You can be successful at your flight delay claim if you are leaving the UK, arriving in the UK or arriving in the EU through a UK airline. If your case is different, we suggest that you call the airline.
If your flight is delayed, the flight is responsible for providing you with food, drink, access to phone calls, emails, and accommodation as well if the flight has been delayed overnight.
The compensation for the delay will depend on the distance of the flights and your country of destination as well.
Let us see how you can claim compensation for delay in different situations
Voucher Compensation
In case your flight is delayed for more than 2 hours and the flight doesn’t provide food and drinks, you can instead have vouchers from the airlines which you can use for buying free food.
These are called compensation vouchers. If they don’t even give you compensation vouchers, you can buy the food yourself and claim it from the airlines later.
Please keep in mind that airlines will only compensate for reasonable expenses and not for items like luxury food or alcohol.
When Are You Entitled To Compensation?
Generally, you are entitled to compensation if the flight has been delayed for more than three hours but only in cases where it is the airline’s fault.
For example, if there was negligence on the part of the airlines which resulted in a technical fault or other such issues.
However, if the delay is because of something that is out of the airlines’ control, you will not receive any compensation.
There are still chances that you can receive compensation if you consult a seasoned lawyer.
If the flight is delayed, for more than five hours, you are more likely to receive compensation from the airlines. You may even receive a full refund for the flight if you haven’t taken the flight. In all such cases, you should get a refund within 7 days.
You are also entitled to compensation if your flight was delayed halfway through your journey.
In such a case, you are entitled to a flight back to your departure place.
However, if you do take a flight, you can only claim up to 520 pounds in compensation.
In Case Of Cancelled Flights
In case the flight is cancelled, you have the right to a full refund including return flights or you may get a replacement flight to your destination.
You may also have additional compensation like costs or compensation in case of the delay of the replacement flight in case the flight is delayed for more than two hours.
Bottom Line
It is always better to contact the airline to ensure that your claim goes smoothly. You should contact the customer department of the airlines as they are most likely to help because there have been massive efforts to regularize the customer department of airlines.
Give them whatever information they need and be cooperative, humble, and respectful. Understandably, many people will lose their cool when they miss an important meeting, but try to maintain your composure – it will really help you with your claim.
If you still aren’t able to receive compensation, we suggest hiring an experienced lawyer.
Also Read: Can you claim for flight delays outside of EU?
