Rights to expenses from airline after cancellation
Discussion
Starfighter said:
Airlines cannot cancel a flight and just offer the refund to absolve them of liabilities. They cancelled the flight and broke the contract, they need to get you to final destination and cover reasonable costs. Compensation is a separate matter and depends on the reason for the cancellation.
The crucial bit here is that the customer can refuse the refund and insist the airline puts them on the next available flight to get them to (or near to) their destination - using any other airline if necessary.The OP did not refuse the refund, they accepted the refund. Which means they have effectively terminated the contract. And the airline will then say it no longer has a duty of care for expenses and alternate travel arrangements.
You could, in such circumstances, use travel insurance. The insurance company may allow a claim. But they would exclude the value of the refund from the airline (you can't double claim).
EU261 compensation is completely unaffected by all this.
Final advice on this. Always go to the airport (unless it's such a tiny place that they'll be no-one there). Much easier to demand alternative routing from a person than a call centre.
Krhuangbin said:
Thanks all.
Another severely delayed flight last night, on the verge of the 3hrs.... and back home.
This I suspect is the case:
"You have cancelled and got your money back. You have no more rights.
You should had asked the carrier to book you on that route. If they refused then you book and claim. You don't cancel ever."
As it was a small island airport, the alternative flights were, after the cancelation, rapidly disappearing and going up in price, so they were booked asap without asking the airline to do it, and secure a way home in time.
On the call to them, and in their "your options" email informing us of cancellation, they look to have been pretty deliberately vague, and almost too keen now I think about it, to offer an immediate refund, and what that means regarding your expenses incurred. The call to the helpline explicitly advised us to make own arrangements and use the expenses form.....after cancelling with them and accepting refund. I will suggest they listen to the recording.....
Never been in the situation before so will have to rely on insurance and also the EU Comp I suspect if the above fails - but i'll give it a go as they really did leave us in a difficult situation with next to no assistance.
They can offer you a refund which is fine, but then they would also need to offer you the EU compensation on top. Seems they are using the refund as a way of avoiding having to fly you (at their expense) to the correct destination/accomodation and so on. You could go back and tell them that you understood the refund to be a way for you to contribute towards the cost of an alternative flight/accomodation not as a full and final settlement of all your costs. Another severely delayed flight last night, on the verge of the 3hrs.... and back home.
This I suspect is the case:
"You have cancelled and got your money back. You have no more rights.
You should had asked the carrier to book you on that route. If they refused then you book and claim. You don't cancel ever."
As it was a small island airport, the alternative flights were, after the cancelation, rapidly disappearing and going up in price, so they were booked asap without asking the airline to do it, and secure a way home in time.
On the call to them, and in their "your options" email informing us of cancellation, they look to have been pretty deliberately vague, and almost too keen now I think about it, to offer an immediate refund, and what that means regarding your expenses incurred. The call to the helpline explicitly advised us to make own arrangements and use the expenses form.....after cancelling with them and accepting refund. I will suggest they listen to the recording.....
Never been in the situation before so will have to rely on insurance and also the EU Comp I suspect if the above fails - but i'll give it a go as they really did leave us in a difficult situation with next to no assistance.
They are relying on you to roll over.
Most travel insurance policies will never cover you for the full cost of accomodation and a new flight.
(I dont think it's fair to claim unreasonable expenses like resturant priced meals everyday, but a reasonable claim should be ok unless you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and dont have access to a supermarket / store.)
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