IBERIA flouting EU261. Any recommendations or success?

[Scarlett]

I’ve lodged my claim against Iberia with ‘Flightright’, one of the no win, no fee mobs that pursue the airlines. It’s based in Germany.

All the firms/agencies doing this seem to have standard rates of 30-35% of the compensation if they convince the airline to pay up and then another 10-15% if they have to take court action against the airline to enforce it.

Step one was to provide them all the info about the flight and a copy of my confirmed ticket.

Step two appears to be they are now repeating exactly what I’ve already done chasing IB. This can take up to three months.

Step three then appears to be they’ll take enforcement (legal) action against IB under EU261 legislation and that can take many months to over a year.

Even if I only get €300 of the possible 600 I should be eligible for under the legislation it’s better than more stonewalling by IB. Plus, I don’t become part of the statistics of not bothering to pursue the matter, that IB seem to rely on.

After 5 months of IB ignoring my claim for EU261 compensation and 3 months of waiting for Flightright to get a response I was not expecting this:
Flightright have closed the case. Done.

Apparently there were weather delays ‘somewhere’ and they don’t think they can prosecute my case.
It’s an interesting twist as I don’t recall IB ever mentioning anything about the weather on the delay, or the flight. The inbound aircraft was late and then instead of a 30-40 minute turn it took closer to 90 minutes. Weather at departure point of LIS was okay. Weather at (mis-)connection point MAD was okay.

What I did think at the time was that because we were late, eurocontrol or LIS or MAD traffic flow controllers may have delayed us further, but neither IB, nor Flightright have mentioned that as the reason.

So no compensation for me. Guess I should just be lucky that at least Covermore travel insurance reimbursed some of my expenses up to their claim limit.

Haven’t learnt my lesson; still booking separate ticket convoluted routings…

 

[avlawyer82]

I can certainly sense the frustration with the EU (and UK since departing the EU) regulations in respect to airline compensation. I have also had to go through the experience but managed to to secure compensation. I wonder whether it might be worth setting out some thoughts/templates/ for use? I know that some claim's companies won't want these be handed out for free. Sounds like a gap in the market that these can be delivered cheaper given that the templates/etc are easily drafted and that we know some of the stonewalling tactics that can be used.

I'd love to hear from all the frequent flyers out there who are having difficulties - to share their experiences so as to compile a database that might assist in having to get these resolved more quickly (and in a more fair manner).

I have been following the calls for something similar in Australia. I know that this has been resisted thus far on the basis that the cost of such compensation will simply be added to fares in Australia and thus would make the cost of travel more expensive/prohibitive.

 

[avlawyer82]

After 5 months of IB ignoring my claim for EU261 compensation and 3 months of waiting for Flightright to get a response I was not expecting this:
Flightright have closed the case. Done.

Apparently there were weather delays ‘somewhere’ and they don’t think they can prosecute my case.
It’s an interesting twist as I don’t recall IB ever mentioning anything about the weather on the delay, or the flight. The inbound aircraft was late and then instead of a 30-40 minute turn it took closer to 90 minutes. Weather at departure point of LIS was okay. Weather at (mis-)connection point MAD was okay.

What I did think at the time was that because we were late, eurocontrol or LIS or MAD traffic flow controllers may have delayed us further, but neither IB, nor Flightright have mentioned that as the reason.

So no compensation for me. Guess I should just be lucky that at least Covermore travel insurance reimbursed some of my expenses up to their claim limit.

Haven’t learnt my lesson; still booking separate ticket convoluted routings…

Certainly can be tricky to navigate. Some of the EU judgments on it have left the door open that simply claiming weather difficulties isn't sufficient - but usually may be very persuasive in order to avoid compensation. see the German decision at - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62007CJ0549 (see e.g.. paragraph 21 and 22 on page 14).

The lack of proper reasoning is another point that usually comes up and there are some points that could be put to that as well. I guess it comes down to the effort that one puts to securing it. If you managed to recover at least some of this via travel insurance - a slight win???

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I was under the impression - dunno how accurate - is that the claims companies have access to the flight data systems, so they can actually go in and see the real reason for the delay.

For a claims company to therefore decide not to take up the case…when it’s worth at least 30% to them… means it’s probably not worth pursuing.

I think for most people it’s pretty straight forward… you (a) make the claim yourself to see if you can get the full compensation, failing that you try (b) a cla8ms company, If they say ‘no’ that’s probably the end.

 

[serfty]

There a thread in the Finnair Flyertalk forum with a wiki documenting some milestone case law precedents in relation to EU261.

Finnair and EC 261 compensation - FlyerTalk Forums

Finnair | Finnair Plus - Finnair and EC 261 compensation - Originally Posted by ffay005 And apparently, as ridiculous as it may sound, AY tries to explain that these are "extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by any reasonable measure". I would find it hilarious that they...

www.flyertalk.com

 

[Katja]

I had a similar with Iberia in February after a delayed flight LHR-MAD caused me to miss my flight MAD-EZE. I was in Business Class.

They provided hotel at Madrid airport for the night. I wrote to them asking them to pay some expenses (food and taxi) and the EU compensation. They paid expenses promptly but refused compensation. After 5 emails to Iberia I was getting nowhere with them blaming "an exceptional situation due to a delayed incoming flight so no compensation was payable" but nothing more.

Because it was ex UK I could get the UK CAA involved. I wrote a simple claim using the CAA website. Within about a week Iberia magically said they had heard from the CAA and were now paying. No further explanation for the turnaround. I felt like asking why they thought continually denying a clear compensation case was good customer service. However I said OK and gave my bank account details. They only offered the EU261 compensation which is slightly less money (€600 vs £520) due to FX loss, than UK261 despite it being a CAA UK261 claim!

I also filed a claim online with AESA, but it was more complicated and onerous to complete. I couldn't cancel the claim with AESA after the CAA win. This was over 10 weeks ago and still heard nothing from AESA!

I also asked the CAA to fine Iberia. It was a clear claim that they were stonewalling. Airlines are more aware than customers when they need to pay and when they do not. They are blatantly ignoring customers and trying to avoid claims and I believe they should be fined for doing so.

I wondered why no legal firm has helped expose these airlines that continually deny claims. Then realise that the law firms are making a fortune on claim chasing. It would be interesting to know which airlines are getting the most complaints...Iberia has to be high.

EU261 is passenger friendly. But the claim process needs simplifying and reforming as airlines are not conforming.

Sorry to be off topic here, but this came up in my search for Madrid airport hotel.
Which hotel did they put you in and was it actually close? I’m looking for an airport hotel because I only have a night there, arriving early evening, then my girlfriend flies out at 10am and I fly at about 3pm, so thought this would be the best option, but I’m not finding anything that I’d call an airport hotel.
A minimum 44 minute walk is like calling motels on Great Eastern Hwy airport hotels, I’m after something like the Hilton at terminal 2 LHR or the ParkRoyal at MEL.
Thank you and sorry for going off topic.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Sorry to be off topic here, but this came up in my search for Madrid airport hotel.
Which hotel did they put you in and was it actually close? I’m looking for an airport hotel because I only have a night there, arriving early evening, then my girlfriend flies out at 10am and I fly at about 3pm, so thought this would be the best option, but I’m not finding anything that I’d call an airport hotel.
A minimum 44 minute walk is like calling motels on Great Eastern Hwy airport hotels, I’m after something like the Hilton at terminal 2 LHR or the ParkRoyal at MEL.
Thank you and sorry for going off topic.

There's a Hilton Airport Hotel in Madrid although it's about a half hour walk from the terminals. However, when we stayed there they had a complimentary shuttle service.

Back on topic...

 

[Katja]

There's a Hilton Airport Hotel in Madrid although it's about a half hour walk from the terminals. However, when we stayed there they had a complimentary shuttle service.

Back on topic...

Thank you. I decided to book in Centro and we will just make separate trips for our departing flights.

Back to EU261.

 

[dajop]

With this thread in mind, I was expecting a battle with IB's subsidiary Vueling after a delay last month.

Flight from BCN to ZRH was cancelled 2.5 hrs after scheduled departure as they were down a pilot. So after another 2 hr battle (were security was called on at least 1 passenger) we were transferred to a flight the next morning at 7am and transferred to a hotel they paid for which we reached at 1am.

Anyway, off went the 250 Euro compensation claim a couple of days later, and knock me down with a feather it has just been paid out It's only been 11.5 days since I submitted it. They also paid even quicker on our taxi return to the airport, and for my partner's mother's essential items claim, after her luggage went missing on the flight we actually took (it never caught up with her until 4 days after she returned home to MEL).

Pleasantly surprised though with the 250 Euro.

 

[AFF Editor]

I have some follow-up from my issue with Iberia earlier this year.

As a refresher, these are the details about the delay and Iberia's initial denial to pay EU261 compensation:

My Frustrating Attempt to Claim EU261 Compensation from Iberia

Iberia owes me €400 (~AU$700) in EU261 compensation after delaying me over 12 hours. But the airline has stonewalled every attempt to claim this - and it has form in doing so.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

As I mentioned in that article, I eventually put in a complaint with the Portuguese civil aviation authority (ANAC).

Two months after I submitted that complaint, I received an email from them basically just saying "we're working on your case":

Dear Sir/Madam

Your complaint sent on 20/03/2025 and which was assigned the reference [retracted] is being analyzed by the competent service.

Please note that in the exercise of its sanctioning powers, ANAC investigates the infractions committed, resulting from the violation of legal and regulatory provisions, instructs the corresponding sanctioning procedures and misdemeanor proceedings and applies fines and other penalties provided for by law to the offenders.

However, the power to impose penalties does not include the determination of compensation or refunds due to passengers.

Therefore, if you are unhappy with the air carrier reply, you may use judicial or extrajudicial means. For further information, please check the following link: Encontre uma solução para os seus problemas enquanto consumidor.

We will contact you once the analysis of your complaint has been concluded.

I then heard nothing for over 4 months. So, you could have blown me over with a feather when I just received this email from ANAC. The email was in Portuguese, so I've used Google translate:

We refer to your complaint regarding the delay of flight IB534, dated XYZ.

Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 11, 2004, establishes common rules on compensation and assistance to air passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation and long delay of flights.

ANAC, as the entity responsible for implementing the aforementioned Regulation, requested clarification from the air carrier regarding the reasons for the cancellation in question and the assistance provided to passengers.

In this context, Iberia has informed that it will proceed with the payment of compensation for the aforementioned flight delay, in accordance with Article 7 of the aforementioned Regulation. To this end, the passenger must provide the following banking information: bank name, account holder's name, account holder's tax number, IBAN and SWIFT, bank branch address, and a photocopy of the account holder's identification document, using the reference: [redacted], to the email address: [email protected]

Therefore, ANAC concludes that the air carrier complied with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

I've just emailed Iberia as per these instructions. Let's see if they'll finally pay up now...