Airline passengers have more rights than they often realize when it comes to claiming remuneration from airlines for trip disruptions. In fact, the app AirHelp, which assists air passengers in claiming those funds, estimates that on flights to and from Europe alone, U.S. passengers left $413 million in claims on the table in 2017.
Airlines editor Robert Silk spoke recently with AirHelp CEO Henrik Zillmer about the rules regarding claims and what air passengers should do to assert their rights.
Q: First, let's talk generally about scenarios in which U.S. flyers are entitled to payment from the airlines. What are those situations?
Henrik Zillmer
A: If we start with European laws, all air passengers in the U.S. who are flying to and from Europe, if you are flying on an EU carrier, then all your flights can be entitled to compensation if the flight is delayed more than three hours or if it is canceled.
Q: But there are situations in which that's not the case, right?
A: Yes. If there is extraordinary circumstance, so a reason for the flight delay. And that can be a snowstorm, so the airport closes down. It could also be that there's threats to safety in the airport or on the flight. Things that don't go as planned in the day-to-day operation of an airline; that, of course, is something that the airline is liable for.
Q: If you are on a U.S. carrier, when are you entitled to compensation?
A: When you are on a U.S. carrier flying from Europe, not to Europe, and your flight is delayed more than three hours, then you are also entitled to compensation under European laws.
Q: Now let's talk about U.S. law. In what cases can a U.S. traveler get remunerated on a domestic flight?
A: The U.S. air passenger rights don't really help you as much on delays and cancellations. It is only if your flight is overbooked and you are denied boarding. Here it is stated that you can get up to $1,350 and, of course, another flight, because the airline is still obligated to bring you to your destination. But this amount depends on the delay to your final destination.
Q: Airlines make voucher offers in order to find volunteers to get off overbooked planes. What's your advice on taking these deals?
A: What the airlines will always try to do is to buy you out of your rights, because they know that you might be entitled to up to $1,350 if you claim it, but they will probably give a voucher for a much lower amount. So what we say is do not accept that offer. Do not surrender your reservation, because you have rights, and in most cases you are entitled to a lot more than what they are offering.
Q: What if I am flying on a connecting itinerary and my first flight is late, however, I still arrive at the gate before the door is closed, but the airline has already given my ticket away on standby?
A: In this case, if you have already checked in to the flight, and you are now at the gate, and they have sold your ticket to someone else, then that would be an involuntary bumping.
Q: How about lost, damaged and delayed luggage? What are the rules in those cases?
A: Then we move over to another regulation called the Montreal Convention, and that is not specific to the U.S. or Europe. It is actually a regulation that all airlines have signed. It basically says that if you have any damages on your luggage, if your luggage is lost or if it's delayed, then you are entitled to reimbursement of the content of your luggage up $1,450. This applies to damage or if they delay your luggage and because of that delay you had to go out and buy an item you had to have.
Q: Documentation is important, right?
A: It is very important that once you see your luggage is gone or delayed that you go to the luggage counter at baggage claim. They will then ask you to fill out a Property Irregularity Report. Then, I also recommend that you keep your luggage tag. And then, of course, all of the expenses that you have, keep your receipts.
Q: If you find yourself in one of these situations, how should you file a claim?
A: You can always go to our website or download our app to see what your rights on that particular flight are, and it will give you an immediate answer, so it is like having a lawyer in your pocket, basically.
At that time, you can decide, 'Do I want to do the claim myself and spend my time talking to the airlines?' Or you can say, 'I'm not going to bother with this, I'm going to give this to AirHelp,' and then, of course, we take all the hassle, and for that we take 25% of whatever we might get. But if we're not successful, of course, then you don't pay anything.