On our recent trip to Europe and Israel, we experienced three events that I think are compensation-worthy. (trip report to follow, b'n).
1. Luggage delayed 72 hours.
2. DUB-AMS delayed ~3 hours, sitting on the tarmac for more than 2 hours. Mechanical.
3. LHR-FRA delayed ~ 3 hours. Mechanical.
I should mention everything was Avios-award travel. But, if it's relevant, I think I used CSP for the taxes (does that get me insurance?)
1. Luggage. Aer Lingus, flew BOS-DUB, then DUB-AMS. Priority tagged bag, no less! (Flew in J). Three of our four bags arrived in AMS, but mine didn't. Bag eventually caught up with us at the WA in Jerusalem, in their beautiful lobby after we ate an amazing brunch (but I digress). DW and I spent about $400 on clothing and makeup (for her, not me, though in truth, she doesn't need it and most people think I could use all the help I could get). I submitted online form to get reimbursed for those expenses. That was 10 days ago. I guess I should PUTPAC soon. Should I be asking for compensation beyond the reimbursement?
2. Mechanical delay, DUB-AMS on EI. Aircraft was already delayed getting into our gate by almost an hour. Then we sat on the tarmac while they fixed a water pump for over 2 hours. Essentially killed our day of sight-seeing in AMS. I completed the online form for this one, too, asking for 250Euros per person (3 of us flying), based on Notification of Rights under EC Regulation No 261. Again, 10 days have passed, no reply.
3. Mechanical delay, LHR-FRA on BA. This was the most painful. They said it was mechanical. We actually boarded mostly on time, but there was some issue, and after an hour, we all de-planed, and they then combined us with a flight that was scheduled to leave about 90 minutes later, which they conveniently cancelled and folded those folks into our flight, putting us all on a larger plane. It sure smelled like they had two flights that made more sense to combine into one. Our problem was that we had a connection in FRA (FRA-BOS) on a different carrier (LH). Even though we had left 4 hours for the layover (and I was even thinking about a quick Porsche rental!), I knew as we waited in LHR that we would be right up against the closing of the boarding door in FRA. I asked the BA gate agent if they would do something creative, like book us on the next LHR-BOS flight instead of sending us to FRA, but he looked at me like I had two heads. Seemed pretty logical to me. So, sure enough, we got to FRA, had to claim our bags, clear immig and customs (was pretty quick and smooth, but of course not instantaneous) and then go from T1 to T2 (or vice versa, can't remember) to get from BA to LH. We arrived about 15 minutes before departure but LH wouldn't let us board, as we had luggage, and I guess I understand that. I suppose if we had been coming from another LH flight, they might have shown more consideration, but since we were coming from BA, they didn't feel the need to bend.
So, we ended up staying overnight in FRA (not the end of the world, but a hassle, all sorts of headache trying to get rebooked on the next day's LH flight -- I didn't mention that this was ticketed as an United award, and LH said they couldn't do anything with it. Eventually we got a United agent to talk to a LH agent and we got ticketed and got home before Shabbos so all was fine. I completed the online request for compensation, asking for the 250Euro per person plus 200Euro for the hotel (we actually used 10,000 SPG points -- maybe that was a mistake, making compensation more difficult, but at the time I was tired and frustrated and wasn't thinking clearly). I haven't heard back from BA in a week. Should I be asking them for anything more than the 250Euro x3 pax? Again, it's really a shame they didn't just put us on the BA flight LHR-BOS. I guess I could have and should have PUTPAC'd while at LHR and maybe gotten a supervisor to do that, but at the same time, we were holding out hope that maybe we would get to FRA and make our flight.
Sorry for the prolonged story. Maybe it's helpful to someone? Shabbat shalom.
Update:
British Airways responded to my online submission by email, saying that they apologize and that I am indeed entitled to 250Euro pp. Need to submit signatures of each pax by mail, saying they authorize me to deal with this for them. Sounds good.
I still haven't heard back from EI so eventually I will need to PUTPAC. Just haven't had the time to do it.
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