Sata Air Azores: Get a large sum of money by arriving late at your destination
Several airlines including SATA Azores Airlines have canceled several of their flights, in addition to reimbursement of the plane ticket, most passengers are entitled to claim compensation.
With a minimum of 150 people per plane for six weeks, nearly 300,000 passengers across Europe are expected to undergo this massive cancellation program.
Are you entitled to compensation for flight delay delays?
The vacation is coming to an end and you may have had some problems with your plane when leaving or returning. For more than thirteen years, a European regulation has entered into force and provides for the principle of compensation for passengers in the event of a flight delay of more than 3 hours. But beware, this delay is assessed on arrival and not on departure, since you can take off with a delay of more than 3 hours and arrive at the end with less delay. However, compensation is retained in the event of flight cancellation or overbooking.
If you arrive more than 3 hours late, what are you entitled to and how do you get it?
Regardless of the ticket price or the class of travel, the compensation is fixed. Its amount depends on the distance of the flight and, as we have seen, on the duration of the delay on arrival. In the event of a delay of at least 3 hours, cancellation or denied boarding, compensation may range from 250 euros up to 600 euros. For that, everything depends on the nationality of the company, European or not, and the country of departure of the plane, European or not, so that the users are a bit lost.
For example, a Paris-New York flight, operated by a non-European company, may be eligible for compensation, but a New York-Paris flight, operated by the same company, cannot be compensated. However, a New York-Paris flight operated by a European airline such as Sata Air Azores is eligible for compensation.
250 to 400 € compensation, that’s the rule
The company tells travelers that their ticket can be refunded – which is the least of it. On the other hand, it is much more discreet about the compensation that a portion of the passengers are entitled to claim in addition: European regulations provide for lump sum compensation in the event of cancellation if the passenger is notified less than two weeks before the scheduled flight.
In the case of flights within the European Union, this compensation amounts to:
– 250€ for flights up to 1,500 km,
– 400€ for flights over 1,500 km.
However, compensation can be canceled if the airline manages to offer a replacement flight arriving only a few hours later than the canceled flight (less than two hours or less than four hours later, depending on whether the cancellation was announced less a week in advance, or between one and two weeks).
Victims of cancellations must therefore make a double claim
– request reimbursement of the ticket,
– require payment of the compensation provided for by the regulations, if they have been notified less than two weeks in advance.
Estimate your damage
Airlines often drag their feet to pay this compensation. When will an automatic payment be made, in cases like this where the company’s fault is full and entire?
In addition, Sata Air Azores would be well advised to go beyond its legal obligations, by granting similar compensation to passengers notified of the cancellation more than two weeks in advance. Such a commercial gesture would be legitimate given the unprecedented nature of this wave of cancellations.
Finally, the compensation may be insufficient for certain passengers. For example, those whose cancellation makes them miss a connection or lose a week of vacation accommodation. It is then necessary to quantify its damage, and bring supporting documents, to claim reimbursement from the company. In this case, the procedure is likely to be long, and sometimes even settled in the courts.