Cancelled Aer Lingus Flight<24hrs notice

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Newbie!

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Our flight from JFK to Dublin was cancelled yesterday with only 14hours notice. We were re routed to CDG Paris and then Dublin as an alternative. Flight left JFK for CDG at almost the same time as our original scheduled flight but we got to Dublin over 6hours later than our original flight schedule. I could not get hold of an aer lingus rep so we accepted the new flights. Few questions if anyone can help:

  1. How do we know the reason for the fight cancellation? The email from Aer lingus did not specify
  2. If the reason was something in Aer Lingus' control, I assume we can apply for compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004. As we landed later than original flight and the distance was greater than 3500, I think this compensation is €600 per head. Is that right?
  3. Are we also entitled to get that leg of the journey refunded as well as costs incurred at the CDG layover (party of 5 and kids had to eat).
Thanks for your help.
 
You are entitled to €600 per person (depending on the reason for cancellation).

As you accepted re-routing you cannot also claim the cost of the flight.
 
Newbie! said:
(party of 5 and kids had to eat).
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I hope you kept receipts. I had a 4.5 hour delay (within EU) and spent €73 feeding five people and Ryanair fully refunded it once receipts were supplied.
Newbie! said:
  1. How do we know the reason for the fight cancellation? The email from Aer lingus did not specify
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For you not to be eligible they delay has to be outside the control of the airline. The case law on this says that there are very few delays which are not within the control of the airline and are generally things like ATC strikes or extreme weather. Usually things like staff shortages, mechanical failure, etc, are deemed to be within the airline's control and therefore you are entitled to the refund. My guess is that Aer Lingus didn't tell you the cause of the delay very much on purpose as it would be deemed to be within their control.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
I hope you kept receipts. I had a 4.5 hour delay (within EU) and spent €73 feeding five people and Ryanair fully refunded it once receipts were supplied.

For you not to be eligible they delay has to be outside the control of the airline. The case law on this says that there are very few delays which are not within the control of the airline and are generally things like ATC strikes or extreme weather. Usually things like staff shortages, mechanical failure, etc, are deemed to be within the airline's control and therefore you are entitled to the refund. My guess is that Aer Lingus didn't tell you the cause of the delay very much on purpose as it would be deemed to be within their control.
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arbitron said:
You are entitled to €600 per person (depending on the reason for cancellation).

As you accepted re-routing you cannot also claim the cost of the flight.
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Thank you both so much. Submitted the claim now so will wait to see what happens. I had kept the receipt for breakfast, thanks.
 
This has just happened to me. I was due to fly tomorrow morning Thursday but because of a German travel strike my flight has been changed to Saturday morning. So two extra nights at the hotel and two more days of meals by two..not what was planned for and a shock to the ( my ) system.
 
Because this is a German strike cause , will I have any entitlement to be reimbursed for extra nights etc ..or is it just too bad .
 
joer said:
Because this is a German strike cause , will I have any entitlement to be reimbursed for extra nights etc ..or is it just too bad .
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Issue is out of control of the airline, so no compensation. However they should be putting you up in a hotel and paying for meals or compensating you for such costs.
 
peemac said:
Issue is out of control of the airline, so no compensation. However they should be putting you up in a hotel and paying for meals or compensating you for such costs.
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Thanks for that piece of information. I will keep the receipts .
 
I once got EU flight compensation via an online claim company, airhelp, for an Easy Jet delay leaving from London around an air traffic controller strike, so I wouldn't be too sure on what exactly is deemed out of control of the airline. I think the strike was in France and my flight route went over France so I was surprised the company were successful, they took some percentage of the payout as a fee. For a bigger claim it might be worth doing it yourself. I guess they may have a dedicated legal team and a higher success rate (or might make no difference).
 
This may help.

Is a strike an extraordinary circumstance?

Airlines are not always obligated to offer compensation following a strike because strikes are usually considered to be 'extraordinary circumstances'. These are situations beyond the control of the airline, and can include adverse weather conditions as well as certain strike action.

But when a flight is delayed or cancelled due to strike action taking place by the airline's own employees (eg pilots, airline staff), then the airline is required to pay compensation to passengers.
 
I'm no legal expert on this but presumably the airline might be expected to re-route the flight if possible instead of delaying but might choose not to staff that re-routing capability on business grounds, or a delay might be outside the time of a scheduled strike but be a knock on effect where the airline chooses to service flights in order to minimise the costs of the delays to them, which is a decision made by the airline to save money and not out of their control. If the country you take off from or land in has an ATC strike during your scheduled takeoff or landing I think that's clearly out of their control, anything else is debatable.
 
I actually got an email from the Airline and their , change of flight policy , shows that I will be entitled to reimbursement for extra hotel stay and for food , within reason, that I had to buy as a result..
 
Are you submitting for the 600 1uid. I just got 4 x 600 = 2400 from Air Canada for a delayed flight last June. I had to be very persistent and send a Letter Before Action to their Canadian HQ.
 
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I just submitted my claim for the extra two nights that , we, spent there and sent receipts for the food we had. The total didn't even come to 600 euro . I just wanted to claim for what we spent..
 
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