MSE News: Volcanic ash cloud grounds UK flights: your rights

A question about : MSE News: Volcanic ash cloud grounds UK flights: your rights

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

Hundreds of thousands of passengers face massive disruption as thousands of flights remain grounded ...

Read the full story:

Volcanic cloud Q&A guide


Update 20 April, 7pm: Due to the fast-moving nature of this crisis, we've written the new Q&A guide above. See the original Volcanic ash MSE News story published last week.

Update 05 May, 12pm: With further flight cancellations today, see the Iceland volcano causes further disruption MSE News story.

Best answers:

• People don't want compensation for this! It is just that the airline is obliged to take care of them 'till they can get them to their destination.
  Telling people not to come to the airport is a VERY sneaky way of trying to sidestep their responsibilities by getting the passenger not to fulfil their only obligation under the regulation.
  Edit: On picking through the wording of the Regulation again, if the flight is cancelled the passenger doesn't even have to come to the airport and the airline still has to provide accommodation & meals. So, poppy10, the airline should have provided accommodation & meals to anyone booked on the flight if requested, whether they had been informed or not AND whether they had come to the airport or not.
• Is it true that RyanAir are charging extra for the ash?
• Hi. Sister & family are stuck in Italy. Flight cxl due to the volcanic ash by Ryan Air. Flight has been rescheduled for Tuesday. Do Ryan Air cover their accommodation & food until then? Thanks.
• We're currently stuck in NYC and waiting for Delta/KLM to sort out their act and let us know what we can do about getting home.
  I assume that we are covered under EU regulation because we are flying into Manchester via Amsterdam, is this correct?
  If so, should I press for hotel costs/food/etc? Or do I just (hopefully) claim it back from the insurance company?
• Hi, we were scheduled to fly to Sharm El Sheikh yesterday at 09.00
  Thomas Cook have just indefinately delayed it and its now been almost 24 hours, theyre not cancelling obviously becasue they know theyll have to pay out
  What are my rights? Can I get a refund on my package holiday and re-book for a later date? I've already missed 1-2 days of the holiday
  Thanks
• Time to invest in a few Propeller Aircraft?..........surely this will Bankrupt a few of the smaller companies if they have to put people in accommodation?.
• booked a flight ,hotel and transfers through on the beach website ,was due to fly this morning but now canceled flight ,are all my dealing with on the beach ?as payments were sent to them but have different websites on confirmation email for transfers ,hotel etc?
• thanks cityboy
  otb is my first call ,but no reply so far 30 mins waiting for an adviser
• This is all very confusing.
  We have a package holiday booked and separately arranged for airport car parking. The payment for the package holiday was made with our Egg Credit card.
  What are our rights if we cannot fly? People are telling me that as this is an act of god, then we have no rights. Is this true?
  Are we entitled to a full refund? It is unlikely that we will be able to travel as we have committments soon after our scheduled return to the UK.
  The really sad part of this, is that this was meant to be our last family holiday together. I cannot believe our luck.
• Hello Everyone,
  my Birmingham-Porto flight for today was cancelled. I am trying to rebook the flight but it doesn't seem to let me change the return flight. Does anyone know if it is possible to change both the outbound and inbound flight even if the inbound wasn't cancelled?
  I need 10 days in Portugal so I need to rebook the whole flight and not only change the outbound. Can someone help me? If I change the outbound, will the system then let me change the inbound as well?
  I have tried several times to call them but they don't answer the call. I really don't know what to do.
  Thanks for your help!
• Hello,
  I have got a holiday coming up next week and starting to get worried.
  We've booked Aberdeen - LGW with Flybe, and it looks like they will offer a refund if all goes wrong and gets cancelled.
  For the holiday itself, we're flying from LGW to Rhodes, and booked through Expedia. Any idea what their policy is on this whole situation?
• We have a package booked with Thomas Cook and should have left Fri 16th am-on tel today and the option they are offering is to take a holiday at a later date or to wait and go when they can get us away (maybe 3 days?) They are not offering a cancellation or refund.
  So as we are on a weeks holiday the return date will be the same so likely will lose 3-4 days of holiday without any refund for days lost-(it would only be cost of accommodation if given anyway) Technically we could end up going out on thur and returning on friday! This is the situation with Thomas Cook Packages and of course a different situation for those booking direct with Airlines.
  Have also just contacted my Insurance Company Columbus Direct and they have told me that they will pay out under cancellation and holiday abandonment if we are unable to fly after 24 hours. So this looks the best option for us under the circumstances.
• Insurance companies unlikely to compensate as it's an "act of God".
  What if you're an atheist??
  Can't you argue anything could be an act of God.
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  "Apparently if you believe in God but don't believe in magic you're effectively saying, 'I don't have sex with dogs, except labradors.' " - Jimmy Carr