Although passengers are protected by the law, dealing with an airline company’s customer service office can be a nightmare. To spare users this tedious task, websites and apps like Flightright, AirHelp and Reclama y vuela are now helping passengers affected by delayed, overbookins or cancelled flights to claim compensation.
Claiming compensation through these platforms not only saves you endless stress and paperwork, but you can also leave it in the hands of someone who knows the facts, procedures and the law very well, as the legal experts who handle each case have international experience in the field of air law. They also have an extensive database that’s updated on a daily basis that allows them to fight for your rights with irrefutable evidence to help you get the right amount of compensation. And if needed, they can also take the case to court to obtain it. There is no financial risk for the person who contracts their services. If you don’t receive any compensation, the platform doesn’t charge you anything. However, if they win, you have to pay 27% +VAT of the total amount of compensation to Flightright, AirHelp charge 25% and Reclama y vuela 20%.
Nevertheless, before you start to make your complaint, you should know you need to meet some conditions in order to have it processed. At least one of the two airports of the affected flight (departure or destination) must be in European Union territory, you must have made a valid reservation and have presented it on time at the check-in desk, and the company operating the flight must be directly responsible for the irregularity. This basically means, in the event of extreme weather conditions, a terrorist attack, a strike outside of the company or other “exceptional circumstance”, the company is exempted from liability and therefore, there’s no possibility of receiving compensation.
The 3 websites work in much the same way. You enter the flight number and the date the flight was cancelled, delayed or overbooked and they tell you immediately if you have any possibilities of receiving compensation. They manage everything, and if you win, you pay the corresponding commission. So far, the success rate of these platforms is very high: Flightright claims to win 99% of their cases and AirHelp, 98%.
RELEVANT INFORMATION:
- The European Parliament has extended a draft law in recent years about air passengers’ rights to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights (including low-cost flights).
- Passengers are entitled to €250 if their flight of less than 1500km is delayed for 2 or more hours.
- Passengers can reclaim up to €600 on flights between 1500 and 3000km that are delayed for 3 hours or more.
- Passengers travelling on flights of more than 3500km that are delayed for 4 hours can claim up to €600 in compensation.
- Passengers have the right to leave the flight and fly back to their original destination when flights are delayed by more than 5 hours.
- You can claim compensation for flights from the last 5 years. Also, depending on the distance of the flight and the waiting time, the airline has to assist passengers (refreshments, telephone calls, etc.).
