is also good if you buy tickets with TAP a lot.
Also, do not play the silly game they do with you at Lisbon airport when delayed overnight. They love to bus 50 people at a time to a hotel about 30Km away for the night where they get good rates. This would be ok if the transport were organised promptly and the transport back to the airport wasn't at a fixed time of 6:30am. So, in brief, ignore the lines, the inefficient under-motivated staff, get your own taxi, hotel and meals and claim it back from them later.
TAP Fale Connosco <[email protected]>
They will at the end also offer you a TAP travel voucher for 25% more than the cash value of your EU261 claim which is also good if you buy tickets with TAP a lot.
Also, do not play the silly game they do with you at Lisbon airport when delayed overnight. They love to bus 50 people at a time to a hotel about 30Km away for the night where they get good rates. This would be ok if the transport were organised promptly and the transport back to the airport wasn't at a fixed time of 6:30am. So, in brief, ignore the lines, the inefficient under-motivated staff, get your own taxi, hotel and meals and claim it back from them later.
Oct 30, 2018, 8:53 am
#39
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 189
I finally received a response last week that stated they needed my billing information to process payment or I could opt to take a credit in higher amount for future flights. I've provided my information so we will see how long it takes to get the funds. It took a little over 3 months from time I filed initial complaint with no contact in between other than generic replies that they have received my complaint.
Nov 1, 2018, 2:01 pm
#40
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 189
Another update, the funds showed up in my account today 11/1 for all 3 travelers in my party. No communication that they were processing, no updates since the email last week asking for my banking information, money just showed up. Wish they did a better job of responding to communications but happy that they at least did pay the compensation in the end.
Nov 1, 2018, 2:25 pm
#41
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Don't look a gift horse in the amount. You asked for compensation, the carrier asked for your bank details and deposited the funds. That is all it is obligated to do.
Perhaps prefer cut & paste statements about how despondent the carrier is about delays and how much it values you but no money?
Perhaps prefer cut & paste statements about how despondent the carrier is about delays and how much it values you but no money?
Nov 1, 2018, 2:33 pm
#42
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 189
Certainly didn't mean to imply that I'm not incredibly happy they paid the compensation. Much better result than I actually expected but it took over 3.5 months with only 2 actual replies from a human and multiple messages sent without a reply at all. That's what I was referencing in my complaint about their communications, not so much the process after they actually agreed to pay.
Dec 11, 2018, 5:01 am
#43
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SYD
Programs: UA Premier Gold (*G), IHG Platinum & Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 1,456
I have regular success getting TAP to pay up. You must be persistent and they will use every delaying tactic at their disposal but as soon as the 6 weeks after the complaint are expired, go to Twitter and write an Email to:
TAP Fale Connosco <[email protected]>
They will at the end also offer you a TAP travel voucher for 25% more than the cash value of your EU261 claim which is also good if you buy tickets with TAP a lot.
TAP Fale Connosco <[email protected]>
They will at the end also offer you a TAP travel voucher for 25% more than the cash value of your EU261 claim which is also good if you buy tickets with TAP a lot.
My claim was submitted in June and I just received payment into my bank account today.
In my case, the Twitter team were of no help despited multiple claimed escalations and Flight Right (one of the claim agencies) were unable to get TAP to pay up. So I raised an enquiry via https://www.livroreclamacoes.pt/inicio (the Portuguese Government's online complaint book).
Shortly after I was contacted by TAP Fale Connosco and after the usual TAP voucher offer (in my case 50% more than cash value) or 65K Victoria miles, they paid out the €250.
Dec 11, 2018, 5:22 am
#44
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,056
I got paid today too... for a misconnect ex-FNC that caused me to spend the night in Lisbon in January.
I got nowhere, hired EUclaim (Flight Right said I wasn't entitled to compensation because I could've made my connection, which may have been true were it not between two flights at remote gates), and they sent some letters. Eventually TAP offered to pay me directly or give me an €800 voucher and EUclaim sent me an invoice for their 'services'. Over two months later, I finally got my €800 voucher. I don't fly TAP that often but for double compensation I'll take it.
Next time I think I'll do it myself, though I'm not sure if EUclaim's presence in the mix is what got me a 100% bonus or not.
I got nowhere, hired EUclaim (Flight Right said I wasn't entitled to compensation because I could've made my connection, which may have been true were it not between two flights at remote gates), and they sent some letters. Eventually TAP offered to pay me directly or give me an €800 voucher and EUclaim sent me an invoice for their 'services'. Over two months later, I finally got my €800 voucher. I don't fly TAP that often but for double compensation I'll take it.
Next time I think I'll do it myself, though I'm not sure if EUclaim's presence in the mix is what got me a 100% bonus or not.
Dec 11, 2018, 6:13 am
#45
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: AMS/RTM
Posts: 2,827
So I raised an enquiry via https://www.livroreclamacoes.pt/inicio (the Portuguese Government's online complaint book).