Flight delay

by **SueO** » 18 Sep 2013, 11:02

Well, here we are at Manchester airport - should have been in the air for nearly 2 hours by now but, good old Thomas Cook, flight delay of nearly 7 hours!!! Will miss our ferry (obviously) and will be spending the night in lovely Rhodes. Thanks to Adriana and Wendy we have a room booked at the Hermes but WE SHOULD BE ON SYMI. Just wondering if there are any other Symi Visitors stuck here with us???

by **Eleanor** » 18 Sep 2013, 14:07

Oh thats not good SueO, wish I was stuck at airport though instead of stuck here in Scottish rain lol , have a good holiday x

by **Always Baking** » 19 Sep 2013, 14:00

Manchester Airport, l could suffer easily for for 7 hrs...But 7 hrs waiting in Rhodes Airport would fill me with dread!

by **Andy W** » 19 Sep 2013, 16:06

It isn't so bad if you know you're delayed for 7 hours before you go through security, there's a quite decent taverna in Paradissi Village just a very short walk up the road from the airport. Once you're through security, especially in the Extra-Schengen area, it's hell. Still it could be much worse - ever been delayed at Kos airport (though even there you can find a nearby taverna)?

by **Oor Willie** » 19 Sep 2013, 16:38

We had an eight hour delay at Kos a few years ago ended up sleeping at a table in the taverns across from the airport

by **Always Baking** » 19 Sep 2013, 21:58

Amalgamate 7 hrs delayed at Rhodes Airport with RyanAir bossing you about in between. (And, no toilet paper during the flight...or ice for a drink for an hour...Me hate RyanAir!)

by **snoopy2** » 20 Sep 2013, 21:36

[quote="Always Baking"]

Amalgamate 7 hrs delayed at Rhodes Airport with RyanAir bossing you about in between. (And, no toilet paper during the flight...or ice for a drink for an hour...Me hate RyanAir!)
[/quote]
Can't carry my own ice but as a seasoned traveller never travel without my own supply of bum wipe. Thought you would do the same AB!!

by **Always Baking** » 21 Sep 2013, 11:33

Well it's taught me a lesson Snoopy. l was telling my BA steward friend last night in the pub, and he was flabbergasted. ls it only RyanAIR and SqueezyJet that is the choice of airlines for LPool/MChester - Rhodes ?
(l'm starteing to get a phobia about those two!)

by **Andy W** » 21 Sep 2013, 15:17

Not at all, you can fly from Manchester to Rhodes with Jet2, Monarch, Thomas Cook, Thomson and Germania as well, not to mention Aegean with a good connection in Athens. EasyJet and Ryanair are the only operators to Rhodes from Liverpool though.
See if your steward friend can wangle you on to one of the BA operated charters from Heathrow to Rhodes, with full BA service standards. They are meant to be exclusive to Mark Warner Holidays so you'd need an insider to pull strings to get a ticket.

by **Adriana** » 24 Sep 2013, 09:21

Spent 5 hours in Addis Ababa airport about 15 years ago. It was an old colonial style airport with big comfy arm chairs and limited shopping opportunities but the little coffee bar at one side of the hall smelt wonderful and it was an amazing people watching experience. Much more interesting than my 12 hour layovers at Dubai Terminal 3 with all its flash-trash, miles to trek and no where quiet to sit with a book. 8-)

by **SueO** » 04 Oct 2013, 08:26

Back home now after a wonderful two weeks (almost) in Symi. Journey home much better than outward trip with no delays and an interesting few hours spent at the Plaza hotel in Rhodes watching the bar area being flooded during that huge storm on Wednesday morning. Chatting to a fellow passenger on the flight home who pointed us in the direction of this site Contains a lot of information about your rights and how to claim compensation including a useful pro-forma letter to download. Spent some time yesterday preparing my paperwork and letter will go off today. I'll let you know how I get on. If you are unfortunate enough to be delayed try and remember to keep ALL receipts and bits of paper (Boarding pass stubs, Ferry ticket stubs etc.) The more you have the easier it is.

by **Andy W** » 04 Oct 2013, 12:56

SueO - you'll need to be persistent. They will try to fob you off by claiming "extraordinary circumstances", which might be true, but often isn't. There are several elements to a claim - did they provide refreshments (or vouchers for refreshments) at Manchester once the delay exceeded 3 hours, along with two free phonecalls or emails - if not they are in breach of regulation EC261/2004. If they did, then receipts for costs incurred at Manchester won't be met as they've met their legal obligations and you weren't stuck there overnight.
This isn't an obligation they can evade in any way even if the airport is under 10ft of snow.
Then there is the 7 hours delayed arrival at Rhodes. They aren't liable for anything if they can prove "extraordinary circumstances" such as the 10ft of snow, flocks of birds flying into the engines etc. If they can't prove it, you should receive �400 per person. It's a flat rate, no receipts are required, just boarding passes. You may well have to take them to Small Claims Court to get it, as they just delay or refuse hoping you will go away.
Finally there's personal travel insurance (always recommended) for which receipts and boarding passes will be needed to prove the claim. Policies vary in what they cover, you'll need to check the small print.
I have done a Symi Travel Blog post on this subject :

Good luck!

by **snoopy2** » 14 Oct 2013, 23:31

Its all a farce. We had a half hour delay from Rhodes which turned into an hour - enough to miss our very important connection to a bus from Glasgow to ~Aberdeen. We ended up stuck in Glasgow at 4 in the morning with nowhere open and had to hang around Queen's Street station in the rain until 6 when it opened. We tried two hotels next to the station in a plea for a pot of tea and just to get us off the street - two women with luggage on their own in the middle of Glasgow. Was it Smiles Better? - no it was not Even when the station opened the loos were locked until 7a.m. and no way of getting a hot drink. It was at that point i decided i would rather be stuck in the middle of the night in a Greek airport or surrounds than in my own country!!!

by **Kojak** » 14 Oct 2013, 23:42

The same thing happened to me years ago when a flight to Gatwick was delayed. I eventually landed in the early hours of the morning having missed two coaches to Newcastle. I spent a few hours trying to sleep on half a couch in Gatwick airport then another 2 hours sitting on my suitcase in Waterloo station waiting for the next coach. I thought I'd crash on the coach but was sat next to a nice old guy who wanted to tell me about his first visit to London (to see his daughter). I handed him my newspaper hoping that would keep him quiet but then he read bits out to me..... I got home 36 hours after setting out from Symi.

by **snoopy2** » 15 Oct 2013, 12:15

Yowser Kojak - we took 26 hours and thought that was long!! Don't think i could have coped with 36 hours

.

by **SueO** » 22 Oct 2013, 13:42

Compensation Update.....Have just received an email from Thomas Cook acknowledging that compensation IS due to us under Regulation 261/2004 (thank you MoneySavingExpert and AndyW) However, they have offered (actually sent) a voucher for money off our next Thomas Cook holiday, which is NOT what we want. So - things are still on-going as I shall now email them and request a cheque instead. I think the fact that they have acknowledged their liability has to be a positive sign and I'm quite looking forward to taking things further!
Will keep you updated.

by **Kojak** » 22 Oct 2013, 15:36

Well done SueO! I only wish that regulation had been in force years ago!

by **SueO** » 23 Oct 2013, 13:44

Just had a call from Thomas Cook......"No problem - we'll refund direct to your bank account" They tell me it may take up to ten days but I'm confident that it will arrive.

Really didn't expect it to be that easy. So pleased we got chatting to the guy on our return flight who pointed us in the direction of Money Saving Expert. I think we would have probably just put it down to experience otherwise.

by **SueO** » 31 Oct 2013, 08:27

Well,our compensation arrived into our bank account yesterday

All in all it's taken just over three weeks from the date I sent my letter to the monies going into our account - AND they've actually given us more than I claimed!!!! It will more than cover our flights to Symi next year.
So - a big thank you to Andy, Moneysaving Expert and 'the guy on the plane'. I should also thank Thomas Cook - for accepting that compensation was due and for dealing with our claim so quickly and efficiently.

by **Allan** » 31 Oct 2013, 16:12

Congratulations SueO

I'd be interested to know what Thomas Cook finally accepted responsibility for. Did they cough up for the hotel on Rhodes and the ferry tickets?

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