First half of 2017: more than 430.000 passengers are entitled to compensation for flight delays
In the first six months of this year, more than 430.000 passengers – with a departure or arrival destination in the Netherlands – were entitled to financial compensation after a flight delay, according to figures from Vlucht-vertraagd.nl. This number is expected to increase in the third quarter due to the increasing holiday crowds at Dutch airports.
In the first two quarters of 2017, more than a quarter of all passengers experienced a flight delay or even cancellation. These are delays of at least fifteen minutes. Flight-delayed.nl received more than 42.000 requests for claims in these quarters. During the holiday period, this increases to 1.000 applications per day, which means that the number of claims will double this year compared to 2016.
Right to financial compensation
Research shows that only fifteen percent of the Dutch are aware of European legislation. This states that passengers are entitled to compensation in the event of a delay of more than three hours, an overbooking or a cancellation. There were a total of 3.166 problem flights in the first two quarters of this year, in which more than 430.000 passengers were entitled to financial compensation, including approximately 139.000 Dutch passengers.
Extraordinary circumstances are beyond the airline's control. In that case, the passenger is not entitled to compensation. A defective aircraft is one of the frequently heard reasons for a delay and, like most other causes, simply entitles you to compensation.
Below are the most common causes of a flight delay.
- Defective aircraft
- Plane arrived late
- Weather conditions
- Operational problems
- Airport restrictions
- Staking
- Sick employee
- Collision with a bird
- Sick passenger
- Political upheaval
In all the years that I now travel by plane (±30) I have only had a major delay once, where I could claim. Delay was 20 hours. Reimbursement € 600. Have this handled by an agency, they collect 30% / Was arranged within 5 weeks. I'm afraid if you have to do it yourself that you will be sent from pillar to post.
However, I would rather have a delay than a plane that crashes due to technical defects.
The reception was quite good, a bit chaotic at first (but yes with 300 people), but it got off the ground fairly quickly. By bus to NOVOTEL, room only and 2x a reasonably good buffet.
So in hindsight everything was fine
The problem is that the companies do not cooperate at all in paying that compensation. They always state first that they don't owe the fee with all sorts of excuses. I have already had to litigate against KLM 2 times to get my point. Highly annoying. If you want to fly as an individual you have to pay immediately in advance, but when it is KLM's turn to pay, they don't give a damn.
That's why I had it done by a company, google it and you'll find many.
I chose EUclaim.nl. Others will no doubt be good too.
They put all documents in an online file, and indeed if you have to arrange everything yourself you will have to litigate. For them, a threat is often enough. The disadvantage or advantage of all those companies is that if they expect that no payment will follow, they will not start.
I have not had a bad experience with KLM at all. I was delayed by 22 hours. Hotel reception, food, transport to and from the airport were all well organised. Back in the Netherlands, I submitted a claim via the KLM website. I had photos of the boarding passes. I received a call from KLM and could choose between 600 euros via the bank or a voucher of 800 euros. Also an application form for 2.000 flight miles as compensation (crediting could take several months). That form had to be sent to an address in France. However, I have not received it yet and it has already been 5 months... I'll have to email her again about that.
For the record, reimbursements are only paid by companies that have a European branch. So with Eva Air, China Airlines and all those Arabs, no compensation is paid in the event of a delay.
“So with Eva Air, China Airlines and all those Arabs, no compensation is paid in the event of a delay.” That is incorrect. Eva Air paid out without any problems.
Here is the text from my rejection email from China Airlines for a delay of more than 6 hours:
“For the incoming international flights from a non-EU
airlines, the current EC261 has been declared inadmissible
as a legitimate decision for compensation. That's only from
application for airlines operating in one of the countries of the
European Union have their home base. Since the tickets on China
Airlines' documents have been issued, the flight is considered a China
Airlines flight and the above rule applies.
Once again our sincere apologies for any inconvenience and hope for your understanding
can muster for the above explanation.”
I then checked EC261 and it was indeed worded that way.
This is not right. In January, an Eva Air flight was delayed for 24 hours due to damage to the aircraft.
An e-mail to Eva was enough to quickly receive 600 euros.
Making an intermediate party 30% richer was not necessary.
I previously thought that the fee applies when the departure or arrival is in the EU. Society doesn't matter. I also received compensation from Thai Airways.
Non-EU airlines only have to compensate when departing from an EU airport. To an EU airport, from outside the EU, is not covered by the scheme if it is not an EU airline such as EVA, China and others.
In January we had a delay of 24 hours, we had to fly at 21.30 pm but it was 24 hours later.
At 24.00 we were taken to a good hotel where the soup and sandwiches were ready. The next day after breakfast and lunch at 18.00 we were brought back to Schiphol with 30 € for food and drinks at the airport. a claim submitted via a sample letter on the internet and sent to the relevant company, after returning to the Netherlands there was already a letter at home
with the good news that we received € 1200 compensation. Thanks to this company everything was good
regularly.
If everything had been arranged and run so well, I think you should mention the name of the company
When we left for Thailand last January, we had a delay of 24 hours after “our” plane had a collision with a bird during landing. Simply claim it yourself at Eva Air, using a form letter that you can easily find online. Because we were going to Thailand permanently, we had quite a lot of luggage with us and a dog. That is why we took a taxi to the (otherwise excellent) hotel that had been arranged for us. The next morning also the taxi back. All receipts were kept and declared and everything was neatly reimbursed to us by Eva Air, including the taxi costs and consumptions in the hotel. We had taken into account that we would not get the taxi costs back because they had offered bus transport, but we also got that back. So on balance almost free flown. On a holiday, 24 hours delay is quite a lot, but on a permanent move it doesn't matter much :-).
You can check with the countless companies that offer mediation whether you are entitled to compensation. Enter your flight number and date and you will see it. If they get the compensation, just assume you will too. The airlines really know they can't avoid it (and I wonder if they aren't just insured for it).
The claim companies ask around 30%, sometimes plus 26 euros administration costs. They assume that people are unsure whether the airline will interfere, and their “no cure no pay” system sounds like “no shots always wrong”. We could also opt for a guaranteed payment of 180 euros with a company, if we transferred the claim in full to them. Even if our claim were rejected, we would still receive the 180 euros. You can be sure that such an offer will not be made if the claim is even slightly uncertain.
In our case, self-declaration yielded about 450 euros more than we would have had through such a company. That is more than worth the effort of writing a letter yourself and affixing a stamp.
Totally agree. And even if there is a negative reaction after a good letter, letting them know that you are persevering can help. Never had to claim a delayed flight yourself, but 'don't let them walk all over you' is often a sufficient signal.
For example, I have sometimes written to various embassies about non-compliance with the Schengen visa code and/or EU rules (freedom of movement), a single embassy (including Spain) did not agree with me. But strangely enough, it turned 180 degrees when I responded to that rejection with EU Home Affairs (say Brussels) in the CC… 5555. I clearly showed that I am not going to mess with my stuff and that helped.
Forgotten: so in the event of a rejection, let us know that you are in contact with, among others, the ILT (Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate) or throw such an authority in the CC.
It can't be that hard to get it right, can it? Write a good letter, refer to the legislation and then it should be clear that you are not a total simpleton who lets yourself be sent into a mess. There are probably good standard letters to be found with some googling, so with 15-30 minutes you should already have something nice for each other, right?
If they still reject it, then you are dealing with a wrong / aso company.
For example, RTL writes:
---
If you are delayed, you must do the following:
•Ask the airline for the exact reason for the delay.
• Then save as much information as possible. Think of things like: how were you informed, the reason and duration of the delay, when something happened, boarding passes and booking details and receipts.
•Important: because these are European guidelines, you must have departed from a European airport or arrived at a European airport. You have rights in the countries that belong to the European Union, but also in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
•Always submit a claim to the airline you flew with. Even if you have booked your trip with a travel agency or tour operator. You can almost always do this via the company's website.
•If your claim is rejected by the airline, you can submit a complaint to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT). First check whether the ILT has already investigated your flight.
• You can also go to court to start a civil procedure.
•If the ILT or the court considers the complaint to be well-founded, they will let the airline know. Companies then usually proceed to pay out.
—–
Source:
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/zo-krijg-je-geld-terug-bij-een-vertraagde-vlucht
And a standard letter:
https://www.plusonline.nl/voorbeeldbrieven/hoe-vraag-ik-mijn-geld-terug-bij-vliegvertraging-of-annulering
It's funny (cough cough) that when I type 'money back delay do it yourself' into Google, the first few results of that claim are companies that also often use standard copy/paste in a few minutes to give you 20-30% of your refund money. take away'.