Compensation for the cancelled flight. The airlines usage this trick not to pay you 600 euros

The departure board displays a ruthless message: ‘Cancelled’. It's a script that can ruin a best-planned vacation, a business trip, and the nerves of even the calmest passenger. In chaos and frustration, it is easy to forget that, as passengers in the European Union, we are protected by a powerful legal tool that can warrant us compensation even EUR 600. Unfortunately, airlines for which compensation is simply a immense cost have developed a strategy of liability avoidance over the years. They usage it. one repetitive trick – a legal element, which is massed down by claims which are unaware of their full rights as customers. Getting to know this mechanics is the key to an effective fight for the money that we legally deserve.

Your right: where is the compensation of €600?

The foundation of passenger rights in Europe is Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. It is this paper that constitutes an iron shield to defend us in the event of serious disruptions in travel. The Regulation provides for flat-rate cash compensation for:

• Flight cancellations without adequate early information (less than 14 days before departure).
• Flight delays at least 3 hours at the destination.
• Refuse to board due to overbooking.

The amount of compensation depends not on the price of the ticket, but only on flight distance:

• EUR 250 for flights up to 1500 km long.
• EUR 400 for intra-EU flights of more than 1500 km and for another flights of between 1500 km and 3,500 km.
• EUR 600 for all another flights, i.e. mostly intercontinental flights, of a dimension exceeding 3,500 km.

The Regulation applies to all flights departing from an EU airport and to flights to the EU operated by a carrier registered in the European Union. It's a powerful law, but it has 1 catch that airlines usage with absolute precision.

The 1 trick that airlines use: ‘extraordinary circumstances’

That Regulation provides for situations in which an airline is exempted from the work to pay compensation. This is erstwhile the cancellation or hold of the flight is due to the occurrence of ‘extraordinary circumstances’which could not be avoided despite taking all reasonable measures.

And this phrase is the most commonly utilized trick by airlines. It is simply a bottomless bag, in which the carriers effort to throw almost all problem, so as not to retreat the money. erstwhile you make a complaint, you frequently receive a standard consequence that the flight has been disrupted due to “unforeseeable and independent exceptional circumstances from the carrier”. Most passengers at this point resign, considering that the case is lost. This is simply a mistake.

The real definition of "extraordinary circumstances" is very narrow. These include situations specified as:

• Rapid and dangerous weather phenomena (e.g. snowstorm, hurricane, volcanic ash cloud).
• Acts of terrorism or sabotage.
• Sudden political instability in the country of destination.
• Airport or air traffic control strikers (but not the strikes of the staff of the line itself!).
• Plane-to-bird collision.

What airlines are trying to present as an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ is very frequently not.

A method failure is no excuse! How Courts defend Passengers

The most common false argument the lines mention is aeroplane method failure. In consequence to the complaint, it is frequently stated that "in the interests of passenger safety, the decision to repair an unexpected responsibility has been made". This sounds credible, but under European law it is simply a missed argument.

Thanks to a series of sentences Court of Justice of the European Union (TEU), has been clearly established that an emergency method failure, detected during a regular review or just before take-off, is not an ‘extraordinary circumstance’. The courts considered that the failures of individual parts of the aircraft were inherent in the average operation of the aircraft. It is the work of the airline to keep the machines in good method condition and to have contingency plans for specified events. Exemption from liability could only happen in the event of a hidden mill defect or act of sabotage, which is highly uncommon and hard to prove by the carrier.

How can you apply effectively and not get free of yourself? Step-by-step procedure

Knowing your airline rights and tricks, you can proceed to the offensive.

1. Collect evidence at the airport: Keep your boarding pass, take pictures of the departure board, ask for written confirmation of the reason for cancellations/delays, save bills for possible meals and drinks.
2. Make an authoritative complaint: Don't call the hotline. Find an authoritative complaint form on passenger rights on the airline’s website (in accordance with Regulation 261/2004).
3. Be precise and invoke right: In the application, state the flight number, date and clearly specify your request (e.g. ‘I request compensation of EUR 600 in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 ...’).
4. Don't accept vouchers! Airlines frequently offer vouchers for future flights first. They are usually little valuable than cash compensation and have a limited word of validity. You have the right to transfer to an account.
5. Don't be fooled by the error: If the airline rejects your application, citing a method flaw, in response, quote the TEU position, stressing that this is not an ‘extraordinary circumstance’.

The airline rejects the application – what next?

If your determination fails, you have further opportunities. You can lodge a complaint to National Executive Body (NEB) – in Poland it is Civil Aviation Authority (ULC). ULC can analyse the case and get the carrier to pay compensation. The eventual is the judicial way or the usage of specialised companies which recover compensation from airlines for commission.

The business model of many airlines for handling claims is based on a simple strategy: stalling and discouragement. The carriers are well aware that a large proportion of passengers will resign after receiving the first negative reply, especially if they are dressed in professional sounding but misleading legal terms.

A trick with "extraordinary circumstances" is simply a filter that is to be sown by people who are unaware of their full rights. Your occupation is to go through this filter. delight note that compensation for cancelled or importantly delayed flight is not a motion of goodwill of the airline. It's your hard-earned European law, law. Fighting for them requires patience and determination, but knowing the carrier's defence mechanisms puts you on the winning position. It's a game where 1 who's better informed and more persistent wins.