Air Berlin bankruptcy - stuck in Europe

[andrewlorien]

So here I am in Spain, due to fly home to Sydney mid this week. Air Berlin tickets on AB/Etihad codeshares, booked through Aunt Betty (Flight Centre). The flights to Abu Dhabi are all cancelled, but the Etihad AUD-SYD leg still shows the AB codeshare.

I'm pretty sure we'll just have to buy two new one way tickets home. Got any ideas?

Update (an hour later) : Etihad is acting generously "If you have an airberlin-issued ticket (number starting with 745) and have been affected by the flight cancellations, Etihad offers a 15% discount off one-way fares to/from Abu Dhabi and Dusseldorf, Munich or Frankfurt." Our tickets were TXL-MUC (on AB metal) then MUC-AUH (on Etihad metal), then AUH-SYD (Etihad again). So all we have to do is find out whether they'll let us on the plane in Munich with our Air Berlin tickets...

 

[opusman]

Travel insurance?

 

[andrewlorien]

Travel insurance?

Nope. Just basic free-with-your-credit-card emergency insurance. I could have bought the flight with an AMEX card which would have guaranteed it, but i decided to save the $100

 

[opusman]

Free-with-your-credit-card insurance is still insurance. Worth checking the PDS.

 

[Denali]

Nope. Just basic free-with-your-credit-card emergency insurance. I could have bought the flight with an AMEX card which would have guaranteed it, but i decided to save the $100

Ouch. Hope you get home soon and getting home safe is the best result, everything else can be sorted out/paid for later.

And a good reminder that Im OK with being over insured when we go on hols, I dont trust the free with your credit card insurance fine print.

Good luck!

 

[Mal]

Air Berlin is toast., and has been that way for the last couple of months (Yes, I suffered their cancellations, and know lots about the topic)

I hope it works out in your favour, but I am surprised you had no clue that they were shutting down.

Flight Centre, Credit card, and Insurance are your contact points...

 

[equus]

Travel insurance?

Travel insurance - whether paid or card is unlikely to help much, as most policies have exclusions for events arising from insolvency - which this is. I know the Amex Platinum policy and the TID annual policy both have this exclusion.

The most likely avenue of recovery is via Credit Card charge back (assuming the flight was paid for on credit card), due to service not being provided. You will still need to arrange and pay for your own replacement flights.

 

[andrewlorien]

I hope it works out in your favour, but I am surprised you had no clue that they were shutting down.

I knew they were shutting down, but a week ago all the flights were still scheduled. If the bankruptcy had taken another week, we would have been home no problem.

At the moment we're just spending extra time in Seville. It's horrible. nothing to do but drink beer and eat tapas, and the longer we stay the more we like Roija and pata negro. By the time we leave we'll probably get to like flamenco. I just hope we make it home without spending $5000.

 

[JohnK]

Travel insurance - whether paid or card is unlikely to help much, as most policies have exclusions for events arising from insolvency - which this is. I know the Amex Platinum policy and the TID annual policy both have this exclusion.

That I didn't know. What's the difference between a delayed flight, cancelled flight due to weather/mechanical issues or cancelled flight due to insolvency?

Same same and should be covered. Cowards.

 

[mannej]

That I didn't know. What's the difference between a delayed flight, cancelled flight due to weather/mechanical issues or cancelled flight due to insolvency?

Same same and should be covered. Cowards.

And even then not all mech/weather delays are covered by TI.

 

[serfty]

Your TA (aunt betty?) should have contacted you well beforehand ...

... Then again ... FrightCentre ...

 

[JohnK]

And even then not all mech/weather delays are covered by TI.

Exactly. Hence referring to them as cowards.

I see insurance companies accepting premiums quite happily but when it comes to paying out they are very tight. Totally wrong.

 

[travelislife]

What a cough situation. Insurance will likely do nothing as it is essentially an insolvency. Chargeback to your credit card might be the only way due to non receipt of product. Sometimes it is worth the 2% credit card fee for protection over paying by eftpos or bpay.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

You booked with an agent so call them to sort it out for you.

 

[andrewlorien]

You booked with an agent so call them to sort it out for you.

As @serfty says, "frightcentre". I called them. The indian bloke on the phone didn't know that air berlin was bankrupt. After waiting on hold for a couple of minutes, he read me the notice on the air berlin home page. Read it out, strait from the web page I had been looking at for 24 hours. I tried to interrupt but I think it was his duty to make sure I understood. He was very polite and apologetic, thanked me for calling and helpfully asked if there was anything else he could do for me today.
The woman on the Spanish Etihad line was no more helpful, but she was a lot more fun.