you can get up to 600 Euros for your Delayed or Cancelled flight. BUT, you know what?! Airlines are clever when it comes to paying compensation. They have a full closet of tricks and excuses for not paying compensation and this greatly affects an airline’s reliability. Do you know what they do? all that the airline offers are vouchers as flight compensation… Not quite what you were expecting, is it? Do not hurry to make conclusions, we can not consider all vouchers as the airline trick. If that’s what you were hoping for, hold on a second before accepting that offer: you might be entitled to something much better. Do you know, what is a point of offering vouchers? Travel voucher’s value is generally lower than the amount of the compensation you are entitled to. It’s a more cost-effective for airline carriers than paying compensation for a delayed flight.
How Much Am I Entitled to Actually?
The amount of the compensation depends on the length of your flight:
– €250 for flight less than 1500km
– €400 for flights between 1500 and 3500km
– €600 for flights more than 3500km
For example: if you have a flight from Hurghada to Frankfurt, you can get €400
compensation
If you are interested in getting compensation, read more here: How to Claim Flight
Delay Compensation? Step-by-Step Guide
And question remains the same: Should i accept the vouchers ? Answer is YES and
NO.
Why? Because we have a two types of vouchers: Travel Voucher and Meal Voucher. Let
me explain
Travel voucher
Why Shouldn’t I Accept the Travel Voucher?
The travel vouchers offered are intended to be used to book a new flight and are
usually valid for one year. When a company offers you vouchers, the money stays
within the company, so they only benefit from this situation. In many cases, the
vouchers are not even exchanged for a new flight, so double profit for the
airline!
– Your Travel Voucher will eventually Expire
You usually have a few months to use that voucher, a year at most. If you’re not
planning on flying again soon, accepting a voucher is anything but a good idea. And
even if you do, it’s still a bad idea..
– Travel Vouchers can be used with the airline, that you just had a delayed or
cancelled flight with
If you just had a cancelled or delayed flight with Lufthansa, they will offer you a
travel voucher to be used for a flight with Lufthansa. In the best case scenario,
you will be able to use it on a Air France flight as well, or for a flight with
another airline from the group. Except if you are used to flying with a single
airline or know that you will have to use the same airline’s services soon, refrain
from accepting that voucher.
And be honest, wouldn’t you rather spend your compensation on whatever you
choose?
In the end, being paid with money rather than a voucher simply gives you more
flexibility: you are free to use your flight compensation as you wish. Even if
you’re going to fly again with that same airline soon, nothing prevents you to use
your cash compensation to pay for your ticket: it will be the same as using a travel
voucher.
The only situation where accepting a voucher is more interesting than requesting to
be paid with money is when:
– The amount of the voucher is higher than the compensation in cash, AND
– You are sure to fly again with this airline in the near future
Most importantly, once you accept the vouchers, you will lose your right to
compensation. So our advice is: never accept a travel voucher.
Meal Voucher ?
What is a situation with a Meal Voucher?
Now, that’s a whole other story. Your passenger rights include a “right to care”.
Accepting the food voucher doesn’t affect your right to flight compensation. This
will give you a right to have both. Of course, you can accept vouchers for some food
and drinks, because you are entitled to them separately from compensation.
Regardless of what caused the hold-up, your airline must look after you if you’re
delayed or waiting for an alternative flight if your original was cancelled. It
should provide food and drink (or vouchers to buy them) if you’re delayed more than
2 hours.
In Conclusion, the Only Vouchers You Should Accept from the Airline are Meal
Vouchers 🙂
Have you experienced Cancelled or Delayed Flight? Claim now with MYAIRIRGHTS