Primera Air 

I was scheduled to fly from EWR to STN last night. This hasn't happened. I arrived at the gate at 22:05, only to be told to wait and given no reason.

After 30 minutes with no information, I inquired again at the desk and was told that they were going through their standard security checks.

At an hour and 20 minutes they make their first public announcement saying this is due to the security check, but nothing has progressed.

At 2 and a half hours they make the announcement that the flight is cancelled and that the one tomorrow would be at 11 (AM? PM?), and included minimal details. At this point it was 1am and thought I would be able to get the details in the morning, and there was already a line of roughly the entire population at the flight trying to get hotel vouchers from them. So I went home, intent on getting up early and sorting things out then.

Upon calling Kiwi (with whom I booked), they told me the airline had provided no update to them (this seems to be a pattern). They provided the number for Primera's customer service.

I called, and was forced to wait for 50 minutes. Given that it took them 8-10 minutes to respond to each person (which you could tell by how quickly your place in the queue decreased), it seemed as though they had just one person answering the phones. The representative told me that all of the flights today were full, but that they could book me on another airline. That they do not do automatic rebooking.

We were not instructed that this would be necessary. We were simply told to be there for the next flight at 11. Had we been told that we needed to call a number or wait in line and rebook I would have done so. I'm now in the process of attempting to find an alternative flight to the UK, and I'm far from happy with this airline.

In short: screw you, Primera Air.

Primera Air, like ALL EU based airlines, is bound the provisions of the EU Air Passenger Rights Directive (EU Regulation 261/2004). When your flight is delayed or cancelled, you are entitled to ASSISTANCE and COMPENSATION under the directive if your flight is delayed by 3 hours or more due to reasons within their control or if your flight is outright cancelled. If Primera is not performing this, they are breaking the law.

THERE IS NO GETTING OUT OF THIS AND THE AIRLINE KNOWS IT, which is why they give people the run around in hopes you will just give up. But do not let them get away with it and do not give up! Print this out and take it with you so you can be informed when airlines transgress their rights!

State your rights clearly and directly and quote the provisions directly to them. If you are unable to resolve the issue with six weeks of your first request, or the airline is unresponsive in this time, immediately lodge a formal complaint with the EU consumer rights commission ("European Commission - Resolve your consumer complaint") or with your national consumer complaints commission ("European Consumer Centres Network"). Do not let airlines get away with these kinds of things, as they are breaking the law and transgressing your rights as a consumer. Be informed about your rights, assert them when they are violated, and follow through with enforcing them.

The provisions are:
DELAYED FLIGHT
You're entitled to the rights listed under ‘Right to care’ if you're delayed by:

- 2 hours or more for flights of 1500 km or less; or
- 3 hours or more for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km and all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km; or
- 4 hours or more for flights of 3500 km or more.
Depending on the length of the delay you may be entitled to the rights listed under 'Right to rebooking or refund' and 'Right to compensation' (see below).

CANCELLED FLIGHT
If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to all of the rights listed below, unless:
- You’re informed of the cancellation at least 2 weeks before the scheduled departure time; or
- You’re informed of the cancellation between 2 weeks and 7 days before the scheduled departure time and you’re offered a rebooking, allowing you to depart no more than 2 hours before the scheduled departure time and reach your final destination less than 4 hours after the scheduled arrival time; or
- You’re informed of the cancellation less than 7 days before the scheduled departure time and are you’re offered a rebooking, allowing you to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled departure time and to reach your final destination less than 2 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

1. RIGHT TO CARE
If you’re involuntarily denied boarding, or your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed (as outlined above under delayed flight), you’ll be entitled to:
- meals and refreshments vouchers in reasonable relation to the waiting time, provided it won’t further delay departure of the flight,
- two telephone calls, telex or fax messages or e-mails,
- accommodation and transport between the airport and place of accommodation (if you’re offered a flight the next day).

2. RIGHT TO REBOOKING OR REFUND
If you’re denied boarding, your flight is cancelled or delayed by 5 hours or more:
- The airline must take all reasonable measures to provide you with an alternative flight to your final destination at no extra cost.
- You’re also permitted to change the date of travel to a later date to your final destination, provided there are seats available.
- If you no longer wish to travel with the airline, you’re entitled to a full refund of the unused ticket, and any onward flights with the same airline, including your return ticket.

3. RIGHT TO COMPENSATION
Compensation will not be payable if the cause for the delay or cancellation is due to extraordinary circumstances, which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. This may include, but may not be limited to, weather conditions affecting both the scheduled flight and earlier departures, strike action and other work conflict, air traffic control, unexpected illness of airline crew and other unforeseen circumstances that represent a safety hazard beyond our control.

If you’re involuntarily denied boarding, or your flight is cancelled or delayed by 3 hours or more on arrival due to reasons within our control, you'll be entitled to the following compensation with no exceptions:
- €250 for flights of 1500 km or less; or
- €400 for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3,500 km; or
- €600 for flights of 3500 km or more.

The compensation set out above will be reduced by 50% if the airline is able to offer you rebooking on an alternative flight and the arrival time of that flight does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight booked:
- by 2 hours for flights of 1500 km or less; or
- by 3 hours for flights within Europe of more than 1500 km, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km; or
- by 4 hours for flights of 3500 km or more.

We booked flights from London Stansted to Newark and we knew they were a budget airline, but there's budget and then there's Primera, staff at check-in were inexperienced and unprofessional, they didn't know how to use the systems or put a luggage label on, either in London or Newark. We booked & paid for bulkhead seats, but were told they had a last minute change of aircraft, so we didn't get them, despite being reassured at check-in that we still had them. Their own aircraft are not ready, so this was an out and out lie, they sold us seats that they knew they didn't have, they have sub-contracted National airlines planes, they are a charted airline who mainly transport the armed services & the planes are old and very uncomfortable, there is no entertainment systems at all. our return flight was very cold and they don't even have blankets or pillows, we didn't even get offered a cup of water on an 8hr flight, however we were constantly bombarded with items for sale by the stewards!! I absolutely would not travel with them again ever.

My only advice would be for anyone to avoid this airline just pay a bit more and go with anyone else. Terrible customer service, horrible booking experience avoid avoid avoid.

Worst possible company...same story as everyone: flight delayed 24 hours, 800 € claims promised, after 8 months they do not respond to emails.
Will never fly with them again.

Worst costumor service, if any. I should have received a refund 7 months ago, but i have not recieved it, and they are not responding my mails any longer.

Same story: flight delayed by over 24h, 400EUR per passenger promised to be paid out within 12 weeks, it's been over 6 months and I haven's received any money and they have stopped responding.

Does anyone know how to take this further? They are clearly breaking the European law and there must be someone we could contact to get the deserved compensation.

Same sad story from me - - two claims from Aug 2017, confirmed by Claims and allegedly sent to "Accounting" for pay out - still no response. Customer Service ask for booking number and say they advised Claims to "speed up". Unfortunately the many posts here on Trustpilot gives very little hope.
First of all, never buy a ticket from this company again - however cheap it may be.
Two, has anyone here tried to turn their claim over to the professional companies that help with such claims, and do they then respect them more? Because clearly they are breaking the law by not paying.

The promised us 400 euros per passenger in August 2017 .
Now 8 months later we still didn't got any compensation.

They do not follow EU laws for delay compensation. Waiting since Sep 2017 and reminding them is only giving standard response back.

Do not fly with this company, as the have lots of delays and not paying or very late payning out claims

I was promised compensation in 15 weeks. It's now been 30 weeks. They stopped responding. They refuse to let me talk to anyone beyond Customer Service, where they say they'll tell the Claims "Department." Absolute and total stonewalling. Claims promises something soon, nothing arrives. Ever. I'm speculating that they're about to file for bankruptcy and want...

Ja, det er bare i samme rille med dårlig kommunikation eller slet ingen i forbindelse med vores claim.
Fik via deres online chat (som jeg mener man skal bombardere med spørgsmål) en melding om, at der er endog meget lang tid til vi får kompensation. De skriver:

Unfortunately the payout of compensations is heavily delayed. At the moment we offer vouchers for 450 eur per passenger which are available right away. If you choose to wait for the money in your bank account then you still have to wait for some time. The compensation will be paid only much later than estimated and promised at the beginning. Apologies for the inconveniences.
At the moment we are not able to tell you the exact date, unfortunately.

Men Primera kan godt udlevere rabatkuponer - på tilsvarende erstatningsbeløb... men ikke sende penge til vores bankkonto? Det lugter jo ikke godt, at vi skal købe hos dem igen for at få vores tilgodehavende.

Terrible airline (High risk it won't fly)

Waited 48 hours for the flight. No customer service or any information. According to the airport staff, they were short of planes.

Currently, they refuse to pay any compensations or refunds. They do not even answer.

New reminder No. 89:

Today is the 30th of November 2017, and we have still not received any information from you, regarding our compensation.
You are actually breaking the European laws.

According to Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL of 11 February 2004, Article 7.1.(b):
we are entitled to: 2 x EUR 400,00 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres.
In total: 800 EUR.

Please pay attention to the cc. This is No. one Tabloid newspaper in Denmark, I´m pretty sure that they will have some interest in the Danish tourist industry….

What is the status for claim No. 96916514 ?
The claim was raised on the 2nd. of May 2017, and we still not have received our compensation or any information about when we will receive our compensation.

Regards

I am going to make a F/B group that will put pressure on your company and the company's that's involved with you , so people can see that you are doing the wrong thing, and furthermore I am going to contact other media so everyone can see that you don't follow the rules that's made by EU .
Even if it means that I have to pay for it, that's how mad 😡 I am . Forsinket i 13 timer og 4 mdr sener ingenting og kun dårlige undskyldninger

My first flight with Primera Air date: 02/08. Only 2 hours before takeoff, received an email with a 16 hours delay without any explanation. Had to book a new flight otherwise I would miss my connected flight afterwards. Sent a claim the same day and 10 days later (12/8) I still haven't heard anything from Primera Air despite a friendly reminder email sent a couple of days ago. Very low customer service. Not recommendable.

We were on our way home from Mallorca the 25th June with flight PF420 from Palma to Billund. That was simply a disaster. The plane was supposed to depart at 19:35 from Palma, but we were still queued up around this time and did not even started boarding as yet. People began getting impatient, so Primer Air decided to let us board, even though they were well aware of the plane would be delayed for more than an hour, and the plane arrived late at the gate. So we boarded and we got comfortable still waiting for the plane to take off, when the crews decide to announce that the plane was delayed about 1½ hour and I could hear airport staff loaded the luggage into the plane while we sat and waited. The worst was we had to sit in the very warm plane (40 degree C), no ventilation, so many people, children, babies; it was a very horrible experience. I began to hyperventilate, my real horror of travelling came to surface, I felt claustrophobic and other symptoms I did not know existed. Oh God, I only wished to get off the plane. I even swore I will never travel again, I was so mad, my blood sugar went up. And most of all, not even a glass of cold water was offered. You had to go up to the kitchen and buy your own drink. How can Premier Air treat people like this and get away with it? We live in the 21 century and yet we had to endure this torture. Who is looking out for us? We are their customers. And I thought travelling was enjoyable, not anymore. The customs and control are bad enough but this experience is beyond fun. They should pay compensation for any delay at all, not just under 2 hours when they know they have to pay. I was so mad I went up to talk to the employees because I think it was unfair we had to buy our own drink but they were madder at me and were very rude. They were clearly not trained for this kind of situation. What was most astonishing throughout this episode was the fact that I alone seemed to be affected by this inconvenience. If people protest against such delays, they would not occur. Also there should be an option to get off a plane in that heat when it is delayed so long. I wonder if this is a deliberate strategy Primera Air is using to delay the flight just enough so that Primera Air can avoid paying compensation for delays.

Want to share my experience with this company, to make sure that noone does the same mistake as I did when I ordered a flight with this company.
Late october last year I ordered tickets to Las Palmas from Gardermoen at Primera air's site. A week before departure, I recieved an email where I was told that my flight was delayed from 10.45 pm, to 2.25 pm. I sendt a reply the same day, asking an explanation for the delay, and was told that the delay was due to changes in slot time at Gardermoen airport, in other words, not anything the aieline was responsible for and nothing I could complain about.
The problem started when I got to Gardermoen about 11.45 am, but could not find my flight on any of the boards, and was unable to find any check-in points for Primera Air. After about an hour of intensive searching, I was told that my flight left Gardermoen 10.45 that day.
This company had sold tickets to me and several other passengers, and for some reason, told us that the flight was delayed to make sure we did not show up at the airport in time for our flight.
I contacted costumer support, but they had closed the office for the day, so I was only able to reach one employee, who was responsible for the luggage sendt with Primera Air. I was told that I had to wait 3 days until monday morning, before the main office opened and could help me further.
As I only had a week vacation, and my daughters was waiting for me, I had to travel from Gardermoen to Rygge and get a new ticket to Las Palmas with another company.
Eventually I got to Las Palmas, But it would take the company another 9!! months and a lot of emails, complaints and finally a threath of a lawsuit, before they eventually covered my expenses for the new ticket.

Stay clear of this company!!

I flew with Primera Air in June 2013 from Billund, Denmark to Zakynthos, Greece and back. It was a very pleasant flight. The crew was very friendly and helpful. The plane (Boing 737-800) was nice and clean and on time. There was absolutely nothing to complain about on this flight.