The year is 2013.
I am going to my first international academic conference to present the results of my social psychology research. I am excited but also nervous, because my speech is going to be one of the first ones in a multi-day conference.
Because of that I book a flight, which shall arrive one day before the event, so that I have a full day to have a good sleep and get ready in peace. It is really important for me, so there is absolutely no room for mistakes.
The Warsaw – Cape Town flight is going to be one of the most tiring ones so far. The distance is really considerable and there is no way I can find a simple, direct connection. I have to choose a flight with two stopovers. Every change also means additional hours of waiting for the next flight, so the whole journey is going to last forever. To be specific – over 30 hours.
But I am focused on the awesome experience that awaits me there and I am also thinking that I will set foot in South Africa even for a few days, what I always dreamt of. Everything is going to be fine, all in all “good things happen to good people”.
The first flight between Warsaw and Frankfurt lasts only 2 hours. At the airport I am told that the flight is only slightly delayed. It’s quite normal, I think, flights get delayed all the time, they will surely solve this problem. And indeed, after 20 minutes we are allowed to board and then take off quickly. The stopover in Frankfurt before the next, night-long flight is planned to last an hour, so theoretically I have 40 minutes to get to the gate. I ask the flight attendant once more, if I will be able to catch the next flight and she reassures me that on the same flight there are other passengers in the same situation as me, so the carrier will surely wait for us.
After leaving the plane in Frankfurt I rush, running, to the next gate. Overall, it shouldn’t be so, taking into the consideration a small fortune I pay for this flight. I have to sprint (cause I simply run as fast as I can) through a huge airport. Loaded with my luggage, I run my lungs out. And what if an older person was in my place? Or someone who simply cannot move that fast at the airport?
I run up to the gate in good time, 25 minutes before the take off.
And here the story begins.
The gate agents at the counter state simply that it is too late to board the plane, the check-in is closed and everyone is already in the plane. I stare at my watch with disbelief and say aloud that I could board the plane at least five times more, as it is still standing there, outside the window (literally), still connected to the jet bridge. It turns out that my argument is not convincing enough. The next few minutes are wasted on the discussion (more precisely on my furiously desperate monologue and monosyllable answers “No, because no”, repeated by the gate agents). No arguments can help me – that it is not my fault but the previous carrier’s fault. That it is not me who is late because the flight was delayed and they knew that these flights are joint flights and they should wait for the rest of the passengers. The final, most desperate try – I am flying to the other corner of the globe to attend a conference and if I won’t board this plane I will miss my own speech (high level of drama, I know, but it was literally like that) – comes to nothing. And here comes the first lesson at the Hard Knocks University – as a flight passenger you are unimportant and no one cares about your life plans. It hurts. Really hurts.
In the meantime, as my airport mini-drama drags on, a few other breathless passengers join us – their situation is similar to mine.
In only 15 minutes we are all turned down and sent away empty-handed, informed that we will surely not board this plane and all they can offer us is another flight (if there will be any seats available), which – wait for it – takes off in another 24 hours. We will be granted accommodation in the airport hotel but to make the whole situation more funny, the hotel day ends at 11 AM and the flight begins at 9 PM, so we will have to sit in the airport waiting room for another 10 hours… before we begin a 25-hour flight. To sum it up – sorrow, grief and disbelief.
The whole situation generated more problems, such as the fact that as a result of this delay my week-long journey, which was very, very expensive, just got shorter by 2 days (and this is a very significant change in a trip to the end of the world). Or another fact that I will have to rush to give my speech (provided I will be there on time – and this was the main reason of my trip!) straight from the airport, after spending whole 3 days on the road.
At that moment I felt helpless. Just like a little child that doesn’t know what to do and has no influence on anything around. I remember all those feelings very well. I was sitting in the departure lounge, staring at my plane, which was out there, at my fingertips and I couldn’t board it.
That evening I did nothing more, the whole energy just abandoned me and generally I did not know what else I could do. I was only a one of the hundreds or thousands of passengers. What would they do? Get a private jet just for me? Those were my thoughts.
The next day, after long 24 hours, I boarded the next plane, in the meantime begging the conference organizer to move my speech and swap my turn with someone else. I got at the conference late and, as supposed, driving there straight from the airport. It was hard, there was a lot of unnecessary stress. The whole trip was meant to be a whole different experience. Do you think that anybody cared or at least offered me an apology for the delay? Of course not. My journey was very short and I haven’t seen what I planned and wanted to see.
I will not let it be so!
When I came back to Poland my disappointment and the feeling of injustice did not disappear. I searched the Internet what could I do, how one should behave in such situation, what are the rights of a passenger and if there was anything else for me to do.
It turned out that such cases are, contrary to what one might expect, possible to win and although no one would give us back our wasted time, we are entitled to compensation.
I got in touch with a company specializing in obtaining compensations for passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled. All I needed to do was to fill in a simple online form. After a few months I received a message that my case was won and the carrier was obliged to pay me 600 Euro as reimbursement.
I thought that it would be difficult and achievable only through never-ending formalities and it really is so, if we try to exercise our rights as an anonymous citizen. Fighting any corporation is always a long-lasting and burdensome trial and involves even more time and money. Which is the last thing one wants in such situation.
In fact, our ignorance is a huge disadvantage and holds us back from exercising our rights… and the flight carriers exploit that unscrupulously.
What is the conclusion from this lesson?
Well, first of all, that we just don’t have the knowledge. Awareness of what to do, what to say, what one shall do and what should not do. How should we know all of that, if we never experience such situation or were never forced to fight for our rights?
This situation happened to me 5 years ago. In the meantime, a many of my flights were delayed, cancelled and caused me lots of troubles. The main difference now is that not only the carriers have their procedures and guarantees. We, the passengers, have our rights too and that “adventure” taught me a lot. But normally I would not know what to do – like most of people, who are left alone and helpless if similar circumstances.
In modern world you don’t need to be a lawyer to be able to exercise your rights. All you need to know is where to look for people, who know what to do and do it better than you. As one of the wealthiest American entrepreneurs of the 19th century – Andrew Carnegie said: The key to success is not to do everything by yourself but to find people, who can do it better than you.
What passengers should know but no one speaks about it
My situation with the flight to South Africa was rather extreme but think about how many times your flights were delayed by 2, 3 or 5 hours? How many times your vacations got shorter because of that, you missed your appointments or you were late for important events? You don’t have to fly to the other side of the globe, because even in Europe such situations happen every day.
You should remember a few basic rules about your rights of compensation:
The flight was delayed and late to arrive to a destination by at least 3 hours – in such case you are entitled to receive compensation.
The flight was cancelled – the airlines are obliged to inform you about cancellation no later than 14 days before the date of your departure. Otherwise, this situation would be classified as a major travel disruption, which is the basis for compensation.
Denial of boarding- the airlines often sell more tickets than they have seats (so-called overbooking), what frequently means that some passengers cannot board the plane. This also is a reason to pursue compensation.
The amount you shall receive depends on a distance of your trip. Usually the amounts are as follows:
EUR 250 – the distance between the airports is smaller than 1500 km
EUR 400 – the distance between the airports amounts to between 1500 km and 3500 km
EUR 600 – the distance between the airports is bigger than 3500 km
Keep in mind, that you are not entitled to compensation when a flight is disrupted due to weather conditions, which are not suitable for a flight, security issues or trade union strikes. Still, is always better to fill a form on a flight compensation company’s page and double-check it!
Guys, if something like that happened to you, do not hesitate to exercise your rights and fight for your compensation! The applications regarding all delayed or cancelled flights might be filed even UP TO PAST 3 YEARS! We, the passengers, are not helpless anymore!
This post was written in cooperation with SKYCOP.com, that fights for the compensations for cancelled or delayed flights on behalf of the passengers.
You can read more on SKYCOP website. You will find there a form, which you should fill in, if you want to seek compensation.