Common Mistakes When Filing for Flight Compensation – Insights From A Pro
Oh dear passenger, I completely understand what it feels like when everything is slipping away and you are left alone at the airport while overlooking the plane’s wings disappear over the horizon because you either missed your flight, it never took off or was delayed by several hours. The six-year journey through the disrupted flight claim compensation process made me and our team at Skycop real detectives, who can spot even the smallest details and pitfalls which are crucial for a smooth and quick compensation payout. As a result, we are more than happy to serve as helpful informants, sharing our knowledge of what to avoid when filing a claim.
- 2024-05-03
- 12:22 PM GMT
Multi-Claim Submission
In a moment of frustration, you throw away your flight tickets into the nearest trash can, turn on your laptop, search keywords for flight compensation, and fill out all forms at once. I must say that this is already a slew of bad decisions.
Stick to one claim company, and allow it to take care of your case, and handle all the required steps.
Hold Your Feelings
When you fill out the claim form, avoid overloading the comment section with sentiments or critiques. Describe the situation as concisely as possible: name the date, and the airport where the incident happened, and indicate the time you were due to depart, the time the plane took off, and the time you found out your flight would be disrupted. All this information will be relevant to our specialists when dealing with the airlines.
Should I Submit A Claim?
A common misconception is that only the person who bought the ticket is entitled to compensation and that only that person has to fill in the form. This is false.
Only the passengers that were supposed to travel are entitled to compensation, and only their details should be included in the claim.
The Importance Of Signature
What if there was a minor passenger traveling? Should he/she fill in the claim and sign the contract? If that’s the case, a legal guardian or one of the parents make a claim as per usual and indicate that the minor was a fellow passenger as well as provide his/her personal details.
And what about the signature? Well, a minor passenger’s contract must be signed only by a legal guardian or one of the parents.
Extra tip: leave a comment that the minor was the only passenger and the guardian or one of the parents is just there in the claim to sign it.
What if you sign contracts for several passengers, even though they are included in the same claim? Each passenger has to sign his/her contract with his/her signature. May look like a lot of extra steps, however for the convenience of the customer, we provide the contract links, which can be easily forwarded to passengers.
Duplicates
Upon the submission of the claim, if you remember that not all information was provided and you want to add something, you don’t need to create another claim.
Each customer who makes a claim receives a confirmation letter containing a unique code for that claim.
If you wish to submit more documents or provide new information, you can log in to your account or simply reply to the confirmation email and attach the documents. Otherwise, you will create what is called a duplicate, and this takes extra time to take care of.
Documentation
Once a flight disruption has occurred, it is no longer clear which flight took place, and which one was canceled. Where the new ticket is, or what to fill in on the claim platform. Very often flight information such as airport names, flight dates, and other flight details are misplaced in the flight information column.
There is no doubt that flight tickets are one of the most important documents you can provide to avoid misunderstandings. It is also important not to delete or discard airport boarding passes, flight bookings, or delay confirmations. With full information available, it will be easier for our specialists to track flight changes and patterns.
Extra tip: when presenting all these documents, ensure that the photos are not blurred and that important information such as flight date, flight number, and passenger name are visible.
Confusion With Numbers
You will often be asked to enter your PNR number. And we find that instead a flight number is entered. So what is the PNR in the first place and where can you find it?
PNR number is an abbreviation of the passenger name record, also known as the airline confirmation code, or booking code, and consists of letters and numbers that each passenger enters during the online check-in procedure. It can be found on the boarding pass.
One Trip, Two Separate Flights
It’s an unenviable situation when one flight is canceled, and the return flight is canceled as well. It would appear to be logical to put them both into one claim.
Hold the pegasus! In this situation, according to Regulation EC261/2004, the two flights or chains of flights are considered to be separate flights and two claims must be made: one for an outbound flight, and another for a return flight.
Our mission is to help all passengers receive a proper consultation or well-deserved compensation. Incomplete submission of a document can interrupt the whole process and lead to lingering confusion. The process could either extend over a lengthy period or come to a halt altogether. And nobody wants that.
When a claim is filed and you receive a confirmation email from us, allow us time to check everything and ensure things are in order. From there, we will be prepared to confront the airlines about your EU 261 compensation. And, hopefully, get it for you as fast as possible.
Also, if your flight was delayed, you may be eligible for flight delay compensation. Ensuring you provide accurate information is crucial to a successful claim.
