(TAP) Porto Cancelled

[Theresa Brandon]

I logged into TAP airlines website today to check on a date for my fall Camino and discovered my flight home from Chicago to Porto had been canceled but I never received notification! (I did go back and check my email files and spam box). While it was an unpleasant and unexpected discovery, the online process to get a refund was very easy. I'll post an update if and when the actual refund goes through, although I just got a notification that I will be getting info about a voucher, which I didn't request.....

 

[J Willhaus]

That happened to my husband last fall on a different airline (Air France). He did get there and get home, but it was complicated.

 

[Corned Beef]

TAP will be bound by the EU rules on such matters. You might want to spend a few minutes here checking what you can do, and what TAP should do. The ADR/ODR might be of use if you feel you they are trying to dodge their responsibilities.

e.g.

• If your flight arrives in the EU from outside the EU and is operated by an EU airline

Air passenger rights - Your Europe

Travellers' rights - flight delays, cancellations and overbooking (passengers unable to fly on flight they booked)

europa.eu

 

[henrythedog]

It seems to be happening more frequently these days - perhaps due to the irregularity of passenger numbers. I’ve had three return flights to Spain in six months and five out of the six legs have been cancelled and had to be rebooked +/- a day each time. It’s not been an issue thus far, but my Camino trip starting next Monday had to be rearranged as I’m just doing yet another leg on the CF and want to start and end in places with easy transport to and from Madrid.

 

[BookGirl305]

If a flight on any airline (US domestic or foreign) is scheduled to depart from a US or arrive at a US airport and the flight schedule significantly changes, the airline must refund your money in full if asked, regardless of the type of ticket you bought (including basic economy).
Examples:
you bought the non-stop from Cleveland to Madrid but that plane didn't fill up so they cancelled your flight and rerouted you Cleveland- Chicago- Madrid. You can keep the reroute for the same price you paid or ask for a refund.
you bought the Tuesday flight and they cancelled it and rebooked you on Wednesday. Accept the new flight or ask for a refund.
They changed the departure or arrival times by (I think) it is 4 hours. They shortened a connection time.
All of the above qualify for a full refund, regardless of what kind of ticket you bought, including basic economy.

Here's the fun parts- if YOU cancel your flight, no refund is guaranteed and certainly no reschedule at the same price you originally paid. Most airlines will try to offer you a voucher instead of a refund and then qualify it to be used in a certain time. Better to read the Contract of Carriage that is included in the Terms and Conditions of every ticket and be ready to quote it if needed (which I one time had to do). TAP was notorious at the start of Covid for refusing cash refunds but also dawdling on credits. They have had a tremendous amount of very inexpensive fares advertised in the US in the last 30 days, but I chose not to book based on their refund history in 2020. And the most fun of all, if you bought your ticket thru a third party online travel agency such as Expedia, Kayak, Priceline and the like, most airlines will require you to go thru the agency you bought it from to handle any refunds/credits as the agency is technically their customer, not you. And all of a sudden, the 40 bucks saved booking with an online travel agency vs direct with an airline doesn't look so good. I always book flights direct with the airline.

There is one piece of good news and that is that kindness, positivity, and initiative can work in your favor. You are always able to call the airline and in the nicest way tell them that the flight you booked was cancelled/changed/rerouted/whatever and you know you are entitled to ask for a refund but you really want to go on the trip you have planned instead, would they be able to get you a seat on the (flight you already looked up so the customer service agent doesn't have to) set of flights instead so you can take your planned trip? I'd avoid the words rebook or reticket as those have very specific meanings in travel-land. Be kind and vague. This successfully worked for me earlier this year in getting a ridiculously discounted ticket moved from March to September for a country that hasn't yet reopened.

 

[Ellann]

If a flight on any airline (US domestic or foreign) is scheduled to depart from a US or arrive at a US airport and the flight schedule significantly changes, the airline must refund your money in full if asked, regardless of the type of ticket you bought (including basic economy).
Examples:
you bought the non-stop from Cleveland to Madrid but that plane didn't fill up so they cancelled your flight and rerouted you Cleveland- Chicago- Madrid. You can keep the reroute for the same price you paid or ask for a refund.
you bought the Tuesday flight and they cancelled it and rebooked you on Wednesday. Accept the new flight or ask for a refund.
They changed the departure or arrival times by (I think) it is 4 hours. They shortened a connection time.
All of the above qualify for a full refund, regardless of what kind of ticket you bought, including basic economy.

Here's the fun parts- if YOU cancel your flight, no refund is guaranteed and certainly no reschedule at the same price you originally paid. Most airlines will try to offer you a voucher instead of a refund and then qualify it to be used in a certain time. Better to read the Contract of Carriage that is included in the Terms and Conditions of every ticket and be ready to quote it if needed (which I one time had to do). TAP was notorious at the start of Covid for refusing cash refunds but also dawdling on credits. They have had a tremendous amount of very inexpensive fares advertised in the US in the last 30 days, but I chose not to book based on their refund history in 2020. And the most fun of all, if you bought your ticket thru a third party online travel agency such as Expedia, Kayak, Priceline and the like, most airlines will require you to go thru the agency you bought it from to handle any refunds/credits as the agency is technically their customer, not you. And all of a sudden, the 40 bucks saved booking with an online travel agency vs direct with an airline doesn't look so good. I always book flights direct with the airline.

There is one piece of good news and that is that kindness, positivity, and initiative can work in your favor. You are always able to call the airline and in the nicest way tell them that the flight you booked was cancelled/changed/rerouted/whatever and you know you are entitled to ask for a refund but you really want to go on the trip you have planned instead, would they be able to get you a seat on the (flight you already looked up so the customer service agent doesn't have to) set of flights instead so you can take your planned trip? I'd avoid the words rebook or reticket as those have very specific meanings in travel-land. Be kind and vague. This successfully worked for me earlier this year in getting a ridiculously discounted ticket moved from March to September for a country that hasn't yet reopened.

I had the same experience with Lufthansa who chopped and changed schedules for connecting flights Sydney to Porto in May and then cancelled my return flight, pushing out the return date. The guy on the phone was wonderful and rescheduled my trip to September for free on ridiculously expensive flights, happy days so far.

 

[Rosemary314]

I logged into TAP airlines website today to check on a date for my fall Camino and discovered my flight home from Chicago to Porto had been canceled but I never received notification! (I did go back and check my email files and spam box). While it was an unpleasant and unexpected discovery, the online process to get a refund was very easy. I'll post an update if and when the actual refund goes through, although I just got a notification that I will be getting info about a voucher, which I didn't request.....

Don’t panic!
Same happened to us
We called the call centre number and it was straightened out
Later we receive a check in notice 24 hours earlier than our flight
Again we called the call centre and it was straightened out
It may take time to get through but your ticket is safe although you may need to change the date. Be patient with them. They were very professional and courteous but no apology!!

 

[Mycroft]

Don’t panic!
Same happened to us
We called the call centre number and it was straightened out
Later we receive a check in notice 24 hours earlier than our flight
Again we called the call centre and it was straightened out
It may take time to get through but your ticket is safe although you may need to change the date. Be patient with them. They were very professional and courteous but no apology!!

Do you mean your experience also was with TAP?
And please explain what you mean by 'a check in notice 24 hrs earlier' than your flight. Don't we check in online 24 hrs before the flight?
Thanks.

 

[Corned Beef]

Rather ironically I now have to read the advice I gave to @Theresa Brandon in #3 myself.

I was sitting in Departures this morning on my way to Greece (from outside the EU) and was told the flight was cancelled. As I have my accommodation booked I had to rebook the flight online for very early tomorrow.

So I will try to detail the process for those who might suffer a similar fate of the short notice cancellation as I suspect it may be more common this year as normality returns

 

[Corned Beef]

Some more progress on the cancellation. I’ll add in the small print later.

According to the EU legislation the compensation for cancellation varies according to the distance. My flight was 2nd tier ( over 1800 km ) so should be awarded €400 and indeed this is the amount they are sending.

But there’s some clarification needed about other costs which I will hopefully clarify when I get home as these issues are part of my day job and want to be crystal clear about any further comments I make.

The airlines explanation was ‘crew shortages’ which I can understand as CV19 infections are on the rise. But why my flight was chosen appears to be the lack of traffic on the route as the combined flights (cancelled one and next day) only filled half the plane.

So if you are travelling on a minor route in Europe you might be unlucky - but check for compensation.

 

[odyinpdx]

As I write this, I am on hold with AF who just cancelled our LIS-SEA return flight (for June). They put us on a flight the following day but expect I can change it to the day before our previous return date.

They also cancelled our SEA-BIQ flight last month and we changed that to a day earlier (after having booked our first five nights' accommodations on the CF). An extra day in BIQ won't go to waste. Our flight is April 16.

We paid with miles (at very good redemption rates) and don't want to lose those fares. Other than long hold times, AF has been fairly accommodating.

 

[Corned Beef]

The (very) small print for compensation claims for cancelled flights. The airline in question was EasyJet which is reportedly cancelling about 5% of its flights at short notice due staff issues with COVID. Quiet a high number of cancellations.

 

[Theresa Brandon]

TAP has now sent me a voucher when I requested a complete refund....

 

[Corned Beef]

I've returned from my disrupted trip and am working on getting the second part of my costs back (hotel bill/meals) for the disruption caused by my flight cancellation. I expect not to have any issues but note I can use the dispute resolution service if needed, though it will cost me a small fee if I an unsuccessful (read that as weeding out the spurious claims)

@Theresa Brandon

There is an EU service at http://ec.europa.eu/odr but that does not appear to apply to non-EU citizens which is a shame that you can't go that route to get your refund but it is clear from the TAP website you should be able to get a cash refund (if you used cash this time and not a voucher).

The suggestion by @BookGirl305 may be the way to go as I understand consumer protection in the US is fairly strong on these issues.