A new regular feature from Charitable Traveller Magazine, our team of experts answer your travel queries. In the hot seat this month is Melissa Tilling, founder of Charitable Travel
On a recent European holiday, our return flight was cancelled while we were waiting to board the plane. At the time, the only guidance we were given by the airline ground staff was to go back through passport control, collect our bags and rebook our return flights on the airline’s app. We were left to find our own accommodation for the night and hope that the costs would be reimbursed.
Having rebooked seats on the next available flight, we then suffered the same fate and were left stranded in the airport at midnight for a second night in a row. We eventually flew home two and a half days after we’d originally planned, having paid through the nose for a flight with an alternative airline. We’ve always booked our travel independently as we tend to book with short notice and dislike the idea of traditional ‘package’ holidays, but this experience has made us think twice. How might our experience have been different if we’d booked with a travel agent and what would be the advantages of booking with a travel agent in future?
Melissa: In the unfortunate event of a flight cancellation, EU Regulation 261/2004 outlines your rights with the airline. You have three options to choose from: you may request a refund for your ticket, opt for a return flight to your original departure airport, or select a replacement flight to your final destination, provided the conditions match your initial booking.
If you book your arrangements through a travel agent and in turn through a tour operator we can support you, ensuring the airline honours their obligations. If your flight is cancelled at the last minute and you are stranded you’re entitled to complimentary drinks and meals, with the extent depending on the duration of the delay, free hotel accommodation for overnight delays, and transportation to and from the airport to your designated hotel.
It is true to say that the airline might not support you actually making these arrangements but your rights ensure you will be compensated so receipts and records are critical, and your travel agent and tour operator can support with these arrangements if you need that assistance. The idea of a ‘package holiday’ under that protected package does not mean the accommodation, travel and duration cannot be tailored to your needs, so forget the idea of a package meaning a fixed one week on a sun bed. Instead, regard ‘packages’ as entrusting your plans to a professional and then benefiting from the support of that professional when things go wrong, which they can even with the best planning in the world.
Speak to our travel experts today to plan your perfect holiday!
This is a feature from Issue 19 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.
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