Delay, delay, delay.
It’s a business tactic that has been around forever, and it especially applies to big businesses. Airlines are no different.
Stalling is a common strategy for airlines that are dealing with flight cancellations or delays and the claim that will be following a few short steps behind. Simply put, they won’t make it easy for passengers who are attempting to exercise their rights and collect the compensation they are due.
There is also the issue of volume. Chances are your claim is one of the thousands that an airline might receive on any given day. That’s not to say that your flight delay claim doesn’t deserve a resolution, it absolutely does. TravelRefund will work to get what you deserve on a no cure, no pay basis.
With that in mind, we understand that the airlines will do their best to delay your request, layout hoops for you to jump through, and ultimately put a lot of time and effort into having your flight cancellation or delay compensation claim be honored.
In this post, we are going to highlight a few of the most common delay tactics when an airline is trying to avoid paying your flight cancellation compensation.
Lenient Schedules and Extraordinary Circumstances
If you are looking into the validity of your compensation claim, understand that the airline might turn to any loophole possible in an attempt to dismiss your claim.
Take the distinction of what counts as an extraordinary circumstance as an example. If things that are completely outside the airline’s control, circumstances that the airline could not in any way have predicted or prepared, that lead to flight cancellations, they might be considered extraordinary. However, that is a legal assessment, and it is usually here that the battle between the airline and your legal team is going to be decided.
Another example of a loophole presenting the airline with what appears to be an easy way out is if your boarding pass doesn’t match the scheduled boarding time. If your boarding pass shows a later time than the real boarding time, the airline gains some leeway when facing a delay of three hours or more.
These are instances where the airline will respond to your delay or cancellation claim, if only because they believe they have found a loophole that might not hold up in court. Other times, the airline will opt to not respond.
The Airline Won’t Respond To Your Flight Cancellation Compensation Claim
Once again, the volume factor plays a role. The airline sees your claim as just another thorn in their side, one of the thousands. Flight cancellations and delays are part of their business.
Really, it’s not that they are never going to acknowledge your flight delay claim. It’s just that they won’t do anything about it until you bring it to their attention by going the extra mile. That’s what it will take. Until then the airline will evade and push responding to your claim to the next week on a weekly basis.
They have thousands to comb through. It’s going to be a costly process in more ways than one. Reviewing and responding to these claims might be a lengthy process, but it is an obligation that the airline is required to fulfill.
Not responding to your claim is a delay tactic, but it’s not the only one. Airlines will also respond as a form of distraction.
The Process For Your Compensation Claim Will Be Delayed
Delay tactics are common when an airline might not have valid proof that you aren’t due fair compensation for flight cancellations or delayed flights.
After you have filed your claim, you might be lucky enough to receive a response in a timely manner. There’s a catch though. That seems to be a common theme here.
Airlines rarely make things easy. In their attempts to deny your claim they might throw data at you that doesn’t seem right, or they might include as many legal buzzwords as possible and make the process seem less than appealing.
Another common tactic, one that we touched upon earlier, is informing you that due to a high volume of requests yours will take longer while under review. Airlines can drag this out for as long as they like unless you have a legal team pressing them for more information.
All the airline wants to do is add more hoops for you to jump through. Creating a difficult process leads to low rates of compensation claims in the face of flight cancellations or delays. That’s why it’s important to understand your rights and the situations where they apply, so you can get your case for compensation the attention it deserves.
Go With TravelRefund
Whether you are being told that extraordinary circumstances apply, whether there are failures in communication with the airline during your claim process, or if the airline does all they can to delay your compensation, you shouldn’t expect your flight delay claim to be a walk in the park.
EU 261/2004 was solidified in 2015 and passengers rights gained stronger protection against more than just flight cancellations. It covers lengthy delays, missing a connection resulting from airline error, and flights that are overbooked.
As soon as you have filed your claim with us, we will contact the airline on your behalf, and take over the fight for your compensation. When you are exploring the validity of your claim or choosing a partner to assist you with your claim, try to put yourself in the airline’s position and ask yourself; “can I get away with not paying this compensation?”
Flight Cancellations
TravelRefund is constantly innovating and working to improve the flight delay claim process. We work to get our clients what they deserve in a timely manner so that it’s beneficial for all parties. You will never get a bill from us that is not accompanied by an even larger payment from the airline. Learn more about your options when making a compensation request for free by filling out our online form .