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Old 22 Jul 18, 02:11 AM  
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walt4it
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Cool A Decade of Disney Dreaming - THE EPILOGUE

OK the word Epilogue in a trippy seems rather strange - this whole thing was and I just hope by posting this - it enables fellow Dibbers to remember that when an airline is seriously being out of order - you need to be strong and keep yourself aware of what you experienced.


As this is the Epilogue - you really should read the whole thing - the index is here and will be need to navigate to where this all started


WARNING - NO PHOTOS

I intended this as a pre trippy for 2018 , it just does not belong there, It is an epilogue for our wonderful 2017 trip- A decade of Disney Dreams continued and it all went back to the very start.

We had been home for a while, a week!

Yet had a little nagging issue with our flight out . It bugged me and more so for the very fact we had been done up like an American Airlines kipper.

I will tell you more…

We had left Manchester late, then arrived in Philly 3 and a bit hrs late. At this point we got bumped onto the last flight out of Philly to MCO. That flight was another 6 hours away and to make matters worse, it appeared that from our Manchester flight , there were three groups of us, all of us with children. The next flight to MCO was at 6 pm, which appeared to have a lot of our flight onboard.

This riled me as the 3pm flight we had supposedly missed was still at the gate, as we darted through security and made it to the desk to be told the doors had been closed. We even took a picture! We even watched the plane depart.

We could have made this flight, had it suited AA. It very obviously didn’t, and as a result we had our noses rubbed in it as we arrive in to MCO to find our luggage had been on the 6pm flight, along with those without children from our flight!

That whole day can be read here and I don’t wish to go through the whole thing but I hope you get my general ire. In light of what has happened since It makes for important reading



The treatment of the three families stuffed onto the last flight was made worse when we saw the plight of the family with two very young children, who had then been split up on the flight.

That had been us, back in the day (Christmas 2009) and no matter how hard done to you feel in an airport if you have two children under 5 that is a stressful experience that you can only wish to never experience.

I only hope this family had the same determination to ensure they were given something in compensation as they were mightily badly done to, in respect of the age of their children.

I wrote to AA for the first time on September 3rd, to be fobbed off with an email that stated that we arrived in the USA within the time stipulated by EU law.


I then took to reading up a bit on EU law and on some cases that were going to appeal at the Supreme Court fighting Emirates on exactly the same issue.

They were arguing if an airline had a duty of care for completion of whole of journey , not just point of entry into a country.

I then emailed AA again, who once more fobbed me off.

At this point I decided to make the greatest bet of my life- I paid £110 to take American Airlines to the small claims court.


This proved again that the Airline were playing hardball as they went into the most minute of detail in my wording of the claim.

Undeterred I just carried on – this was a matter of principle and TBH, had we been allowed onto the flight that left PHL at 4.20 on our travel day all of this would have been needless.

Anyway, I kept on going as did another family who were shafted on the same flight, they were Dibbers and we kept in touch all the way through the whole process. If you read this Tracy , I can only thank you for your tenacity, patience and support. xx


I also passed up the $100 dollar airline voucher that they offered as an apology. ( I don’t think the Dibb has an emoji that will sum up my response to that!)


This was the very first chink in the AA armour, all of my correspondence had been based around law and about the Emirates vs Gahn and Emirates vs Buckley cases that were being taken to the supreme court by Emirates.

The airline voucher offer , was the first sign they knew they were in the wrong – but $100 each, no I don’t think so!

We ploughed on - until one day in February, when my mobile rang at work – on a particularly awful day and thinking it was a PPI incoming call I answered, when I usually would ignore, just because I fancied the argument. Yes that was the exact reason I answered the call

It wasn’t PPI , it was a lawyer from a law firm representing American Airlines- I did ask for reassurance as I thought it was a wind up. Air firm law website viewed, and this person was the third picture down on the list – I was talking to one of the highest barristers in the country!

Great places are law firms websites, as there is a hierarchical approach to where you are on the list – this guy was at home, speaking to me on his home phone and wanting to give me money and I was looking at his companies website thinking that he just did not fancy a couple of days out of the office to come to Scarborough to see me- I’m thinking of the cost of that, and at the end of the day I am sure they all were too.


I had photos to share in court to prove we were denied boarding of the initial connector still up my sleeve and another bit of information that photos through the airport would support our claim – I really fancied my chances.

As much as I have loved the walt4it family vs American Airlines court papers – this was a bolt from the blue.

Was I prepared to accept full settlement at the days Euro rate of EU compensation?


I asked for it by email and when asked for my bank details I did question the phishing abilities involved. As the money hit my bank, I realised the enormity of the past 6 months.

Three letters – YES.

We had not paid that much for the return flights and it was not about that- this was about how we had been treated like a piece of dog dirt on a shoe by AA, on the day and ever since.

We had beaten the big company and not been bullied into submission for something that they could have avoided on the day- which still annoys me!

My first email to AA was on Sept 3rd , our notice of discontinuance to the small claims court was on the 3rd of March.

Weeks later, the Supreme court found in favour of Gahn and Buckley and in May I got the news that our fellow dibbers who had sought the same response had received their payment from AA.

For anyone who flies indirect in the future – you now have greater assurance that you will be treated with more respect and with an acceptance that if things go wrong, you will have EU rules that are proven to back you up.

If you are mucked around – please go back to the ruling of Gahn V Emirates and Buckley v Emirates, their determination has helped the indirect traveller.

I hope that our perseverance shows that the little family can beat the big multinational company – until the day I die, I will be so proud of taking them on based on fact and law was proven correct.

For us – it paid for 2018.

And that feels rather good

And so for a new pre trip report!


Welcome to A Mi11ion Dreams = 2018
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Going out in a Blaze of Glory- Our Summer of Sorcery 2019 - COMPLETE! 4 Weeks, from The Yacht Club for 10 nights onto much more Florida fun too

All of our previous Trip reports and escapades can be read here.

Edited at 02:43 AM.
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Old 22 Jul 18, 07:21 AM  
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KittyBlackDog
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This sort of thing really makes me 🤬. I am really pleased that you got a positive outcome and even more if it’s paid for 2018 👍🏻
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Old 22 Jul 18, 07:41 AM  
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TheRobsters
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Well done you for standing your ground, we had very similar issue back in 2011 with US airways now AA. Although we didn’t need to get as far as court, they eventually offered us enough to enable us to go again, we were hooked and the rest they say is history!
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Old 22 Jul 18, 08:10 AM  
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flo-tinka
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Wow. Go you!
Thinking of retiring from teaching to become the new Simon Calder or something 😂😂?
Glad we have a legal expert on the Dibb anyhoo 🤣👍
Btw well done for completion just in time. Off to find out your plans for next week now
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Old 22 Jul 18, 09:53 AM  
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princess allie
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Yay! Well done for your dogged perseverance. You were absolutely right, I guess a lot of people (me included) may have given up, but this inspires me.
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Old 22 Jul 18, 08:48 PM  
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Goldia
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Congratulations on the win. Not many of us would have had the perseverance to carry on.
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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
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Old 22 Jul 18, 09:10 PM  
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nadya
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Well done!-just at the start of a delay claim with tui,and ready for the long haul as I've heard they aren't too keen on coughing up!.nearly 3 weeks in and no response even to say they had our correspondence but not surprised.great that you got enough for this year's trip😀
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Old 22 Jul 18, 11:12 PM  
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walt4it
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Originally Posted by flo-tinka View Post
Wow. Go you!
Thinking of retiring from teaching to become the new Simon Calder or something 😂😂?
Glad we have a legal expert on the Dibb anyhoo 🤣👍
Btw well done for completion just in time. Off to find out your plans for next week now
Now that Simon Calder, has more free flights than I could only wish to have!


I have to admit , I really felt as if we had been done for by AA.
Expectation was low but , I was determined to see it through to the very end.
I only hope the family with very young children received something as they were the third family on that flight who had been done up like an AA kipper

Still make me cross thinking of it
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Going out in a Blaze of Glory- Our Summer of Sorcery 2019 - COMPLETE! 4 Weeks, from The Yacht Club for 10 nights onto much more Florida fun too

All of our previous Trip reports and escapades can be read here.
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Old 23 Jul 18, 03:24 PM  
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mick
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Well done on having the determination and Yorkshire grit to see this through

Joan
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Old 23 Jul 18, 04:08 PM  
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Jaspercat10
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well done you xx
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