Cancellation rights.

[garysmith]

A flight I have booked from Stansted has been cancelled and they have offered me a Gatwick departure instead. Do I have any cancellation rights as Gatwick is totally unsuitable for me?
They are saying that because Gatwick is less than 12 hours away from Stn, it shouldn't be a problem.

[237SJ]

A reputable airline would give you your money back as they`ve changed the goalposts

[dzug2]

Under EU regs (article 8) you have the right to choose between cancellation with a full refund or accepting their rerouting

The 12 hours is irrelevant.

[garysmith]

Thank you for your replies. I will try and cancel.

[garysmith]

Sorry, but does this 'article 8' still count as they have given me more than 2 weeks notice?
Thanks in advance.

[dzug2]

My reading of it (which may not be right) is that it does. The two weeks means they don't have to pay you compensation as well

[lumination]

shouldnt it cover that if you got travel insurance?

[buildersmate]

Yup, that's my reading of it too Dzug (it's Article 9 actually but that would be picky).
You can choose from one or more of the following remedies:
"9.3.1.1(a) Remedy One - we will reimburse the fare paid for your ticket for the part of carriage not used or the whole amount paid if, as a result of the cancellation, the carriage no longer serves any purpose in relation to your original travel plans, and, if relevant, carry you to the first point of departure in your contract of carriage on the earliest flight with suitable space available;".
That is the one you are invoking.

In addition, remedy 4 says:

"9.3.1.4 we will pay you compensation, unless Article 9.3.2 applies [which it doesn't in your case], in the amount of 600 Euros, which will be reduced to 300 Euros if you choose re-routing pursuant to Articles 9.3.1.1(b) or 9.3.1.1(c) and such re-routing results in a scheduled time of arrival at your final destination which is no more than fours hour later than the scheduled time of arrival of the flight originally booked.

9.3.2 No compensation will payable to you pursuant to Article 9.3.1.4 if any of the following four provisions applies:

9.3.2.1 [not copied - irrelevant to you]

9.3.2.2 you have been informed of the cancellation no less than two weeks before the scheduled time of departure;

It's more than 2 weeks so you don't get your 300 Euros as well.

[dzug2]

<<shouldnt it cover that if you got travel insurance?>>

The vast majority of travel insurance policies don't cover this sort of thing

The usual cover is a nominal amount for each 12 hours yiou are delayed after checking.

<<Yup, that's my reading of it too Dzug (it's Article 9 actually but that would be picky).>>

Well the version I'm looking at it's definitely 8. Maybe it;'s been revised?

[buildersmate]

Dunno, but the version I copied and pasted all relates to Article 9 - you can see it from the index numbers.