When booking a flight, there is always the risk of having your flight delayed, cancelled or even overbooked. Such events may disrupt your perfectly planned holiday and may even leave you stranded for long hours at the airport. In this article, we will remind consumers of what they’re entitled to when a flight is delayed, cancelled or the airline informs you about overbooking.

Overbooking is a practice that is sometimes adopted by airlines to make up for no shows. What are the rights of the consumer in the eventuality that a flight is overbooked? The air carrier must first see if there are any passengers willing to volunteer their seats.

Those that come forward will be entitled to a sum of money or other benefits agreed with the air carrier and will have to choose between an alternative flight or a full refund of the ticket.  However, if there are not enough volunteers, the air carrier can refuse to board passengers. When this happens, the consumer should be given the option to choose from rerouting to the final destination or a refund for the part of the journey that is not completed.

When choosing rerouting, the air carrier should also provide passengers with two telephone calls or e-mails, meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation during which a stay of one or more nights is necessary and transport between the airport and where you’re staying.

In addition to the above-mentioned care and assistance, the air carrier must also offer the following compensation:

• €250 per passenger for flights of 1,500km or less;

• €400 per passenger for intra-community flights of more than 1,500km or for other flights between 1,500km and 3,500km; or

• €600 per passenger for all other flights.

Overbooking is a practice that is sometimes adopted by airlines to make up for no shows

It must be noted, however, that if the airline has reasonable grounds to refuse boarding, such as health and safety reasons or inadequate travel documents, the above rules do not apply.

Also in the case of cancellation, one should be given a choice between rerouting to the final destination or a refund for the journey that has been cancelled or not completed. When rerouting is chosen, the air carrier should also offer an alternative flight to the final destination at the earliest time or on the date chosen by the passenger when possible.

However, if the offered rerouting is not suitable and the consumer makes new arrangements with another air carrier, he may not be entitled to seek the reimbursement of the new ticket expenses.

In addition, one cannot claim compensation if the flight is cancelled and as a result one misses the connecting flight that has been booked separately. This is because such flights are regarded as separate contracts.

Additionally, when a flight is cancelled, the same compensation rights as in the case of denied boarding apply. The distance of the flight determines the amount of compensation a passenger can ask for. This amount may be reduced by 50 per cent if the rerouting given allows the passenger to arrive at his final destination close to the original scheduled arrival time.

When a flight is delayed, passengers should always be informed about their rights and provided with a minimum level of care while waiting, such as food and drink and telephone calls if required. The level of care depends on the amount of time waiting due to the delay.

It must be noted, however, that when a flight reaches the final destination three or more hours after the scheduled time of arrival, the passengers have the same rights for compensation as when the flight has been cancelled.

Should the flight be cancelled or delayed due to extraordinary circumstances, which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures were taken, no compensation will be due. Such situations include bad weather, wars or political unrest.

When travelling, apart from problems related to flight delays or cancellations, one can also find that one’s luggage arrived damaged or even lost. One can claim compensation in both cases. Even though air carriers might differ in their approach of what to offer as compensation, one may need to prove the extent of loss suffered by showing receipts.

A suitcase is considered to be lost if it does not arrive at the end of 21 days from the date it was meant to arrive. It is important that a property irregularity report (PIR) is filled in by the consumer, also keeping a copy of the boarding cards and luggage tags.

Before buying anything, it is important to ask about the air carrier’s daily allowance policy and to keep the costs as to what is strictly necessary. The PIR report should also be filled in immediately once a passenger notices any damages upon retrieving the luggage. A consumer has seven days from the date of receipt of the damaged luggage to submit a written claim. A copy of the letter sent and other relevant documents (such as booking confirmation and receipts) should always be kept.

Finally, it is important that the airline is informed without delay about any complaints concerning such issues. More information can be found on www.eccnetmalta.gov.mt.

This information has been provided by the European Consumer Centre Malta.

Odette Vella is director, Information, Education and Research Directorate, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt