TAP Flight Cancellations

A question about : TAP Flight Cancellations

Hi,

We have recently been the victims of the TAP Cabin crew strikes, meaning that our return flight from Funchal to Heathrow on Saturday 1st November was cancelled. We were emailed 48 hours before our flight by the agent (Bravofly) to say that we need to contact TAP direct.

As TAP have an office in Funchal we went their to be told that our flight had indeed been cancelled and the only flight back to Heathrow on offer was Tuesday 4th November (72 hours after our original flight). As we are teachers on holiday we told the airline that Tuesday was unacceptable as we needed to be back to teach our class on Monday and asked the person to look through their flights database to find us any alternative.

After numerous searches, we were told that there was a way of getting us back to the UK before Monday but it would mean :

a) Going more than 24 hours earlier at 05:10 Friday 31st October

b) Flying into Lisbon first and waiting 7 hours for a connecting flight

c) Flying into Gatwick instead of Heathrow

d) No immediate support for the cost of either bus/train/taxi from Gatwick to Heathrow (where our car was parked). We were told we would have to fund it and claim it back from the airline.

e) No offer of airport vouchers for food and drink was offered

As we were desperate to get back to the UK in order that our schools did not have to source an alternative teacher we begrudgingly asked to be booked onto this flight.

Having read numerous websites and tried to wade through the EU law Regulation 261/2004 document it appears that because we have arrived home earlier than the original flight we will NOT be entitled to compensation.

Is this correct ?

I am intending to contact TAP Portugal to ask how I go about claiming the cost of our train fare but are we not entitled to any compensation for curtailing our holiday short in order to get home before Monday ?

Are we allowed to claim compensation because TAP didn't get us to Heathrow and left us to complete the journey off our own back ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Best answers:

• Firstly, I hope the children and their parents were pleased that you made great effort to get back to school.
  Did you ask to be re-routed as I suggested in the other thread?
  Were you only offered re-routing on TAP flights?
• Hard to tell if coming back early was appreciated.
  We were told that we were booked on a flight on Tuesday and it was only when we said it was unacceptable did they search for flights elsewhere but they only tried to book us on TAP flights, we were never offered alternatives with other airlines.
  I am annoyed if we cannot claim compensation as we have essentially:
  1. Lost 2 days of a 7 day holiday by flying out earlier.
  2. Not been flown back to the correct airport (flew into Gatwick instead of Heathrow)
  3. Not offered any voucher for food/drinks during the 7 hour wait between flights (flew into Lisbon then Lisbon to Gatwick)
  4. Told that we must fund the cost of transfer from Gatwick to Heathrow so that we can pick up our car and get home.
  The EU legislation document seems to be contradicting because it gives the impression that we maybe able to claim a refund of the flight costs we paid for the Funchal to Heathrow leg as TAP didn't provide it but then it gives the impression that because TAP flew us back to the UK before we were due to land then no compensation is due.
  My worry is that when I contact TAP they will 'fob me off' with reasons why they cannot pay out but I will have no idea if they are talking rubbish.
  Surely the fact that they didn't get us to the correct airport in the UK means they are in breach of their duties ?
• We originally paid for them to fly us back to Heathrow and they transferred us onto a flight that flew us into Gatwick so have they completed their side of the transaction ?
  The flight we transferred onto was neither on the day we paid for nor the time we paid for nor the airport we paid for so have they completed their side of the transaction ?
  If you had bought a iPhone from them via their website and they ended up sending you a Nokia would you be happy that they had completed their side of the transaction ?
• why did you accept it then. If you had asked them for a refund they would have given you it and you could have gone off and booked alternate flights (although a one way flight would have likely cost you considerably more than you would have been due as half of a return but your travel insurance may have helped with that)
• We accepted as the thought of the children in our class (we are teachers) not having a teacher until Tuesday was not acceptable.
  More importantly our own children, who had been away with their grandparents would be at their grandparents miles away from their school with no way of getting to school and how did we explain that to their school ?
  We accepted an earlier flight because it was the better of the two evils but that doesn't mean that either option should remove any grievance surely ?
  And does the fact that TAP have failed to deliver us to Heathrow not have any bearing on things ?
• Does the fact that TAP cancelled our flight because their cabin crew were on strike not mean that they are liable for everyone to ask for their money back AND be offered a return flight home ?
  They are in breach of contract not us ?
• No, of course I'm not asking for all three but I got the impression we would not get compensation because we accepted a flight earlier than planned.
  I will read the paragraph suggested and look at your link
  Do you think we would be entitled to compensation based on what I have put here ?
• Probably, but not without a protracted argument and you'll need to do a lot of reading up - or engage the services of a NWNF company.
• Can I ask which flight you were originally booked onto?
  We were also affected by the TAP strike. We were originally due to fly from Madeira to Heathrow @1850 on Sat. 1st Nov. Our travel agent did not inform us the flight was cancelled until Friday lunchtime, by which time the earliest flight TAP could offer us was not until Wednesday night!
  I also work in a school, so understand how desperate you must have been to get home. We were not staying in Funchal, so had to rebook our flights over the phone and we felt we had no choice but to accept the flights they offered us.
  We have not yet put in a claim with TAP, but are planning on doing so, to try and get back some of the extra expenses we incurred. However we have complained to our travel agent as they did nothing to assist us and left to us to sort everything out ourselves - flights, additional accommodation, and extension of car hire. You say you knew your flight was cancelled 48 hours beforehand. If your original flight was the same as ours, that would give us something else to complain about!
  We have looked into the compensation issue ourselves, in great detail. According to regulations, airlines either have to refund you the cost of the original flight, or re-route you to your final destination. Because you took the alternative flights, you will not get a refund of the original flight, but TAP should cover the cost of getting you back to Heathrow, so you should be refunded the costs of going from Gatwick to Heathrow. Unfortunately strike action is classed as an 'extraordinary circumstance', therefore we (you and us) are not entitled to compensation, although it doesn't hurt to ask! You should also make a claim on your travel insurance for curtailment. We have claimed for flight delay on ours.
  I would be interested to know what sort of response you get from TAP, I'm doubtful we will get anything from them, but it would be good if we did!
• Sadly we received no response from TAP and haven't even had the train tickets refunded yet. I am about to start round 2 of complaints.
  I contacted a reputable legal firm about the situation and they said the case is far to flaky to claim as TAP will wriggle out of it under the 'extraordinary circumstances' rule which is poor if it is an internal strike by their staff.
  Have you got any better result ?
• I was also affected by the TAP Portugal cabin staff strike on 1st November. I remember a second strike in December so there must be a sizeable number of people impacted by one of these. We were flying out for an immovable event on the Sunday so had to take the flight a day earlier, incurring hotel and food costs as well as more intangible costs such as having to take time off work that we didn't want to. We learned of the cancellation 8 days prior to the flight so, as I understand, we're eligible for compensation because of the late notice as well as due reimbursement for the additional hotel and food costs. As an alternative to the replacement flight, we could've had a refund of the TAP Portugal flight and rebooked with a different carrier for the 1st. If we'd have done this, we would still have been eligible for the compensation because of the short notice. (With hindsight, we'd have been better doing the latter as other flights had not increased in price but at the time I assumed they would've. It would've limited our exposure - financial and otherwise - to the flaky Portuguese airline rather than be left trying to reclaim money we'd not intended to spend at the time of the initial booking...)
  It is now the end of February. Over the previous four months, I have sent emails using their poor on-line system, written to their Hammersmith office andthe CAA. I must have made at least ten calls to the TAP Portugal claims department and they have been vague and evasive each time. According to them, there was a problem with their finance department prohibiting the payment when it was meant to have been made at the end of December. Even if this is true, and it certainly sounds extraordinary, I don't know what might have happened in order for them to be unable to make another payment for two months. Apparently, authorisation has to be given and the person I spoke to was unable to tell me how long this would take to get, how long the issue would be sitting with the finance department, or the duration of the payment process. She also refused my suggestion to send a cheque instead of a bank transfer. It seems like I am being lied to.
  It might help if others call to see if you can get a better response, the same story or perhaps even coerce them into taking steps to improve their customer service. Their number(from the UK) is 00351707205700. I spoke to someone calling herself Vania.
  I would add to the above that the CAA have been utterly anonymous thus far. They have pretty much ignored my case after I raised it with them and the last I heard almost a month ago was that it was on some form of 'hold' and I should resumbit it if I'd still not had a satisfactory reply... Resumbit date is in a week or so but I don't really expect that to lead to any ultimate resolution. Has anyone actually had any assistance from the CAA? Unfortunately, in my experience - with this as well as with two other disrupted flights - they have not been helpful at all.
  Alternatively, has anyone had any success with this sort of thing by using a lawyer?