One of the most infuriating things about travelling is having to deal with delayed or cancelled flights – and when it happens it can often leave a damper on your plans, or worse yet, a deeper hole in your pocket.
With travel ramping up again and the aviation industry still coming to grips post-Covid, disruptions are expected.
But passengers don’t lose out completely. It just depends on which airline you’re flying with and the country you’re in.
Sydney woman and financial guru Queenie Tan, who has accumulated 3.2 million likes on her investing clips on TikTok, revealed how much passengers can get if their flight is cancelled or delayed.
“If it happens in Europe and your flight is delayed by more than three hours, you can receive anywhere from €250 ($390) and €600 ($A930),” she said in a recent clip.
Gary Hunter, travel expert at Finder, said travellers reserve the right to apply for compensation if they arrive at their final destination with a delay of more than three hours.
“Unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances, such as air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather conditions and security risks,” he told news.com.au.
“The amount travellers can claim depends on the distance at which they travelled. “Holidaymakers can claim between €250 and €600 ($A388 and $A931) for flights of distances between 1500km and more than 3500km.”
Meanwhile, in the United States you may be able to receive compensation, but there are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide travellers with compensation for a delayed flight as each airline has their own policy, according to Mr Hunter.
“If you’ve been bumped from a flight due to it being oversold, however, you can receive compensation of up to $US1500 ($A2200) for arrival delays of two hours or more,” he said.
As for Australia, it comes down to each airlines’ policy.
“In Australia, similar to the US, each airline has their own policies for flight delays and cancellations so it really depends on the circumstances,” Mr Hunter said.
According to Traveller, if Qantas delays a flight for two hours or more and the delay is within Qantas’ control, the airline will give you a meal voucher.
If the delay is more than 12 hours and the departure is from an away-from-home airport, Qantas will compensate you to the value of $200 for hotel accommodation. However, if it’s your home airport, compensation is limited to a taxi fare to your home address.
Virgin Australia also provides meal vouchers or “reasonable” meal costs for delays of two hours or more, the publication reported.
It explained that if your flight is delayed overnight, Virgin’s compensation policy is the same as Qantas’, except that compensation for accommodation at an away-from-home port is capped at $220 per night.
Ms Tan shared an email template she uses to help get compensation in Europe.
It includes all the flight details and references to the Flight Compensation Regulation 2004 No 261/2004 – a regulation in EU law establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellations or long delays of flights.
“But if you want less hassle you can check out AirHelp, they take a commission if you get compensated but they handle all the communications,” Ms Tan added.
