I was watching The Money Show on ITV recently and saw a feature about claiming compensation for flight delays. I’ve had my fair share of delays over the years but have never before thought it was worth the hassle of trying to get any money back, even though I was vaguely aware of some EU compensation rule.
To be precise, we’re talking about EU rule 261/2004, and this rule sets out clearly what passengers are entitled to in the event of a delay (a delay being defined as the flight arriving at least 2 hours after its scheduled arrival time). I remembered our trip to Mexico in 2010, when we had boarded and waited on the plane at Gatwick while BA staff tried to fix a technical fault, only to be put into an airport hotel and made to wait almost 24 hours before getting on our way. It was a frustrating start to our Central American trip and we lost a day, including a hotel night which we’d prepaid. So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that I could still lodge a claim, as the flight was just within the 6-year claim window.
I filled in the online form (you don’t need boarding pass stubs; just names, dates and flight numbers will do). and within a week I’d heard back from BA that they were sending me a cheque for £935; suddenly that long flight delay wasn’t so painful after all. And then I remembered a second delay, only last year, on a work assignment we both undertook to Germany; sure enough, within a couple of weeks I had another £380 refunded from Easyjet. Easy money.
Here’s the article on the MoneySavingExpert.com website setting out the basis of a claim and what you are entitled to receive, along with an online tool to help you make your claim. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays.
Martin makes the valid point that just because you can make a claim doesn’t mean that you should, and that the result of many people claiming is bound to be a price hike for all of us. Like him I am reluctant to become part of the compensation culture, but I thought back to the many flights we’ve taken on those two airlines (it must be at least 50 on BA and probably more than that on Easyjet). There have certainly been highs and lows, and I figure I can take a few crumbs from these giant corporations and still sleep easily; others can make up their own minds.
