Flight cancellation compensation could be an option if your flight is cancelled – as could compensation for flight delays or missed connections. With airlines and air travel under the spotlight around the world right now – from severe turbulence incidents, and increasing near misses in the USA, to the Qantas ghost flights furore – it’s essential to know your rights before you travel and board a plane.
It’s peak travel season with European summer holidays underway and winter breaks starting in the southern hemisphere, where many travellers are heading north for winter sun – which means it’s time for us to share our annual series of travel tips to surviving the summer travel chaos, especially as record numbers of travellers are flying this summer and cancellations predicted.
We’re usually harping on about why you need travel insurance, but as airlines have been in the media recently for everything from severe turbulence incidents and ‘ghost flights’ (Qantas knowingly sold tickets on cancelled flights) to over-scheduling, over-booking and under-staffing, we thought we’d make sure you’re aware of flight cancellation compensation and compensation for delays and missed connections in case you find yourself in such a predicament.
What many travellers don’t realise is that they could be entitled to flight cancellation compensation if they have a flight canceled by the airline, flight delay compensation if a flight is delayed, and possible compensation for missed connections. Fortunately there’s assistance available from air passenger rights organisations such as AirHelp, which has loads of information on what your rights are and can advocate on your behalf.
Flight Cancellation Compensation is an Option – Know Your Rights Before You Travel
We might not have flown as frequently in recent years as we used to, partly due to the pandemic and closed borders that kept us grounded, as much as a desire to slow down more and travel more sustainably when we do travel. But for a big chunk of our travel writing and photography careers we were flying almost weekly, and during the yearlong round-the-world trip that launched Grantourismo it was fortnightly.
So you need to trust us when we say that you not only need travel insurance before you embark on your next trip and board a plane, but you need to research flights carefully, you need to read the small print and scrutinise terms and conditions of air tickets, and you need to make sure you know your rights when it comes to possible flight cancellations, delays and missed connections.
As travel writers and guidebook authors of decades, we’ve experienced our fair share of cancelled flights, flight delays and missed connections. Unfortunately, flight cancellation compensation wasn’t available during the seven years that we lived out of our suitcases or during the 12 months of our global grand tour that launched Grantourismo.
So we were never able to claim flight cancellation compensation let alone compensation for flights that were delayed or and connections we missed, despite some cancelled flights not only disrupting our work plans and holidays, but almost resulting in me losing my dream job as an academic on a lucrative contract that I really didn’t want to lose.
There are so many anecdotes I could share about cancelled flights, interminable delays, and missed connections over the years, but some situations were so stressful that I don’t even want to recollect them, as they’re triggering. For instance…
The Missed Connection that Almost Made Me Miss My Mother’s Life-Threatening Surgery
There was that time the staff of a low-cost Australian domestic airline decided to close the flight early, just as I approached the gate. I wasn’t alone either, a handful of us missed that plane. There was plenty of time before the scheduled departure, too.
I’d actually been sitting in the lounge with others, in view of the staff checking boarding passes, catching my breath after racing from a connecting flight from Sydney to Melbourne with the same airline at the adjoining terminal, and was waiting for the queue to shorten.
Yet the airline staff didn’t let me board my connecting flight from Melbourne to Perth, where my mother was to undergo the life-threatening surgery that I was heading there for, despite me explaining the circumstances, in tears, to the staff.
The last person at the end of the line of passengers waiting to board the plane was just a metre from the gate. Yet staff refused to allow me and a handful of other travellers to join them to get our flight. It took another half-hour for the passengers in line to board, while I sat just metres away from them in tears as I called the airline’s customer services number begging for help to board that flight to no avail.
I ended up walking back to the main airport terminal, desperate to get on the next flight to Perth, and after finding a more expensive flight, I was able to make it to Australia’s most far-flung city just in time to kiss my mum and wish her luck before she went into surgery for facial reconstruction that could have ended her life.
Despite having been a pro travel writer for a couple of decades before that stressful experience, which meant I knew the ins and outs of the industry, I didn’t even think to try to claim flight cancellation compensation. It wasn’t even something that was written about back then, and as pro travel writers we made it our business to stay on top of these things.
In that situation, the flight wasn’t cancelled, but it was a missed connection, and a connecting flight with the same airline, due to a bewildering decision by ground staff to close the gate early and not allow passengers with boarding passes to board – despite some of our group having been sitting waiting in the airline’s lounge well before check-in desks opened.
I could have pursued the issue – as a writer I could have contacted the airline’s media relations manager and complained and probably would have been given a refund or voucher for another flight – but at the time, my focus was on my mother.
The Flight Cancellation that Almost Cost Me My Dream Job
We’ve also experienced flight cancellations, including one that could have resulted in me losing my job. We were at the airport in Luxor in Egypt where we’d spent a four-day Eid holiday on an Emirates Holidays package and were waiting to get a flight back to Cairo to meet our connecting flight to Dubai when we were informed our flight had been cancelled.
Apparently, our plane simply hadn’t arrived. There were no further explanations or apologies from airline staff, and nobody was making any moves to get us or other passengers on the next available flight. Because after the plane that was soon to leave took off, there weren’t any other flights that evening. The Emirates’ local travel agent rep who was responsible for the meet and greet and transfers did his best to calm us, but did very little at all to actually get us on a plane.
While the foreign tourists stayed in their seats, silent, bewildered, and at a loss as to what to do, the Egyptians formed a noisy scrum around the check-in desk, some even standing on the luggage conveyer belts, begging the airline staff to get them into whatever seats were left on that next flight.
I decided to join them, imploring the staff to let us on the flight so I didn’t lose my job. And it worked! We got on that plane, met our connecting flight in Cairo to Dubai, and we got home in time to Abu Dhabi so I could go to work the next day.
Fortunately there was no need for compensation in that case. I don’t think it even existed in those days. But the situation would have been much less stressful had we have known there was flight cancellation compensation that could have compensated us for any additional expenses to get back home.
Fortunately, these days there is compensation for cancelled flights, delays and missed connections, thanks to the introduction of legislation in Europe, Australia, and other countries to compensate travellers, that has been a response to appalling behaviour by airlines – including one of the world’s best airlines selling seats on cancelled flights!
While you can contact the airlines and travel insurers if you find yourself in similar predicaments where your flight has been cancelled and you’ve been bumped off flights, fortunately these days there are also laws to protect you and organisations and services to assist you.
What Are Your Rights if Your Flight Is Cancelled?
So what are you entitled to if your flight is cancelled or a delayed flight mean you’ll miss a connecting flight? Is the airline responsible for getting you on the next flight? What if they don’t have another flight that day and you need to buy a ticket on another airline so your holiday isn’t ruined?
Or what if it’s a short weekend getaway that’s not even worth taking anymore? Can you get a refund? Or a voucher for a future flight? Or compensation? What are you rights if your journey to your destination is disrupted? Or your return trip home to work and waiting family and pets is delayed?
Well, unfortunately the laws vary by region and country, and are complicated, but as a general rule it depends on the airline, length of delay, and reason for the delay or cancellation.
If you were responsible for missing your flight – say, you got caught in gridlock on the way to the airport, your car broke down, or you had a family emergency – then the airline obviously isn’t responsible for the missed flight. However, some airlines allow cancellations right up until check-in time, depending on the ticket you purchased – that’s why it’s important to read the fine print before booking.
If the delay or cancellation was the airline’s fault and within the airline’s control – for instance, there was a staff shortage or mechanical problems due to a lack of maintenance, say – then airlines are generally obliged to get you on an alternative flight as soon as possible, provide a refund or voucher, and if the delay is extensive, offer meals, accommodation and transport.
But if the delay or cancelled flight was out of the airline’s control – for example, borders closed as they did at the start of the pandemic or there’s unexpected bad weather or severe turbulence – then the airline isn’t necessarily responsible for compensating you for expenses as that’s what travel insurance is meant to be for…
Having said that, some airlines will do the right thing, even when they’re not obligated to, as Singapore Airlines recently did, assisting passengers who were injured during turbulence on a recent London to Singapore flight, and voluntarily extending compensation.
Not all airlines will do the right thing, but fortunately regulations in the EU, Brazil and Australia require airlines to provide compensation under certain conditions – which is why you need to know your rights before you travel. Check the websites of passenger rights organisations, such as AirHelp (links above), which have loads of information and will also advocate on your before.
We’ll be sharing more on this subject soon – but in the meantime feel free to share your experiences and tips in the comments below.
Did you know that flight cancellation compensation was an option if your flight was cancelled? Let us know in the comments below.
