Flight delay: passengers' right to compensation

There have always been and will be various force majeure circumstances that change people's plans. This also relates to flight delays. You can not blame the carrier for unfavorable meteorological conditions, for the execution of orders of the state security agencies or for inspecting the aircraft for technical breakdowns. However, if the airline was unable to prove its own innocence in delaying the flight, due to external factors, it pays the passenger compensation in the amount established by the code or the charter of air transport. In any case, despite the fact that it was the reason, the airline should provide the passenger with a number of free services.

Flight delay: the rights of the passenger "Aeroflot"

To begin with, it should be clarified that if the flight is delayed for no more than one hundred and twenty minutes, it is not the airline's responsibility to pay compensation or provide any services. In this case, passengers should just have patience and wait for the next flight.

Since 2007, the airline "Aeroflot" has introduced some mandatory services, which are included in the rights of the passenger when the flight is delayed.

If the aircraft did not leave on time and passed more than two hours, people have the right to freely use the rest rooms and rooms for a passenger with a child under the age of seven.

The rights of passengers to free meals

In the event that the flight is delayed, the rights of passengers provide for the receipt of soft drinks and hot meals. Also, you can make two phone calls at a cost of no more than ten euros or send two messages by e-mail.

The right to receive a hotel room, free meals in the restaurant and a transfer

When the flight is delayed, the rights of passengers provide for a free hotel room, if more than eight hours have passed since the cancellation of the flight, or six in the night. Also, the airline must pay not only the room, but also food in the restaurant and a transfer. It should be clarified that the night time starts at 22:00, and the morning time starts at 6:00.

Services provided by various airlines

In the event that there is a delay in the flight, the rights of passengers of different airlines may differ slightly. For example, Aeroflot, in addition to a free hotel room, provides its passengers with free baggage storage at the airport. Another company, KrasAir, pays not only the number and delivery of passengers to it, but also three meals a day.

Financial compensation

If there was a delay in the flight, the rights of passengers provide for compensation at a rate of twenty-five percent for each hour of waiting for the next flight. To receive money, you must have a special note on your ticket about the cancellation of the flight. You can get this stamp from an airline employee.

When there is an unscheduled delay in the flight at the airport, the passenger's rights also provide for the receipt of all the above services, except for a three-hour meal, for free.

Do not wait-act!

Do not think that representatives of the airline will run after each passenger, apologizing for the delay in the flight and providing the full range of their free services. If you do not want to spend a day, or even more, at the airport without normal food and comfortable conditions, you should take some actions in case of flight delay:

• Find the administrator at the airport and take from him the document, which indicates the reason for canceling the flight and is stamped with the actual time of departure.
• Watch the time: after four hours the airline must provide you with hot meals, and if the flight is delayed more than eight hours - hotel room and transfer. If the airline refuses to provide these services, pay for everything yourself, but in no case do not throw checks.

Flight delay: passenger rights. Arbitrage practice

After you have waited for the next flight and arrived at your destination, write the airline's claim, attaching as evidence all the checks and documents needed to pay compensation. In the event that the airline ignores the claims made, the passenger's rights include submitting an application to the court. As the court practice shows, if you provide all checks with extraordinary costs that you incurred because of a delay in the flight, whether it's food, medicine, inability to go on pre-paid excursions or a broken business meeting, you will be paid as compensation the amount that fully covers the costs . You have enough time to send claims and apply to the court - six months. During the same time, he reviews the claims and, in the event of an agreement, pays compensation. The claim with all documents, checks and photocopies is better to have in duplicate.

Use free services as needed

Of course, if there was a delay in the flight, and the airline is decent and does not give up its duties, you have the right to order at least the luxury room and dinner in the most expensive restaurant, but then it will be for you in court to prove that this was a measure of necessity Pay carrier. Therefore, it is best to manage the most ordinary hotel room and inexpensive restaurant. Anyway, but you can turn such a scam with a suite number only if the airline itself does not organize a stay in the hotel and meals for all passengers from the carried flight. Otherwise, no one will pay your whims.

Charter flights

It is a mistake to believe that the above rules apply only to regular flights. Not at all. Often there is a delay in a charter flight. The passenger's rights in this case provide exactly the same as for the delay of a regular flight: free use of rest rooms, refreshments and hot meals, two free calls or two messages by e-mail, storage of luggage at the airport, free hotel room and transfer , Payment of monetary compensation. The exception is the United States: there passengers are not paid charter flights and small aircraft fines.

Basically, the delay in charter flights is due to the fact that the airline does not have enough backup aircraft to send passengers on it, so people have to wait for their flight.

Overbooking

For many, it's no longer a secret that airlines sell about five percent more tickets than the available seats on board. There is this for one simple reason: the same five percent of passengers who book seats do not appear on the plane - at the last minute they take the ticket or are late. That is why, in order not to send a plane half empty, the airlines go to a similar scam. However, the opposite happens: sometimes all passengers who have booked seats appear at once. In this case, the carrier is looking for so-called volunteers who agree to fly the next flight, and the company will provide them with a voucher or a bonus amount. Also, the carrier can provide a voucher for a toll-free hotel number, a shuttle service and meals, depending on the waiting time for the flight.

In the event that there were no volunteers for the flight by the next flight, those who reserved seats later are forced to land from the plane. In the US, passengers injured by overbooking are compensated, the amount of which varies from the ticket price to three hundred dollars. The countries of the European Union in overbooking provide passengers with the same services as when the flight is delayed.

If you are in a foreign country because of a flight problem, but because of an overdue visa you can not get into the city, feel free to contact the administrator with a request to call the immigration office and get an "emergency visa". It is issued for forty-eight hours in special force majeure. It's hard to get it, but it's worth it.

Problems with luggage

After notification of the cancellation of the flight, the administrator or employee of the airline takes passengers to the exit and gives instructions: he talks about food, settles in the hotel if necessary, free phone calls and other technical issues. If you need to get your luggage, since you are going to go to the hotel on your own or simply leave the airport, inform the airline representative about it. Usually baggage is sent to the tape, where it can be easily picked up. If there were no things in the arrivals area, then most likely the carrier already sent them to the next flight. Again, contact the airline representative to clarify this misunderstanding and get your luggage. If it turns out that it is lost, the airline will pay compensation in the amount of its full cost.

Will they refund the money for the hotel room?

Many passengers have a completely logical question: will the daily cost of accommodation in the hotel be returned, the room in which was ordered in advance and was not used because of the cancellation of the flight. Answer: yes. Arriving at the hotel, you can demand a refund of money for a night in your room.