Had a cancelled or delayed flight in the past five years? AirHelp arranges flight compensation legally owed by airlines to affected passengers.
A friend recently shared a new website recommendation: AirHelp.
“In April 2016 my flight to Cape Town was more then 3 hours late , and now like 1.5 years later I got a refund of 390€ with the help of this company.”
AirHelp takes 30% of the fee, though they are helping track money you’d otherwise not know about.
It took some time and legal wrangling, but AirHelp made it happen.
[Update! 29/05/2018 – My AirHelp claim has been successfully approved! Air France is liable to pay me €600, out of which they take €150 – leaving me €450 – more than the original flights themselves! Apparently it will take a few more weeks for Air France to send the cash, but it’s great to know the process works and that it is coming.]
My Big Recent Flight Cancellation and Delay
Testing AirHelp, I tried a claim for one of my own horror flight experiences.
Last year I traveled from Lilongwe, Malawi, to New Delhi, India, on Ethiopian Airlines.
The first flight, run by Malawian Airlines, had a technical issue forcing us to land shortly after take off. In the meantime, there was a plane on the ground that could have taken us to our next stop, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. By the time we landed this other flight had departed.
The delays meant that none of us would reach Dar in time, missing our connecting flights Many passengers were offered simpler, alternate plans.
There was a small group of four of us who suffered the most. The other three were, eventually, connected to their destinations via other European hubs.
My personal journey required an eight hour stopover in Dar, followed by another eight hours in challenging Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dar was fine – I booked a business lounge, where I napped, ate, and drank. Addis was not so fortunate – I couldn’t buy a lounge pass for any price, and my bank card stopped working after the first restaurant.
40 hours from departure, 4 in the morning, I arrived in Delhi, at my hotel for the DomainX domain conference. A quick sleep from 5 to 6am, and I was awake again for our VIP trip to the Taj Mahal. Long drives, day of conference. Night time socialising.
The jet lag lasted for about a week, including through my time in Canada.
It was a grueling experience! Ethiopian Airlines gave me a big meal ticket in Dar, and I was happy enough to arrive in Delhi in time for DomainX.
Currently only under US and European Jurisdiction
Unfortunately, my flights currently can’t be claimed, as the service only runs under US and European law.
My other cancellation, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, was barely over 5 years ago.
You can link your webmail account for AirHelp to scan your booking emails and add them to your AirHelp dashboard.
AirHelp Flight Compensation
While the 30% fee is steep, and the limited jurisdiction doesn’t help everybody, it’s still a useful service.
Imagine receiving hundreds of dollars back that you never expected to receive.
You can always contact your flight insurance company for the same process, or do it yourself.
AirHelp makes things easier for sure.
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