End of the Adventure – Final Post

January 21, 2016 · by Dano · in Ireland 2015

End of the Adventure – Final Post

So after 60 days on the road it comes to an end. Went by fast! As our first long-term adventure there are several things we learned, both about ourselves and about travelling. This was one great experience from the people we met, the places where we stayed, things we saw, time together. We wish everyone could experience adventures like these, maybe not for 2 months, maybe it’s just 10 days like our family did, but experience the world. There is so much more to see, it’s hard to decide where to go next. We’ll spend a little time in the mountains of Colorado, God’s Country, regroup and get our next adventure planned out. Until then, safe journey – (Irish Celtic) turas sábháilte, (Maltese) vjaġġ bla periklu.

Notes and Lessons Learned:

1) When our family decided to join us they were leaving the US from different locations. This turned out to be an issue. With our son leaving from Denver and our niece and her mother from California, flight delays and cancellations became a big mess. No thanks to American Airlines or British Airways who did very little to help, and to this day claim that they have no responsibility for any additional costs incurred due to their actions, cancelling our son’s flight. The cancellation of one flight meant rebooking and different arrival times for everyone, also additional ground transportation and of course, lost time and money.

So what to do? Next time we will have everyone depart from the same city, same flight. May cost a bit more up front but if several people need to be rebooked, it will be easier to plan, track and coordinate if they are together.

Update:

So our son’s flight was cancelled after 2 hrs of sitting on the runway. No chance of losing that revenue from all these people trying to make it to London and beyond now that all the other airlines have taken off. Great strategy.

After my son finally got his luggage and went back home for the remainder of the night, no they didn’t offer a hotel because he lives in Aurora, he called and we went to work on getting him on another flight to Malta. After many phone calls and emails I finally got him on a flight out of London the next day so he only missed one day of vacation. Still, it cost another 250.00EU for the new ticket so it wasn’t cheap.

Vacation ended and we all came home and I decided to try to get my 250.00EU back from British Airways, the airline that cancelled the flight – American wouldn’t even talk to me. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise so keep reading.

I submitted a request for refund on the British Airways website noting the cancellation and added cost for the new ticket to Malta. Seemed pretty reasonable to me, all I asked for was the cost of the new ticket, 250.00EU.

Within 24hrs I received a response from British Airways, Mr. Omkar Karalkar, British Airways Customer Relations, who responded:

“I appreciate your reasons for asking, but we cannot reimburse you for the prebooked services. As British Airways is not liable for a consequential loss a passenger may have due to a flight delay. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Note he calls this a flight delay, not a cancellation. Big difference.

Not to accept the first answer I receive, especially if it is telling me no, so I made a second attempt at a refund. Before I submitted this request, I reviewed the British Airways policy on cancelled flights. Guess what- British Airways complies with the EU Passenger Bill of Rights. I know hard to believe as it is, passengers, at least in the EU, have rights! But wait, this was in the United States, Denver to be exact. How can this Bill of Rights apply? Well my friend, it does! If you are flying on a EU carrier (BA is a EU carrier) and flying to a EU country (Ireland is a EU country) you’re covered by this regulation!!!!

So, I did a little more research and read the Bill of Rights and found that there was a paragraph devoted to flight cancellations and delays. Just so happens if your flight is cancelled or delayed more than 8hrs, and the trip is greater than 3,500 Km (2,100 miles), you are entitled to an inconvenience fee of 600.00EU. Oh and mechanical part failure does not qualify for an exception under “extraordinary circumstances” as proven in 2 separate court cases also noted in this Bill of Rights.

Second request for compensation is submitted to BA, this time quoting the Bill of Rights paragraph and just for good measure, a threat to take them to small claims court.

Here is their response to my second request:

Dear Mr Morgan

Thanks for coming back to us about your claim for EU compensation. I’m sorry you’re unhappy with our previous response.

I’ve reviewed your claim and you’re entitled to compensation for the delay to your flight BA0218 on 18 November 2015. The distance of your disrupted journey was over 3500 km. This has been calculated in accordance with EU legislation and you’re entitled to 600.00 EUR in compensation that is equivalent to 658.98 USD.

I’m arranging for 658.98 USD to be transferred to your bank account using the details you provided.

Thanks again for getting in touch. Please feel free to contact us if we can help you any further.

Best regards

Christina Gonsalves

Success! All I asked for was 250.00EU for the extra ticket I had to buy, but Omkar wasn’t going to spend any of BA’s hard earned cash. Christina on the other hand ponied up an additional $387.00 more than I asked for in the beginning.

Lesson Learned:

When flying EU carriers to EU countries, pay attention to the Passenger Bill of Rights if problems arise. Here’s the website: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

Also, don’t take the first “no” as the answer. Worst that can happen if you ask again is to be told “no” again so why not try.

2) Check your seat assignments when you check in at the counter. We didn’t do this and it wasn’t until we boarded the plane that we discovered American Airlines had changed our seats. Instead of two seats on the side, they reassigned us two seats in the middle section. No reason, just did it. So, check your tickets and make sure you have the seats you selected.

3) Baggage weight. The airlines have found that restricting your bag weight is a real money maker. Just by reducing it from 50lbs to 43lbs (RyanAir limit) can cause normal people to get very creative. Our over-weight problem was easy to fix, removed the travel books from our checked bag and put them in the carry-on. So the same amount of weight went on the plane but the poor baggage handler didn’t have to lift a 51lb bag, instead he got a 48lb bag, much better. Not sure if this is still the case but when I flew United as a Global Services member, the weight limit was 70lbs per bag with 2 bags free.

4) If you plan to travel a lot, sign up for the TSA Trusted Traveler program. Cost is $85 and is good for 5 years. Now if you’re a convicted felon or of questionable background, you may want to skip this. The money you submit with the application is ‘non-refundable”, period. This program allows you to use the TSA Pre-Check line where you don’t remove shoes, belts, liquids or computers. For those of us with medical implants, there is the scan that needs to be done but it is still faster than the cattle car line.