PSA if cash rules everything around you: If your EU based flight is cancelled, your airline might have to write you a check
My next tattoo is going to say: “European Union Regulation (EC) 261/2004” because this paid for my flights to India in February. I’m thinking sexual inner thigh placement.
The low down: If you are flying anywhere in the EU or are just connecting through an EU country and it gets cancelled/delayed, not only are you entitled to your free rebooking to your final destination, but up to €600 in reimbursement on top of that. (The final payout is dependent on how far you were traveling in kilometers and time delayed)
IM SERIOUS. GOOGLE THAT SHIT.
I was supposed to fly from Bangalore, India to Boston, USA after I finished my trip to India in February. My AirFrance flight was boarded, and then the A/C on the plane broke before take-off so the flight (aside from becoming a human petri dish) was cancelled. They re-booked my sweaty ass on flight home for the next day and everything was fine.
ENTER: THE HERO I NEEDED BUT DIDNT DESEREVE. Mi hermana. My brother calls me and says “Google EU Regulation (EC) 261/2004” because this had happened to him before.
Unless you contact your airline and specifically cite this law, they will not pay you. I had $682.21 sent to me two weeks after I sent a very short email to customer service, effectively reimbursing my entire trip. THIS WAS VERY DOPE.
However, don’t use the websites that say they will submit your claim for you or on your behalf. They are literally just trying to take money for you to fill out the SAME exact form for them that you could do directly with the airline.
Anyways, I’m not saying that I now pray for my flights to get cancelled or delayed….but I do inwardly send energy to the cosmos hoping this does happen again. Thankfully, this was at the end of my trip and it didn’t screw up my life, but even if it had…that check was pretty chill.
If this has happened to you recently, its worth a shot to ask the airline about! Allegedly, the flight staff are supposed to inform you of these rights but that is fairy tales and nonsense.