If your flight is cancelled or delayed
Ever experienced having your flight delayed? If you’ve just sat around waiting, you should know that you are actually entitled to receive compensation. It should include meals and also accommodation depending on how long the flight is delayed for.
• Delays of 2 hours or more: you are entitled to receive meals, internet access and telephone calls access
• Delays of 5 hours or more: you are entitled to receive transport and hotel accommodation
If your flight has been cancelled, you have the right to another flight at no additional cost. If you don’t want another flight ticket but you just want your money back, you have the right to that option too. But if your flight was cancelled in situations of extraordinary circumstances such as war, meteorological conditions and security risks, the airline is not obligated to pay compensation. Please check the official airline websites for policies and details.
If you lose your luggage
When travelling, you could be at risk of your bag not arriving with you at your intended destination. Usually, your baggage will be declared lost when this happens. In some cases, it could have been mistakenly put on a different flight than yours.
If that happens to you, you will be entitled to compensation for the inconvenience caused. To claim for the compensation, you will have to submit a written complaint to the airline. But there will be a time limit to make a claim for baggage matters as per below:
• make your claim on arrival
• within 7 days of receiving your bags (for damaged baggage)
• within 21 days of receiving your bags (for delayed baggage)
If your bags did not arrive on the same flight that you were on, you can submit a claim of up to 1,131 Special Drawing Rights (approximately RM 6,200, depending on exchange rate of the time) in cases of baggage delay. Special Drawing Rights is a measure of currency created by International Monetary Fund (IMF) for international compensation.
If you paid a different price than what was shown
When you book for a flight ticket, take note that the airline must show you all of the following details before you purchase the ticket:
• baggage allowance policies
• government taxes and fees
• other fees and charges
• terms and conditions applied to the fare type
• refund and booking policies
• fees and charges imposed by the Commission
• contact details of airline
• any other information necessary to explain the conditions and the total price of the ticket which you will be purchasing.
You should also know that airlines cannot automatically add on any additional services to your flight fare. You must always be informed about the services and be given the option to “opt-in” only if you want to.
If your belongings are stolen
In the unfortunate event of theft, airlines are not liable for theft, or even damages to your belongings. This is because once you check-in your luggage, it passes through various parties for screening and security aside from just the airline. This is why the airline will not be responsible for luggage theft.
But what you can do in order to protect yourself from such instances is by making sure your travel insurance covers theft aside from flight delays and cancellations.
To ensure you have a comfortable and hassle-free travel experience, use the right credit card or take up travel insurance for extra protection. Learn more about the best travel credit cards and compare the best card for free on CompareHero.my.
