By Hilary Osborne
Flights in to and out of the UK are still grounded as a result of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in south-east Iceland, leaving thousands of passengers stranded here and abroad and many more are wondering if their flight will take to the sky. Here we look at what happens if your plans have been hit.
I’m due to fly this weekend, what should I do?
The National Air Traffic Service is offering the latest on travel restrictions on its website, but if in doubt call your airline before you leave the house to save yourself a wasted journey.
My flight has been cancelled, what happens now?
Under European law your airline is obliged to offer you a choice: you can either cancel your booking and get a refund, or rebook on a new flight. The refund should be made within seven days (although some passengers who had flights cancelled in December’s bad weather are still waiting for their money); rerouting should be as soon as possible, unless you agree to reschedule for a later date.
If you opt for rerouting the European Consumer Centre for Services says you should be entitled to meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation (if necessary), transport between airport and accommodation, and two free telephone calls.
If your flight is delayed you could be entitled to meals and refreshments, and may be able to get a refund if the delay is more than five hours. If the delay goes beyond 12 hours your travel insurance should offer a payout. Saga’s policy offers £35 on a 12-hour delay and a further £15 for each 12 hours thereafter, up to a maximum of £215. However, you must have checked in for the flight to be able to claim.
What if my flight is part of a package deal?
You should be given the same options. If the alternative flight offered by the airline will make a big difference to your holiday – for example, you are only going for three days and they are offering to fly you the day after your scheduled departure – you are entitled to cancel the whole deal and get a refund.
Will I get compensation?
European law says you will be entitled to compensation if you are delayed, except in “extraordinary circumstances”. It seems pretty likely that airlines will be able to argue that today’s cancellations could not have been anticipated or prevented.
What if I booked a car and a hotel at the other end – will I lose out?
You won’t get a payout from the airline if you have to cancel transport or accommodation at your destination, but you may not lose money. In the first instance you should contact the hotel or car hire company and see if you can change your plans or arrange a refund. If this does not yield results, contact your travel insurer.
Will my travel insurer pay up?
It depends on your insurer’s small print – not all insurers are offering cover and some are still considering their stance. A spokeswoman for RBS says customers with insurance bought through Direct Line, Churchill, NatWest and RBS may be able to claim for unused accommodation.
“If a customer has a flight cancelled and is refunded from the airline, but still has accommodation that they can’t cancel or use, these claims can be considered under travel delay leading to trip abandonment,” she says. “Customers will need to provide written official evidence to support any claims where it is reasonable to request such evidence. In this case, information from official airline websites is acceptable as evidence.”
Saga says it will honour all claims of this nature as long as customers obtain a letter from the airline to confirm the flight was cancelled due to the weather.
But policyholders with Aviva will not be able to claim. It says it does not offer cover for the cancellation of independently booked accommodation or car hire. A spokeswoman says: “Cancellation or abandonment of your holiday covers specific events only, such as injury, illness, death of the person insured or their travelling companion/a relative, redundancy or damage to your home by fire, flood or storm.
“There is therefore no cover for cancellation as a result of this incident.”
I am due to travel this weekend, should I buy insurance?
Only to cover you against other eventualities. Insurers will never sell cover against a known event, and will not offer cover for delays and missed departures resulting from the volcanic ash cloud.
Should I make alternative travel arrangements?
You could consider booking a train or bus ticket for your journey – and operators are stepping into the breach with extra services – but if flights are resumed you may lose money.
Unless you have a flexible ticket, your airline is not obliged to refund you if you choose to change your travel plans, and your insurer will not compensate you for a ticket you buy which goes unused.
I’m stuck abroad and my car is in an airport car park. What can I do?
At last, some good news: several car park operators have said they will not use the delays as an opportunity to sting drivers for more fees. BAA says customers who are currently parked in a long-stay or business car park at Heathrow will be able to escape extra fees, as long as they can show evidence of when they were originally due back.
Airparks, which provides 28,000 spaces at eight airports, has also announced it will waive costs for extra days’ parking for customers coming back to the UK, and will allow customers who have pre-booked to amend their bookings free of charge.
Holidayextras, which allows customers to pre-book airport parking, said it had suspended its normal cancellation charges of £9.50 for parking and £15 for hotels until further notice. So far it has dealt with almost 2,000 cancellations.
- www.guardian.co.uk -
I am due to fly on the 14th May, should I buy travel insurance? Any suggestions on which one will offer cover against cancellation of my flight if the volcano erupts again?