Have you ever skilled a flight delay, cancellation or downgrade that you just’re certain qualifies for EU261 compensation however the airline will not pay?
In that case, you are not alone.
Many airways regularly reject EU261 compensation requests below the guise that unspecified “extraordinary circumstances” brought on the issue. These magic phrases relieve airways of their accountability to pay financial compensation below the rules established by the European Fee.
Even worse, different carriers put EU261 claims in an countless holding sample, seemingly hoping passengers will finally hand over.
Jonathan Hay confronted this example final summer season after Azores Airways immediately canceled his household’s flight residence from trip. Studying TPG’s information to EU261 satisfied Hay that the airline owed every member of his household 600 euros ($700).
Nonetheless, after months of unsuccessful makes an attempt at navigating the EU261 compensation course of, Hay requested TPG for assist.
Here is his irritating story and the steps you possibly can take if an airline is refusing to pay your legitimate EU261 compensation request.
A canceled flight residence from Europe
Final July, Hay, his spouse, their three kids and his mother and father went on an journey to mainland Portugal and the Azores.
“I am blissful to inform you that the numerous methods I’ve discovered through the years from TPG got here in helpful,” Hay instructed me. “I used to be capable of e-book most of our flights with factors that I’ve accrued from numerous bank cards. That alone saved us 1000’s of {dollars}! I used to be the journey hero.”
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Hay mentioned the group had a completely pleasant and trouble-free two-week trip in Portugal. However the journey ended on a decidedly bitter word.
On what ought to have been the ultimate day of their journey, the household arrived at Ponta Delgada Airport (PDL) on Sao Miguel Island, the capital of the Azores. The household was wanting ahead to getting again residence. Their nonstop flight on Azores Airways would have them again at Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) in just a bit below six hours.
That’s, if Azore Airways hadn’t delayed their flight a number of instances after which finally canceled it.
“All of a sudden my complete household was stranded and I wasn’t certain what to do,” Hay recalled. “Azores Airways did not give us a lot steerage. We had been primarily deserted.”
Resort and meals bills after a canceled flight from Europe
Hay rapidly started looking out on the web and located a resort for the evening that would accommodate all the household. The surprising in a single day keep value practically $1,000 for all the clan.
However Hay was unbothered.
In line with the small print of the EU261, Azores Airways could be required to reimburse him for the group’s lodging, meals and transportation to and from the airport. He additionally calculated they might every obtain the 600 euros ($700) in EU261 compensation. This can be a cost that airways are required to present passengers after a long-haul flight (over 3,500 kilometers, or about 2,175 miles) departing from Europe will get cancelled.
“It was positively inconvenient and tense,” Hay mentioned. “However the EU261 advantages I knew we had been entitled to made it a lot much less so.”
The next afternoon, the group headed again to the airport, and after an extra delay of a number of hours, the Hays had been lastly airborne. They touched down in Boston about 27 hours after their initially scheduled arrival.
The subsequent day, Hay started his pursuit of the EU261 compensation advantages — a mission that morphed into an unexpectedly difficult endeavor.
Asking for EU261 compensation … for six months
Initially, Hay assumed that the airline would rapidly pay his household the compensation that EU261 requires.
However instantly, Hay hit an issue: Azores Airways would not have a devoted EU261 declare kind on its web site. So Hay filed a common canceled flight criticism after which waited.
Over the course of six months, Hay periodically despatched follow-up emails to Azores Airways asking for the standing of his request. Every time, he would obtain what gave the impression to be an auto-generated response advising him that the airline was receiving a excessive quantity of complaints.
It learn:
“Pricey Passenger,
Thanks for reaching out to SATA.
We’re at present experiencing a better than regular quantity of complaints, leading to an elevated common response time from our Buyer Care crew.” (SATA/ Azores Airways)
With that path clearly going nowhere, Hay subsequent despatched an e-mail to the nationwide enforcement company of the EU261 in Portugal — Autoridade Nacional da Aviacao Civil.
In response, he obtained a kind letter explaining that ANAC was unable to assign refunds to passengers. The e-mail went on to encourage Hay to work with the airline and maybe pursue “judicial or extrajudicial means.”
Hay mentioned that after receiving that message from ANAC, he started to contemplate paying a third-party firm to take over his EU261 criticism. These corporations cost about 30% of no matter they get again for the passenger.
As a substitute, Hay determined to show to the supply that made him into the journey hero his household thought of him to be: TPG.
Asking TPG for assist navigating this EU261 compensation request
When Hay’s request for help landed in my e-mail field, he was nearly prepared to surrender.
“I am reaching out with a little bit of a ‘Hail Mary,’ however figured it was value a shot,” Hay wrote.
“I’ve learn many tales on The Factors Man about you serving to different vacationers who felt caught! At this level, I am contemplating paying a kind of third celebration corporations that take a payment to chase these items down simply within the hopes of getting one thing, nevertheless it looks like a poor end result.”
After I reviewed Hay’s paper path, I suggested him to carry off on that subsequent step. I might see he had made it simple for Azores Airways to mainly ignore his criticism. It appeared that each one of his follow-up messages had been touchdown in an e-mail field with an auto-responder hooked up. He had by no means reached an actual particular person on the airline.
Then, when he despatched his inquiry to ANAC, he wasn’t certain if he had adopted the proper procedures for a proper criticism.
On Hay’s behalf, I despatched a request to the Azores Airways government crew to have his declare reviewed and expedited.
As a result of Hay had been ready so lengthy for the decision to his case, I additionally suggested him to submit a proper criticism with ANAC by means of their on-line kind.
Excellent news: Your EU261 compensation is authorized
I might like to say it was all clean crusing from there, nevertheless it nonetheless took about eight extra weeks earlier than Hay lastly obtained excellent news.
ANAC had reviewed Hay’s criticism and forwarded it to Azores Airways, which was required to reply.
Here is what the airline wrote to him:
“Pricey Sir/Madam Jonathan Hay,
Relating to the criticism submitted by you to this Authority, we wish to inform you that ANAC, because the competent authority for executing the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004, establishing frequent guidelines on compensation and help to passengers within the occasion of denied boarding, cancellation or lengthy delay of flights, with regard to airports positioned in Portuguese territory, requested due clarification from the air provider as to the explanations for the flight disruption.
Following ANAC request, the air provider agreed to pay the compensation offered for within the aforementioned Regulation.” (Formal response from the civil aviation authority in Portugal)
Ultimately, the airline agreed to pay every member of the family 600 euros for a complete of 4,200 euros ($4,900). It additionally paid for practically the entire resort, meals and transportation bills Hay requested for his or her surprising in a single day.
Now that he is efficiently tackled this mission, Hay has retained his title of “journey hero” in his household.
“Total, it is a comparatively blissful ending (ignoring, after all, the immense stress of the particular journey expertise itself! Thanks once more to your steerage right here, and be at liberty to inform my story — hopefully, others can be taught from it.
Jonathan Hay, Hay household Journey Hero”
How to ensure your EU261 compensation declare will get paid
EU261 offers highly effective safety to vacationers in opposition to the monetary repercussions of flight cancellations, delays and downgrades. Nonetheless, it additionally comes with some important loopholes for airways that go searching for them to keep away from paying up.
One of the best ways to guard your self in opposition to airline shenanigans is to familiarize your self with the EU261 regulation. Figuring out what to ask for and the right way to ask for it may be the distinction between getting compensation and never. It would additionally guarantee you do not set off on a mission not possible: losing your time submitting claims for money the airline would not owe you.
In case you’re owed EU261 compensation, listed below are the straightforward steps to get the airline to pay.
File a proper request for EU261 compensation
In case your flight delay or cancellation qualifies for EU261 compensation, and also you’re on the airport, the airline is required to present you details about what it owes you below the circumstances.
In Europe, airways usually hand out just a little card with a abstract of the rules and directions about submitting your declare.
Even when the circumstances don’t require the airline to pay you in line with EU261’s circumstances, your provider nonetheless has a fundamental obligation to take care of you throughout prolonged flight delays and cancellations. Which means the airline cannot simply endlessly delay or cancel your flight and depart you stranded on the gate. Meals, drinks, resort lodging and transportation to and from the airport should be offered to passengers.
In case you do not obtain vouchers for this stuff, be sure to maintain the receipts for your entire out-of-pocket bills. You will have to submit these in your EU261 declare.
In Hay’s case, he mentioned the airline did not present any steerage about EU261 or the right way to file a criticism. However most airways make it pretty simple to file an EU261 compensation declare by means of a web based kind.
It’s crucial that you just particularly point out the EU261 while you file your declare. That can route your request to the proper division.
Escalate your declare
Sadly, as a result of there isn’t a actual definition of extraordinary circumstances, I do know from my case information that, no less than initially, an unlimited variety of EU261 claims are rejected below that subjective time period.
After all, everybody can agree that unhealthy climate is a rare circumstance — airways don’t have any management over it. However different issues like mechanical issues, employee strikes, timed-out crew and different occasions are much less clear. Some airways declare all types of issues as extraordinary occasions, and it turns into very tough for passengers to show in any other case.
In case your first request for EU261 compensation is rejected, do not hand over simply but. Ask for the precise motive for the denial.
If you cannot attain an actual particular person to attraction your case on the airline, my advocacy group Client Rescue might help. We always replace a customer support database with the names and speak to data of customer-facing executives in any respect the most important airways who’ve a historical past of serving to customers. Simply ship us a request and we’ll ship you the contact data (freed from cost).
File an attraction with the nationwide enforcement physique
In case you’ve unsuccessfully appealed an unsuccessful EU261 compensation declare internally with the airline, it is time to transfer your efforts to the nationwide enforcement company within the nation the place your downside occurred.
All nations that adhere to the EU261 regulation preserve an enforcement company and that is the place you’ll file a proper attraction.
The U.Ok. has adopted its personal regulation an identical to the EU261 known as UK261. The U.Ok. Civil Aviation Authority offers its personal steerage on compensation appeals.
If you make your formal criticism, make certain to incorporate the date, flight quantity and size of delay. In case you’re unsure of the precise delay, you should utilize the free model of FlightAware to seek out it.
Though the enforcement companies are sarcastically not capable of pressure an airline to pay you EU261 compensation, carriers are required to answer your criticism through that platform. If the details are in your aspect, a proper request for cost forwarded by the governing physique of the European Fee nearly all the time offers a powerful nudge to the airline to course of the declare.
Backside line
The EU261 guidelines had been set as much as defend and compensate air passengers impacted by prolonged flight delays and cancellations. In case you consider that you just qualify for compensation, contact your airline and file a criticism. Make certain your declare incorporates the phrase “EU261 compensation request.”
If that does not resolve the cost difficulty, you possibly can file an attraction with the nationwide enforcement physique within the nation your airline is working from.
After all, if that fails, you’ve got another instrument in your problem-solving belt: Ask TPG for help. Ship your request for assist to ombudsman@thepointsguy.com, and I will be blissful that can assist you, too, if I can!
