Claim Compensation For Your Flight Delay or Cancellation

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You might have noticed an AirHelp Logo on our website already. So we decided to tell you more about it in this post. 
People travel a lot nowadays and flight delays and cancellations are very common. 
So here is my story...

Booking.com

I wanted to go and spend a weekend in Estonia with my friends. I didn't want to lose any days from work so I was looking for flights leaving London on Friday after work and back on Sunday evening. Estonia is only 2.5 hours away from London (direct flight), but there were no direct flights on these days and times.
So I end up buying flights with 1 stop both ways.

Here is my itinerary...
Outbound:
Ryanair Flight -> 2 Nov 2018 -> London STN -> 17:15 -> Riga RIX -> 21:50
Air Baltic Flight -> 03 Nov 2018 -> Riga -> 07:40 -> Tallinn (Lennart Meri) -> 08:30

Return:
TALLINN TO OSLO with LOT POLISH AIRLINES
DEPARTURE: TALLINN, Estonia 04 NOV 18:05
ARRIVAL: OSLO, NO (GARDERMOEN) 04 NOV 19:15 (DURATION: 02:10)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OSLO TO LONDON FLIGHT with BRITISH AIRWAYS
DEPARTURE: OSLO, NO (GARDERMOEN) 04 NOV 20:15
ARRIVAL: LONDON, GB (HEATHROW),  04 NOV 21:40 (DURATION: 02:25)

TOTAL COST FOR RETURN TICKETS: 80.21 GBP

On my way back to London, I was already by the gate waiting to board the plane, when I received a text that my flight is cancelled. I saw the plane arrive and crew come out passing all the people waiting. They said it was a technical issue and instructed us to go to the information desk.

At the information desk it was fairly quick. They booked me on the next available flight, which was on Monday morning, flying through Copenhagen and arriving in London Heathrow at 9.30am. They booked me a room in the Nordic Hotel Forum and gave me taxi vouchers. Then I also got a €15 voucher for dinner at the hotel restaurant and breakfast was included with the room as well.
I arrived in London and went straight to work from the airport at 11.30. I just stayed at work a bit later to catch up with the hours that day. So all in all I didn't have to pay anything extra myself or loose out from getting paid for the shift.

I do have an annual travel insurance (cost £25 for a year), but I could not be bothered to go through the process of applying because of the following:

• The cover states: Compensation of £20 for the first 12 hours delay and £20 for each 12 hour delay after that, up to a maximum of £100
  provided you eventually travel or;
  Up to £2,000 for irrecoverable unused travel and accommodation
  costs and other pre-paid charges, if after a delay of at least 12
  hours, or following cancellation, no suitable alternative public
  transport is provided within 12 hours of the scheduled time of
  departure you choose to cancel your trip before departure.
• Cancellation or curtailment charges Excess is £50
• Missed connections are not covered.
• NOT COVERED: Any costs incurred by you which are recoverable from the public transport operator or for which you receive or are expected to receive compensation, damages, refund of tickets, meals, refreshments, accommodation, transfers, communication facilities or other assistance.
• NOT COVERED: Any travel and accommodation costs, charges and expenses where the public transport operator has offered reasonable alternative travel arrangements.
• To make a claim contact 0330 *******. Having to phone an insurance company and wait in a queue for ages, then go through the claim process on the phone is most annoying process ever. There should be an online application for everything nowadays.
• The claim notification must be made within 31 days or as soon as possible. To find couple of hours to call to make a claim during working hours is literally impossible for me. I was not gonna be able to make that claim if I could not do an online application.
• I must get written confirmation (at my own expense) from the carriers (or their handling agents) of the cancellation, number of hours of delay and the reason for these together with confirmation of your check in times and details of any alternative transport offered.
• I must comply with the terms of contract of the travel agent, tour operator, carrier or transport provider and seek financial compensation, assistance or a refund of your ticket from them in accordance with such terms and/or
  (where applicable) my rights under EU Air Passenger Rights legislation in the event of cancellation or long delay of flights.
• Where applicable I must get (at my own expense) written confirmation from the public transport operator (or their handling agents) and/or provider of accommodation (or their booking agents) that compensation,
  assistance or reimbursement of any costs, charges and expenses incurred by you will not be provided and the reason for this.

I didn't have any financial costs following the cancellation. I was fed and watered and slept in a nice hotel. Yes it was an inconvenience, but in the end I managed with my work and I didn't miss anything in the end.

2 weeks after my flight I received an email from the travel web site who I used to book my return flights with, saying that I am entitled to Compensation for my cancelled flight to Oslo.

I decided to check it out. And this is what I found....

The application process was all online and super easy. I think it took me ~10 minutes including attaching all the booking confirmations and boarding passes etc.

So this is what Airhelp offers:

• You may be entitled to as much as $700 in compensation if your flight has been delayed, cancelled or overbooked within the last three years.
  YES! 3 Years or even more! If something similar has happened to you then don't wait. Submit your claim with AirHelp now and see if you can get some money back.
• AirHelp can help you understand your rights, and help you to claim compensation under Europe’s EC 261 regulation.
• AirHelp Fees- They only ever charge a fee if you get your compensation pay out, so there is never a risk for you. Everything else during the claims process is totally free.
  
  When they are successful in winning your claim against the airline, their standard fee is 25%. They will deduct this from the overall amount of compensation they pay out to you.
  ​
  In case of all flights of 1,500 km or less, where the Client is entitled to a compensation of 250 EUR, the Client will pay a Service Fee of 63 EUR, including applicable VAT.
  In case of all intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 km and for all flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km, where the Client is entitled to a compensation of 400 EUR, the Client will pay a Service Fee of 100 EUR, including applicable VAT.
  In case of all flights not described above, where the Client is entitled to a compensation of 600 EUR, the Client will pay a Service Fee of 150 EUR, including applicable VAT.
  In case of a flight as described above, where the Client is not entitled to EUR 250, EUR 400 or EUR 600, the Client shall pay a Service Fee of 25% of received Flight Compensation, including applicable VAT.
  
  
• You can be entitled to compensation, if:
  - In case of a cancellation, you were notified of it less than 14 days before the flight.
  - You have a confirmed flight reservation.
  - The disruption occurred in the last 3 years.
  - The reason for the flight disruption was within the airline's control.
  - If you took a replacement flight, your new arrival time was significantly different to your original flight.
  - Even if your flight was scheduled to depart from outside Europe, if your destination was in Europe and you were flying with a European carrier, you’re covered.

The compensation amount is based on your travel distance.

• 1500km and less the compensation amount is €250
• 1500km - 3500km the compensation amount is €400
• More than 3500km the compensation amount is €600

Find out more about air passenger rights HERE
AirHelp helps people that experience flight delays, flight cancellations, denied boarding, baggage problems, and missed connections.

Time limit to file a claim
​Your right to compensation under EC 261 does eventually expire, but the time limit varies from one country to the next.
You should note that the country you claim in is not decided by your nationality, but is determined by where the headquarters of the airline is, or what court has jurisdiction in cases concerning the airline.
COUNTRY LIMITATION PERIOD:
Austria - 3 years; Belgium - 1 year; Bulgaria - 5 years; Croatia - 3 years;
Cyprus - 6 years; Czech Republic - 3 years; Denmark - 3 years; Estonia - 3 years; Finland - 3 years; France - 5 years; Germany - 3 years; Greece - 5 years; Hungary - 5 years; Iceland - 2 years; Ireland - 6 years; Italy - 26 months; Latvia - 10 years; Lithuania - 10 years; Luxembourg - 10 years; Malta - No limit; Netherlands - 2 years; Norway - 3 years; Poland - 1 year; Portugal - 3 years; Romania - 3 years; Slovakia - 2 years; Slovenia - 2 years; Spain - 5 years; Sweden - 3 years; Switzerland - 2 years; United Kingdom - 6 years

​I submitted my claim on 3rd Dec 2018

My claim got accepted in 5 hours

I received an email letting me know that AirHelp had sent my claim to the airline on the same day I submitted my claim with them.

I received a follow up email after 2 weeks to keep me updated of the progress.

And then I received another follow up email after another 2 weeks to keep me updated of the progress.

And on 10th of Jan 2019 I received that happy long waited email.

It took a little bit over a month to get the claim approved with the airline and I didn't have to do anything at all for this. I was kept informed the whole way through the process. I was ecstatic!
From the claim outcome it took almost a month for AirHelp to receive my money and on 1st Feb 2019 they were ready to transfer my compensation.

See the breakdown of compensation and fees for my claim below:

All in all I am very happy with the outcome. My return flight cost only £80 and I didn't have to pay anything extra for the travel disruption like hotel, new flights, taxis, food etc and I ended up getting €162 compensation on top of it.

If you have had similar experience to me then claim for the money because you deserve it.

I still recommend getting a travel insurance as well as its very good for medical emergencies and for other costs. Mine only cost £25 for a year. For flight delays and cancellations I would recommend using AirHelp as Its so easy and straight forward and they do all the hard work for you.

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