When an air carrier reasonably expects to deny boarding on a flight, if an insufficient number of volunteers come forward to allow the remaining passengers to board the flight, the air carrier may then deny boarding to passengers against their will, in which case it must compensate them.
If your flight is subject to EU legislation, being involuntarily ‘bumped’ entitles you to exactly the same rights as if the flight was cancelled, and you should be able to claim your compensation immediately. Air carriers give priority to persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them.
Overbooked Flights
If you are unlucky you may turn up at the airport to be told that the flight has been ‘overbooked’ and there are no seats left on the plane, even though you have a confirmed reservation. If this happens to you at an EU airport and you are travelling with any airline or a non-EU airport and are flying into an EU airport on an EU airline you are legally entitled to compensation under EU law – provided you have a confirmed reservation and that you arrived at the check-in desk on time.
Overbooking and Denied Boarding Compensation (non-volunteers)
‘Overbooking’ is when airlines take more reservations for a flight than there are seats on the plane. This is not illegal. Airlines do it deliberately because they usually expect some of the passengers not to turn up. Usually it works out OK. But occasionally too many people turn up for a flight, so some of them get left behind (or “bumped”). If you are ‘bumped’ off a flight at an airport in the EU or at an airport outside the EU when flying to an EU airport on an EU airline, then the airline must pay you compensation. This is called Denied Boarding Compensation (or ‘DBC’). The rules for payment of DBC are set out in an EC Regulation (EC Council Regulation (EC) 261/2004).
This Regulation says that you will be entitled to compensation provided you can satisfy three conditions. These are: -you must have a valid ticket;
-you must have a confirmed reservation;
-you must have checked-in by the deadline given to you by the airline.
If you can meet these conditions the airline must compensate you in three ways.
First, it must give you the choice of: If you decide not to travel, a refund, within seven days, of the parts of the tickets not used. If it is a connecting flight and you have already made part of the journey and do not want to continue with it, reimbursement of the total price of the ticket (including parts of the journey not made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to your original travel plan) within seven days and a free flight back to point of departure.
or Re-routing to your final destination as soon as possible or, if you agree, at a later date. (If the airline flies you to another airport in your destination city then they must pay for the transfer to the airport you were booked for or to another close-by point of your choice) You are not entitled (under Regulation (EC) 261/2004) to reimbursement of any other components of your trip such as hotel and transfer costs.
Secondly, it must also pay you compensation in cash, cheque or bank transfer. (You can accept vouchers instead of cash if you want to but you don’t have to). The minimum amount the airline must give you is set out in the Regulation. The amount you should get depends on the length of your flight and on how late you are getting to your final destination. You should be able to work out the amount you are due from this table:-
(compensation should be paid in local currency depending on the exchange rate)
Thirdly, it must pay for incidental expenses. These are specified in the Regulation as:- -two telephone calls or emails, telexes or faxes -meals and refreshments. (The Regulation says these must be provided ‘in reasonable relation to the waiting time’) -hotel accommodation if you are delayed overnight. *This includes all EU Member States plus EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland.
Denied Boarding including Overbooking (volunteers)
If you have volunteered to surrender your reservation on an overbooked flight, this must be in exchange for benefits under conditions to be agreed between you and the carrier. This might be in the form of vouchers. In addition you are entitled to; A refund within seven days of the full price you paid for your ticket for the part or parts of your journey not made (and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the your original travel plan) and a return flight to the departure airport as soon as possible. or Re-routing to your final destination as soon as possible or, if you agree, at a later date. (If the airline flies you to another airport in your destination city then they must pay for the transfer to the airport you were booked for or to another close-by point of your choice)
Outside the EU (USA)
In this instance the USA also has laws in place and should you be involuntarily ‘bumped’ from a flight, unless the airline arranges an alternate flight that gets you to your destination within an hour of the original arrival time, you are entitled to compensation. If the airline arranges an alternate flight that arrives between one and two hours late domestically, or one and four hours internationally, they must pay compensation equivalent to a one-way ticket to your final destination, to a maximum of $400. If the airline arranges a flight that arrives later than two hours domestically, or four internationally, or if they don’t provide an alternative flight then the compensation doubles as does the maximum.
