Luxair flight overbooked: Several hours of ordeal at the airport
Overbooking is an airline practice of selling more tickets than available seats. If Luxair’s plane is never full when you board, the company can then deny you boarding. And suddenly it’s drama. Fortunately, we are here to get you out of this mess! Here is everything you need to know to get out of the game in case of overbooking.
Is the Luxembourg company authorized to oversell your place?
Overbooking is perfectly legal and airlines have the full right to practice it. The more you travel during a busy period, the greater the risk of overbooking, but if the majority of air carriers overbook, none will tell you on the phone if the flight is overbooked, the aim being above all to make the most of the flight in case of passenger cancellations. Certain periods (departures on vacation, bridges or public holidays, …) are particularly conducive to overbooking, so you can at least prepare yourself psychologically and make your arrangements.
Passengers without seats, what are their rights
If the plane is full when you board and you are denied boarding due to overbooking, Luxair must take care of you and compensate you. She can offer you another flight later, the refund of your ticket if you do not wish or cannot postpone the flight and, possibly, re-routing to your departure city if you are connecting.
If you have to wait for the next flight, Luxair must cover your catering, accommodation and telephone calls.
Compensation for victims of overbooking
In the event of denied boarding, your operator must provide you with a form to be completed in order to send a lump sum compensation request to the customer service of the Luxembourg company Luxair. She must also give you a certificate of denied boarding due to overbooking which you must attach to your mail. You must send everything by registered post with acknowledgment of receipt in order to keep a record of this shipment in the event of a subsequent complaint.
The amount of the lump sum compensation is variable. It depends on the distance traveled by your flight but also on the total delay on arrival.
For all flights up to 1500 km: compensation is € 250 (€ 125 if the delay does not exceed 2 hours)
For flights in the European Union of more than 1500 km and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km
Compensation is 400 € (200 € if the delay does not exceed 3h)
For all other connections: The compensation is € 600 (€ 300 if the delay does not exceed 4 hours).
Seek the help of lawyers?
Some companies offer services and solutions to assist you in your efforts to obtain compensation from airlines including Luxair.
What if the company has successfully justified your refusal of boarding?
You will not be entitled to support and compensation from the airline in the event of justified boarding refusal, namely whether you have been denied boarding for reasons of safety, health or if you have lost your ID after registering for example.
Overbooked flight, take advantage of it by getting compensation
In the event of overbooking, before denying boarding to passengers for lack of places, the hostesses must launch a call in the departure lounge to find volunteers who would like to give up their place on the plane in exchange for compensation lump sum, ticket refund and free flight postponement.
This compensation is often very attractive for the traveler (estimated on average € 600 on flights outside the European Union) and can therefore be a small jackpot fallen from the sky for the traveler who has flexible travel dates.
In all cases, the company being in demand, do not hesitate to negotiate upwards the amount of compensation. Of course, if you are 10 volunteers and the company only wants to vacate 5 seats on the plane, it will not work because there will always be a passenger to accept the offer of the company without negotiating.
Finally, if you are interested in such compensation, head quickly to the boarding counter as soon as the hostess has launched her call because the first arrivals will be first served and you may well leave empty-handed because you have dragged too much a long time at Duty Free.
Tip to get compensated each time the Luxair flight is overbooked
To increase your chances of winning this jackpot, present yourself 2 hours before to the hostesses at the boarding gate and register as a candidate for disembarkation in the event of overbooking. They will then call on you if overbooking is proven. If there is ultimately no overbooking, you will have lost a few hours but the game is worth the effort if it works.