In the previous “Basic Guide to Claiming Compensation When Flights Go Wrong,” we explained when you may be eligible for compensation for flight delays, cancellations, poor airline service, and similar issues; how to obtain compensation; and several real examples. In this advanced guide, we will continue looking at ways to get value back from airlines.

Credit Card Insurance

In the basic guide, we briefly introduced how to use credit cards that include flight insurance. Below, we will use a real example to explain this in more detail.

Case Study

My spouse and I were flying from DEN to Montreal with a connection in Chicago. The DEN-ORD flight was delayed, so we had to stay overnight at Chicago airport. When we booked the tickets, each round trip used 25,000 UA miles plus about $50 in fees. The roughly $50 in fees was paid with a United Explorer credit card. This met the basic claim requirements for many Chase annual-fee credit cards: the entire trip, or part of it, must be paid with the card, including award tickets; the delay must be at least 12 hours or require an overnight stay (6 hours for Chase CSR and Ritz); it must be a round-trip ticket; the delay location cannot be near your home; and eligible covered travelers are limited to yourself, authorized users, your spouse, and minor children. After the delay, the process was as follows:

  • First, we went to the UA counter staff at Chicago airport to confirm the new connecting flight and lodging arrangements after the delay. Since I had Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold status at the time, I went into the United Club to get help from an agent. The advantage was that there were fewer people and no need to wait in a huge line. Of course, the one-time UA Club passes that come with the UA credit card can also get you into the UA Club to speak with UA staff. The UA agent rebooked us onto an AA-operated flight from Chicago to Montreal the next morning. You can negotiate at this step, because UA agents will first look for UA flights; if those do not meet your needs, you can ask them to switch you to another airline. After searching for quite a while, the UA agent found us a Hilton near the airport and gave each of us a $30 meal voucher. That $30 meal voucher was clearly a bit tight for covering both dinner and breakfast, but since we had protection from the UA card, we did not hold back. Both dinner and breakfast were well above the $15-per-person level.
  • Because we were delayed overnight, we could not check in to the hotel we had booked in Montreal. We had used Hyatt points to book a Hyatt Place. After dinner, we immediately called Hyatt customer service and told them that we could not check in that night because of the flight delay. The agent was very nice and refunded the points used for the reservation.
  • Because dinner and breakfast were far above the amount covered by the meal vouchers, we decided to use the UA card’s trip delay insurance to reimburse those expenses. When filing the claim, make sure to provide the following documentation: the claim form; the Chase UA card statement, with the portion of the airfare paid by the UA card marked; the original and new flight itineraries (the ticket confirmation emails sent by UA); a delay certificate issued by the airline or airport (it is best to get the delay certificate at the airport; we overlooked this at the time, so in the end we emailed UA and asked UA to send us the delay certificate); and scanned receipts for breakfast and dinner. After we submitted these documents, a check for the corresponding receipt amount arrived in about 2 weeks.

Other Credit Cards with Airline/Trip Delay Insurance

Of course, in addition to Chase’s UA card, the following credit cards also have flight delay insurance.

Citi cards:

  • Citi Hilton Reserve (this card has been discontinued); Citi Premier; Citi AA Platinum; Citi AA Executive; Citi Prestige (a legendary card for delays).
  • Citi reimbursement requirements: part of the entire trip must be paid with the card or with Citi ThankYou points; award tickets are also covered; the delay must be at least 12 hours (3 hours for Citi Prestige); one-way tickets and open-jaw tickets are allowed; covered travelers can include yourself, your spouse, children, authorized users, etc. The reimbursement limit is also $500.

Chase cards:

AMEX cards:

  • It is best not to use AMEX cards to buy airfare, because even its premium cards do not include trip delay insurance.

Different Airlines, Different Approaches

North American Airlines (DL, UA, AA, etc.)

Do not waste too much energy arguing at the airport. That means once you complete the flight and arrive at your destination, the real fight can begin. Regardless of what compensation you received at the airport, you can still go to the airline’s official website and contact customer care to “complain” again. Reasons can include missing XX because of the travel delay, such as a meeting, wedding, anniversary, or other important event. In general, after waiting 5-7 business days, customer care will usually provide a reasonably fair form of compensation, most often miles or a voucher.

Oversales, Flight Changes, or Volunteering

These situations can all produce compensation opportunities. The key is to pursue them proactively.

Example 2: Three years ago, I was flying from Beijing to DEN. During online check-in, UA’s system showed that the flight was oversold, and that volunteers could receive a $400 voucher. The online option was only to gauge how many people were willing to volunteer; even if you selected “yes,” it did not mean you had to volunteer, and you could still change your mind before checking in at the airport counter. I immediately selected “yes.” When I got to the airport, the check-in agent asked whether I wanted to switch to another flight. It was actually only one hour different, but the connection time in the middle was shorter, so I would arrive in DEN earlier instead. I asked the check-in agent for the $400 voucher and was rejected on the spot. The reason was that since I would arrive at my destination earlier than scheduled, there would be no compensation. The first thing I did after getting home in DEN was email UA customer care to “complain.” Just a few hours later, customer service replied and included a $400 voucher.

European Airlines

This is especially true for EU-based airlines (see here for the distinction between the EU, the eurozone, and Schengen countries). These airlines must comply with EC261/2004 Regulation. For a detailed explanation of this regulation, click here. Airlines based in other countries must also comply with this regulation when departing from the EU, such as Air China from Munich to Beijing, or UA from Frankfurt to DC. However, CA from Beijing to Munich and UA from DC to Frankfurt are not covered by this regulation.

EC261/2004 broadly divides flight delays into three-hour delays, 3- to 4-hour delays, and delays of more than four hours, and also determines compensation based on flight distance. A specific example is below:

Example 3: In my trip report (Luxury Hotels, Business Class, and Michelin Dining: A $600 12-Day Europe Trip for Two (Flights)), I wrote that my Amsterdam to Budapest flight was delayed by 3 hours and 9 minutes, and the compensation was 250 euros per person. In that example, the flight distance was less than 1500 kilometers and the delay was more than three hours. If the flight distance is greater than 1500 but less than 3500, the compensation available is 400 euros.

Example 4: Last year I flew from Paris CDG to Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Because Air France went on strike, and this route only operated once every two days, I could only be rebooked onto a flight on the third day. Since the flight distance was more than 3500 kilometers and the delay exceeded 4 hours, Air France paid €600 in compensation, and also covered two nights at the Holiday Inn Express near Paris airport plus two days of meal expenses. So I basically got a free 2-day trip in Paris :).

Tip 1: If your flight is delayed, keep your boarding pass. If possible, ask the airline staff at the airport for an English delay certificate, just in case. After the delay, you can submit a compensation claim through the airline’s official website. It is best to specifically cite EC261/2004 in your request. Once you include that, the airline will know you understand the rules and usually will not waste time arguing with you—they will just compensate you according to the regulation.

Tip 2: Not every EU-based airline is equally straightforward about paying. Airlines that are generally easier to deal with include Air France, KLM, SAS, and Finnair; less cooperative ones include Lufthansa. With Lufthansa, it is usually best to start politely by requesting compensation on its website. If that goes nowhere, file a complaint directly through the EU transport authority’s website. Lufthansa will usually comply after that.

Tip 3: There are also some special cases, such as Europe-Asia-Australia connecting itineraries. For example, if you fly China Southern from Frankfurt to Guangzhou and then connect onward to Melbourne, and the first segment is delayed so you miss the second flight, that can still fall under EC261/2004. In that case, you may be able to claim €600 in compensation from China Southern if the flight distance is over 3500.

Tip 4: If you are flying from the EU back to China on a mainland Chinese airline, compensation is typically much harder to obtain, and responses are usually very slow. The usual process is to call customer service; if the agent says no, ask for a manager; if the manager also says no, file a complaint with the EU transport authority, then call again and tell them that you have already filed the complaint. That usually speeds things up somewhat.

Tip 5: Compensation under EC261/2004 does not conflict with travel insurance compensation—you can receive both. This is not considered an insurance payout. On that same France-to-Mauritania trip last year, I had also purchased travel insurance in mainland China. Because of the 2-day delay, I ultimately received an additional RMB 1800 from the insurance claim.

Asian Airlines (Excluding Mainland China)

Because aviation rules vary across Asian countries, and frequent travelers often fly carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, ANA, Korean Air, Asiana, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, and China Airlines, delays and cancellations on these airlines usually require active follow-up with the carrier. Ironically, one of the hardest to deal with is Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong. Although Cathay is widely praised for its service, it can be extremely ineffective when handling delays and cancellations.

Example 5: A friend deliberately chose Cathay Pacific two years ago to experience its “excellent service” on a trip from Beijing to Bangkok via Hong Kong. That is when the nightmare began. Because the Beijing-to-Hong Kong segment was delayed, my friend missed the Hong Kong-to-Bangkok flight and ended up stranded at Hong Kong airport at 11 p.m. By then, the airport service desk had already closed. My friend spent 2 hours calling Cathay without getting through at all. For non-Marco Polo members, the odds of getting connected were extremely, extremely low. The best way to handle it turned out to be email!!—but that also came with a 1-2 business day response time. My friend had to wait until 8 a.m. the next morning, when customer service reopened, before finally getting rebooked onto the next Bangkok flight. After being stuck at the airport for 10 hours, my friend received no compensation at all!!! So do not blindly trust Cathay’s so-called service. The author also says that, for political reasons, some Cathay staff have treated Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese passengers poorly, including those in business class, so the author does not recommend flying Cathay.

Mainland Chinese Airlines

If you are flying a mainland Chinese airline and run into delays—which happens very often—the main thing is usually to rely on whatever protections or benefits your credit card offers. As for the airlines themselves, getting meaningful compensation out of them can be very difficult.

If bad weather forces an overnight stay, the airline will generally bus you to a hotel rated 3 stars or below and assign a standard double room. If you are traveling alone, you may be expected to share that room with a stranger. If you want a room to yourself, you usually have to pay the difference.

There is no consistent standard for delay compensation on mainland Chinese airlines. One time, on a Qingdao-to-Beijing flight delayed by 8 hours, I received RMB 400 in compensation. Another time, on a Guangzhou-to-Beijing flight delayed by 6 hours, I got nothing at all. Some people may get more compensation by causing a scene, but that is not advisable.

So if you are dealing with a delay on a mainland Chinese airline and the distance is not too far, it is often best to pull out your phone as soon as you learn the flight will be significantly delayed and quickly check high-speed rail tickets. Within China, high-speed rail is often much more reliable than flying.

Conclusion

Choose the right credit card when planning and paying for travel;

When dealing with delays on North American airlines, post-trip “complaining” is often the most effective approach;

When dealing with delays on EU airlines, the key is to proceed according to the law and regulations;

When dealing with delays on mainland Chinese airlines, flexibility matters most: prioritize not disrupting your trip, and look to your credit card issuer for compensation.