Martin Lewis reveals what to do if your flight is cancelled this summer – and how to get money back
MARTIN Lewis has revealed exactly what to do if your flight is cancelled this summer.
The money mogul shared the advice during a phone-in segment on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning.
He joined Phil and Holly briefly on the show to offer his expert advice on consumer’s wallets.
And in this particular instance Martin explained exactly how you could be entitled to compensation for flight cancellations.
It comes as travel giants like British Airways plans to axe 16,000 flights, meanwhile EasyJet has been forced to cancel thousands of flights in the past month.
As well as the mass cancellations, furious customers have complained of long queues and delays in airports and it’s all due to a great number of staff shortages.
But Martin came to confused callers’ rescue, as he said: “If your flight is cancelled, regardless, you are always entitled to a choice of a refund or the next available flight.
“It technically doesn’t have to be with the same airline,” he went on to add.”
He also explained that if the fault is the airline’s and it is a EU-regulated flight, then you are also entitled to compensation.
But most importantly, “Not having proper rotas in place for staff sickness is traditionally seen as [the airline’s] fault,” Martin revealed.
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That means it’s then your right to get your money back – if you don’t take the next flight offer.
Martin explained the airline may argue it is an “extraordinary circumstance” because of Covid, but he said he believed examples like EasyJet has said it would “pay out compensation” for passengers.
How to get your money back
“First thing is, anyone whose flight is cancelled, you’ll find it very easy to get the return flight or an alternative flight,” Martin said.
“But they won’t tell you about cancellation and that you’re entitled to compensation on the back of that.”
You are entitled to a full refund and this should be provided within seven days.
You need to contact the operating air carrier yourself though, it’s not automatic.
You’ll find information on who that is and how to get in touch on your booking documents, thn it shouldn’t take much longer than a week to get your money back.
If your flight is delayed by more than five hours, you are legally entitled to a full refund too.
Again, you need to go to the operating air carrier to claim.
If it’s anything less than five hours you might be able to wrangle some compensation too – experts have revealed that you could get £220 per person on shorter journeys, and £520 on longer distances.
To claim the compensation, your flight needs to have departed from a UK airport, arrived into a UK airport and was with a UK or EU airline or arrived into the EU and was with a UK airline.
If these don’t apply, you need to contact the airline.
If the carrier comes back and declines your claim, it should also point you in the right direction of an ADR – an Alternative Dispute Resolution.
According to Citizen’s Advice, these are quicker and less stressful than going to court.
Staying savvy on your travels
The MoneySavingExpert founder has warned that holidaymakers could be caught out if they don’t check the expiry dates on passports and GHIC / EHIC health cards too.
If it’s been a while since you last travelled and you’re not sure if you’re documents are all still valid, it’s important to check them in plenty of time before you even set off on your summer break.
Martin said in his latest newsletter: “Check if your passport will have under 6 months left or be over 10 years old when you go.
“Brexit means more countries now require UK passports to have months left on them, and be under 10 years old, to let you in.”
The new rules were introduced after the UK left the EU, regarding how many months are needed to be on the passport to be able to travel.
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Previously, Brits just needed to have a passport that was in date to be able to travel to countries across Europe.
Now new rules are now in place though, so make sure you check them out so you don’t get caught short in the airport.
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