AirlineRatings.com has launched the world’s first Passenger Rights modules to simplify your journey when things go wrong.
Passengers may sometimes feel they’re treated like cattle, but everyone who flies has at least some rights.
READ: Passengers need to read the fine print
These vary — not just between jurisdictions but also between airlines — and that’s what makes it complicated.
So AirlineRatings.com has made it simple. Just look up your airline of choice and the important details are right there.
Read World’s Best Airlines 2018
No more reading the endless pages of fine print, the critical things you need to know are at your fingertips.
Some jurisdictions, notably Europe and the US, have legislated passenger rights but even that does not mean every contingency is covered.
An investigation by AirlineRatings.com has also uncovered some baffling complications between jurisdictions.
European legislation is generally considered by consumer groups to be the Rolls-Royce of passenger rights protection. It offers set compensation for denied boarding, cancellation or a flight arrives more than three hours late.
But the compensation of between 250 and 600 euros, depending on distance, does not apply in all situations says AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas.
“For example, the rules do not apply to a flight operated by a non-EU airline arriving from a destination outside the union.
“Let’s say you’re in San Francisco and you’re flying to London and you’ve purchased an American Airlines ticket but the carrier operating the flight is British Airways,’’ Thomas says. “In this case, the EU regulations will kick in because the service is operated by a European carrier.
“But the opposite is also true. If you’ve purchased a ticket on British Airways and your flight is actually operated by American Airlines. The EU regulations do not apply.”
To set passengers on the road to becoming better-informed travelers, AirlineRatings.com has introduced a new initiative that adds a passenger rights section to its popular airline safety and product ratings.
The independent safety website has updated its sophisticated new ratings and aviation news portal to add snapshots of passenger entitlements on select airlines.
Travellers simply need to go to the tabs beneath the photograph accompanying certain airline ratings and click on the one that says “Passenger Rights”.
There they’ll find a snapshot of what they’re entitled to on that particular carrier.
“Our aim is to give passengers an indication of their rights and point them in the right direction,’’ says Thomas.
“In the first instance, that usually means contacting the airline but a number of jurisdictions have consumer or enforcement bodies that can help if that fails.’’
“Our website gives you those links to further ease the travel stress.”
