At the last minute, Air Nostrum told you that your plane did not take off on time, what should you do then?
Having your flight delayed or canceled is certainly one of the things most feared when going on a trip. We often feel alone and disarmed in the face of the airlines to claim reimbursement for their flight.
If we have never experienced a significant delay or canceled flight (even during our round the world trip), it is always good to know your rights. We therefore provide you with an update on the conditions to be fulfilled and the steps to be taken to obtain compensation.
You should already know that as a traveler, you have rights. Since 2004, European regulations have listed these rights and clearly mentions the conditions of compensation and reimbursement to which you can claim. This regulation provides for care and reimbursement in the following cases:
– Delay,
– Cancellation,
– Denied boarding against the will of the passenger (overbooking),
– Missed connection.
Depending on the case, the amount of compensation can increase up to € 600
Another detail that may be important: retroactivity! You have 5 years to open a complaint file. It may be time for you to dive back into all the trips you’ve taken in the past five years and see if you can’t make some money back.
When you can claim compensation from the Spanish company?
In the event of cancellation, you have the direct right to be reimbursed for the full price of the ticket or to request from the airline a replacement flight at the earliest. If the airline has not notified you of the cancellation of your flight at least 14 days before your departure, you have the right to claim compensation. The amount depends on when the airline informed you of the cancellation and the time difference with the originally scheduled departure.
Basically, the later the company warns you, the shorter the time between that time and your replacement flight, the more likely you are to be compensated.
Overbooked flight, the passenger gets off the plane against his will
Without going into the details of practices, air carriers optimize the filling of planes by selling more tickets than seats to compensate passengers who do not show up for boarding. We can therefore find ourselves in the dire situation of travelers being denied boarding on a day of departure on vacation.
Your rights in this case:
In the event of overbooking, the air carrier is responsible for the situation (due to the practices described above) and therefore cannot take refuge behind exceptional circumstances.
He has to do two things:
– Give priority to people with reduced mobility and their companions,
– Call on volunteers to offer to give up boarding in exchange for certain services.
If the number of volunteers is insufficient, the carrier may refuse to let you board and the regulations entitle you to the same compensation as for flight delays.
What you can negotiate by volunteering: In the registration queue, you quickly understand that you are not going to be able to board. At the counter, the agent offers you to go through another destination (correspondence) and compensate you up to 600 euros per person by bank transfer, or 800 euros in travel vouchers for the 7 hours delay on arrival.
Take the complaint steps on your own
Yes. You can generally contact an airline company directly on its website or contact its after-sales service to request a refund following a delayed, canceled or overbooked flight. But very often, it is the obstacle course to succeed. If not impossible, this procedure can be long and tedious.
Go through a compensation company?
Indeed, it is the most effective solution to get what Air Nostrum owes him without being overwhelmed by the procedure.
Are you frightened about launching a claim for compensation or do you simply have no time to devote to this process? Call Flightright. This company has been helping passengers assert their rights since 2010. In 8 years, it has enabled its customers to recover more than 200 million euros.
For the traveler, the process is quite simple, just enter your flight number, the date and the problems you encountered (delay, cancellation, overbooking, etc.) and the teams of legal experts take care of everything. And above all it’s free! startups are paid commission (25%) if successful only.