Missed Connection – UK261 Duty of Care

[Internet179]

Hi All,

Backstory:
My wife and I are in Israel at the moment and have been trying to leave since last night, the UK FCDO announced against all but essential travel.

I check our policy documents and phoned our travel insurance company (Nationwide) who quickly stated we should book ourselves a flight back and raise a claim once back in the UK.

The policy wording said they would cover reasonable costs so the most reasonable looking flight was pegasus via Istanbul (SAW) with a 3:15 stopover on 10th October. All other flights not via the middle east were coming up at least double the price.

So we booked that connecting flight for the 10th October – TLV-SAW(PC786) SAW-MAN(PC1179) but unfortunately this morning, Pegasus delayed our first flight by four hours meaning we will now miss our connection and have rebooked us for a flight from SAW to MAN on 11th Oct in the AM – getting us in around 20 hours late.

I have checked and pegasus operate a flight between SAW and MAN with a stop on DLM and there are around 5 hours between the flight from TLV arriving and the flight to DLM leaving. However, no matter how many times I HUACA, they are refusing to book us on this connecting itinerary stating that there can only be one connection on a booking.

Am I within my UK261 rights to book this flight myself upon arrival at SAW and claim it back from Pegasus?

We have a six week old baby and with the current state in the ME along with the two Jews killed in Egypt yesterday we would really like to avoid leaving the airport.

Any advice much appreciated – Especially @JDB 😉

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Pegasus is a Turkish Airline flying to the UK so the EU/UK 261 regulations don’t apply.

[Internet179]

Thanks @BA Flyer IHG Stayer

I misremembered the rules and thought it included flight to the UK – but seemingly it’s only with EU airlines!

Guess we will have to spend the night in the airport then as even though Pegasus have offered us a full refund if we would like, I can’t see any other reasonable flights to get us home.

[NorthernLass]

I hope you all get home soon, it must be a terrifying situation.

[tobynow]

I’m not an insurance expert but: given the worsening situation, and you have a small baby, I would argue that the more expensive flights with a shorter overall travel duration would be a reasonable step to take. So I’d consider booking one of those and then taking up the Pegasus refund.

Good luck

[Lyn]

Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can help a lot more than I can here, so just a couple of thoughts.

Presumably you have already looked at all possible Pegasus direct same-day connections from SAW to Heathrow or another airport where you might be able to get home by train or an inexpensive or avios short-haul flight, like Paris or somewhere else relatively close to the UK, and that Pegasus would be willing to rebook you onto? I can easily see how a LCC could have ticketing rules limiting the number of connections, especially as many LCCs are strictly point-to-point and don’t offer any connections at all.

Did you already have a flight back to the UK on another airline for a future date? If so, could they help you with alternatives and was it a UK / EU airline where 261 duty-of-care rights might apply? Good luck and hope you can find a reasonable solution to get home soon. Spending all night at an airport with a six week old baby doesn’t sound like one.

[Lyn]

Yes, I have to agree with @tobynow.

[QwertyKnowsBest]

Hope you made it home without too much stress.