Are you missing out on your share of the estimated €699,667,500 due in flight delay compensation?

SHOCK ALERT: In 2015, over 3,200 flights were delayed for more than three hours and almost 4,800 flights were cancelled. With increased industrial action on the continent, bad weather and staff shortages, figures from EUclaim reveal that 2016 looks to be shaping up even worse with an estimated, staggering €699,667,500 flight delay compensation potentially due to inconvenienced airline passengers.

Having been on the receiving end of a flight cancelled after a 24 hour delay, I can assure you it sucks! To have saved up for the trip of a lifetime, watched the ticking of the clock for endless months only to see the anticipation of your forthcoming adventure extinguished in a heartbeat is devastating. It is even worse if you are short on holiday time and want to make every second of it count. Spending hours in cramped airports with tension levels rising by the minute is certainly no way to wash away the stresses of everyday life.

Imagine how you would have felt as a passenger on the ill-fated Manchester to Islamabad flight in August 2013 which eventually departed over 51 hours late!! As a proud Northerner, I love Manchester airport but after 51 hours of it, I think I would never want to set foot in there again!

Retribution

So if this conjures up distant memories of your own flight delay horror, why not seek retribution against the airline? It obviously isn’t personal that they cancelled your honeymoon flight, delayed you so long you missed your grandma’s funeral or best friend’s wedding but it sure is upsetting. You can’t get back the time, you can’t demand compensatory time off work, but you can at least soften the blow with a claim for flight delay compensation from the airline.

Providing the airline is at fault, you can claim a set monetary amount of compensation which can go towards another trip later in the year, or a little weekend getaway to make up for the disappointment you suffered.

Are you aware of your rights?

Here’s what you need to know.

If your flight is cancelled or delayed for more than three hours due to the airline’s fault, the airline must take care of you providing FREE snacks and refreshments and even hotel accommodation. In addition, for flights within the EU, compensation is payable as follows:

• € 250 for delayed flights travelling up to 1,500 km
• € 400 for delayed flights travelling more than 1,500 km

and for destinations outside the EU:

• € 400 for a delayed flight of over 1,500 km but less than 3,500 km
• € 600 for a delayed flight of over 3,500 km

How it works

To get things off to a start, simply enter your flight details into the home page of the EUclaim website as shown.

Click the big green button to arrive at the following screen.

Then keep following the on-screen instructions until you arrive at the screen indicating your potential flight delay compensation. In this example, flight BA 632 from London Heathrow to Athens on the 30th June 2016 is eligible for compensation of up to €400 per passenger. Happy days! That might even help the bad memory to fade a little faster!

Remember you can only claim if it is the airline’s fault (strike, technical problems or missed flight connections for example) and not for freak weather so don’t waste your time if a hurricane is the reason for your delay. As frustrating as that can be, we can’t blame the airlines for mother nature’s issues.

Assuming you are eligible to claim, I suspect that as a savvy traveller, you will be wondering what the cost implication is.

How much will it cost me?

The good news is that EUclaim works on a No Win No Fee basis meaning that an unsuccessful claim costs you nothing. If successful however, you receive 73% of the compensation less a €25 administration fee per passenger. Two people booked on that flight to Athens would thus be eligible for around €550 net compensation.

Let’s be fair, with the weakened Euro, this is more than enough for you to book a sneaky weekend away to the continent but you might want to choose your airline carefully, after all some are far worse than others when it comes to the number of delays. Rather than me naming and shaming them, feel free to bury yourself in Civil Aviation Authority data which shows delays by airport and airline.

Why EUclaim?

With over 250,000 successful claims and flight delay compensation of €57.1 million in the bag, EUclaim is the longest running advocate for passenger rights in Europe. They help you claim your entitlement from airlines who frequently reject justified claims and you can read what their customers have to say here.

You may be tempted to go it alone and contact the airlines directly which is entirely legitimate but this could involve much more effort on your part and be warned, the airlines may not settle instantly.

So if you have suffered excruciating delays this summer and would like to feel a little less hard done by, check out the site and see whether you are eligible to claim.

Share your experience

In addition those who have been the victim of horrendous delays may feel the need to vent. Feel free to share your experiences in our comments box (no swearing please!) or perhaps you have claimed flight delay compensation and would like to tell us about that. Whatever your story, we would love to hear from you.

Pin this as a reminder to make your claim next time your flight is delayed:

Disclaimer: Please note this is a sponsored post promoting the benefit of EUclaim to passengers travelling throughout Europe.