Navigating Holiday Season Travel: Tips and Compensation Insights From An Airline Employee

This interview aims to provide some tips from a seasoned traveller and an airline employee Milana. She has been working in one of the leading European airlines for many years and has been travelling by planes her whole life. 

How often do you have to deal with people whose flights are disrupted around the Holidays? Is this any different from “regular” days? 

Milana: More often than you would imagine, as it’s not only about the Holiday season, it’s about various important events. If it’s not Thanksgiving, then it’s a wedding, a funeral, a concert, someone’s Christening – you name it. Any flight is someone’s important event. The thing that we notice around major Holidays though is that our passengers tend to be less understanding and more frustrated about disruptions, regardless of the reason for that disruption. 

Do you have any statistics on how many flights get disrupted around, say, Christmas? What are the most common reasons? Is it hard to find a solution for every passenger to minimise inconvenience? 

Milana: Well, the most common reason for the biggest Holidays as Thanksgiving or Christmas is weather conditions, as it falls during autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere, and the weather can be quite tricky. Of course there are always “the usual” reasons such as technical or operational issues. A few years back, we had an incident with a drone touching down on Stockholm’s airport runway. And it all happened on Christmas Eve. The airport authority had to shut down operations for a few hours causing massive flight delays and disappointments from passengers. 

During the festive season, It can be a little harder to deal not only with people, but also arrange rebookings or accommodations, as there is already a higher volume of travellers to start with, and options might be limited. 

What kind of tips from your experience can you share with us that would make it easier to tackle a trip for an important event or Holidays? 

Milana: Always allow for extra time, regardless of the type of event you are going to. If you need to be at a wedding on Saturday at 11:00, do not plan to arrive on Saturday early morning, try to plan at least a 12 or more hours gap for yourself. Make sure to account for things like curfews, road constructions or any other rules that might be relevant. If you are going to an unfamiliar country, always check for the upcoming local events (festivals, Holidays or even political situation) as they might have an effect on traffic load, accommodation availability and, in case of disruptions, your rebooking options. Do not underestimate the advantage of purchasing travel insurance – it can come handy in various scenarios. 

What are the most common mistakes made by travellers around the busiest season of the year or any special occasions? 

Milana: Believe it or not, but apart from not allowing themselves extra time, one of the more common reasons is luggage, specifically cabin luggage. We have seen cases where people try to bring festive food, antique gifts, fancy clothes and wedding gowns, and even fireworks in carry-on without checking airlines’ and countries’ regulations. It results in added stress, operational delays or even denied boarding. My recommendation is to make sure you check the rules thourougly, even if it seems trivial. 

What about claims and complaints, are there much more of it during the Holiday season, compared to the rest of the year? Any tips to smoothen the process over? What about compensations and eligibility? 

Milana: As the passenger volume in general is much higher, it is natural that the number of cases is also higher. The number one tip is to contact your insurance, read materials from the airlines’ websites regarding your rights. Make sure to keep all receipts and submit the when needed, provide all information as clear and as full of detail as possible. It helps if you know the exact disruption reason, as sometimes it’s one of the force majeure non-eligible for compensation reasons. 

Each airline must act in the scope of law and local regulations, and if a passenger is eligible for compensation, the company must provide it. Referring to any important events, such as concerts, weddings, etc, EC 261/2004 even mentions that “if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger’s original travel plan” such passenger should be eligible for a refund of their ticket. For example, if you were going to a concert and your flight was cancelled, you ended up missing the concert – no point to go anymore, you can get your travel ticket refunded. 

At this point we thanked Milana for her insights and wrapped up our nice conversation. There are a few things we want to add here as well. Although it is recommended to know your rights and we got some good tips on how to ease the claims process, it can get confusing fast. Let us worry about your case. We encourage you to contact us – Skycop can help you get compensated if your flight is disrupted.

Safe travels!