‍

The Situation - Part One

‍

The couple had a British Airways flight booked from Frankfurt to Heathrow on Sunday, early evening. So, their plan was to spend a day in Munich and then take their pre-booked train back to Frankfurt to then travel home. However, on Saturday night (23:18 to be exact), they received an email informing them their flight home had been cancelled. Their options? Apply for a refund or rebook another flight online. Stan and Ilona wanted to come home so of course, they went for the rebooking option which unfortunately, offered nothing! So instead, it was a call to customer services.

‍

Luckily, after a conversation with a very helpful employee, they were booked on a later flight, with selected seats, departing from Munich meaning they had longer in the city - so it wasn’t a bad outcome but compensation was still needed, especially after that flight was then delayed another hour!

‍

The Compensation Process

‍

Stan filled out a compensation form as soon as the couple arrived home, which involved summing up the situation, the costs involved and uploading copies of receipts and attachments as evidence - easy enough.

‍

The Outcome

‍

• £44 refunded immediately to cover the added cost of booking seats on the original flight
• £177.99 ‘Out of Pocket’ expenses to cover travel to Munich airport, the added meals that the couple hadn’t planned on having as well as the taxi home at the other end (if they had got their original flight, they would’ve been able to get the train home, but the flight arrived long after the last train)
• £440 to cover the late notification of the cancelled flight - this amount depends on when you are notified and how far the journey is

‍

All this was transferred within days of the compensation form being completed. The only part that was rejected was the price of the pre-booked train from Munich to Frankfurt as the airline was not liable for this.

‍

The Situation - Part Two

‍

The couple had a train journey booked while they were away, due to arrive at their destination at 16:07. During the journey, the train was diverted and so they actually arrived at 17:30, over an hour later than planned.

‍

The compensation process was similar - an online form which only took around 10 minutes to complete. The result? 25% of the ticket cost was refunded the same day.

‍

‍

So, was it worth it?

‍

Absolutely! As annoying as it was to have their holiday and travel disrupted, luckily Stan and Ilona’s trip wasn’t affected too much and they managed to get healthy compensation for the damage!

‍

Total compensation: £681.99

‍

Top Tips

• Keep your receipts - you will need evidence to claim, so keep everything!

• Complete any forms as soon as you can while it’s fresh in your memory
• T’s and C’s - Check the terms of your company your claiming with to know what you are entitled to
• Don’t ask, don’t get - list out everything and see what you can get back

‍