Flight cancelled / alternative flight

[kirinm]

We are flying home from Spain today. I went to check in on-line yesterday and I couldn't - instead I was being offered an alternative flight home. Basically they'd cancelled the flight but hadn't notified me and we've been offered the alternative flight home. It is however via Italy so what should be a 2.5 hour flight is now two flights and the best part of 9 hours travelling.

We have to leave 3 hours earlier than our original flight and arrive about 1.5 hours after our original flight. Does anyone know if we will be entitled to compensation? Despite the fact we are being forced to fly to bloody Italy, it seems that the most important thing is the arrival time. Just seems unfair since the entire day is now going to be spent travelling.

We are flying with vueling who I hear is very difficult with compensation anyway.

You may be because they've cancelled within 14 days. Depends on cancellation reasons. Look up EU261 compensation. There's a good claim template on Martin Lewis's site.

I think you’ll be due €125 per person as it’s less than seven days, and you’ll be arriving less than two hours later than scheduled but do look at the following link to try and work it out: www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/

The original EU261 rules were, I think, that in the event of a rerouting if the new departure moved forward greater than 1 hour and/or the new arrival at final destination moved back greater than 2 hours then at least compensation was due.

Not sure where all that stands now so you need expert advice...in any event keep any receipts for any expenses associated with the reroute.

I have to say in current circumstances the airline facilitating the change and getting you home on the planned day sounds like a bit of a victory compared with what's happened to some people, but I appreciate it's screwed up the day.

I sympathise, it’s horrific at the moment. SIL is currently still on her way home from a work visit to New York; it’s taken her the best part of three days due to multiple cancelled flights, late flights meaning missed connections, and now a cancelled train.

I was chatting to a flight attendant the other day, they’re having the most horrible time. She said flights that would normally have a steward crew of 13 are generally running on seven or eight people. And they’ll wake up thinking they’re rota’d for New York only to be told an hour before the flight that they’re actually going to Mumbai. All the flight crew who are parents with childcare responsibilities are tearing their hair out.

I know folks still working in the industry (as I used to) and yes, I'm hearing it's horrid..

Roster disruption has always happened at times and (Long Haul) getting home a day or more late happened maybe once every year or two...

That wasn't down to the airline being slack, greedy or incompetent it's just a consequence of the nature of flying, but what is going on ATM, despite a lot of people making a lot of efforts to keep various shows on the road is pretty dreadful.

Sorry about your flight, it sounds shit and I really hope you get something from Vueling. But i wouldn't be hopeful. I had them cancel a flight at short notice on us in Feb this year. To date, we still haven’t even received the €600 refund for the cancelled flight, let alone any cancellation compensation. We applied through their online system, got a response saying it had been declined as cancellation was due to adverse weather conditions (that they knew about over a week in advance?). We’ve emailed and called multiple times to
no avail, and I haven’t had a response to my letter detailing all my difficulty and informing them I will take legal action. Ignoring seems to be their favoured approach.
I’d never, ever use them again.