As you would know by now I love to travel and have traveled a lot the past 24 years. When I was younger I traveled several times a year for holidays, when I worked as a fashion buyer I took many flights for my job, and the past 4 years I traveled even more for this website!
At the age of 39 I have now visited 42 countries and travel at least 10-12 times a year, which I love. But when you are a fervent traveler like me you will also probably feel that the least fun and downsides about traveling are flight stress, transfers and delays! Unfortunately I have experienced many delays in my travel career already, either on the airport, but also when boarded already.
Flight delays
I even had a situation where we were sitting in the plane ready to take-off and it didn’t start. We had to wait for several hours in our seats without TV or food, because there was a technical error and they had to reboot the system several times. Luckily after a few hours we got lucky and the system finally restarted itself successfully, but I can tell you that that economy seat wasn’t getting any more comfortable in the meantime☹
This is just one of the many stories, as I have experienced much the past years, from planes that were overbooked, to cancellations up to 48 hours and the stress that comes with it to try to get a new plane ticket and get compensated afterwards.
Getting compensated
I remember being on the phone with helpdesks for hours, having to call back several times and being forced to write angry mails to get the compensation that I so deserved, but being denied in the end on many occasions.
Unfortunately I didn’t know about EUclaim back then, but I do now, and just have to share this lifesaver and perfect travelhack with you!
What’s EUclaim?
This company was founded 12 years ago when Regulation 261/2004 first came into effect and airlines had a hard time following this legislation. In 2007 EUclaim was the only company in the Netherlands working on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, to help passengers get their legal compensation.
Now after more than 12 years of persistence, and building up a big database EUclaim ensures a 97% success rate in court, for passengers from the Netherlands, UK and Germany, and is obviously the best partner to help you get compensated.
Requirements
You can apply for compensation in many situations: either if your flight was delayed, cancelled, when you were denied boarding, or even if you missed your connection!
To see if your situation applies for compensation via EUclaim, just ask yourself these 3 questions first:
· Did you fly from an EU country?
· Or did you fly from outside the EU to a country within the EU, with a European airline?
· Did you arrive with more than 3 hours’ delay at your final destination?
Fees
You can find out how the fees are built up and how much you are entitled to in this infographic:
Or watch this Dutch YouTube clip for a very clear explanation with a few examples:
Exceptions
Obviously there are a few exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, where the airline is not responsible. For example: bad weather conditions, airtraffic control strikes and acts of terrorism.
You can find all info and requirements on their website, or just fill out your situation on their website to find out if you meet the requirements within a few minutes:
or switch to their German, or English website version.
I would love to hear about your flight experiences and hope that EUclaim can help you get compensated as well! Do let me know about your delays and travel horror stories via the comment section here below, or find me on social media via the buttons at the bottom of this page.
*While this blog was written in collaboration with EUclaim, it still reflects my honest opinion and own experiences, as always.
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