Everyone has had a bad day, and those who travel frequently can detail their bad days in the airport from overbooked planes to delayed flights and rude customer service. Traveling shouldn’t be this tough and the time crunch that is expected of you to arrive is no relief either. But when travelers do face these airline shenanigans, especially in extreme forms like the recent United debacle (SEE BELOW), many question arise like: “What rights do I have that are protected?” “Can someone drag me off a flight too?”
Rest assured, the U.S. and the European Economic Community have established specified rights so you know that you are protected. Though what you see is what you pay for booking a flight, if you already had done so and the airline you have paid for bumps you, they are required to compensate you if they can’t get you on a connecting flight within the hour (four hours for international) and will pay 200%of your one-way fare to your desired destination. If these airlines refuse to pay you the required compensation, then it will ‘bump’ them up to 400%of the one-way fare.
Of course, only 10% of people whose flights are overbooked are involuntarily bumped. Dr. David Dao (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/david-dao-doctor-dragged-plane-files-court-papers-demanding-united-n745721) did not think he would be in that percentage, so knowing the compensation you will receive, especially if you keep the ticket and information, will hopefully give you a secure feeling with the green. The primary key to this is knowing the reason for the ‘bump’, and then demanding compensation from the airlines. Expecting them to pay for your compensation immediately is of no major concern for them so if you have a legitimate claim, don’t just let the airline carrier blow you off.
Now there is more to a passenger’s Bill of Rights and thankfully we are sharing this information with you from http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/16253619/air-passenger-rights-you-might-not-know-about/# so your flying experience will have less turbulence and more solutions!
