Flights:

• Delayed flight

According to the distance and the flight time you may claim compensation. We understand that starting all this process by yourself can give you headaches! Therefore, in order to avoid all of that, TraveleRights is taking care of everything !

You would like to file a claim for a delayed flight which occurred in the European Union zone. Your compensation claim is based on the European Union regulation 261/2004, these are the steps to follow:

– Keep your boarding pass and all the documents that have the booking confirmation number;

– Get information from the airline staff, in order to have the elements for the writing of your claim letter ; 

– Keep all the evidence that show the flight delay. You will have to notify the arrival time of your flight.

 – Ask the airline to provide meals and refreshments according to the waiting time 

– Avoid signing offers like coupons for future trips, because it could compromise your rights for getting compensation 

– If your flight is delayed for more than 5 hours, you have the possibility to ask for a complete refund of your plane ticket 

– Keep the receipts of all your incurred expenses during the waiting time. By doing that, you will have the possibility to get them refunded.

• Cancelled flight

There is nothing more annoying for a traveler than having his flight cancelled. You are probably asking yourself: How do I get compensated for a cancelled flight?

Your flight could have been cancelled for various reasons, so let’s check this out:

– Verify the location, to get a cancelled flight compensation. For example, if the cancelled flight is coming from or going to the European Union  

– If your plane was supposed to come from an EU airport and is cancelled, this is what you should do:

*Keep your boarding pass or any other documents which have the confirmation number of your booking;  

*Ask for the reason of the flight cancellation and try to get as many details as possible. If the airline tells you that is because of unexpected operational issues which they are responsible for:

• • Ask for a re-routing flight or a refund;

 

• • Take note of the arrival time of your flight. If you choose another flight, your compensation will be calculated on the comparison between the real arrival time and the expected arrival time.

 

• • Ask the airline to provide you meals and refreshments especially if you spend more time than expected at the airport

 

• • If you have to take the flight which is scheduled the following day, ask the airline to book a hotel and take care of your transportation (from the airport to the hotel and vice versa)

 

• • Keep all the evidence of the additional incurred expenses (eg: receipts). By doing that you will be able to be compensated for the flight cancellation.

 

• Overbooked flight

Airline often sell more tickets than available seats on the plane, this business practice is called overbooking. This is a legal practice, which airlines use in order to compensate for no-shows. Even though, it is a common practice, it is important to know that as a victim you may seek justice. Companies must always ask for volunteers before randomly picking passengers to leave. They can only deny boarding when there are not enough volunteers. If you have been denied boarding, you have the right to claim for compensation.

– You are among the volunteers. You are willing to leave your seat, therefore, in return you will get a compensation. The airline will be in charge of your accommodation, catering services and phone calls. 

– You are not willing to volunteer and there are not enough people willing to volunteer either, so the airline is denying boarding to some passengers. If you have been denied boarding, you have the right to claim for compensation. In this case, you should ask for a certificate that shows that you were in an overbooking situation and that you were present at the boarding. Indeed, most of airlines ask for a certificate of delay, cancellation or overbooking when people make a claim for compensation. However, if you don’t find your documents (ticket or boarding pass), make screenshots of your booking confirmation, which can be found in your email box.

• Missed flight connection

The first thing to verify is to see if the missed flight connection was the airline’s fault. It happens that sometimes airlines face some technical issues for various reasons.  

Verify if your case applies to these conditions: 

– The airline is responsible for your missed connection

– You arrive at your destination with :

*A flight cancellation: you arrive at destination with more than 2 hours than the expected arrival time

*A delayed flight: you arrive at destination with more than 3 hours than the expected arrival time

The flights are on two separate bookings: If you make a reservation with two airlines, company A and company B, in case of a missed connection, company B is not responsible. Take in consideration that you have three possibilities:

– Refunding or rerouting

– A replacement flight on the next available flight

– A replacement flight at a later date, which is convenient for you

Based on that, the missed flight connection compensation will be calculated on the itinerary of the flight. If you miss your connection, the European regulation states that a compensation will be provided to you. 

In order to have a better understanding of your situation, we suggest this summary table

Delayed flight, cancelled flight, denied boarding

Summary table
	Less than 2 hours	More than 2 hours	More than 3 hours	More than 4 hours	Never arrived	Distance
Delayed flight	€ 0	€ 0	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	<1500 km
	€ 0	€ 0	€ 400	€ 400	€ 400	>1500 km
	€ 0	€ 0	€ 300	€ 600	€ 600	<3500 km
Cancelled flight	€ 125	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	<1500 km
	€ 200	€ 200	€ 400	€ 400	€ 400	>1500 km
	€ 300	€ 300	€ 300	€ 600	€ 600	<3500 km
Denied boarding	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	€ 250	<1500 km
	€ 400	€ 400	€ 400	€ 400	€ 400	>1500 km
	€ 600	€ 600	€ 600	€ 600	€ 600	<3500 km

 

Warning !  ! There is a possibility that airlines are confronted to extraordinary circumstances. The EU regulation 261/2004 defines an extraordinary circumstance like an event that could not have been avoided even if all the reasonable measures were taken ». These circumstances take away all responsibility from an airline. Therefore, when your flight is disrupted due to an extraordinary circumstance, the airline does not have the obligation to pay compensation. Please find below the list of situations considered as extraordinary circumstances:

• Unfavorable weather conditions (hurricane, storm, lightning etc)
• Air traffic control restrictions
• Airport personnel strikes
• Political instability
• Security threats

In Canada, the regulation on air passenger protection is applicable to all flights flown by any airline to, from and within Canada, including connecting flights. This includes certain charters flights on which one or more seats are for resale to the public.

The Canadian law, states that in case of delay, cancellation and denied boarding, the airline obligations depends on if the situation that occurred is outside their control or not. 

*Situations within airline control. The carrier cancels your flight for its own reasons (eg: commercial overbooking). It has to provide the minimum compensation and the minimum standards of treatment for passengers for all the inconvenience caused. It also has to take care of passengers until they reach their final destination.

*Situations within airline control but required for safety purposes. They are typically unpredicted events legally required to reduce safety risk to passengers. The carrier has to provide the minimum compensation and the minimum standards of treatment for passengers. It also has to take care of passengers until they reach their final destination.

*Situations outside airline control. Events that the carrier doesn’t have control over, such as weather conditions, natural disaster etc. The carrier still has to make sure passengers complete their itinerary (by reaching their final destination).

The regulation on air passenger protection requires a clear communication on delayed or cancelled flights, denied boarding, tarmac delays that last more than 3 hours, damaged or lost luggages. According to the Canadian regulation, passenger rights have to be simple, clear and uniform with a minimum standard of treatments. This means that airlines must provide minimum levels of compensation. Indeed, the Canadian law states that a compensation must be provided in case of delays or cancellation, if the situation is within airline control and not related to safety purposes. If the passenger has been informed of the delay or the cancellation less than 14 days prior his departure, the regulation will determine the amount that the airline must pay

Minimum levels of compensation for large airlines

Length of the delay	Amount (CAD)
3-6 hours	400 $ CA
6-9 hours	700 $ CA
9+ hours	1000 $ CA

 

Minimum levels of compensation for small airlines

Length of delay	Amount (CAD)
3-6 hours	125 $ CA
6-9 hours	250 $ CA
9+ hours	500 $ CA

 

Airlines must provide compensation in monetary form. They can also offers others forms of compensation (eg: vouchers, rebates..) and passengers have the right to select which forms they prefer. The other forms of compensation must have a higher value than the monetary compensation and can never expire.

Denied boarding table

Length of delay	Amount (CAD)
0- 6 hours	900 $ CA
6-9 hours	1 800 $ CA
9+ hours	2 400 $ CA

 

Luggages:

•   Delayed, lost or damaged luggages

In a case of a loss or theft of luggages, the company will have to compensate you. Indeed, the company has the responsibility to transport your luggages and make sure they arrived in good condition. In order to be compensated, please pay attention to the following instructions:

– Go to the last airline you flew with (in case you had two flights with a connection) or:

• Send an email
• Make a call
• Go to the airport luggage service

– Bring your boarding pass and your luggage tags

– Ask for a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) and a file number in order to follow the ongoing investigation

– Make sure that the airline or the luggage service starts looking for your luggages

You have 21 days to file a written claim for lost or delayed luggages. If after 21 days, you still haven’t received your luggages, they will be considered lost and then you will be able to ask for compensation.