EU261 Claims Cost Finnair Passengers Thousands – AIR066

Matt Graham

 

There are countless claim agencies in the European Union that specialise in pursuing airlines for compensation owed under the EC261/2004 regulation. Their promise is simple: They’ll chase up airlines for money owed under EU laws for flight delays, cancellations and instances of overbooking on behalf of airline passengers who lack the time or expertise to do it themselves. If they are successful, the agency will keep a portion of the payout. If they are unsuccessful, there is no fee to the customer.

But as it turns out, these services may not be entirely without risk! In this podcast, we meet multiple Finnair passengers who ended up personally owing the airline thousands of Euros after their claim agency, IfDelayed, lost their court cases and subsequently went bankrupt. This is despite being told by the claim agency that “under no circumstances will you be liable to pay any costs or other penalties if we do not win your case”.

This episode explains in detail the unfortunate series of events that led to these Finnair passengers having to pay up to $13,000 out of their own pocket, through no fault of their own. Perhaps surprisingly, nobody seems to have broken any laws along the way.

Also in this episode, the latest Australian airline news & how to maximise the value in Virgin Australia’s latest “double status credits” promotion.

 

Episode contents:

  • 1:40 – Fortnightly news round-up
  • 9:32 – How some unfortunate IfDelayed clients ended up personally owing Finnair thousands of dollars
  • 16:09 – Interview with “nicnet”
  • 27:41 – Interview with “SandyS”
  • 41:38 – How to maximise Virgin Australia’s latest double status credits offer

 

Links:

 

Frequent Flyer Gazette articles referenced in the fortnightly news round-up:

Matt Graham
The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
Matt Graham
________________________