Late-notice cancellation/re-route - rights?

Snudge88

Newbie
Sep 23, 2022
1
0
Morning, all!

I was due to be flying from Norwich to Berlin next Friday (30th September) via Amsterdam with KLM, with the following original itinerary:

0605hrs - Depart NWI
0800hrs - Arrive AMS
0845hrs - Depart AMS
1005hrs - Arrive BER

A couple of months ago, KLM moved me from the 0845hrs from AMS over to the 1015hrs from AMS, arriving into BER at 1130hrs - which was broadly fine.

This morning, I've received an e-mail stating that the 1015hrs AMS-BER has now been canceled, and my itinerary is now as follows:

0930hrs - Depart NWI
1125hrs - Arrive AMS
1400hrs - Depart AMS
1525hrs - Arrive CDG(!)
1800hrs - Depart CDG
1940hrs - Arrive BER

(Hopefully) understandably, I'm utterly livid, as this knocks out an entire day of my holiday at extremely short notice. KLM are offering me a refund for the affected flight but, having booked months in advance, there's not a hope in hell that the sub-£100 refund will come anywhere close to the cost of re-booking a more appropriate flight at such short notice.

Do I have any additional options here, up to and including a Small Claims Court claim against KLM for breach of contract and the subsequent loss incurred in attempting to salvage the start of my holiday? Or am I, to use the technical term, jiggered?
 
You might have a valid claim under eu261.