The Canadian airline Air Transat is one of the world’s most highly rated air carriers — in fact, in the Protégez-Vous customer satisfaction survey, it has been rated as the best airline for holiday travel every year from 2012 to 2016.
While Air Transat has generally earned a strong reputation based on its reliability, delays and cancellations still happen. And getting an Air Transat refund or compensation can be tricky, to say the least.
One of the main problems for Air Transat passengers trying to figure out their options is that the airline itself isn’t completely forthcoming regarding their responsibilities after an excessive delay or cancellation. A meal voucher may keep you from going hungry when your flight is delayed, but it hardly makes up for the lost vacation time and other inconveniences you may have experienced. So how does an Air Transat refund work? Here are a few things you should know.
Air Transat Refunds
Rather than return your money, the first fallback plan of an airline is to find another way to get you to your destination as quickly as possible. While this is done at no extra charge to you (and in some cases, the airline may also provide hotel and airport transfer vouchers), travelers typically do not receive any type of monetary refund in this situation.
With Air Transat, the only exception is if you get moved to a lower class seat on one of the flights you take after getting rerouted. In this case, you’ll receive a refund to make up for the difference in ticket prices — essentially, it will be the same as if you had paid for a lower-class ticket in the first place.
When the airline is unable to provide what it calls “reasonable alternative transportation” after an excessive delay or flight cancellation, there are several refund options available. In the case of an excessive delay, the airline will typically refund the ticket. Cancellations and issues related to overbooking are typically refunded through either a cash payment or a travel credit which is worth double the offered cash payment. These refunds are often offered at the airport itself to keep passengers from going away empty-handed.
Of course, in many situations, these refunds are not sufficient to make up for the travel issues you experienced — and passengers on flights delayed less than 24 hours often don’t receive any type of refund whatsoever!
Air Transat Compensation
The limitations of the Air Transat refund policy leave delayed passengers wishing for more — and the law is on their side in many of these cases. For flights traveling to or from Europe or the United States, issues related to delays, cancellations, and overbookings often make passengers eligible for additional compensations.
For example, on flights going to the European Union, individuals who are denied boarding on a flight can receive compensation of up to 600 € — even if they were ultimately only delayed by a few hours. Compensation is also required when passengers are denied boarding on domestic Canadian flights, but a lower level of compensation is typically provided in the form of either a cash payment or travel credit.
While passengers may be eligible for additional compensation after a delay or cancellation, airlines aren’t going to make this process easy to navigate. In fact, the section on reimbursement options on Air Transat’s website is notoriously insufficient, resulting in many frustrated passengers.
Because of this, working with Flight Claim is essential for getting additional compensation for your disrupted travel plans. Enlisting the help of people who know who to contact and how to reach them will ensure that your claim gets to the right place and that you can receive the compensation you deserve. Don’t try to navigate the compensation process on your own! With Flight Claim on your side, you’ll be able to get your Air Transat compensation.