Intro
Being delayed is never fun, but it is nice that the European regulations will help you get reimbursed for the inconvenience. The rule is EC261/2004. Let me tell you about rewards for a long delay.
What happened?
Chaos
A few years ago we travelled to Italy and flew back from Rome, all using points, so this was an almost free flight to start with (Yay travel hacking!). On the way back home, early in the morning, we made our way to the airport, where chaos was reigning. It took us a while to even get into the building, the computers were all down and checking in people by hand was an immense task.
We waited for a long time but eventually we did get a hand written boarding pass. After we completed that task, we went to a lounge in the airport, waiting until it was time to board (thank you, Priority Pass!) Time passed. Our flight was delayed. More time passed. Our flight was more delayed. Even more time passed.
Finally! It was time to board. But with all the handwritten boarding passes mistakes were inevitable. And entropy always increases. So we boarded and there was much confusion about who was sitting where and they spent a few hours trying to figure it out and making sure everyone was on board who should be and things got more and more chaotic.
Till the Powers that Be decided ‘Screw this! We’ll just unboard everyone and start from scratch’ So we got off and tried to find an American Airlines associate to figure out what to do now.
Confusion
We walked and walked and searched and explored the airport. Never found the associate we needed, but eventually found out our flight was totally cancelled and just wait for more information. At least I got my step-count in for the day.
So we went back into the main part of the airport, got our luggage and eventually found out that we were going to bus to a hotel and they would try again tomorrow…
Buses took us to the middle of nowhere, but the hotel was nice and we got a free buffet dinner out of it. Life was good, even if different from what we had planned. We relaxed at the pool, drinks in our hands, the full moon rising behind the palms. Carpe diem!
The Next Day
The next morning, we had to get up very early the next morning to take the bus to the airport. Again, we spent many hours waiting in the lounge before we finally got to fly to JFK, where we missed our connection to Boston. We ended up paying for a hotel there since we missed the last bus to New Hampshire.
So how did you get your compensation?
Fast forward a few years. Facebook kept showing me advertisements about ‘Flight delays! We can get you MONEY!’. My reaction was ‘Yeah, that’s likely. If it sounds too good to be true, most likely it isn’t true’ In short, I was an unbeliever. There is no such things as a free lunch.
But it still made me wonder ‘What if?’ and slowly I started to believe in the possibility, but now it was so long ago, so what are the chances!?
Of course I couldn’t find any of the targeted advertisements when I needed them. So I turned to Dan from Points with a Crew, one of my favorite travel hacking sites, with associated Facebook group.
Dan helped me by telling me the name of the EU Rule which would apply (EC261/2004), assured me that there was no statute of limitations and provided me with the right email address for American Airlines to file a claim. (AA.ECClaims@aa.com)
We filed, we waited and we got an email back saying ‘Yeah, I guess you are right, you can get either 600 Euros or an 800 dollars flight voucher.’ Per person. The cash was tempting, but we decided to go for the travel vouchers. $1600 of free travel! Quite a good return for a night in a luxury hotel after a delay on a free flight! Later we used part of that money to fly to Seattle for free.
We tried the same thing for another flight when we had a delay on the way back from Europe, but sadly that one was weather related, so it didn’t count. Oh well, will start planning where to travel with our $1,600 of vouchers! Thank you, Points With a Crew! And thank you, American Airlines! Thank you, European Union!
Conclusion
If you have been delayed on a flight in Europe, originating in Europe or to Europe, look into EC261/2004. You might be able to get some money out of it. Have you ever used this regulation to get compensation? Were you successful?
Comments
20 responses to “Great Rewards for Long Delay”
I’m travelling to Rome in the New Year – I love the pictures. I hope we too don’t suffer from delays. But hopefully the short flight from Manchester to Rome should be hassle free.
Manchester – Rome is a pretty short flight. I hope it will indeed be hassle free!
We have done Manchester – Pisa which was no problem at all, so I hope yours will be as “boring” as ours was that time.
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You really got lucky with the $1600 in travel money. That trip will be very memorable. I bet you can’t wait to enjoy it.
Yes, we are thrilled with the money! Have used some of it already to fly to Seattle for free, where we explored for a few days and drove up to Olympia to visit their capitol.
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A trio to Italy has always been a dream of mine. Thansk for sharing your experience 🙂
I hope you will make it to Italy some time soon!
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Wow- this is brilliant! That’s great that there’s no time limit so you were still able to collect your claim. Will have to keep this in mind!
I love it! Not to mention that we used part of the $1600 for a flight to Seattle which enabled us to earn miles. Still smiling about it 😀
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Awesome post!
Thank you!
This is great info. I will keep this in mind during my travels although I hate delays and pray this doesn’t happen. lol But the compensation definitely would make me forget the headache.
Very welcome. It takes out some of the sting of the inconvenience for sure!
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Whoa! That is crazy! I didn’t know that was a thing… I have only flown in/ out of Europe once but hope to get a chance to go back- will remember this BUT I also hope I never have to use it 🙂
Yeah, I like that they have this program! I hope you won’t have to use it, but good that you now know about it for if you do experience it. We were lucky that the delay was on the way home. So we ended up extending our vacation by one day as opposed to shortening it ^^
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I am so sorry that happened to you, but so happy how it ended! I am so glad that you shared this with everyone!
Yeah, I was thrilled when we ended up with that much money! I really hope other people can use this as needed. Although it would be even better if other people did not get delayed when traveling to/from Europe, but I guess that is not a realistic hope 🙂
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