Under European and British Laws, Airlines must run efficient operations. If you are traveling and face a cancelations or delay, you may be eligible for compensations. Even since the UK left the EU. EU 261 / 2004 continues on in the United Kingdom as UK261. So regardless if you’re on an EU or UK airline, if you have a flight disruption, you are covered by the law. Keep reading to see what compensation you deserve.
EU 261 / 2004 Back Ground
The European Commission (EC) has extremely strict laws that require airlines to not only inform passengers of delays and cancellations, but the airlines must ensure passengers are comfortable and well taken care of during the ordeal and provide compensation. The EC has passed, basically the bill of airline passengers rights, or as they call it EC 261/2004: Regulation establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights. EC 261/2004 applies to all airlines when departing or traveling within an EU member state or any airline based in the EU (including Iceland, Norway or Switzerland).
The basics to this law are broken down into three different categories/situations that are likely to occur when traveling: Denied boarding, Cancellations/Delays, Downgrades. Cash compensation is mandated in many situations (details below), and other than accommodation and refreshments and means of communication, compensation is always based on the length of flight that the irregular operations occurred.
Denied Boarding
Like the US, the EU airlines must take volunteers first and the volunteers and the airlines decide on their compensation, if not enough people volunteer then airlines can deny passengers the right to board, as long as they offer the passengers the following compensation packages.
- reimbursement of the cost of the ticket within seven days or a return flight to the first point of departure or re-routing to their final destination;
- refreshments, meals, hotel accommodation, transport between the airport and place of accommodation, two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails;
- Cash compensation based upon length of flight.
| Cash Compensation | Length of flight |
| €250 | Less than 1500KM (932mi) |
| €400 | Great than 1500KM, but less than 3500KM |
| €600 | Greater than 1500KM (2175mi) |
Delays & Cancellation
No one enjoys a delayed flight or a cancelled flight, but the EC is determined to make sure air passengers are well taken care of during delays and flight cancellations. The EC has adopted a tier system for delayed and a cancelled flight which regulates what an airline must do based on the length of the delay.
- In the event of 2 hour or longer delays, passengers must be offered free meals and refreshments plus two free telephone calls ( or telex or fax messages or e-mails)
- If you are delayed overnight, hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation must be available.
- If the delay is five hours or longer, passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure.
- If your flight is delayed or cancelled and your rerouting does not get you to your original destination within 3 hours of original scheduled time, you may be entitled to cash compensation depending on the length of the flight.
You will not receive compensation if:
-
- the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances for example due to bad weather, or
- you were informed 2 weeks before the scheduled flight date, or
- you were offered an alternative for the same route with a similar schedule to the original one.
| Cash Compensation | Length of flight |
| €250 | Less than 1500KM (932mi) |
| €400 | Great than 1500KM, but less than 3500KM |
| €600 | Greater than 1500KM (2175mi) |
Downgrades
Nothing is more irritating than being downgraded to a lower class of service. I know, I have my personal experience of this which happened earlier this month when flying on US Airways from IAD to CLT due to IRROPS. Despite this, the EC has ruled that if a passenger is downgraded, they are entitled to a refund of their original ticket price depending on the length of the flight.
- 30% refund for flights less than 1500km.
- 50% refund for flights more than 1500km but less than 3500KM.
- 75% refund for flights more than 3500KM.
How to be reimbursed
From personal experience, no airlines in the EU are going to write you a check or hand over cash compensation at the time of delay/occurrence. In fact, when I asked the customer service representative about the cash compensation in Geneva, he laughed at me. Telling me he was not given the right to provide passengers with compensation, but only alternative flights and food/lodging certificates. Therefore, as soon as the flight is delayed/cancelled and you have been rerouted or rebooked, I highly suggest that you contact customer service. I always suggest emailing the airline you are flying to request compensation. Be sure to include the following items:
1) Your Name & complete contact information (phone number, address, email)
2) Original flight numbers, ticket number, and reservation number
3) Information regarding the issue and the resolution provided at time of service (if any)
4) Fill out and attach the air passenger rights EU complaint form [119 KB] (also available in Deutsch españolfrançais italiano polski) to your complaint sent to the airline. Be sure to keep a copy for your records, in case the airline does not respond.
Once you have followed these simple steps, the airline should respond to you in a timely matter. If they do not, you can complain to the national enforcement body [222 KB] in the EU country where the incident took place and hope for resolution that way.
My Personal Experience with Lufthansa
After my flight was cancelled from GVA-FRA and I was provided with overnight accommodations along with 45CHF for dinner to be used at the hotel I was staying in and a coupon for a buffet breakfast the following morning, I sent Lufthansa’s Customer Care an email requesting compensation of €250 in accordance with EC regulation 261/2004. I was delayed 15 hours and my flight was less than 1500km. I filled out the air passenger right form and attached it to my request and within 5 days I received the following email.
Dear DoubleWidesFly,
Thank you for your correspondence Your taking the time to describe your recent experience is appreciated. We are sorry to learn of the difficulties you encountered on this occasion due to the flight irregularity of flight LH1225 on May 23, 2013. On behalf of Lufthansa please accept my sincere apologies for all related inconvenience.
Despite our best efforts to operate our flights according to schedule there are occasions when unforeseen circumstances prevent us from doing so. As there are a variety of factors that affect flight operations, schedules may be impacted. Nevertheless, we trust you will take comfort in the fact that the safety of our passengers and crew is always our first priority.
Our records indicate that flight LH1225 experienced an irregularity due to the illness of a crew member. Please be assured that we do not under-estimate the disruption passengers are caused in such circumstances.
Your patronage is important to us and when our service fails to meet our customer’s expectations we feel it important to acknowledge this. Under separate cover, we are mailing a check for USD322.00 (EUR250) as compensation for your recent travel disruption. Please allow 15-20 business days for processing and delivery.
DoubleWidesFly, we thank you for your assistance and ask that you view this recent experience as an exception to the quality service Lufthansa normally provides and look forward to the opportunity to regain your confidence in our services.
Bottom Line
There you have it folks, compensation for my troubles! Be sure to know your rights and follow through when traveling to/from or within the EU. The Airlines are not going to reach out to you to offer cash compensation, you MUST request it! Any questions, feel free to ask.
