Eligible for Compensation?

[KR1994]

A bit of a long situation here that I would like some honest feedback on.  We booked a cruise with NCL that included airfare (with their insurance) for this past March 2023.  We received our flight itinerary 30 days out from the start of the cruise on March 12th.  After reviewing the flights we were very uncomfortable with the tight connections.  NCL had us arriving in Athens only 3 hours before the ship left which gave NO room for delayed flights. We ended up cancelling the flights TO Athens (no refund for this) and buying new ones that got us into Athens one day before our cruise.  (this proved to be wise as our friends kept the original flights and missed the first two days on ship!)

Our flight was delayed on the way to Athens and we missed our connection in Heathrow.  After much kerfuffle with Westjet to get us on another flight, they booked us with British Airways the next morning to get to Athens but neglected to book our 14 year old on a flight so we couldn't leave him in Heathrow alone...ha ha.  So we didn't accept that flight as there was no more seats on that flight to book him as well.  We ended up booking our own flight to Athens the next morning on Swiss Air, and paid for an overnight hotel stay.  No voucher offered by Westjet.  Do I have any chance at compensation for this flight?  We did not have insurance (as we booked this ourselves) so I will be dealing with WestJet directly on this issue.  We did get the ship with about 1.5 hours to spare so it did end up okay aside from the stress of the missed flight.

The cruise itself was very good.

Now for the flight home story (we had kept our return flights with NCL).

NCL booked us (and another family we were travelling with) Athens (SkyExpress) - London (West Jet) -Calgary (WestJet)-Vancouver.  Our flight leaving Athens was delayed 30 minutes so that already was eating up our 1 hour 45 minute connection time in Heathrow.  We tried to check into our West Jet the night before but their app was down.  We tried again that morning...app down.  So when we arrived at Heathrow, we had to collect our luggage, so had to go through security.  It was very stressful inching our way through that line up, knowing that we might not make our connection.  While we were in line we were able to check in on WestJet's app but it would not download our boarding passes.  We got our husbands and teens to grab our luggage and us ladies RACED to the check in counter at WestJet.  As you might know, Heathrow is massive so it was a lot of running!  We arrived at the counter to find that they had closed ONE minute before we got there.  The agent said he absolutely could not check us in.  We begged and pleaded and he finally asked if we had our boarding passes at least and we said no, your app isn't working.  Then he said do you have your luggage and we said it's coming...our husbands have it...they are coming.  He said he simply could not let check in.  We were at a loss, called WestJet where the agent unchecked us from our flights and refunded our seat selections.  She said she could not rebook us home until March 29...this was March 23rd!!! Long story short, we had to use a service in Heathrow called 'SkyBreak' that assists people who have missed connections.  She was finally able to get us home via Paris and Montreal for over 7000 pounds sterling.  On our own dime of course.  We just bought the tickets....didn't really have a choice in the matter...we needed to get home.  Got home finally and started the insurance process.  The NCL insurance covered $500 per head for the 'trip delay'.  That is a drop in the bucket.  I wonder if anyone has advice on us getting an sort of compensation from the airlines for this issue.  

Sorry, that's a long read...thanks for making it to the end.

[jclinard]

Have you read the airline policies?  

 

I'm curious if you tried to check in with WestJet at Athens.  

 

Athens must be the worst.  On the way back from a cruise there, they boarded the passengers before the luggage.  No a/c, no water, just people cooking in the summer heat and humidity.  We were in the last non-smoking row.  It was awful.  The plane was delayed and we missed our connection in New York.  The original route home was Athens to New York to Dallas to Las Vegas.  They rebooked us and got us a hotel voucher.  The next day, we find they rebooked us to Dallas only... and there were no seats to Las Vegas.  The agent just wanted to get rid of us and make us somebody else's problem in Dallas.  We ended up having to go to Newark and go Chicago to Las Vegas.   

 

 

[KR1994]

17 minutes ago, jclinard said:

Have you read the airline policies?  

 

I'm curious if you tried to check in with WestJet at Athens.  

 

Athens must be the worst.  On the way back from a cruise there, they boarded the passengers before the luggage.  No a/c, no water, just people cooking in the summer heat and humidity.  We were in the last non-smoking row.  It was awful.  The plane was delayed and we missed our connection in New York.  The original route home was Athens to New York to Dallas to Las Vegas.  They rebooked us and got us a hotel voucher.  The next day, we find they rebooked us to Dallas only... and there were no seats to Las Vegas.  The agent just wanted to get rid of us and make us somebody else's problem in Dallas.  We ended up having to go to Newark and go Chicago to Las Vegas.   

 

 

Yes, we did try....app was not working.  I have a screen shot.  I need to send that....I just got an email that my claim was denied from my insurance provider!

[jclinard]

46 minutes ago, KR1994 said:

Yes, we did try....app was not working.  I have a screen shot.  I need to send that....I just got an email that my claim was denied from my insurance provider!

 

I trying to check in at the WestJet desk at Athens.  Of course, I don't know if it was open then.

 

I'm not surprised the insurance won't pay.  Maybe the people who push insurance can explain to you what you did wrong. 

[ljones]

Does your Travel Insurance have a "Missed Connection" section?  It should show your maximum payout (generally NOT a huge sum) and then you'd need to read THEIR definitions and limitations to determine if you were covered. 

 

If you believe you fit their definitions, you may have been denied initially because you did not provide sufficient documentation.  Problem is, what we believe should reasonably be covered is not necessarily what the policy specifies is covered...

 

Just checked my Travel insurance & "Missed Connection" only applies for travel TO my trip destination...MAX:  $2,500.00

Edited April 21, 2023 by ljones
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