HOW TO WIN A PAYOUT WHEN AN AIRLINE RUINS YOUR HOLIDAY

Money Mail, May 31 I HOPE people get a better result than I did last year. We missed our connecting flight and had to wait nine hours for another one. On top of that, our suitcase was lost for a week. The two airlines I used refused to give me compensation or even extra Avios miles. E. L., Paris. IF YOUR airline is at fault for major delays or a flight cancellation, never accept vouchers. In my experience they are useless. S. B., Brighton. TIMES have changed. In the Sixties and Seventies, before greedy lawyers and a blame culture emerged, delays happened — we just got on with it. J. M., Sheffield. BA should not be allowed to play the ‘extraordinary circumstance’ card here. Too many people have had too much disruption purely because of a lack of resilience in its systems and processes. D. N., Edinburgh. TWO years ago I was on a flight diverted to Bristol and then had to travel for six hours by bus to Manchester. There was no apology or refreshments. Compensation regulations are one good thing to come out of the EU. G. Y., Derby. THE few times I’ve had flights cancelled from across the Channel, the airlines have bent over backwards to rebook my flight and arrange a nice hotel and transfers. In Britain, the airlines pretend you have no rights. T. T., London. IT TOOK me seven months of persistent emails to get a wellknown airline to even acknowledge I had a case and eventually cough up compensation I was entitled to under EU regulations. P. N., Dudley, W. Mids. I HAD a long delay in April. After a few short forms, the compensation was in my account within three weeks. The budget airlines are as good as, or even better than, some of the traditional names. K. B., Bristol.