Delayed, rebooked or cancelled flight? How to easily get compensation from the airline

If you're a frequent traveler you probably know how it is like to suddenly be stuck in the middle of nowhere after some unforeseen issues with your flight. That happened to me as recent as in May; after a short visit to Norway me and my husband were taking a plane back from Bergen to Tokyo with a short stopover in Copenhagen, but due to technical issues with the plane we landed in Copenhagen just as the next plane took off to Tokyo.

While our originally scheduled flight from Copenhagen would land in Tokyo around noon we had to take a different route with a stopover in Shang Hai, which lead to our arrival being delayed by 7 hours (!).

The airline rebooked us on a new plane for free as we were using the same airline all the way (I would recommend anyone taking a flight with a stopover to use the same airline for all flights for this exact reason), but all we got in compensation for the delay was a 50 DKK (approximately 8 USD) coupon to use at the airport. On top of that we were told that the luggage would be sent directly to Tokyo, which it turned out it wasn't, thus ending with our bags being stuck in Shang Hai for another 24 hours.

Originally we thought it would be too much of a hassle to try and get something back from the airline, but luckily my father knew about a company that could take care of all the hard work for us called AirHelp.

AirHelp does all the work with getting your compensation from the airline if they deem you have a strong case. In fact, if you had a flight that was delayed, cancelled or overbooked within the last 3 years you might be eligible for a refund from the airline. And unless the airline agrees to give you a compensation you won't have to pay AirHelp anything for their services. All you have to do on your hand is to fill in your flight details through their webpage, which is really simple and should take you no more than around 5 minutes in total.

After a couple of weeks we received an email from AirHelp saying that the airline accepted our claim, which lead to a compensation for both me and my husband. AirHelp got their commission of 25% of the total sum - which was not a small fee but considering that they did all the hard work it was still a small price to pay. I know that if AirHelp hadn't been around we wouldn't have gotten anything beside the lousy 50 DKK coupon and we're both extremely happy with their assistance. If you experience problems with your flight and don't know how to proceed to get a compensation I would strongly recommend AirHelp's services!

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.