Up to $700 in compensation if your flight is delayed: Who can benefit and how to claim it
Delayed flights can dampen the holiday mood for anyone, but there could be some compensation if you were subjected to an extended stay at an airport.
Traveling to exotic locales is closely associated with summer season fun, but this process can sometimes cause a certain amount of grief. Case in point- flight delays, which can throw your whole holiday schedule out of whack.
If you’ve experienced flight cancellations or delays, you may be entitled to compensation for the inconvenience, at least if you were traveling to, from, or within Europe.
European law protects passenger’s rights
Under European law, passengers may be compensated for significant delays when these are the fault of the airline. This is in stark contrast to the rights of Americans when their flights are delayed in their own country, said Going.com founder Scott Keyes to CBS.
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EC 261/2004 is a European Union law that entitles passengers to compensation of up to $700 dollars if they undergo any of the following experiences:
- The flight (any airline) left the EU and arrived at its final destination with a delay of three or more hours.
- The flight on a European airline took off from a country outside the EU, landed within Europe, and arrived at the final destination with a delay of at least three hours.
To qualify for the compensation, the disruption must have been the fault of the airline and not caused by extraordinary circumstances, such as tumultuous weather, terrorist acts, or disruptive passengers.
If the delay lasted anywhere from three to five hours, the compensation could reach $700 depending on how far the plane traveled. The price of the ticket is not important; the distance of the trip is. Delays on short-haul flights can reach around $275, while long-haul flight disruptions can fetch the maximum $700.
However, if the delay lasted for more than five hours, the passenger may even claim for a full or partial refund of the original ticket.
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How to claim compensation for delayed flights
Affected passengers can contact the airline directly as a first step, but experts say that companies try to wear down clients hoping that they will give up on their claim.
If you get frustrated after attempting to talk to the airline yourself, you can try using online platforms that specialize in helping passengers claim compensation from airlines for flight delays, such as Flightright, Going.com, or AirHelp.