Contents
Introduction — AirHelp Reviews
If you travel regularly and especially in Europe, then AirHelp is an absolute must have. In this AirHelp Review, you’ll learn about AirHelp and whether to use them.
Why Especially in Europe for Airlines?
Because Europe has the most customer friendly regulation under EC 261 for Air Travel Passengers.
How Much Can I Claim Under EC 261?
This depends on distance of the flight.
Under 1,500 km: €250.
Between 1,500 km and 3,500 km: €400.
Over 3,500 km: €600.
Under What Circumstances Can I Claim?
1. The flight should be delayed by at least 3 hours
OR
2. The flight got canceled (it also depends on the notice period)
OR
3. You got denied boarding and it wasn’t your fault (like showing up late)
Is AirHelp Legit?
They seem legit and they’re also a Y Combinator Backed Start Up which gives them extra credibility
EC 261 — Flight Compensation Regulation in Europe
I wish I knew about this regulation before because then I would just forward the ticket each time to AirHelp whenever a flight got cancelled or delayed. Now I have to rely on my memory to try and remember the occasions when they happened.
Right now, the regulation seems to be the friendliest in Europe. I’ve had a bunch of US canceled/delayed flights and never had much luck with claiming them. In Brazil, they have ANAC 400 which apparently is a great for passenger rights protection but never had a flight canceled or delayed there.
Initially AirHelp had a feature where they would just automatically scan your emails and find which of your previous flights was eligible. I’m assuming that as a result of GDPR that they had to remove that feature.
So now, I remember these 3 rules whenever I’m flying in Europe and if any of the 3 conditions are met, then I’ll just use the AirHelp app to lodge the claim immediately.
If you get your flight canceled, the airline is obliged to book you on another flight and if you need to stay overnight in the city, then they need to book your accommodation too.
At the moment you can claim up to 3 years with AirHelp.
If you need to go beyond 3 years, you can use ClaimCompass where you can go back up to 5 years depending on the country of arrival/departure. The only thing is that instead of 25% fee with AirHelp, you need to pay 35% of the compensated amount with ClaimCompass. So I’d start with AirHelp first and then go to ClaimCompass next.
AirHelp Pricing
You get charged a percentage of the compensation amount and you only get charged upon a successful claim. AirHelp will contact the airlines on your behalf and then they receive the money first, then they deduct their fees (25% of the total) and then transfer the rest to you.
My experience with AirHelp is that it generally takes around 2 months give or take 1 month from the date that you submit your claim to get your money back. They send the money directly to your nominated bank account.
You’ll need to upload your original flight document. I usually just download the flight itinerary email as a PDF and upload that to AirHelp which seems to work just fine.
AirHelp Alternatives
ClaimCompass I’ve already mentioned as an alternative. There use to be another major alternative called GetService but they seem to have joined forces with ClaimCompass.
They are more expensive (35%) but if for whatever reason AirHelp declines or is not able to claim your flight compensation, then definitely try ClaimCompass as well. Wait until AirHelp has actually come back to you and said that they can’t do it.
There’s a process where you can actually contact the airlines yourself and I know people that have done that successfully. I’ve never personally looked into it that method and I’m sure that if you search it on Google, you’ll find the information you need to help you do that.
On the other hand, if you’re lazy like me and just want someone else to take care of it, then you can try either AirHelp or ClaimCompass.