Best Practices for Filing EU 261 Claims Against United? {Archive}
#721
Moderator: United Airlines
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So just email the standard Customer Care method or if an elite, the elite email on the back of your MP card, and ask for the cancellation compensation, 600 euros per passenger. There may be some addition items to claim but read the links in the wiki. Most just go for the 600.
#722
Join Date: Jun 2015
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#723
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: IAH
Posts: 488
My experience with United (I was successful in claiming over $2400 - trip for 4) is to just follow-up with United. They will deny your claim (likely more than once) but write back referencing European laws and jurisprudence widely available on the net. At the end they will pay. In the meantine, they will just not answer or send you canned answers that your event does not qualify.
An agency is great but you're loosing some money there.
An agency is great but you're loosing some money there.
Does anybody have a claims agency in the UK they can recommend. I'm debating between giving it to them or doing it myself - both have benefits.
#724
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: 1 thousand
Posts: 2,112
Following up with United got a rather brusque, EU 261 does not apply, we will not have any further discussion. I really feel they are shooting themselves in the foot here - it's riled me up enough that I will most definitely be fighting them legally for the money and as noted above, the UK authorities feel I have a case.
Does anybody have a claims agency in the UK they can recommend. I'm debating between giving it to them or doing it myself - both have benefits.
Does anybody have a claims agency in the UK they can recommend. I'm debating between giving it to them or doing it myself - both have benefits.
Even if that fails, I'd recommend small claims court first, to avoid losing money to claims agencies. Might not be an option if you aren't UK based though.
#725
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Before you give away money/time - reply to UA to explain that EU261 does very much apply (and give specific reasons/examples for your specific case). Most airlines will try to deny you on the first claim, following up hugely increases chances of success.
Even if that fails, I'd recommend small claims court first, to avoid losing money to claims agencies. Might not be an option if you aren't UK based though.
Even if that fails, I'd recommend small claims court first, to avoid losing money to claims agencies. Might not be an option if you aren't UK based though.
#726
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: ORD
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Posts: 583
If you accept the compensation offered by UA in the "appreciation" e-mail, do you in anyway limit your rights under EU 261? Or can I get the $500 (or 25K miles) offered plus 600 euro?
#727
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: HAM and CLE
Posts: 68
Also curious about the above. I have a RT where both flights were delayed by over 6 hours. I did accept compensation on the outbound, but not on the return
#728
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One of those agancies filed for me in German court against Lufthansa and won. The filing fee which the court sent me a copy of directly, was more than their 25% extra they charged (50% total) for going to court.
#729
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 69
This might belong on a different thread but can anyone comment on how long it typically takes for United to respond to EC 261 claims filed via Customer Care? It's been ~12 days (6 or 7 business days depending on whether Monday was a business day or not) with no response whatsoever after UA 941 and UA 2099 were canceled and delayed 5 hours, respectively. I filed one claim for each flight.
#730
Join Date: Dec 2014
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This might belong on a different thread but can anyone comment on how long it typically takes for United to respond to EC 261 claims filed via Customer Care? It's been ~12 days (6 or 7 business days depending on whether Monday was a business day or not) with no response whatsoever after UA 941 and UA 2099 were canceled and delayed 5 hours, respectively. I filed one claim for each flight.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Dec 28, 2016 at 10:27 pm Reason: Cleanup after move
#731
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 69
Shortly after I posted that, I got a response letting me know that a check for $633.60 has been mailed to me for my first cancelled flight -- and offering me a $200 travel certificate for the second flight. I responded to contest the travel certificate and the Customer Care rep told me that a different team handles EC 261: "EC 261 compensation is handled by a special department. I have forwarded your request to them and asked they respond to you directly."
Kind of silly given that she was able to handle the first one but at least it wasn't an outright reject I'll be interested to see how much hassle I get trying to get compensated for the second flight.
Kind of silly given that she was able to handle the first one but at least it wasn't an outright reject I'll be interested to see how much hassle I get trying to get compensated for the second flight.
#732
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In court you are probably out of luck since you explicitly waived all rights to further compensation when you accepted the UA offer. Agencies handling such cases will generally reject such claims since the odds of winning them are near zero.
#733
Join Date: Aug 2015
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The results are pretty mixed. Sometimes UA declines further compensation, sometimes you get double. Best thing is to not accept the compensation Email offer and rather ask for EC261.
In court you are probably out of luck since you explicitly waived all rights to further compensation when you accepted the UA offer. Agencies handling such cases will generally reject such claims since the odds of winning them are near zero.
In court you are probably out of luck since you explicitly waived all rights to further compensation when you accepted the UA offer. Agencies handling such cases will generally reject such claims since the odds of winning them are near zero.
#734
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I would really be surprised if there are mixed reactions from UA on this. I, too, had a flight from Germany to the USA with > 6hrs delay and filed for EC261 without any problems. When first contacting UA Customer Service, they also offered me compensation of 200 USD in vouchers redeemable for UA flights. The T&C clearly stated that you will waive any rights of claims or compensations. I denied the offer, asked the vouchers to be invalidated and for them to proceed with my EC261 claim. About 4 weeks later the debit cards with 600EUR each arrived via snailmail and I withdrew the money without any hiccups.
let me ensure you that several folks here have gotten both, the ETC and the check from UA. Now, there are plenty of examples where this was NOT the case and ultimately, if you took the ETC, you are likely out of luck from a legal perspective.
#735
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 7
Sorry if this was asked before (it's quite a long thread)
Say I have a flight EWR to FRA operated by UA and a connection FRA - BUD operated by LH. If the first flight is late and causes to miss the connection, and the final arrival at destination is more than 3 hours late, am I eligible for compensation? The ticket was issued by UA.
This website http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens...r/index_en.htm says:
Thanks!
Say I have a flight EWR to FRA operated by UA and a connection FRA - BUD operated by LH. If the first flight is late and causes to miss the connection, and the final arrival at destination is more than 3 hours late, am I eligible for compensation? The ticket was issued by UA.
This website http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens...r/index_en.htm says:
If you depart from a non-EU country to your final destination in an EU country, with connecting flights operated successively by non-EU and EU carriers or by EU carriers only, only the flights operated by EU carriers are taken into consideration for the right to compensation in case of a long delay on arrival at the final destination.
Also is it a common practice to be allowed re-book to a different destination (e.g., VIE instead of BUD) in case of a delay?Thanks!