In this post, we’ll cover:

• Updates that airlines have made to their airplane cleaning procedures
• Provide information on what health experts are saying about how safe it is to fly during the pandemic
• Detail the changes airlines have made onboard to protect their customers and crew

Improved Aircraft Cleaning Procedures during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cabin Cleaning

Pre-pandemic, airplane cleaning practices generally consisted of a quick cabin walk by airline employees between flights to pick up trash and clean up any liquid spills. Bathrooms might have gotten a quick wipe down, particularly on longer haul flights. Deeper cabin cleaning and disinfecting was generally limited to when the airplane was pulled out of service for scheduled maintenance or when mandated by a local government.

The pandemic, however, has forced airlines to improve their cleaning procedures in order to keep their crew and the public safe. For instance, American Airlines is touting themselves as the first airline to hold a GBAC STAR Accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, which (among other things) means that AA has “established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the novel coronavirus.” More details about the GBAC STAR Accreditation can be found here. American also says that they deep clean high-touch aircraft surfaces like tray tables, seat belts, armrests, window shades, doors and overhead bin handles and they also offer hand sanitizer wipes onboard.

Airlines are cleaning high touch cabin surfaces, like tray tables, more frequently due to COVID 19

Similarly, Delta’s Delta Clean initiative has each plane getting a full cabin sanitization every night, and high touch cabin parts are sanitized before every flight. We have found that all US based airlines have made similar updates to their cabin cleaning procedures. More details can be found on the  airlines’ websites.

Cabin Air Quality – HEPA Filtration Explained

Air quality is another area of concern, particularly when it comes to the potential to spread viruses like COVID-19 through airborne particles. This has been a point of emphasis for airlines and aircraft manufacturers long before the coronavirus pandemic. Except for some very small aircraft, all commercial airplanes have been built with HEPA (High-Efficiency Particle Filters) air filtration systems since the 1980’s. HEPA equipped airplanes clean the cabin air similar to how operating rooms are kept sterile, by minimizing the crossover of air streams. Filtered air is pumped through the ceiling at a high speed and sucked out again at the floor level. Check out this video from United that demonstrates how the HEPA system works on an aircraft.

The EPA says that HEPA filters remove 99.97% of all airborne particles,  and a study done by NASA concluded that the effectiveness of HEPA filters held up against COVID-19 virus particles .

American, Delta and United all say that their entire mainline fleets are equipped with HEPA cabin filters, and many have worked diligently to equip their regional fleets (such as American Eagle and United Express) as well. Concerned about whether or not your aircraft will be equipped with a HEPA filtration system? We suggest calling your airline to ask them directly.

How HEPA air filters work in aircraft cabins

Changes to the Boarding Process and Onboard Experience

Face Coverings are Required

Improved aircraft cleaning isn’t the only thing being done to keep passengers safe while flying during the pandemic. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is continuing to require passengers, crew and staff to wear face coverings during check-in, boarding and throughout the flight. Enforcement may differ some from airline to airline or even crew to crew. Still, if you plan on flying, assume that you will be wearing a face covering throughout your journey. Airlines are likely to not let you fly if you are not wearing a mask, and you may even face a fine if you refuse to cover up.

There are some exceptions to the face covering requirement though, depending on which airline you are flying on. Young children or people with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask may be exempt. If needed, you should check with your specific airline to confirm that they offer the exemption, as not all do. Also, airlines will allow passengers to remove their mask during flight while they are eating and drinking.

Blocked Middle Seats

Of course, there has been a lot of conversation around airlines blocking middle seats. As of April of this year, no US based airlines are blocking middle seats (Delta was last airline to block all middle seats). But did blocking middle seats have any real impact on the spread of coronavirus on planes? A paper published by MIT professor and aviation safety expert Arnold Barnet says that empty middle seats decreases the risk of contracting coronavirus by a factor of 1.8.  This means that if all seats on an aircraft are sold, the probability of contracting COVID-19 from another passenger is 1-in-4,300. If middle seats are left empty, the probability goes down to 1-in-7,700. That is certainly an improvement, but perhaps not the drastic improvement that you might expect based on recent media coverage.

It makes sense that empty middle seats don’t have a larger impact on virus spread on an otherwise full plane, given that the average pitch on US carriers is only 31 inches, well below the six foot social distancing standard. In order to maintain the standard 6 foot social distancing on an airplane, we estimate that airlines would have to only seat people in every 4^th row, and even then only in the window seats. No airline could stay in business with that model.

Inflight Food & Beverage Service

There have also been some big changes to the food and beverage service offered in flight. United, for example, has made some fairly drastic cuts with no service of any kind in Economy on flights under 1 hour. For flights over 1 hour, Economy passengers will get complimentary non-alcoholic beverages with beer, wine and hard seltzer available for purchase. Snacks are only provided to Economy passengers for flights over 2 hours and 20 minutes. United is now back to offering complimentary beer and wine on all flights in premium cabins. Southwest, who suspended all food and beverage service early in the pandemic, has reintroduced water and snack mix on flights over 250 miles.

For a rundown of the current onboard food and beverage service for each US based airlines, check out this article over at The Points Guy.  And of course, airlines will still allow you to bring your own food and non-alcoholic beverages onboard.

Our Advice on Staying Safe While Flying During the Pandemic

• Book flights for early in the morning when airplanes are likely to be at their cleanest after overnight deep cleaning.
• Take advantage of the tools offered by airlines for a contactless check-in and boarding process, like this one from American Airlines
• Eat something before you head to the airport so that you can avoid crowded airport restaurants. For longer flights, bring your own snacks so that you won’t need to interact with crews to purchase something onboard.
• Bring sanitizing wipes to wipe down high touch areas around your seat. Things like seat belt buckles, tray tables, air outlets and arm rests are touched by almost every passenger.
• Bring hand sanitizer, but don’t be afraid to ask the crew for some if you forgot yours. Most airlines are stocking planes with hand sanitizer for crew and passengers.
• Don’t fly if you have a fever or experiencing any other symptoms of COVID-19
• Bring a comfortable mask that you can wear for your flight plus the time you will spend at the airport.
• If traveling with young children, be sure that they are comfortable wearing a mask for long durations of time.

What the Experts are Saying about the Safety of Flying During the Pandemic

We are not medical experts, so we cannot tell you if it is safe for you personally to fly. Below is a collection of articles written by medical and aviation safety experts on the subject. If you still have concerns about how safe it is for you to fly, please consult with your doctor. Also, if you find yourself in the situation where you have booked a flight but later decide that you do not want to travel, look for our upcoming article “Airline COVID-19 Refund Requirements and Policies”.

Trip Tiger can handle your COVID related refund request

• MIT: How Safe is Air Travel?
• CDC: Travel During COVID-19
• Mayo Clinic: Coronavirus Travel Advice
• World Health Organization: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Travel Advice
• JAMA Network, a peer reviewed medical journal: Risk of COVID-19 During Air Travel

Trip Tiger is here if you need help dealing with airlines after a bad flight experience. Requesting a refund for a canceled flight? Seeking compensation for a flight delay or damaged baggage? Maybe you just want to let the airline or DOT know about a less than stellar customer experience. Head over to our home page to get started.  

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Most of time the airline gets it right; you and your bags arrive at the same time – on time and intact. In 2020, the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that airlines mishandled 4.11 bags per 1,000 checked bags, a success rate of 99.6%. Still, things can go wrong; the same report says that the total number of mishandled bags by US carriers was just under 900,000 in 2020! There’s nothing worse than standing at the baggage carousel after a long flight waiting for a bag that does not come down the shoot, or it does come down but is damaged.

In this article we’ll focus on your baggage, and what your rights are to ensure that the airline makes it right when things do not go as planned. Topics we’ll cover:

• Delayed bags
• Lost bags
• Damaged bags
• Bags with missing items
• Limits to an airline’s liability for damaged or missing items
• The “final carrier” rule
• Baggage selection and packing tips

Note: This post assumes travel within the US. Baggage rules for international travel can differ, and we’ll cover that topic in a future blog post.

Delayed Baggage

A delayed bag is just that – a bag that does not arrive on time with its owner. It’s the most common baggage problem, and the one that’s the easiest and quickest to resolve.

Even if you only travel occasionally, chances are that you have experienced this. Maybe there just wasn’t enough time for your bag to make the connection when you had to change planes on your way to your final destination, or a transfer from one airline to another didn’t happen as quickly as expected. Whatever the reason, your bag still made it to your final destination – just a bit later than you did.

If your bag did not come off the plane with the rest of the luggage from your flight, the first thing you should do is find the bag claim office at the airport for the airline you flew in on and speak to a bag claim rep. Although not always the case, the rep will likely already know what happened (they might have even paged you instead of having you wait at the baggage carousel), be able to advise you on when your bag is expected to arrive at the airport and will give you a timeframe for delivery.

Compensation for Delayed Baggage

The airline will sometimes offer you a toiletry kit or authorize expenses for you to meet your immediate needs. Your bag gets delivered to you a few hours later, or maybe the next day, and everybody moves on with life. Easy-peasy.

Lost Baggage

But what happens when it is clear that your bag is not showing up any time soon? When does a “delayed” bag turn into a “lost” bag?

How Airlines Reunite Passengers with Lost Baggage

It varies by airline, but generally a bag will move into the “lost” category when it’s been delayed for 3 to 5 days. Until then, the local airport is still trying to return your bag to you – routing the bag based on its tagged destination or any other instructions in the claim.

After 3 to 5 days, the claim will usually be transferred from the local airport to a centralized baggage service office at the airline, and you’ll be given further instructions. Any unclaimed bags are sent to this office after about 5 days as well.

Lost & unclaimed luggage are sent to a centralized baggage service office

Here, specialists trained specifically in locating missing bags will take up the case. They may have you fill out a more detailed claim, and they use a worldwide database shared by most airlines to try to hunt down your stuff. At the same time, they are inventorying unclaimed bags that they have received and attempting to match bags with owners.

If it’s something simple, perhaps another airline ended up with your bag by mistake, the process can sometimes be concluded in a week or two.

But it can often take longer. For example, if the routing tag was accidentally torn off of a bag and there’s no identifying information on the outside, the bag can’t be reunited with its owner until its contents have been examined. This includes a complete inventory of the bag’s contents, as well as a thorough search for identifying information.

Bag specialists can be quite resourceful in tracking down a customer based on its contents. If they find a prescription bottle, they’ll call the pharmacy to try to reach the customer. If they find a library book, they’ll call the library.

This process is a very manual one and can take up to a couple months to complete. It takes time for bags that have lost their owners to be properly inventoried. The best tips here are to keep in contact with the airline by reaching out once a week or so, be responsive to any request for additional information, and pack your patience. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see movement on the search for your bag in the first week or so. There is actually a “sweet spot” 4 to 6 weeks after a bag goes missing where most bags are matched with their owners and returned.

Compensation for Lost Baggage

Similar to the delayed bag, the airline will authorize interim expenses if there were items in the bag that you need immediately. But keep in mind any expense paid out will be deducted from any final settlement if your bag is not located.

If the airline is not able to locate your bag after their search, they will assess your claim and pay you out for the missing items. Similar to an insurance claim, they will pay you for the depreciated value of the items (not what you paid for them), and they could ask for receipts for pricier items. Also, the amount an airline is on the hook for is capped by the US Department of Transportation. Currently the limit is $3,500 per passenger for domestic flights and is also subject to the airline’s limits of liability.

If you are still unsure about how to handle a delayed bag or feel that the airline owes you more for expenses incurred due to late delivery of your luggage, our staff at Trip Tiger would be more than happy to handle things for you. Just follow this link to our website to get started.

Trip Tiger can handle your luggage compensation claim

Damaged Baggage

If your bags or belongings are damaged, you generally have 24 hours to report the damage to the airline. If the damage is not exempt in the airline’s limits of liability (a big if), the airline will pay to have the item repaired, or they will pay you the item’s depreciated value if it can’t be repaired.

Bags with Missing Items

While its uncommon, nothing can feel more violating than discovering that something is missing from your bag after a flight. Similar to damaged bags, airlines typically require the reporting of missing items within 24 hours. Also similar to damaged belongings, if a missing item is not exempt in the airline’s limits of liability (again, a big if), the airline will pay you the item’s depreciated value. If it’s a pricy item, they may ask to see a receipt for the original purchase.

Limits to an Airline’s liability for Damaged or Missing Items

If you read our airline compensate article, you already know that airlines use the Contract of Carriage you agree to when you purchase your ticket to limit their financial responsibility for most problems. This includes issues with your baggage.

The contract words may differ slightly from airline to airline, but the premise is generally the same. Take Delta’s Contract of Carriage as an example. Delta doesn’t take any responsibility for preexisting damage, minor damage, “normal wear and tear”, fragile items, precious items, or perishable items. If any of these types of items are lost, missing, or damaged, you’re out of luck.

Delta is not alone here. Every airline has similar provisions in their Contracts of Carriage.  The good news is, Trip Tiger can also help you with your damaged luggage claims! Start your case here.

Your old suitcase may not be eligible for compensation

The “Final Carrier” Rule

Unless you’ve encountered this rule for yourself, you probably don’t know what we’re referring to here, and if you have experienced it, it likely seemed strange. The rule is simple: If a customer travels on more than one airline, it’s the responsibility of the final airline in the customer’s journey to handle any bag claim to conclusion.  The rational for the rule takes a bit of explaining.

First, since they are the last ones to see the customer in person, the final carrier is in the best physical position to take the claim from the customer in person in the baggage claim area at the final destination.

The rule also ensures that there is only one airline trying to route the bag to the customer when a bag is delayed or missing. The responsible airline can coordinate with the other airline as necessary, but if another airline is also actively attempting to route the bag through their system it can cause a tug-of-war between the two carriers that often only leads to further delay.

When a bag is damaged or items are missing, having the final airline handle the claim also prevents somebody from double dipping and filing a claim with multiple airlines.

The final carrier rule isn’t meant to assign blame to one airline or the other (the airlines have a behind the scenes process for that); the intent is to resolve the claim with the customer as quickly, consistently, and efficiently as possible.

Baggage Selection and Packing Tips

While you are largely at the mercy of the airline when it comes to baggage handling, there are things that you can do to reduce the chance that you will encounter a problem.

Selecting the right bag is critical. It really comes down to personal preference, some common sense, and weighing pros and cons.

1. When selecting a bag, it’s always a good idea to pick something that’s somewhat distinctive. Every black rollaboard looks the same at baggage claim, so try to pick a unique color or feature to reduce the chance that somebody takes your bag by mistake.
2. Avoid flimsy or protruding features. Four wheeled bags are great for navigating through a busy airport terminal, but those protruding wheels break easily. Not surprisingly, broken wheels are almost uniformly exempt from airline liability. We recommend that you limit your four wheeled bag to your carryon where mobility and convenience are more important. Stick with the enclosed two-wheel bags for checking.

You can also reduce the risk that you bag is lost or damaged by following these tips when packing:

1. Avoid checking fragile items, anything of value, or anything that you absolutely can’t do without in the event your bag is delayed. Think prescription medications, car keys, electronics, fragile souvenirs, travel documents, money, and important paperwork. Ideally your checked bag contents should be limited to replaceable items such as clothing, liquids you can’t carry on, and toiletries.
2. If you do need to check something that might be a bit fragile, a hard-sided suitcase is your best bet. However, it’s more common to see damage to a hard-sided suitcase than a soft one, so you are trading potential damage to your hard case in order to protect the contents.
3. To help you reunite with your bag if it’s delayed or lost, be sure that there is a luggage address tag on the outside of the bag. It’s not necessary to put your address on the tag – and that’s not advisable anyway since it could give a would-be criminal the address of somebody they know isn’t home. Just your name, phone number, and maybe email address will suffice. Even better – when packing, include a piece of paper containing your contact information inside of your bag as well.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, checking a bag with an airline really is quite safe. The odds of a problem are pretty low, and when a problem arises, they are often resolved quickly and easily. But, when that doesn’t happen, there is a process available to settle your claim, and there are things that you can do to mitigate the risk of something going wrong. Of course, Trip Tiger is always here if you need assistance with a baggage issue.

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DOT Airline Complaints

The DOT is the best and only way to ensure that an airline customer’s complaint is heard and counted. That’s why we recommend that, in addition to complaining to the airline, customers should also reach out to the DOT with their complaint. This post will explain what a complaint to the DOT does.

What Does Submitting a DOT Airline Complaint Actually Do?

The most important thing that a complaint to the DOT does is ensure that your issue has a meaningful impact on the airline that caused the disruption, and hopefully encourages them to improve.

When you complain to an airline, you’re basically complaining to a black box. Yes, they will receive your complaint and respond. But the only ones who know about your complaint are you and the airline. The airline is not required to publicize how many or what types of complaints they receive, and they don’t.

DOT Complaints and the Impact on Airlines

The DOT does, however, keep track of and provide to the public summaries and rankings of the number and types of complaints they receive about airlines. While that may seem like a trivial thing, it’s not. These rankings are really the best public resources for comparing performance between airlines.

DOT rankings are therefore the primary resource that the media use when writing stories that rank or compare airline performance. Stories like the Wall Street Journal’s “The Best and Worst Airlines of 2020”, an annual story which is often cited by other publications and websites as the authority on airline rankings. To be sure, these DOT complaint rankings are something that airlines keep track of very closely. They care about these complaints. A lot.

The DOT report is also used by some airlines as a factor in executive performance-based pay. The better the airline’s performance compared to their peers, the more the people at the top get paid.

Still, only a small portion of airline complaints get sent to the DOT (far less than 1% by our estimates). So, each and every complaint that goes to the DOT carries much more weight than one that does not.

With all of this, airlines can be motivated to improve in areas where they are seeing the most DOT complaints. By submitting a complaint to the DOT, not only is your voice being heard, but you are participating in a process designed to help and encourage airlines to improve.

The DOT does not Help Resolve Your Travel Issues

That said, we want to be clear that there is one thing a complaint to the DOT will not do. Except for highly regulated disability complaints, the DOT won’t intervene to ensure that the response you get from an airline is appropriate. They will track your complaint, send it to the appropriate airline, and move on to the next complaint. They will not even ask the airline for a copy of their response to you.

Trip Tiger: Your Airline Conflict Resolution Experts

That’s where Trip Tiger comes in. When you engage our service, we will evaluate your issue, submit your complaint to the airline, and ensure that the resolution you get from the airline is appropriate. Also, for an additional $10, we can file your complaint with the DOT as well. If you’ve had a bad flying experience, head to our home page to find out how Trip Tiger can help!

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The good and bad with airline compensation

First, the bad news. As long as the airline managed to get you from Point A to Point B (by any means… plane, car, bus, or boat), you’re probably not entitled to anything from the airline.

Despite this, all hope is not lost if you were hoping for some sort of compensation from the airline. That’s the good news! In this post you’ll learn when and why airlines are likely to compensate for travel disruptions.  We will also provide some tips on how to increase the likelihood of getting some sort of compensation.

Specifically, this article will cover:

• Passenger vs. Airline Rights
• Your Legal Rights to Airline Compensation
• Why Most Situations Don’t Require Compensation
• Your Options when Compensation is not Required

Before we begin, we should note that this blog post focuses on travel within the US. Travel outside of the US is generally covered by different rules and regulations (checkout this article by Nicky Kelvin at The Points Guy on EU261 compensation), which we’ll cover in a later blog post.

Passenger vs. Airline Rights

Air travel within the US is governed in two ways: The US Department of Transportation (which regulates air carriers) and the contract with the airline that you agree to when purchasing the ticket (the “Contract of Carriage”). The former is designed to protect you, the latter is designed to protect the airline. It’s probably easy for you to guess which one of these is longer and more complicated when it comes to passenger rights.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) governs a lot (A LOT) of aspects of an airline’s business, including passenger rights. The DOT website’s “Fly Rights” section has a pretty comprehensive list of air travel tips and tricks, but it’s pretty light on airline compensation requirements. In fact, the last resort recommendation isn’t even a process that the DOT oversees; it’s a suggestion that you the flyer take the airline to small claims court if you feel that you have not been treated fairly by the airline. Who has time for that?!

The more comprehensive outline of your rights is the airline’s own Contract of Carriage. This is the airline’s contract with you, that you agree to when you purchase a ticket. Since it’s written by the airline for airlines, you can assume that it’s not so much a passenger rights document than it is an airline rights document.

A quick read of the DOT’s Fly Rights page and any airline’s Contract of Carriage will quickly show that a passenger’s rights are few and an airline’s rights are many. But your chances of receiving compensation from an airline after a flight gone wrong may not be as bad as you think. Keeping reading to find out more!

Your Legal Rights to Airline Compensation

Were you denied boarding against your wishes because the airline sold more tickets for the flight than they had seats on the plane? Or, did the airline lose, delay, or damage your baggage or its contents? If so, consider yourself lucky. Well, maybe not lucky. But you have found yourself in one of the mere two (that’s right, two) scenarios where an airline legally owes you compensation.

Compensation for Involuntary Denied Boarding

Airlines often sell more tickets for a particular flight than they have seats. There are a variety of reasons why airlines do this, and typically on the day of departure there ends up being enough seats for everybody. But, on that rare occasion when more people show up for a flight than there are seats on the plane, and the airline can’t get enough people to volunteer to take an alternate flight (in exchange for compensation such as a voucher or gift card), then the airline will involuntarily deny customers boarding until they have enough seats.

When this happens, those customers that were involuntarily denied boarding are owed cash (or check) compensation. The amount of compensation is calculated based on the fare of the ticket and the amount of time the customer will be delayed getting to their final destination. More details will be available in our Denied Boarding blog post (coming soon).

Compensation for Lost or Damaged Baggage

The second scenario where airlines are required to offer compensation is when they lose or damage your baggage or belongings. Generally, “lost” here means lost forever, not simply delayed. “Damaged” means damaged as a direct result of an airline’s rough handling as they are not legally required take responsibility for fragile items or items improperly packed.

Once an airline declares a bag permanently lost, or once they take responsibility for damage or missing items, they will generally have you fill out a more detailed claim, then either pay you the depreciated value of the lost or damaged items, or pay for repairs.

The DOT controls the amount of financial liability that an airline is responsible for when it comes to lost or damaged bags on domestic flights. That limit is currently set at $3,500 per passenger. Remember, these are maximums – the amount of any settlement will depend on the nature of the claim.

You might be inclined here to fudge your claim a bit to get the maximum payout. However, this isn’t advisable. Airlines will often require receipts for purchases, and any claim deemed fraudulent may be denied outright, or in extreme cases you could get into legal trouble. Best advice here is to be honest and walk away with what you’re entitled too.

And that’s it. There is your comprehensive list of the two scenarios where the US Department of Transportation says you’re owed compensation from an airline. We cover these details and more in our dedicated blog post about airline checked baggage compensation.

Why Most Situations Don’t Require Compensation

So, why are airlines not on the financial hook for most problems that arise during air travel? The short answer is that the US Department of Transportation, for whatever reason, has not mandated that airlines provide compensation for things like delays, cancellations, or other disruptions.

In fact, since airlines are not mandated by the government to provide compensation, they have gone a step further in their contracts with their customers and specifically exempted themselves from liability for things like delays and cancellations.

Airlines are not required to compensate you for flight delays or cancelations in most cases

Take, for example, the United Airlines Contract of Carriage. In the Flight Delays/Cancellations/Aircraft Changes section, United lays out explicitly that “UA shall not be liable for failing to operate any flight according to schedule, or for any change in flight schedule, with or without notice to the passenger.” United is not unique here; all carriers have similar verbiage limiting their liability.

That’s not to say, however, that an airline’s Contract of Carriage doesn’t have any consumer protections whatsoever. For instance, most do have provisions outlining what the airline will do to meet the immediate needs of customers during delays or cancellations that are considered within their control. Think mechanical cancellations and the like (not weather). In these situations, depending on the nature and length of disruption, customers will generally be offered food and hotel rooms for their trouble.

But, airlines will almost uniformly deny liability for financial losses or time lost that result from delays or cancellations – no matter the reason for the operational issue. Miss that important sales meeting? Miss your aunt’s wedding? Too bad. There is no DOT regulation or stipulation in an airline’s Contract of Carriage that entitles you to anything.

So, is that it? Are you out of luck? Maybe not…..

Your Options when Compensation is not Required

As we’ve outlined above, if you were hoping for regulatory or contractual recourse from a flight delay, you’re probably out of luck.

That said, airlines have whole departments dedicated to responding to customer complaints. They have to. While the DOT is short on compensation requirements, they do require that airlines respond personally to each and every customer complaint that they receive.

Goodwill Compensation from Airlines

For the most part, and despite what you might think, airlines really do care about the plight of their customers, and they staff their customer relations offices with people capable of solving problems. Of course they have to act within the bounds of certain guidelines, but most really do want to help. And remember, these are humans fielding complaints; often humans that have chosen to work in a field where their primary job solving problems and hopefully convincing customers to fly on their airline again.

That’s where “goodwill compensation” comes in to play. Although not legally required, customer relations reps are generally permitted to offer goodwill compensation to customers in certain situations. More info on what scenarios are considered for goodwill compensation will be discussed in our upcoming blog post on that topic, but generally these include areas where a customer’s problem could have been prevented by the airline. Think mechanical delays, ticket agent errors, etc.

Trip Tiger can handle your complaint or compensation request for you

Hire professionals

So, what’s the best approach to take when complaining to an airline? We’d be remiss if we didn’t plug Trip Tiger here. We take on the burden of filing airline complaints or refund requests on behalf of our customers. With decades of experience in the industry, we know what to say to ensure that your complaint is conveyed effectively.

Tips for requesting airline compensation on your own

If you decide to ask for compensation from the airline yourself that’s ok. Here are some tips to follow for the possible outcome:

Be polite

The old adage is true… you catch more flies with honey. Be firm, but respectful when communicating in person or in writing. AVOID ALL CAPS!

Provide as many details as possible

The more information you provide reduces the likelihood that the airline will come back to you for more details. Worse yet, they may send you a general apology and consider the matter closed if your information is incomplete.

Be concise

This may seem like it runs contrary to the above, but it’s possible to achieve both. Most airline web forms have a character limitation* to try to force you to limit the length of your email. Convey your issue in as few words as possible to get your point across and avoid duplicating information.

* When you ask Trip Tiger to handle your complaint, we have no character limitation. Part of our service is taking everything that you give us and creating an effective message to the airline.

Make it clear to the airline what it will take to make you happy

Are you just looking for an apology and assurances that your complaint will be handled appropriately? Do you want reimbursement for an expense? Are you seeking goodwill compensation? Tell them so.

Be reasonable in your request

If the airline got you to your destination there is almost zero chance they will honor a request for a full refund. If your request would be considered unreasonable to an unbiased observer*, it’s more likely to be denied than if your request was more reasonable.

* When you hire Trip Tiger, our first step is to follow up with you to give you an evaluation of your complaint and our recommended approach. We’ll reach out to you with our assessment before we contact an airline, and we have the experience to know what type of compensation to seek given the circumstances of your complaint.

TL;DR

• Airlines are only legally required to compensate you when you are unwillingly bumped from a flight. They are also required to compensate you when they damage or lose your luggage.
• Airlines are not required to provide compensation for flight delays
• The Department of Transportation requires airlines to respond to every customer complaint
• Airlines often provide compensation for flight delays or other travel interruptions as a gesture of good will to keep their customers happy
• Trip Tiger can file complaints with airlines on flyer’s behalf, using industry expertise to maximize the potential for compensation

The post Airline Compensation: What to Expect and Knowing Your Rights appeared first on Trip Tiger.