Travel Compensation and refund advice

Travel compensation advice your rights – the Weather has caused travel chaos:
If your travel plans have been disrupted what rights do you have to travel compensation or refunds?

Flights have been disrupted by the weather at a number of UK airports causing frustration for many air passengers. Owing to the fact that any cancellations would be beyond airlines’ control, there is no automatic right to compensation.

However, you still have a contract with the airline to get you from A to B. So that means the airline must try to re-route your journey – even if that means a bus or taxi transfer to another airport for a flight with a different operator.

Airlines have a strategy in place for bad weather, but this does not always work out to a satisfactory conclusion…

• Alternatively, passengers can choose to have a refund.

The Air Transport Users Council says that airlines are usually quite swift to give refunds.

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If a flight is delayed, there are strict European rules in place, which mean that the airline is obliged to supply meals and refreshments, along with accommodation if an overnight stay is required.

Whether passengers qualify will depend on the length of the flight and the delay.

For example, for flights of 1,500km or less where there is a delay of more than two hours, a passenger should be given meals and refreshments, along with two free telephone calls, e-mails, telexes or faxes.

• If the delay is for five hours or more, passengers are also entitled to a refund of their ticket with a free flight back to their initial point of departure if this is relevant.
• People flying into the European Union from overseas are also covered by the rules, as long as they are travelling on a European airline.

The Air Transport Users Council offers help for those in dispute with an airline.

PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

For those who had planned to fly with the collapsed Scottish airline Fly globespan , only package deals guaranteed a trip back from destinations or a holiday refund.

But this cover for package deals also comes into force when bad weather forces a cancellation.

Operators must refund customers for the whole holiday if trips are cancelled, meaning they could not get to their destination.

In reality, operators tend to give three options to people on package deals.

• They are:
• deferring the leaving date of the holiday,
• transferring to another holiday of the same or similar value,
• or a refund of the amount paid for the whole holiday.

Independent travellers can also have a look at their travel insurance policy which might cover the cancellation of a trip owing to bad weather.

Those who spent more than £100 on each individual ticket using a credit card might be able to claim from their card provider.

EUROSTAR

The most high-profile effect of the weather on travel was the cancellation of trains on the high-speed rail service to the continent. Eurostar resumes Channel Tunnel train services. Eurostar services broke down because of the unprecedented cold weather in France, the company says.

A full refund will be offered to those whose journeys were affected. Passengers whose journeys were severely disrupted are also be given £150 compensation, out-of-pocket expenses, and a free return ticket in the next 12 months.

Others have been able to claim “reasonable” out-of-pockets expenses such as the cost of a hotel – up to three-star level, as well as transport and meal costs.

A compensation claim form can be found on the Eurostar website . The company says claims can take up to eight weeks to process.