Do it ON YOUR OWN – Delayed flight compensation claim for Europe

When it comes to a delayed flight compensation claim, it might seem frustrating and almost impossible to do it on your own.

Actually, only 2% of all passengers eligible for compensation successfully claim it every year. Don’t be the 98%!

However, I would advise exhausting all your other options before going to a claims company and giving away 25 to 50% of the compensation that is due to you. So which are the options? Let’s dig in and see:

The 3 main options for your delayed flight compensation claim

Option 1: Directly with the airline

Most airlines have a delayed flight compensation claim form right on their websites, which is pretty convenient! However, sometimes they are pretty hard to find, so I would recommend just googling directly and finding that link you need. Here are links to some popular airlines in Europe for your convenience:

• WizzAir – Request compensation AND Complaints  – to be honest – I tried both and they didn’t work… for months. So this is why I chose option #2! (they don’t have customer service e-mails anymore and it costs quite a bit to give them a call)
• Ryanair – EU261 Disruption Compensation and Expense Claim Form
• EasyJet – Compensation Claim Form
• AirFrance – Claim
• Turkish Airlines – Customer Relations – Feedback – if your flight is to or from the EU, regulation EC 261 will apply. But you should still try to get compensation from the airline even if your flight is not regulated under EC 261! Just contact them.
• Bulgaria Air – Complaints and Returns – or just e-mail them at crFB@air.bg

If the airline denies your claim, unless it was because of extraordinary circumstances, you can still give it a shot with option #2 or option #3!

Option 2 (recommended): Through the European Customer Centers

This is the option I chose for my delayed flight compensation claim, after numerous attempt to find free contact information on WizzAir (as calling them is pretty expensive). So – it might seem hard at first sight, but just follow these simple steps, which might prove to be easier than spending 30 minutes on the website of the airline looking how to claim exactly:

How to find the ECC contact form and e-mail

1. Go to ECC Net Center online (European Customer Centres)
2. Find your country and you’ll be taken to the specific website
3. Go to “Submit complaint”
4. From then on, you can submit a complaint form directly or send them an e-mail. It was easier for me to e-mail them, as the correspondence was clearer, but both options are fine.

What to include in your e-mail to ECC

Great! Now that you’ve found the contact option you’re looking for, here’s what you should include in your e-mail for your delayed flight compensation claim:

1. Attach this official EU document – the EU complaint form. You don’t need to have it printed out and signed – you can use Adobe Reader to fill it in (when you open the document on your computer, click the “Fill and sign” on the right hand side and don’t forget to add a signature in the end!). It takes a while to fill it in, but no matter what option you choose for your delayed flight compensation claim, you’ll still need to give out all this information anyway.
2. Attach your boarding card – as I forgot to attach it the first time, I had to wait an additional 1 month to get another reply.
3. Attach any receipts for expenses you have incurred – as per the EC 261 regulation, you can claim expenses for meals, phone calls and even accommodation, if the airline hasn’t provided them already.
4. Description of your case – you can briefly present your case to the ECC. ECC requires that you have some previous correspondence with the airline – make sure to include that as well.
5. Your bank details – in case your claim is successful, you can skip ahead and just include your full bank details in your initial e-mail (full name, IBAN, BIC, Bank name and currency of the account)
6. If claiming for a group – as I was claiming for both me and my husband, the ECC asked me to disclose my relationship with him in order for the airline to wire the money for our delayed flight compensation claim into only my bank account. I just explained he was my husband and they agreed, I haven’t sent any additional proof. If you’re not related to the people you’re claiming the compensation for, you can either send their bank details separately or you can ask the ECC to send you a template of a letter of proxy they require (I don’t think they require for it to be notary signed, though).

What happens afterwards?

I suggest that you be patient after you send the e-mail. It took the ECC almost 2 months to get back to me the first time and a total of 3 months to get the actual refund! After you send them an e-mail (or contact them through the complaints form), they start negotiating with the airline on your behalf. Kinda like a claims company, but without the commission! How cool is that?

Option 3: Through a claims compensation company

If all of this seems too confusing for you, you can still, of course, rely on a claims company for your delayed flight compensation claim. Now, there are a few different ones out there, don’t go for the very first showing up in Google! I’ve checked a few different companies for compensation claims, some take 25% success commission, while others take up to 50% success commission, which is pretty outrageous.

That said, one of the most recommended claims company from friends has always been Claim Compass. It’s very easy to work with and pretty straightforward, with a success commission of 35% (almost lowest you can get out there). You can check whether you are entitled to compensation easily with the widget on their website.

Actually there is a fourth option when it comes to a delayed flight compensation claim – claiming with a lawyer and perhaps even going to a small claims court. I am not considering this as a recommendation at all, as it will surely be more expensive and a worse off option than going with a claims company. There’s a lot of money that you have to pay upfront, which is not wise – you might not even end up winning!

The rules for a delayed flight compensation claim

How long was the delay?

Of course, one of the most important question to ask when it comes to a delayed flight compensation claim is how long the delay was. Bear in mind that what matters is the time of landing, not the time of take off! In some cases, pilots are able to recover some of the delay and even though you might take off 3h 10m after your scheduled time, you might very well land 2h 55m after schedule. Sometimes, however, boarding takes a bit more time and you might be in luck – our flight took off about 2h 50m after the scheduled time, BUT it arrived 3h 7m after the time of landing! 🙂 Always note the time of landing.

Between 2 and 3 hours

If your flight was delayed under 3 hours, no matter how far your destination was, you aren’t entitled to compensation. However, you are entitled to the “right to care” by the airline. This includes: food and drink, phone calls and e-mails, as well as accommodation if the scheduled time is on the next day. Thus, the most important thing to do here is to save all of you expense receipts and ask for the airline to reimburse you for these later. Bear in mind, though, that these still need to be reasonable expenses. A caviar dinner with  a 1959 Dom Perignon is not exactly reasonable, is it? 🙂

Between 3 and 4 hours

If your flight arrives between 3 and 4 hours after your scheduled time at your destination, then you’re “in luck” (well, you’re not exactly lucky if you’ve spend so much time waiting, but still!). You will be entitled to all of the things listed above PLUS monetary compensation. Now, that compensation depends on how far your destination was from your origin. As per the EC 261 regulation, you are entitled to 250 EUR (if the distance is less than 1500 km), 400 EUR (between 1500 and 3500 km or intracommunity flights over 1500 km) or 600 EUR (3500 km and above and departing from or arriving outside the EU).

Over 4 hours

The same rules apply here as for between 3 and 4 hours, however, the main difference is that if your origin and destination are within the EU and your flight distance is over 3500 km, then you will be entitled to 400 EUR instead of 600 EUR (as noted above).

Diverted flight

Well, what about when your flight was diverted? Unfortunately, in the vast majority of circumstances, this will happen because of “extraordinary circumstances” (I’ll explain more below). Thus, you wouldn’t be able to get any compensation in this case.

However, do ask your airline about the reason – if your flight is diverted for other than extraordinary circumstances (like a technical problem), you will be entitled to compensation! In addition, the airline must provide some kind of transport to your actual final destination – a bus, car, etc.

Connecting flights

This is the option that is the worst when it happens in real life – you have connecting flights and your first one is delayed so much, that you miss your second one! Mostly the same rules as above apply here, but it’s definitely trickier. So if you miss your connection, bear these things in mind:

• Your connecting flight (first one) must be delayed for over 3 hours.
• You must have booked the flights together, on one ticket. If they have a different booking number and you’ve booked through different websites, then you will not be entitled to compensation at all.
• If your flights are operated by a non-EU airline and your origin is outside the EU, then you won’t be entitled to compensation either under EC 261.

EC 261 – what are the requirements?

As I just mentioned, it’s actually pretty important for your delayed flight compensation claim whether your origin and destination were within the EU. In addition, it’s also important if the airline you used it based within the EU or not. Here’s all you need to remember here without going into many details:

What is covered under EC 261

• Flights within the EU, operated by an EU or non-EU airline (e.g. Madrid to Paris with Turkish Airlines or WizzAir)
• Flights that depart from the EU and arrive outside the EU, operated by an EU or non-EU airline (e.g. Madrid to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines or WizzAir)
• Flights that depart from outside the EU and arrive within the EU, operated by an EU airline (e.g. Miami to Paris with Lufthansa)

What is not covered under EC 261

• Flights that depart from outside the EU and arrive within the EU, operated by a non-EU airline (e.g. Miami to Paris with American Airlines)

If your flight falls under the last conditions, then, unfortunately, you won’t be able to claim anything for your delayed flight under EC 261. You can read the full text of EC 261 here, but I must say it’s a bit confusing and pretty hard to grasp in some specific cases.

What about the dreaded Brexit?

Well, the UK has officially left the EU on 1st February 2020. After the transition period is over (which is officially 31st December 2020), you must be careful when booking flights in case compensation is important to you. In 2021, if you book a flight from London to Madrid, operated by British Airways, you won’t be entitled to compensation for delay! (Remember – it departs from outside the EU and arrives within the EU, operated by a non-EU airline.) However, things change, so stay tuned for more news and still – submit a ticket to the ECC Net center, it never hurts to try your luck 🙂

The catch: Extraordinary circumstances

“Extraordinary circumstances” are when the airline cannot be held accountable for the flight delay. If your flight is delayed due to extraordinary circumstances, then you can’t go for a delayed flight compensation claim. What falls under here? Let’s see the most popular cases:

• Bad weather – this is a very common extraordinary circumstance. However, it’s also a common excuse for most airlines! If you try to claim on your own and the airline says there was bad weather, you can still try to claim via a company – Claim Compass, for example, has a team of experts that can help determine whether the weather was indeed this bad. Their team of lawyers might be able to provide some proof that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to find on your own 🙂 But don’t forget – always try to do it yourself first!
• Air traffic control restrictions – if the runway is super busy, air traffic control might order the airline to delay or even cancel the flight. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do in this case – you won’t be entitled to compensation.
• Strike – if air traffic control is on strike, you won’t be entitled to compensation. However, if the airline is at strike – you might! There is a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice that states this is not an extraordinary circumstance 🙂
• Medical emergency – if a passenger needs urgent medical attention, then the airline can’t be held responsible.
• Bird collision – for example, if a bird collides with and damages the plane.
• Manufacturing defect – if it’s a serious one, the airline cannot be held responsible. However, if the toilet breaks because of such a hidden defect – you might just be able to claim compensation for that 😉
• Security risk – of course, if your delay is caused by a threat of a terrorist attack, the airline cannot be held responsible here.

Bear in mind that the airline must provide proof if your delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance. Sometimes, if you contact the airline directly, they might be vague in their answers. In this case, try the ECC Net center and include this correspondence. If the airline still refuses to disclose the exact reason, go to option 3 and claim through a company – their team of lawyers will surely be able to get more information.

8 tips to know for delayed flight compensation claim

• Charter flights – actually, even though these flights are not regular, the same rules apply! Don’t be afraid to ask for compensation if your charter flight is delayed.
• How long do I have to claim? – This is different for each country, usually between 2 and 5 years after your flight. In Italy, Iceland and Croatia, for example, the time frame is 2 years, while in France, Spain and Bulgaria it’s a whopping 5 years. Think back to your past flights – you might be able to claim today for a delayed flight quite a while back!
• How long will it take to process my delayed flight compensation claim? – I mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again – be patient. For me, claiming compensation through the European Commission took me a total of about 3 months (until the money arrived into my bank account). The time frame for claiming directly with the airline and through a claims company is pretty similar.
• Vouchers – there is nothing mentioned about vouchers in EC 261, it’s up to you whether you take them or not. I would advise not to take them, as the airline might use this as an excuse to skip on your delayed flight compensation claim.
• Business trips – who gets the compensation? – I have some very happy news for you here. If you’re travelling for work, the compensation goes to you, not your company, even though your company was the one that bought the tickets. You were the passenger and you were inconvenienced by this delay, right?
• Keep your documents (boarding pass & ticket) and receipts – in any case, keep safe all of your documents from your delayed flight. Even though your flight might end up landing 1h 55m after the scheduled time, it still won’t hurt to have these at hand, just in case!
• Delay over 5 hours – if you happen to have a huge delay, the airline might offer you a different flight or a refund. If you accept any of these options, you won’t be entitled to compensation! So don’t, wait patiently until your delayed flight takes off. Unless, of course, you’d rather reach your destination faster and have something very important to do there 🙂
• Cancelled flight – cancelled flights are pretty complicated in terms of compensation, but if the airline did not notify you 14 days earlier and you arrived over 4 hours later at your destination (with an alternate flight provided by them), you will be entitled to compensation!

Even though there are a few exceptions and the all of the rules for a delayed flight compensation claim might seem confusing, try using this guide on a case-by-case basis. Find where you belong, know your rights and always try to claim on your own first, even when you’re not 100% sure you’re entitled to compensation. When all else fails, you should still try to claim with a claims company like Claim Compass, as they have a few more resources. The best thing is – you pay nothing up front, so you have nothing to lose in either case.