Didn’t Croatia Airlines respect your rights? Find out how can you defend them
The companies are indeed trying to offer smaller sums to passengers who are unfamiliar with their rights, but some are trying to stop paying these penalties at all.
If an airline such as a Croatia Airlines is responsible for the cancellation of a flight, a delay of more than 3 hours or the denial of boarding of a passenger, penalties ranging from 250 to 600 € are due to each traveler who requests it, to which is added the cost of waiting (hotel, meal, …) and the real costs of a missed cruise for example, up to a limit of € 4,500 per ticket. This right is thus valid in the event of a strike in the company, of technical concerns preventing take-off on time or of overbooking, but not if it is a snowy episode or a volcano that has woken up .
All the companies try to offer smaller sums to passengers who are unfamiliar with their rights, but some have tried for years to no longer pay these penalties at all. To cite just a few examples, EasyJet invented an air traffic controller strike that never took place, Finnair claims that a sick pilot is a case of force majeure, Ryanair sees storms when there are none and Jet2 claims that a delay linked to a technical problem does not open the right to compensation, but XL Airways has just further undermined the rights of European travelers, as revealed in the magazine. What to choose?
Usually, when requesting a completely standard compensation:
Croatia Airlines or other air operator claims that the request was made without any proof of travel, except for the electronic ticket issued when the ticket was purchased and allowing to board, because yes, these passengers have bought the tickets, they have photos of their vacation at destination, but the carrier implies that they did not, perhaps not fly with their initial tickets and that they could have bought another ticket. The company knows very precisely who used its routes, but it is up to the injured passengers to prove that they were indeed on board the delayed flight.
After a first refusal by the European court, the case was therefore brought before the first civil chamber of the court of cassation. Against all expectations, its decision confirmed that no compensation was due via a decree published on February 14 containing this magic phrase the applicants do not produce tangible evidence attesting that they boarded and suffered the alleged delay of 5 hours to the arrival. According to her, electronic tickets open the right to travel, but do not prove that the flight was actually taken.
It is a safe bet that all companies are rushing into this breach and that this type of injustice is becoming frequent. For those who will have to assert their rights against companies objectively in bad faith since they necessarily have the list of passengers who boarded and know who was on board, you will need to take several precautions and keep proof, such as the ticket that you is given to the check-in counter or the label stuck on your hold baggage.
But if you are traveling light, it is now possible to pass the security station and customs with a simple electronic ticket printed or presented on the smartphone, in which case you will have no proof. Here are some other ideas that can be used as evidence if needed:
– Take a selfie in the departure lounge in front of a screen, taking care to make the door and the flight number visible, or on board the plane with a journal that can attest to the date of the journey
– Activate the recording of your GPS position on your smartphone until you are seated on the plane
– If you are shopping at the airport or in flight, prefer your bank card to leave a trace
– Keep proof of the transport you will take: entering or leaving the car park with your car, public transport tickets, taxi bill.
Bypassing, the companies including Croatia Airlines had already managed to reduce reimbursements to only 5% of what passengers would theoretically be entitled to, thus saving millions of euros each year. Unless Europe requires companies to give specific reasons for a delay – in which case the info will be verifiable.
Use compensation companies:
Several startups give themselves the mission to recover the penalties due, only being remunerated by puncturing between 18 and 30% of the amount of the penalties actually recovered. Contact him through our form.