Volcanic Ash cancels flights to Mallorca (and other less important places)

[roig cat]

I would much rather claim from our holiday insurance but they wont pay unless Easyjet give me a letter saying they wont pay!

And on a personal note, we need the money! We are not all in the same situation so do not judge everyone on yours!

I am only claiming a small amout, my husband also lost a whole weeks pay, we also booked emergency flights in panic with Easyjet which we never used,(in case our second flights were pushed back another week) we are not claiming for food as we would have eaten wherever we were. We were £1500 down on our return all told and we are only asking for £255 to cover somewhere to sleep!

 

[Belladonna]

I dont think anyone is judging anyone, its just a comment on the situation so please dont take offence at any of the previous comments by members roigcat.
I'm sure that anyone in any situation finding that someone has managed to get compensation in some way will obviously try themselves, its human nature.
I do feel that its the fault of larger authorities that originally suggested that compensation should - rather than could - be paid, that has brought about all the problems. You take out insurance to cover various eventualities, and I agree that its the insurance that should pay out, we certainly pay IN enough over the years for any type of insurance. There will always be people who try to rip insurances companies off when they can and that is probably why they have caused so much aggravation for everyone.
As for the flight companies themselves, that I'm not so sure about, as they were in a no win situation. If they had decided to fly, and something terrible had happened, how would we all be feeling towards them then?
However, as insurance companies are refusing to pay out unless flights give out compensation it has become a really difficult catch 22 situation for them and those involved. Lets just hope the big companies haven't shot themselves in the foot and we all recover from it.

 

[eleanor]

I would much rather claim from our holiday insurance but they wont pay unless Easyjet give me a letter saying they wont pay!

And on a personal note, we need the money! We are not all in the same situation so do not judge everyone on yours!

Oh here we go again - why is it that so many are eager to take offence? We were actually debating the situation and not referring to any one person.

As for my situation - You do not know me - therefore have no idea of my situation!

Bella speaks much sense and I agree with her.

I am very sorry you were caught up with the ash and obviously it has caused many people lots of problems. The comments related to a general situation and how it could effect cheap flying in the future. I actually started my post by stating that many views would be expressed and those views would be interesting. Lets keep things general and not make personal comments especially when individuals circumstances are unknown!

 

[Sparky]

I said at the time that i obviously felt very sorry for people who were stranded by this event, but i also said i felt a lot of sympathy for the airlines because they were losing a great deal of money. At the end of the day they did not choose not to fly, the airspace was closed by the powers that be, so i think it is unfair to expect them to pay compensation. Time i think for the insurance companies to come good.

 

[Cocoa07]

I think the point is, that under European legislation, the airlines have a duty of care to look after people who had a return ticket booked with them. Irrespective of whether the flight was cheap or not, if they cannot fly you back then they have to look after you. Why should it be any different for someone who has a flight only deal to someone who has a package holiday - if the law says that they have to look after then that is what they have to do!

Monarch handed my husband a letter at the airport which told him his flight was cancelled and to phone a number in the UK.
The phone number was never answered (we tried for over a week) and essentially he was abandoned by Monarch. It was us in the UK who sorted virtually everything out.

They aren't making things simple now either. He submitted a full claim with receipts and they returned everything a month later insisting that it is all resubmitted on their official claim form with original receipts plus a copy of every receipt on A4 paper. For every receipt that isn't copied onto A4 paper they will deduct £10 per item from the eventual settlement, if one is agreed.

They are doing everything to make this as difficult as possible. What makes this worse, my husband is a member of the Monarch Vantage Club for regular passengers so god knows how they are treating regular passengers!

 

[roig cat]

"because of compensation claims from those that probably dont really need it."

This was what I reacted to, not to what Sparky or Eleanor said!!

 

[eleanor]

Apologies, Roig Cat. I thought your comments were aimed at me as my post was the one above yours.
Certainly it wasn't my intention to offend which was why I was surprised and re-acted as I did.
Hope you get everything sorted asap.

 

[lollipop]

I would just like to update on my last post. My grandaughter who is just 18 and still in fulltime education did make a claim and has received compensation from Easy jet. As everyone's situation is different I think it is up to individuals to claim as they feel fit. Well done to Easy jet for making this young ladies life easier as she plans for Uni.

 

[Deanscroft]

Good news for your grandaughter Lolipop. Can you clarify - has she actually managed to get compensation out of Easyjet or is it purely the return of her own money? If it is compensation then that is a real milestone worth celebrating.

 

[Cocoa07]

I would be keen know whether it was the refund or compensation too. Certainly Monarch are telling us that it is two different departments that are handling this. We have had the refund of the flight but nothing else yet.

 

[roig cat]

Pleased to say Easyjet have refunded accomodation costs today.

Just ashame their customer service is so complicated to access, I'm sure many people gave up because of it!

 

[eleanor]

Glad you got it all sorted at long last.
Perhaps they hope that some do give up!

 

[lollipop]

What she got was refund of extra accomodation costs and food purchased,this was on top of rebooked flights which we changed twice with no extra charge because seats became available on earlier flight. I will just point out that she wasn't staying with me "!!

 

[Cocoa07]

Hi - just wondered if everyone has had their claims paid in full yet. My husband has had a letter from Monarch offering him £100 even though the claim was for around £750 - which covered 5 nights accommodation, food and return travel.
Monarch have said that they are working out the average for each destination and Barcelona's average from all the claims was £20 per day for food and hotel - interested to know where people have been staying and what they were eating!!
They are refusing to pay the cost of travel back to the UK because he didn't travel with Monarch - because there were no flights that he could get on. They have refunded the return portion of his flight.

I am sorry if this is slightly off topic on PP but I am just wondering if anyone can let me know if they have been reimbursed from other airlines if they ended up travelling home by another operator. I think that this is the getout clause that Monarch are using. Anyone can always send me a pm if this is too far off topic.
Thanks

 

[roig cat]

Hi Cocoa07,

As per above easyJet refunded our accomodation. I didnt claim food so basically got what I wanted. I also claimed for our extra car hire from LloydsTSB travel insurance (AXA) stating it was far cheaper than taxis across the island X2. (easyJet would only pay for TAXIS to the airport) They paid out, (less the excess of course) and we got £73.

Have you tried your travel insurance? From the start LloydsTSB said they would pay as long as easyJet confirmed they wouldn't! Having said that, I do know that all potential claims had to be registered before August.

 

[Cocoa07]

Hi Roig Cat

Our insurance is with NatWest and they will only pay up to a max of £250. However I have been in touch with a consumer journalist friend and he has told me to pursue Monarch and not accept the £100.

They can't just decide that they are only going to pay an average and have to reimburse 'reasonable expenses' including the return travel to the UK so we are going to fire another letter off them.

To be honest, I had forgotten that Monarch lost one of my mum and dad's bags a few years ago. On the way home from Mallorca and one bag was found in Madrid nearly 4 weeks later. The bag had to be destroyed as it had food items in and wasn't pleasant and Monarch were a nightmare. They just kept telling them to claim off their insurance by my mum pointed out that it wasn't the insurance company that lost the bag and contents but Monarch! They eventually paid up in full but only just as the point that she was about to give up so I am going to keep trying.

I think it's their attitude that really infuriates me and has got my back up.

Thanks anyway for the info regarding your claim.

 

[roig cat]

Good luck Cocoa, let us know how you get on!

Looking at easyJets recent profits the volcano fiasco hasn't hit them as hard as everyone thought it would! Not sure how 'in the black Monarch' are?

 

[Cocoa07]

They all make such a huge amount of money it has probably just made a small blip in profits but you can be that they will use it as an excuse to put flights up for 2011. They have got away with charging extortionate amounts during school holidays for years which is another of the airlines daylight robbery tactics along with charging for everything else on top of your ticket!

 

[Sparky]

How can they justify these huge price hikes in the school holidays, lets be honest operating costs are the same for a plane load of people whenever it flies. Having said that, everyone in the accomodation sector are guilty of it as well. Why?.

 

[eleanor]

I can not possibly answer for the airlines but as an owner who rents out a property there is a very easy answer to this. As has been commented on many times in different posts, the season is a very short one compared to other holiday destinations, the costs obviously continue 52 weeks per year. It is very expensive to actually purchase a property on the island as a starting point and with the very high taxes involved. The actual cost of running a property is probably greater than the UK. Certainly the costs of cleaning linen gardening pool etc etc is much higher than I would expect to pay in the UK. All this has to be taken into consideration and evaluated. There is a constant upkeep and renewal of furniture and household equipment as well as bedding, towels etc etc. It goes on and on and often things happen out of the owners control. I have just this month had to replace 2 single beds where a lovely renter allowed children to use them as trampolines - so that doesn't come under general wear and tear. I really do not think many owners at the end of the day can say they make a huge profit from renting. The price has to increase during the main summer months simply to carry through a very short season. As a teacher I am very aware of the frustrations of increases but until school terms become more flexible then we as owners do what we have to do. I do feel to say owners are 'guilty' is to imply that we are actually doing something wrong. We are not - we are just trying to at least break even at the end of a very short season.