Are you eligible to claim flight cancellation compensation?
If you have googled this prior to your flight you are either you are a pessimist, super cautious or worried about imminent strikes or bad weather and pre-empting the possibility of this happening.
If you have googled this because you are wondering if you are eligible to claim flight cancellation compensation because your flight has already been cancelled then you have my deep sympathy. How frustrating and disappointing for you. Please don’t worry though, I am here to help.
My experiences
Sadly this has been a recent experience for us. Let me tell you our flight cancellation story.
My son had a flight cancelled juts a couple of weeks ago. He was heading off from the UK to South east Asia on a volunteering program and his flight was cancelled due to weather conditions that the airport had unfortunately not being geared up to deal with it. So stressful for everyone concerned, lot of flights were cancelled that day and there was chaos at the airport!
We have been told there will be compensation which is brilliant. This was all handled by the charity who my son was working and travelling with.It was such a stressful time. All that effort packing and getting to the airport and all the emotional preparation and expectation too. Cancelled flights really do take their toll, not least if your luggage has already started it’s journey through the airport! It is a very good job that compensation is available.
48 hours later he was on a new flight and went off to have the most amazing adventure.
Where to go for help
I would highly recommend you head on over to AirHelp if you find out your flights cancelled to find out absolutely all you need to know about claiming compensation.
Does a delayed flight count as a cancelled flight?
No unfortunately it doesn’t. Not even if if does hugely inconvenience you, it is not considered in the same way. Annoying! I recently checked out a great article on which airports cancelled the most flights which you might want to take a look at too.
Is there a time requirement for flight cancellation compensation?
Yes there is – basically if the airline notifies you of the cancellation less than 14 days before the flight leaves then you are entitled to claim.
How much flight cancellation compensation can I get?
Following Brexit, UK law was introduced to match EU regulation EC 261, meaning passengers have rights regarding claiming flight cancellations under certain criteria.
If this criteria is met then airlines have to pay you flight cancellation compensation of up to £520 not a sum to be taken lightly!
When wouldn’t I be able to claim?
Well do check out AirHelp for the full criteria list but basically things like acts of sabotage, medical emergency and acts of terrorism. Basically if the airline could not have prevented the problem then you cannot claim.
If you pop on over to AirHelp you can find out for free if you flight is eligible to compensation! Don’t delay – you can even do this retrospectively. It only takes a few minutes.