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Rail predictions
Q: I’m involved in what LNER are prone to do in December over the subsequent set of RMT strike days – notably 17 December? What number of Edinburgh to London providers will there be? And what occurs to these of us with advance tickets?
Are we routinely entitled to ebook a seat on one other service, or what? We purchased advance tickets by way of an agent that doesn’t appear to supply any possibility aside from cancel for refund so far as I can see. We’ve bought no selection however to journey that day.
Peter
A: As issues stand, Saturday 17 December would be the final day within the RMT union’s pre-Christmas strike. Members working for Community Rail and 14 practice operators (together with LNER) plan to stroll out in two 48-hour blocks: 13 and 14 December, adopted by 16 and 17 December. (The expectation is that the intervening Thursday, 15 December, might be blighted with solely a “strike service” capable of run.)
Because the present collection of nationwide rail strikes started 5 months in the past, LNER has persistently run daytime providers on strike days on its core route from Edinburgh through Newcastle and York to London. I anticipate that can prevail if the subsequent spherical of strikes go forward – with trains each hour or two from round 7.30am to six.30pm (final departure southbound at round 2pm).
Many individuals, although, most likely together with you, might be within the place of holding a ticket for a practice that isn’t operating. In that case I like to recommend you wait and see what LNER proposes. Per week earlier than the strike it ought to grow to be clear what the choices are. At this level you must be capable to ebook a seat reservation for a practice that’s operating. Flip up together with your Advance ticket and I’m certain you can be high quality.
Having stated all that, once I talked to the RMT common secretary, Mick Lynch, on Thursday I sensed a robust need to discover a settlement and finish these extraordinarily damaging strikes.
My recommendation: don’t do something for no less than 10 days. However equally bear in mind that different strikes are taking place. Practice drivers belonging to Aslef are taking industrial motion this weekend, and will name future strikes in December
Lastly, should you ebook direct by way of LNER it’s a lot simpler to deal with disruption – in addition to gathering an efficient 2 per cent low cost by way of the Perks scheme.
Cancelled and delayed flights
Q: I had a TAP Portugal flight cancelled 18 months in the past. I requested the refund to which I used to be entitled below the ticket situations as they cancelled a flight – thrice.
When I’ve requested or chased up a refund they’ve despatched me a voucher. I get sick of calling and was questioning if I can discover a refund through different avenues?
Neither has the airline paid EU compensation.
Colin
A: To start out with the final half first: compensation for a cancellation is payable provided that you had been notified lower than two weeks earlier than departure and the airline was liable for grounding the flight. (Authorities actions to do with Covid, safety or climate points depend as “extraordinary circumstances” and exempt the airline from paying out.)
A refund, although, is totally your entitlement inside seven days below European air passengers’ rights guidelines. Plainly many airways have merely ignored this obligation. Being repeatedly despatched a voucher should be extraordinarily irritating.
Seven months in the past MPs on the Transport Select Committee called on the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to “utilise its present powers to problem companies and to pursue enforcement orders from the courts to sort out infringements of shopper rights in relation to refunds”. However to this point nothing has occurred.
However regulators at house and overseas don’t appear notably motivated to take motion. Some European nations appear to proceed to take the view that their airways want help, and that turning a blind eye to infringements of authorized obligations is a type of help.
Earlier than Brexit, claiming from an airline in one other EU state would have been a simple matter of acquiring a refund by way of the European small claims process, however the UK determined to finish that possibility.
All I can recommend is that you simply hold going and make it clear to the airline that you’ll not settle for something aside from your authorized entitlement to money again.
Q: I made a compensation declare to SAS Scandinvaian Airways for a delayed European flight that brought on us to overlook a connection and arrive greater than three hours late. However three months on they haven’t responded. What ought to my subsequent step be please?
“Snoozing Badger”
A: I’ve heard numerous comparable tales. European air passengers’ rights guidelines are clear about what travellers are entitled to if their flight arrives three hours or extra not on time. However implementing the foundations appears past the wit of regulators.
At current airways appear to be taking the view that: “If we dawdle about giving individuals the cash they’re owed, then among the travelling public will merely quit. Even when they don’t, there’s no actual harm from delaying cost past a modest quantity of reputational hurt.
I’ve lobbied the Civil Aviation Authority and the Division for Transport about these points and I hope there might be some swift motion – from them in addition to international regulators. However don’t maintain your breath.
Jettison LAGs?
Q: What are your ideas on the proposed ending of the 100ml restrict available baggage liquids? Absolutely it’ll big for the trade and travellers alike.
Rikard
A: Many airline passengers say airport safety the worst a part of the journey – specifically, the necessity to restrict LAGs (liquids, aerosols and gels) to small containers and extract them from cabin baggage. The laws had been launched swiftly in 2006 as a short lived measure in response to the “liquid bomb plot”. Regardless of repeated guarantees to ease the foundations they continue to be in place.
In 2019 Boris Johnson vowed the foundations could be eased at main UK airports by 1 December 2022, permitting bigger portions and eliminating the necessity to have liquids individually scanned. Like so many different guarantees from the previous prime minister, that won’t occur as deliberate. However there are hopes that superior CT scanners could also be deployed within the 15 or so largest UK airports by mid-2024 – 18 years after the LAGs guidelines got here in.
I’m not certain, although, that it is going to be “big” for airways and travellers. Passenger confusion is a continuing downside for aviation safety. It could be that your outbound journey in August 2024 from Heathrow, Gatwick or Manchester includes light-touch safety (leaving your liquids and laptop computer in your cabin baggage) however the return journey doesn’t. The inbound course of might be sluggish and clunky, with many passengers falling foul of the non-conformity of guidelines and dropping bottles of sunscreen or Scotch.
Additionally, the airports which can be collectively investing tons of of hundreds of thousands of kilos will search a return. Whereas the brand new tech ought to lower employees prices, representing financial savings for airports, they might nicely nonetheless plan to lift charges for airways and their clients.
In the end the passenger ought to be capable to stroll unchallenged alongside a hall flanked by detectors, barely conscious that they’re being checked. Checkpoints will nonetheless be staffed, however safety personnel might be freed as much as do what individuals do finest: learning the behaviour of passengers and determine “individuals of curiosity” for additional investigation. However I might be shocked if this occurs within the subsequent decade.
Passport strike?
Q: Any concept what affect the border management strikes might need on journey by way of Heathrow the week earlier than Christmas? Hopefully not a lot for outbound, and comparable for inbound if the automated passport gates are working absolutely?
Rich72
A: I’m optimistic about nearly the whole lot to do with journey, however I’m afraid that I can see the potential for critical disruption within the week main as much as Christmas if members of the PCS union working for UK Border Power determine to go on strike of their pay dispute.
There may be restricted scope for contingency plans. Whereas managers can step in to some extent, and hold fingers crossed that the eGates stay in full working order, for numerous passengers coming into the UK – notably from exterior the EU and North America – an encounter with a human frontier official is required. A couple of planeloads of arrivals at Heathrow might, I worry, snarl issues up rapidly. If queues get unmanageable, then the one resolution is to maintain passengers on planes, which suggests the plane are (a) blocking gates to later arrivals and (b) should not obtainable to load passengers and cargo for his or her subsequent mission.
At this stage, although, there’s nothing that any of us can do besides hope there’s a settlement quickly.
‘Vouchflation’
Q: Your present considering, please, on whether or not you assume airways will lengthen vouchers (arising from 2020 Covid flight cancellations) that expire subsequent 12 months? That stated, with inflation and rising prices of flights, the acquisition energy of those vouchers is falling quick.
Franch
A: You may have touched on a extremely critical and more and more important problem. Throughout the darkish days of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of journeys had been cancelled. A lot of individuals accepted vouchers for future use, and I calculate that the worth held by British travellers is at present within the area of £5bn.
Initially airways and vacation firms tended to problem them for a couple of 12 months – however, when it turned clear that Covid was going to afflict journey for lots longer than that, they had been prolonged. At the moment I’m holding vouchers for a number of tons of of kilos with airways which have been prolonged into 2023. I haven’t been in a position to make use of them, and as you say their worth is declining as a result of rising value of flights: a visit to Egypt and again that value round £300 is now promoting at £646 – greater than twice as a lot.
Issues might really worsen: with these “IOUs” quickly to run out, anticipate a surge in demand pushed by people who find themselves eager to not lose the entire worth of their voucher. This in flip will trigger what I name “vouchflation”.
For circumstances like mine – the place the flights really operated however I couldn’t journey – a voucher is mostly one of the best you’ll be able to hope for. However there might also be individuals who had been persuaded to just accept a voucher even for a flight cancelled by the airline. If you’re in that place, then you could possibly search money as an alternative.
For instance, British Airways says: “When you had been because of journey with us between 9 March and 19 November 2020 on a flight that was then cancelled, we had been unable to supply our full vary of how to entry refunds at the moment. If you’re eligible, now you can get a refund on-line for the voucher you maintain.”
Gross sales time?
Q: Can we anticipate the airways to have their pre-Covid fashion gross sales in December? I’m notably considering of lengthy haul.
Graham
A: A wonderful query, notably on “Black Friday”. Sure, I anticipate there might be some attention-grabbing offers on provide notably from Boxing Day onwards, and you probably have a specific vacation spot in thoughts that includes a particular airline, it’s nicely value signing up for notifications.
However handle your expectations: at current aviation is at round 75 per cent of pre-pandemic scale. Demand is powerful, which spells a lot greater fares than you and I wish to pay.
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