craigthemif

On 2 January, my flight BCN-IST was delayed by 2 hours, meaning that I would miss my connecting flight to AUH. The TK ticket office in BCN worked their magic and got me to AUH 5 hours late via RUH. Not the most pleasant of detours but admittedly the quickest way of getting there. (assuming the agent wasn't lying about EK direct to DXB being sold out in J)

It seems to me like a clear cut case of EC261 delay for 600 euros and I sent in a feedback form accordingly. I received a fairly quick response offering 25,000 miles. My E+ status may or may not be relevant.

Now, 25k miles is not worth 600 euros at all, but it's not bad. (300 euros or so) So a couple of questions for the TK experts.

1. Was there fog/weather, etc. in IST on the 2nd that may allow TK to come up with an "extraordinary circumstances" argument?
2. Is there much chance of TK paying out EC261 cash without taking them to court?

Anybody else been offered miles by TK before? I can't recall anybody on FT mentioning such a thing. It could also mean that my compensation case is quite clear, and with some minimal push back I could get the full 600 euros.

Thoughts?

Often1

TK definitely will not pay out the miles without a clear written acknowledgement that it is a "settlement" of your EC 261/2004 claim. That is expressly permitted by the Regulation.

What was the reason for the delay. While it is TK's to prove an "extraordinary circumstance" it is hard for you or anyone to evaluate the likelihood of success in a compensation claim without knowing that information. Whether it was raining in IST is one of a hundred or more factors, so better to do a bit of research.

Most particularly, what did TK say at BCN. Staff on the spot on the best source of information as they won't dress things up.

craigthemif

Staff knew nothing at BCN other than inbound was late. Therefore I know nothing, and am accordingly asking those based in IST as to whether there was weather on the 2nd, in the same way a Londoner would know when it snowed heavily at LHR and caused delays there...

DaveS

You can find historical weather data here: Weather Underground. No precipitation shown for the 2nd.

Often1

Nonetheless, that tells you very very little.

Winds aloft, vectored around by ATC, change in wind direction. Some of the busiest airspace in the world between IST and LON.

Silver Fox

It's best to wait until they respond to your claim for compensation with the reason and take it from there. For me, cash is king.