Ever been on a delayed or canceled flight and felt like the airline owed you more? You’re right. And it might be A LOT more. You may be eligible for thousands of dollars!
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Delays and cancellations can be fun. Who would say no to spending a night in a 5-star hotel, dining out, and transportation all paid for by the airline? It’s an adventure, right? Who doesn’t like living completely spontaneously? And, it’s even better when you know how to get compensation for delayed flights too!
Who Would Say No?
Well, maybe you have a job or other responsibilities to get home to? Or you’re flying to your niece’s wedding and don’t want to end up getting there just in time for benching?
I was recently on a flight, and at check-in, I was asked if I’d be interested in taking $550 per person (five of us on the reservation) to take the next flight. Unfortunately, we really didn’t have the flexibility. While at the gate, I heard an announcement for another flight looking for volunteers willing to take $1000 and first class on the next flight!
Maybe you’d go for it if you’re just headed on a simple vacation with no specific plans. But, if you’re past the honeymoon stage, traveling with 3 kids, a baby, and exactly enough formula and kosher treats to last…well definitely not another 2 days or even 4 hours! You may think twice.
So I get it. It’s not always fun and games being delayed or bumped off your flight.
Check out 11 Indispensable Travel Tech Essentials to be prepared when you’re stuck!
Sometimes There’s No Choice
Sometimes the flight is just delayed, canceled, or you’re involuntarily bumped. Depending on the circumstances, this can be a real bummer/hassle/pain/disaster/etc. You pick the severity of the situation.
However, if you’re unfortunate (or fortunate) enough for any of this to happen to you, you should know how to get compensation for delayed flights. You could be eligible for hundreds of dollars–PER PASSENGER! Yes, DCA Claims recently facilitated a payout of over 15,000 NIS (over $4000) to a Kollel family living in Jerusalem!
So, you want to cash in?
How To Get Compensation for Delayed Flights
I’m going to discuss some of the basic guidelines for how to get compensation for delayed flights. But, the process can be tedious and time-consuming. Also, the laws vary greatly depending on the origin, destination, connection, airline, and more. So, it’s always best to use a professional.
A professional generally gets paid by taking a percentage of your payout. But, remember, you probably wouldn’t have gotten anything–or nearly as much–without them. Or, you would have spent hours and hours of your valuable time. Either way, a professional is the way to go.
Flying To/From/Through the EU or UK
Under EU/UK law, if your flight arrives over 3 hours late (yes, even 3 hours and 1 minute!) you are entitled to as much as 600 Euros per passenger. This applies not only to flights arriving or departing in the EU or UK, but even to connecting flights.
Hoffman recently completed a claim for a passenger flying from Texas to Israel with a 1-hour connection in Germany. Her flight was delayed by only 45 minutes. However, as a result, she missed her connection and was placed on the next available flight. Even though that next flight was only 4 hours later, this resulted in her arriving at her destination more than 3 hours later than her originally scheduled flight. Therefore she received €600 in compensation!
Pro Tip: A one-hour connection is generally considered too tight depending on the airport and whether or not you checked luggage that needs to make the connection as well. However, if the airline does book you on such an itinerary, then keep DCA’s contact information handy since there’s a good chance you’ll need it.
Flying To/From/Through Israel and Canada
Europe is not the only jurisdiction in which you may be entitled to compensation. Israeli and Canadian law also has passenger protections in place. So, you may have a surprise stash of cash waiting to be paid out.
Flying To/From/Through the US
Spoiler Alert: Unfortunately there is no law protecting passengers on US flights within the United States. So, if you flew from Hawaii all the way to Maine and had a delay or cancellation, you’d be out of luck.
However, remember that if the flight was continuing to/from [almost] anywhere else, you may be eligible. Also, even if your flight was entirely domestic, if it was with a European airline, you still may be eligible.
Also, you may be eligible for a delayed/canceled flight claim if you booked your ticket with certain credit cards.
Good to Know
Here are a few things that are good to know when it comes to how to get compensation for delayed flights.
- Be aware that airlines will offer you vouchers and air miles. Often they are just trying to get away cheaply.
- Airlines may claim they don’t have to pay if the delay was out of their hands (weather, for example). However, many times this is not true. Hoffman has won full compensation in many cases long after they were rejected and closed by the airline.
- Often, you can go as far as 6 years back to file a claim. However, how far back you can go depends on several factors. Sometimes it can be just 2-3 years.
- Keep any receipts for food, accommodation, and transportation that you pay out of pocket. You will often be reimbursed for these expenses in addition to the compensation! This might even include any toiletries and clothing you may have purchased since you didn’t have your suitcase with you.
Rescheduled Flights
If your flight was canceled or rescheduled within 14 days of departure, you may also be eligible for compensation. This could apply whether it was rescheduled to a later or an earlier time. So when in doubt reach out.
Delayed and canceled flights are a real hassle. But, if it happens to you, make sure you get what you’re owed! Could be thousands of dollars…
Aron Hoffman of DCA Claims contributed to this article. He can be contacted via DCA Claims.
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