EU flight compensation explained in simple words
Flight delays happen every day. If you are a frequent traveller you’ll have experienced it yourself at least a couple of times. But you don’t have to be a frequent traveller to have heard about all these flights that go cancelled every now and then, sometimes tens of them in a single day. A report by Eurocontrol has warned that the number of flight disruptions will grow as much as 9 times in the next 20 years.
What you should know is that in Europe and travelling with European airlines you are protected.
EU flight compensation explained
- Who can claim
Everyone who has bought a flight ticket can claim flight compensation.
No matter the citizenship or age. First of all, you don’t have to be European citizen to be entitled to EU flight compensation. And, secondly, yes, your under 2 years old might be entitled to flight compensation, too. Same like you.
What’s important, you don’t have to have a travel insurance to be eligible to it.
- What are the rules
Well, the rules are very simple.
Whenever your flight gets heavily delayed (3+ hours), cancelled less than 14 days before the scheduled time of departure or you’ve been denied boarding because there aren’t any free seats anymore – you might be entitled to flight compensation of up to 600 euro.
You will not get it automatically – you have to claim it.
It applies to the following situations:
- You are flying to or from Europe;
- Flight delay or cancellation is the airline’s fault;
- If you are flying from a country outside Europe, your flight must be with a European airline;
- It happened within the last 3 years.
Europe here means all EU Member States and Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.
- How much can you claim
The compensation amounts are fixed.
- €250 – if the distance of your flight is up to 1500 kilometres;
- €400 – if the distance of your flight is more than 1500 kilometres.
- €600 – if the distance of your flight is more than 3500 kilometres.
In other words – the longer your journey, the more you can claim.
- How to claim flight compensation
One of the options is to try and contact the airline yourself.
Don’t want to deal with this yourself? Another and hassle-free option is to ask someone more experienced (e.g. Refundor) to do it on your behalf. It’s a very straightforward procedure that will help you to save a lot of time.
How much does it cost? Refundor pursues your flight compensation for a 25% fee. No hidden fees or expenses. No upfront fees. If, however, it turns out that you aren’t entitled to flight compensation, it will cost you nothing. No compensation, no fees.
Simply submit your flight details at refundor.com, sign the claim and wait for the money. That’s it!
