Am I Eligible For Compensation
Mar 17, 2019, 5:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Istanbul
Programs: TK Elite (*G), SPG,Priority Pass
Posts: 131
Am I Eligible For Compensation
I was wondering if anyone could offer me any insight on my recent flight from LHR-IST yesterday. Original take off time was 16.15, which was updated to 17.00 at the airport due to the late arrival of the plane from IST. During take off on the runway seconds before reaching V2 the captain decides to abort takeoff due to open cargo door. We are then taken to the hangar where they fix the problem during which we sat on the plane the entire time and finally take off around 19.55 nearly after 4 hours of the scheduled time?
Should I make an effort to claim money , miles etc?
many thanks in advance
Should I make an effort to claim money , miles etc?
many thanks in advance
Last edited by aircommodore; Mar 17, 2019 at 6:14 am
Mar 17, 2019, 6:41 am
#2
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Portugal
Programs: TK Elite+, FB Platinum, BAEC Gold, ALL Diamond, IHG Diamond Royal Ambassador
Posts: 293
I was wondering if anyone could offer me any insight on my recent flight from LHR-IST yesterday. Original take off time was 16.15, which was updated to 17.00 at the airport due to the late arrival of the plane from IST. During take off on the runway seconds before reaching V2 the captain decides to abort takeoff due to open cargo door. We are then taken to the hangar where they fix the problem during which we sat on the plane the entire time and finally take off around 19.55 nearly after 4 hours of the scheduled time?
Should I make an effort to claim money , miles etc?
many thanks in advance
Should I make an effort to claim money , miles etc?
many thanks in advance
A few notes:
- Delay at departure does not matter for compensation sake. You must arrive 3h or later to claim compensation;
- I've never claimed with TK, but I would expect a long process where they will most likely try to deny responsibility (all, or almost all, airlines try). In my personal case, I always use services such as AirHelp to avoid the headache of chasing them myself.
- As far as I understand, your claim is only valid because you are departing a EU member country. The other way around wouldn't work. (When traveling from outside EU to a EU member state you are just entitled to compensation if you are travelling on a EU carrier. TK is non-EU, so it only applies on flights from Europe to IST).
- Taking the above, I'd hurry. Not sure impact of Brexit on this.
- I am assuming IST was your final destination (i.e. no connection).
- I would also check if you have any CC that covers delays
Mar 17, 2019, 7:19 am
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Yes, EC 261/2004 applies to your flight as this was a departure from the EU. When, whether, and under what terms the UK exits the EU is utterly irrelevant. What matters is the law on the date of the flight (in any event, Parliament has already taken care of implementing legislation to deal with EC 261/2004 post Brexit, so even less relevant).
All that matters is your arrival time at your final ticketed destination. What time was your flight originally scheduled to arrive at IST and exactly when did it arrive? If 3+ hours, you are due EUR 300. If 4+ hours EUR 600.
If TK fails to promptly pay your claim, you have recourse to MCOL (if you have a UK address) or to the UK courts (which permit telephonic hearings for small claims).
The simpler your claim is, the more likely you are to prevail. All that matters is that:
#1 Departure from the EU
#2 Delay of more than "X" hours at IST.
#3 Not an "extraordinary circumstance"
All that matters is your arrival time at your final ticketed destination. What time was your flight originally scheduled to arrive at IST and exactly when did it arrive? If 3+ hours, you are due EUR 300. If 4+ hours EUR 600.
If TK fails to promptly pay your claim, you have recourse to MCOL (if you have a UK address) or to the UK courts (which permit telephonic hearings for small claims).
The simpler your claim is, the more likely you are to prevail. All that matters is that:
#1 Departure from the EU
#2 Delay of more than "X" hours at IST.
#3 Not an "extraordinary circumstance"
Mar 17, 2019, 12:54 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2000
Location: HFA
Posts: 1,712
TK 1986
Operated by Turkish Airlines
Airbus A330-300Wide-body
19:19
Scheduled for: 16:15London, United Kingdom
Heathrow Airport (LHR)
TERMINAL 2
02:09
Scheduled for: 23:00Istanbul, Turkey
Ataturk Airport (to be moved to Istanbul Airport on 6 April) (IST)
TERMINAL I
Mar 17, 2019, 1:08 pm
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
At best, this is 3:09 late (perhaps a bit more because of the way the term "arrival" is calculated). But, certainly under 4 hours unless something went wrong at the gate. Thus, a claim for EUR 300 is in order.
When you make the claim, include the screen shot.
When you make the claim, include the screen shot.
Mar 17, 2019, 7:10 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,185
Definitely you are eligible for compensation,
Just be aware that TK would try to make you go to one of their ticket offices or insist you that they would pay you in a form of voucher.
Don't give up and ask for cash or bank transfer.
They are legally mandatory to pay you that amount.
Just be aware that TK would try to make you go to one of their ticket offices or insist you that they would pay you in a form of voucher.
Don't give up and ask for cash or bank transfer.
They are legally mandatory to pay you that amount.
Mar 17, 2019, 7:22 pm
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,369
They are obligated to pay you in real money, although you're free to voluntarily accept compensation in some other form such as an airline voucher, typically negotiated to be a larger amount than the sum that you are entitled to in cash.
Mar 18, 2019, 6:18 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Istanbul
Programs: TK Elite (*G), SPG,Priority Pass
Posts: 131
I’ve just got a response from the Elite representative denying my claim. She claims that the late arrival of the plane of 55 minutes was weather related in Istanbul and states that only the London delay of 2,09 hrs was technical. Since it’s under 3 hours it basically doesn’t count. However she did make reference to the Eu261 and had my case met the criteria I would have been eligible.
Mar 18, 2019, 6:39 am
#10
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Taking the TK response as fully accurate, the question then arises as to whether a carrier may parse the portions of a delay and if so, how.
Your options at this point are to let it go, to pursue an MCOL claim (or file in a UK court if you do not have a UK address), or see if a claims agency will take the claim. The latter can be a good belleweather because they only get paid if they win and won't take a case which they don't think they can win.
The UK will give you a telephonic hearing, so no need to fly there for a court hearing.
My personal view is that I would drop it.
Your options at this point are to let it go, to pursue an MCOL claim (or file in a UK court if you do not have a UK address), or see if a claims agency will take the claim. The latter can be a good belleweather because they only get paid if they win and won't take a case which they don't think they can win.
The UK will give you a telephonic hearing, so no need to fly there for a court hearing.
My personal view is that I would drop it.
Mar 18, 2019, 11:22 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Currently without any status :(
Posts: 1,555
Disclaimer first - I work at airhelp but as you can see in the profile, I am for the same thing here as everybody else. 
There are indeed a lot of reasons why airlines might not be responsible for the ec261 compensation - certain types of weather being one of them.
there are though many many many more things which can come into play which is why I have adopted a reasoning of "go to our website, put in your flight and see if it tells you that you are eligible". from there you can still decide if you want to use a service like ours or do it yourself.
And if that tk1986 was your flight above on the 17th, running it through our checker it def. says you are eligible.
like often1 said, we do not take flights we cannot get through, but that has more to do with "is it eligbible or not".
Your location says IST - yet the beauty of EC261 is that this does not matter, you are still eligible.
My suggestion would of course be go to airhelp.com and submit it for a success fee, but of course you also can google for templates and phrases.
There are indeed a lot of reasons why airlines might not be responsible for the ec261 compensation - certain types of weather being one of them.
there are though many many many more things which can come into play which is why I have adopted a reasoning of "go to our website, put in your flight and see if it tells you that you are eligible". from there you can still decide if you want to use a service like ours or do it yourself.
And if that tk1986 was your flight above on the 17th, running it through our checker it def. says you are eligible.
like often1 said, we do not take flights we cannot get through, but that has more to do with "is it eligbible or not".
Your location says IST - yet the beauty of EC261 is that this does not matter, you are still eligible.
My suggestion would of course be go to airhelp.com and submit it for a success fee
, but of course you also can google for templates and phrases.
Mar 28, 2019, 6:04 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Istanbul
Programs: TK Elite (*G), SPG,Priority Pass
Posts: 131
I took your advice and contacted Airhelp. This is the reply I received:
"We have conducted the necessary investigation in relation to your feedback and found out that the TK1986 London(Heathrow) /Istanbul flight dated 16th March, 2019 was delayed for 3 hours 4 minutes due to technical reason (2 hours 9 minutes) and weather conditions at the airport of arrival (55 minutes). "
Therefore my claim was rejected.
Many thanks for your comments.
"We have conducted the necessary investigation in relation to your feedback and found out that the TK1986 London(Heathrow) /Istanbul flight dated 16th March, 2019 was delayed for 3 hours 4 minutes due to technical reason (2 hours 9 minutes) and weather conditions at the airport of arrival (55 minutes). "
Therefore my claim was rejected.
Many thanks for your comments.