Compensation for delayed flight and terrible treatment special assistance

[Purpleorangegreen]

Wondering a about rights for a postponed flight.

My mum flight from Lisbon got delayed due to weather which means she lost the connection in Madrid. She was travelling with special assistance; she was offered two calls, given a boarding pass for next day, was told to look for hotel, transport, etc and that they will recognise her maximum 150 euros.

We were shocked about this treatment as she was travelling with assistance. The hotels in Madrid were all fully booked due to a football match so she ended going to a hostel.

Next day she was given last seat on the plane; so there was no enough food left for her, 12 hours flight. When she arrived at the destination she wasn’t on the list of special assistance so there was no wheelchair.

This was with Air Europa. We are wondering what compensation can she claim for this terrible treatment.

Just to mention that the cheapest room that night for a last minute booking in Madrid was 700 euros due to Real Madrid football match,

There was nothing available but luckily she found a hostal room with another 5 women. My mum is over 70 and never been in a hostel before.

But it's not the airlines fault there wasn't any hotel rooms?

What a nightmare. Where was her final destination? I'm assuming not the UK if it was a 12 hour flight. Also had she booked the whole journey together? I think that makes a difference.

Weather delays may not be covered by EU compensation but her travel insurance should. Airline should have supported her finding accommodation and rearranged the assistance.

Firstly was she through booked to her final destination? I'm assuming yes if they offered her hotel accommodation though saying find your own is standard for cheap airlines. Secondly compensation (over and above reimbursement) is not payable in many circumstances especially when it's outside the airlines ability to control eg weather. Finally, assistance doesn't usually extend to help in an unforeseen layover, and lack at the final destination could be due to the changed details or simply that airport messing up. As this originated in Portugal, that's the rules that they go by.

Flights departing any EU airport are covered by EU261. You can find out what you entitled to here: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

Basically the airline has to find you another flight, find you accommodation, etc. They also have to pay monetary compensation (up to €600), but this last bit does not apply if the problem was for reasons beyond the airline's control, which weather clearly is.

The difficulty with "finding you accommodation" is that sometimes there just isn't any. There's a football match on, or the Olympics, or it's the busiest holiday weekend of the year and 60 flights have been cancelled, stranding 10,000 passengers overnight (this happened at Palma in August of this year). The airlines are not expected to have ten 3-4* hotels sitting empty in case of storms. Often when just one flight is cancelled, due to a plane maintenance issue say, the airline will ring round and find hotels for everyone. But with several dozen flights, it doesn't surprise me that they told everyone to find something for €150.

Perhaps travel insurance could have helped, but if there were no rooms in Madrid and nothing available between there and Toledo, they might not have paid for a taxi. When multiple issues come together, systems break down and we rely on individual initiative. And people who work for ground handling agencies or insurance companies are generally paid to follow processes, and not to take initiatives.

In your mother's case the airline could perhaps have gone above and beyond for a special assistance passenger, but they will have hundreds of other people to deal with, including people with babies, wheelchair passengers, etc. It would probably have meant someone working all night for no pay.

Travelling is occasionally like this, unfortunately. Brace for more as climate change makes disruption more common.

Thank you all.

The final destination was in South America.

The 150 euros was for hotel, transport, food, essentials as her suitcase was kept for the next flight.

I was shocked that there wasn’t enough good on the other flight for her.

I do feel the treatment could have been better.

Her travel insurance would have covered some of this usually.

The whole journey was booked together with Air Europa

Are you deliberately avoiding the insurance question, OP? As a few posters have raised it. That would be where you would ordinarily turn in these scenarios.

When you say there was no food for her on the flight, does she have a special diet ?

Did you pay extra for special assistance? If not then I don't think any compensation is due. Airlines cannot magically up hotel rooms and if the meal is for dietary requirements I'm sure they have some disclaimer in there and most folks will bring their pwn emergency supplies. Unfortunately airlines are commercial ventures and issues can happen.

If there is a next time, I'd encourage her to fly business class with a reputable airline and have platinum level insurance which she knows to phone the minute a problem arises.

Yes first port of call is your travel insurance! Sorry for your mum though sounds awful

I am not avoiding it. I paid for her ticket; I am not sure she had insurance and since I paid for it not sure how it works. I don’t have travel insurance in my card; it is DH who has the travel insurance for all of us, except my mum

Special assistance needs to be booked for the flight in question and isn't moved across automatically, which is why there was no wheelchair.
I don't think she will be entitled to anything.
Is air Europa an airline or a tour company?

I think if you're helping your mum again, get to know how the assistance works and make sure she has travel insurance that declares any health conditions she has.

No special diet. There was not enough meals for everyone on the plane. Probably because of the 10 additional people moved from the other flight the day before. Maybe it was counted already

Oh goodness - travelling without insurance particularly when in need of assistance is such an oversight.

Gosh, surely you know it's madness not to have insurance, especially for such a long journey with the stages en route and over 70, needing special assistance. You paid for her ticket so you're obviously involved in the organisation of it all, I'd expect you to have had the insurance conversation and know how that works - it's not complicated, you book travel insurance for the journey if she doesn't have annual insurance or a similar set-up already. So much could go wrong and she wouldn't be covered, missing out on a plane meal is really the least of it.

Was she travelling to South America for a holiday or is South America home? If she was going for a holiday, then she should’ve had travel insurance anyway who in their right mind goes to South America without travel insurance!!

I'm disabled and use a wheelchair.

Special assistance means they will help you to the plane and to board the plane.

Nothing beyond that.

If the flight is cancelled it's on you (or other members of the party you are travelling with)to rebook for the plane you are on. This can be (and I have) sorted at the airport on the day itself although they don't like it.

As arrival and take off of planes change at the airport all the time it's not unusual to have to wait for staff or a wheelchair or one of those golf cart things that get people from gate to terminal.

I cannot walk up or down stairs and on occasion I have been carried off a plane because the ambilift wasn't available and I was holding up a plane (I was asked and I agreed).

Special assistance isn't accompanied or supported travel it's literally just we'll get you on and off the plane.

All special assistance means is that they'll help you on/off the flight and maybe around the airport.

If your mum wasn't insured then that was a very silly mistake and you're both very lucky it was just a missed flight.

Yes, this. I'm also in a wheelchair and booked assistance whenever I travelled. But if she's put on an extra flight out where assistance isn’t booked at the arrival airport, I'm not surprised she had to wait.

As for food, they had several extra passengers suddenly. It's upsetting for your mother, but it's not surprising.

Please ensure she has travel insurance.

I'm sorry your mom had a stressful time, I'm sure it was hard for you too to feel so helpless. I don't see how any of this is the airlines fault and I also can't imagine travelling without insurance - thank goodness this is all that happened! If she intends to travel again make sure she sorts that out as it could have been so much worse.

Travelling home.

My brother actually bought her travel insurance so he is checking.

I was just wondering about the rights when you book special assistance. Thanks to those clarifying it is just to get you in and off the plane.

I think the food was lack of planning as they knew from day before they have extra passengers but maybe they ordered days in advance? Not sure what happened if you book last minute.

The main thing is that she got home safe and sound and luckily there was a relative in Madrid at the time that helped her with booking hostal, transport, etc. Not sure how she would have managed on her own but she does speak the language.