Flights disrupted? This app promises to get you paid

Straits Times

a day ago

With the app, travellers will be able to track an unlimited number of flights, and receive alerts for gate changes and baggage claim carousel numbers. PHOTO: REUTERS
Flights disrupted? This app promises to get you paid
WASHINGTON - At the onset of 2024's busy summer travel season, air passengers in the US had reason to feel optimistic.
The FAA Reauthorisation Act had just passed on May 16, which meant that within a year, the government would be required to define several overdue consumer protections.
Among them: compensation for long-delayed or cancelled flights.
Fast forward to the start of summer 2025, and that optimism has nosedived. Delays and cancellations are occurring at what may be a record clip as FAA officials deliberately slow the flow of traffic through some of the nation's busiest hubs.
And those long-promised consumer protections got watered down, as legislation often does.
The final rule, enacted in October, mandates refunds for customers who end up not flying at all–either because of cancellations or because the delay is too long.
Unless you're willing to count a free meal at the airport as payment, cash compensation remains almost entirely off the table.
Helping travellers deal with this broken system is AirHelp Inc.
The Berlin-based company, long known for its ability to successfully advocate and litigate on behalf of air travellers with customer service claims – be they flight disruptions or lost luggage – is launching a new app on May 28 to help travellers get payouts from their myriad travel pains.
AirHelp's track record is strongest in Europe, where customer protections are far more comprehensive, though it operates worldwide.
Since its founding in 2013, it's helped some 2.7 million travellers get compensated for denied boardings, flight cancellations, missed connections and a range of other issues.
Generally, the process of filing a claim through the company has started through its website and required a series of phone calls and follow-ups.
Now, with its new namesake app, which is free on both the Apple and Google Play app stores, that process will be entirely digitised and made more seamless–even in countries like the US where less-favourable regulations make it hard to deliver significant results.
With the app, travellers will be able to track an unlimited number of flights, and receive alerts for gate changes and baggage claim carousel numbers.
They'll also get an instant notification if their flight disruption warrants potential compensation.
Travellers need not lift a finger. If the circumstances of their trip fit the criteria for a claim, the appropriate paperwork will be automatically submitted.
Within 10 hours, they'll get a follow-up notification containing a link to get the ensuing payout, via PayPal or bank transfer, in the currency of their choice. AirHelp keeps 35 per cent of the total compensation as a service fee.
Payouts happen more often than you might think, says Mr Tomasz Pawliszyn, AirHelp's chief executive officer.
Any traveller with an airline ticket, for instance, can get paid back their full fare for delays of more than three to six hours on domestic and international flights, respectively, or for cancellations.
And those who are flying internationally with a foreign carrier may be able to secure cash payouts for delays according to more generous European Union or UK regulations.
It's not the first time that AirHelp has tried making its services available on an app.
In 2017 the company released a simpler version of the product, which struggled to gain traction because it lacked adequate flight data. Then Covid-19 ground usage to a halt.
Mr Pawliszyn says now is the perfect time to try again, with increased anxiety and media frenzy around delays and air traffic control issues.
'There is also a lot of worry about travelling, and people are not really as comfortable flying,' he says.
That apprehension, he adds, contributed to some 5,000 customers downloading the app and using it to track some 20,000 flights during a five-day test phase last week.
The new AirHelp app provides better data than its predecessor–and also a slew of new, premium features.
As part of its AirHelp+ tiered annual membership option, users can buy additional insurance coverage for their flights at a rate of US$43 (S$55) for three trips a year or US$100 for nine.
Members are exempted from the company's service fees on payouts.
And in addition, they are eligible for extra reimbursement of either US$100 or $200 directly from AirHelp in the event of significant disruptions, which include delays beyond three hours, lost or delayed luggage, cancellations and diversions.
But perhaps its most valuable perk is free lounge access, which gets granted automatically if a flight is delayed for more than 60 minutes or cancelled within six hours of departure time. (If it isn't helpful in the moment, the vouchers remain valid for 90 days and can be used at any of 1,300 participating lounges worldwide.)
Mr Pawliszyn says it's a way to offer travellers something of a security net in regions where consumer protections fall short–the US included. BLOOMBERG
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