WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOUR LUGGAGE IS LOST OR DAMAGED?

August 4, 2017 flyandi Leave a comment

Many of us travel by air. Some more than a couple of times a month. I am one of those travellers. Fortunately, lost luggage scenario has only happened once to me. What I did and what else I could have done, you will find out in this article.

Having arrived safely in Florida, I spend what felt like hours, staring at the conveyor belt in vain. My suitcase was nowhere to be seen. What did I do? I went to the information point prior to leaving the inner airport zone and asked for a slip to register my luggage as lost or stolen. A very helpful lady assisted me with filling in the form. Gave me a phone number which I should call once at the hotel in case my luggage ended up on the following flight.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania compensation for baggage

I have been left with no toiletries and bare minimum of summer clothes which I packed into my hand luggage. So as soon as I settled in to my hotel, I went to check what the shops had to offer. I did not buy expensive things as I was not sure if I would be able to reclaim the money from the airline. Instead I went for a middle range items. To my surprise, I have received a full refund from the airline and the luggage was brought by a courier to my hotel room two days later. I was interested to see what else the airline could have done for me and found the following information.

In situation of a lost or damaged checked-in luggage passengers have the right to claim compensation under the Montreal Convention. The airline’s liability is limited to about £1,113 per passenger.

You’re more likely to get compensation if you act quickly.

You should:

report the problem to the airline while at the airport;
fill out a form and ask for a copy of the Property Irregularity Report (PIR);
check deadlines.

Most arlines respect generally accepted deadlines for submitting luggage-related complaints. However, it is important to have access to the general terms and conditions of carriage of the air carrier in case you need them.

What you’re claiming for	Deadline for claiming
Damaged luggage	7 days after getting your luggage
Missing or damaged contents	7 days after getting your luggage
Delayed or missing luggage	21 days after the flight
Lost luggage – it’s officially lost after 21 days	As soon as possible after it’s officially lost

We recommend that you monitor your lost or delayed baggage through the tracing procedure, either by contacting baggage services at the airport, the airline’s central department or by logging into an online baggage-tracing page with a reference number provided at the airport.

By making a claim you can apply for:

refund of the expenses spent on essentials you needed if your luggage was delayed (toiletries, underwear, necessary clothes and shoes);
part of the cost of replacing or repairing lost luggage and contents;
transport costs (if you have to collect delayed luggage yourself).

What documents would be helpful when making the claim for compensation?

boarding card;
luggage labels;
PIR form or other proof that you reported your problem;
receipts for things you had to buy or proof of purchase for lost or damaged things;
photos confirming damage of your luggage or its content.

Wishing you all safe and happy travels!

BA CANCELS ALL FLIGHTS FROM HEATHROW AND GATWICK DUE TO GLOBAL OUTAGE

May 29, 2017 flyandi Leave a comment

Passengers have faced chaos at the start of a busy holiday weekend as the airline blamed a power supply failure for the systems outage.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania british airways

The airline has experienced problems with its online check-in systems in the past.

The GMB union said the disruption could have been avoided if the airline had not cut “hundreds of dedicated and loyal” IT staff and outsourced the jobs to India.

Mick Rix, national officer for aviation at the GMB, said: “We can only feel genuinely sorry for the tens of thousands of passengers who are stranded at airports and face having their travel plans and holidays ruined.

The airline could face a huge compensation bill after thousands of passengers were left stranded by the IT crash.

Travellers will be able to claim compensation under EU law. The aviation expert, Magdalena Miller, believes that passengers will be affected for a couple of weeks due to a “knock-on effect”, because planes and BA crew are scattered all over the world. “We have had hundreds of phone calls this weekend from passengers asking for advice as BA’s customer service was not answering phone calls and people didn’t know whether their flight would take off, whether there was a point in travelling to the airport. As a law firm we would encourage passengers affected by the global IT outage to claim online in order to receive compensation, reimbursement of expenses such as accommodation, transport and food, and refund of the tickets. Furthermore, associated losses, such as lost holidays or business losses should also be claimed”.

To receive compensation for delayed or cancelled flight and get help to recover associated damages, click here.

As seen on:

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania the guardian

BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT DISRUPTIONS

May 28, 2017 flyandi Leave a comment

British Airways cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday due to a major IT failure causing severe disruption to its global operations. The chaos continues today.

The airline said its terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick became “extremely congested” due to the computer problems. It decided to cancel all flights from both airports before 6pm UK time on Saturday, then extended this to include all the day’s remaining flights from the UK’s largest two airports.

A BA spokeswoman said: “We are working hard to get our customers who were due to fly today on to the next available flights over the course of the rest of the weekend. Those unable to fly will be offered a full refund.”

There were chaotic scenes at the London terminals on Saturday as people tried to make their way overseas for the long weekend and half-term school holiday.

More than 200,000 passengers were affected. At Heathrow alone, BA had 406 flights scheduled to depart after 9am and a further 71 at Gatwick, according to flightstats.com on Saturday.

Ms Miller, an aviation lawyer at Fly&I, believes that passengers will be affected for a couple of weeks due to a “knock-on effect”, because planes and BA crew are scattered all over the world. “We have had hundreds of phone calls from passengers asking for advice as BA’s customer service was not answering phone calls and people didn’t know whether their flight would take off, whether there was a point in travelling to the airport. Sadly, this terrible experience happened at the beginning of half term in the UK. We would encourage passenger to register their claim online in order to receive compensation, reimbursement of expenses and refund of the tickets.”

To receive compensation, register your claim here.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania british airwayS IT

Cancelled flight? Know your rights

Passengers are protected under EU law and are entitled to claim compensation for delayed or cancelled flights for services that departed or arrived from the EU. Therefore British Airways will be responsible for massive payouts.

Flight cancellation or delays of more than three hours attract the following compensations:

€250 (£218) – for short-haul flights (up to 1,500km);
€400 (£349)- for medium-haul trips (1,500km to 3,500km);
€600 (£523) – for long distance flights

Airlines are also required to give passengers food and drinks for delays of more than two hours, as well as hotel accommodation for overnight delays and transfers.

BRITISH AIRWAYS HAS CANCELLED ALL FLIGHT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY TODAY

May 27, 2017 flyandi Leave a comment

Many passengers have reported that the captain and gate staff at Gatwick Airport said the airline could be under a cyber attack but BA have said there is no evidence of this.

People are now being advised not to come to the airports as all flights will remain suspended due to congestion.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania british airwayS IT

BA’s spokesman on Saturday said: ‘We have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide.

‘The terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm UK time today, so please do not come to the airports.”

As seen on:

Passengers whose flights were cancelled are entitled to monetary compensation of up to 600 euro, reimbursement of costs of accommodation, food and transport to and from the airport.

The airline is under the obligation to offer an alternative flight at the earliest possible opportunity, but as the IT system is unlikely to be repaired soon, if you are stranded away from home and need to travel, we would advise that you purchase a flight with another operator and claim cost of this ticket from British Airways.

Firms like FlyandI can help you recover the costs from the airline as well as obtain monetary compensation of up to £525 per passenger.

To register your claim click here.

Landmark decisions for millions of passengers

November 21, 2014 flyandi 3 Comments

On 31 October 2014 the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal in two cases of public importance relating to flight compensation – Huzar v Jet2 (EWCA Civ 791) and Dawson v Thomson (EWCA Civ 845).

The judgement brings to an end two long-running flight delay cases and shall be used by courts across the country as a source for future decision-making.

The decision in Huzar v Jet2 allows passengers whose flight was delayed or cancelled to obtain compensation even when an aircraft was held back due to routine technical problem. The airlines’ most used defence has now been made redundant. In this case the court ruled that Ronald Huzar was entitled to compensation from Jet2 after his flight from Malaga to Manchester was delayed for 27 hours due to a technical fault. Jet2 had claimed that technical defect of an unforseaeble nature constituted an “extraordinary circumstance”, however the court of appeal rejected this contention.

After the Supreme Court’s decision Mr. Huzar said: “I am absolutely delighted with the decision. After everything I have been through to get to this point it’s a fantastic day. I always hoped that we would get a positive outcome and it’s nice to get to this milestone. The result in my favour should help passengers throughout the country who have experienced similar difficulties to me.”

The High Court’s decision in Thomson Airways Limited v Dawson has confirmed that the law of limitation giving passengers in England and Wales 6 years to make claims for compensation against the airlines is now a good law. The judgement enables passengers with historic claims dating back to 2008 to pursue their claims.

In the Thomson Airways Limited v Dawson case James Dawson, pursuing compensation due to a six-and-a-half hour delay of his flight from Gatwick Airport to the Dominican Republic in 2006, had not filed a claim until 2012.The airline stated that claims for compensation must be made within two years of the flight, but the court ruled in Mr Dawson’s favour.

The Supreme Court’s decision means that compensation for problematic flights is now open to millions of passengers who previously submitted claims to the airlines but have been turned down on the grounds of a technical defect or limitation.

According to Regulation (EC) 261/2004, passengers may obtain compensation of €250, €400 and €600 if their flight was cancelled or delayed by more than three hours. The compensation value depends on the distance travelled. Other rights the passengers have are: rebooking for alternative flights, meals and refreshments, accommodation and transport. If the airline did not offer any of the above, the passengers may claim reimbursement of these costs if they incurred them.