The Beachie Blog

Hands up: Who of you has ever struggled with a flight delay or even a complete flight cancellation and in this situation knew exactly how to behave correctly in order to receive compensation from the airline in the end? Nobody? Great, because neither do we. Fortunately, it has turned out relatively lightly for us so far and apart from a few hours delay nothing bad has happened, but that could have been different. Especially if you miss your connecting flight, the accommodation has already been paid for at the place of arrival or you have planned the start of a road trip or exciting adventure and now have to let all bookings expire, this is just extremely annoying and can really cost you money. How exactly do your rights look in the event of a flight delay, a flight cancellation or a rebooking of your flight? What is the airline allowed to do, what do you have to accept and where can you get compensation? In this article, we will tell you all of this and how you should behave correctly in a specific case in order to get your money in the end. Passenger rights: know your rights In the event of a flight delay, cancellation or short-term rebooking to your disadvantage, there is a legally guaranteed right to compensation. This has been regulated for several years by the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation ( EU-VO-261/2004 ), which ensures that you have to be provided for by the airline during the delay (e.g. with food, drinks or the possibility of making calls, whatever can be very expensive abroad). But the best thing is: You are also entitled to financial compensation from the airline! In addition to any services already provided by the airline, such as hotel accommodation or meals. The amount of compensation varies between € 250 and € 600 and is always based on how much delay your flight will ultimately reach the destination airport. What exactly do the requirements for compensation look like if your flight was delayed and what should be considered in the specific case so that you are not left empty-handed in the end? Compensation for flight delay, flight cancellation or rebooking of the flight: Requirements according to the EU Air Passenger Rights Ordinance Flight in the EU or EU airline First things first: The Air Passenger Rights Regulation only applies to the European Union. In concrete terms, this means that the flight must be attributable to the EU . This means that the flight must either run within the member states of the European Union or take off or land in a country of the EU. For the latter, i.e. a plane that only lands in the EU but did not take off there, the airline must also be based in the EU. British Airways will be out soon ? The important thing is where you booked the flight. For example, if you have booked with Lufthansa, but the flight is then carried out via code share, e.g. by United Airlines, it is still considered an EU flight – if it starts or lands at least within the EU. Under EU in the sense of the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance, the 28 EU countries including some overseas departments are to be understood, here is a detailed overview of the countries. It’s the airline’s fault Furthermore, and this is very important, the delay, flight cancellation or rebooking of your flight must not be due to exceptional circumstancesbe due. This term is a bit vague at first. Put simply: the delay must be the responsibility of the airline or the airport and could have been avoided. In the event of terrorist attacks, natural disasters or strikes, you should of course not expect compensation, but the airline will rebook you at short notice due to overbooking, for example. In short: if the airline is not responsible for the delay, it does not have to pay any compensation. That’s why airlines usually look for such vague reasons to avoid paying compensation to stranded passengers. Don’t let yourself be fooled here, butIt is best to have the reason for the delay confirmed in writing immediately. What if the flight is canceled or rebooked? If your flight is not only delayed, but also completely canceled, the same rules apply as for flight delays. Here, too, you are of course entitled to compensation. If your flight is rebooked, this question can no longer be answered in such a general way and it depends on the consideration of the specific individual case. If you are notified of the cancellation or rebooking more than 14 days before the flight, you can request a refund of the ticket price, but you are not entitled to compensation for the time being. If, on the other hand, the flight cancellation is only communicated at short notice, you are again entitled to compensation if the replacement flight offered to you reaches its destination late. Flight delay compensation: you are entitled to it But now butter for the fish: How much money and what benefits are you entitled to if your flight is delayed? The amount of the compensation basically depends on two factors: 1. The length of the flight route and 2. the duration of the delay. For a short flight of up to 1,500 km you will receive 250 euros if you are delayed by three hours. If the flight is longer than 1,500 km, the amount of the compensation is at least 400 euros. For a flight that is longer than 3,500 km and which is delayed by more than 4 hours, you will even get 600 €. Already for a delay of two hours you are so-called support services to. Regardless of who is to blame for the delay. That means you have to get food, drinks and food at the airport. That is not exactly regulated in individual cases, it also depends a little on the circumstances. Don’t expect a menu, but the airline should provide basic supplies. You are also entitled to free calls and emails so that you can deal with the delay (calls to the hotel, the rental car rental company or loved ones at home who have to pick you up). If the trip is pushed back so far due to the delay that the flight can only be started on the next day,the airline has to accommodate you in a hotel and organize the shuttle service there. This can quickly become a major issue, especially with connecting flights. How to behave correctly in the event of a flight delay or flight cancellation Secure evidence In order for you to be able to exercise your right to compensation, there are a few things to consider. In an emergency, that can make the difference between winning and losing, because you have to be able to prove that you are entitled to the claim. Logically this starts with the fact that you should keep all documents . Regardless of whether the delay occurs before boarding or in the air, try to have the reason for the delay confirmed in writing on site . The airline or the customer service representative at the airport must certify that the delay is not due to “exceptional circumstances”. Perhaps the employees will avoid it with vague statements or provide a flimsy reason, for example “strong winds”, but that is not enough. It must be a tangible circumstance that was not foreseeable in this form. Incidentally, to preserve evidence, it is advisable to take photos of everything with the (cell phone) camera , i.e. the displays at the airport or the departure boards. Make a note of all the costs that have been incurred at the airport and keep the receipts here as well . Any extra costs caused by the delay can be reclaimed later, but only if you can prove that you really had these expenses and that they were necessary. Reject insufficient offers It is also important to refuse insufficient performance on the part of the airline . The airline offers you to book a higher class at your own expense so that you can still take your overbooked original flight? Or you should stop at another place and you will only continue there after you have paid an overnight stay? Please refuse everything. If you are offered comparison offers that are far below the possible compensation, you should also be skeptical. Always think about what it would cost you at this moment to organize your onward journey. If the amount is significantly more expensive than the possible compensation, the comparison is rejected. The most important thing is: Please do not sign anything on site!Otherwise you run the risk of foregoing possible claims and payments. The airlines know exactly about the imminent compensation payments and will usually not offer you anything with which you are better off ? Stay friendly With all this stress, it is important to remain friendly and nice. A flight delay also means stress for airport employees and friendliness can really work wonders here. In case of delay, make your point of view clear, decline insufficient offers, but don’t get bad tempered. There is also a very pragmatic background to this: if you get quarrelsome or quick-tempered at the counter, the airline can refuse you boarding. The airline must assess each passenger as to whether they could pose a potential danger to those on board. If, in the opinion of the staff, you are clearly misbehaving, you may be refused transport. It sure doesn’t happen very often, but there is an option. Air passenger rights: How to get your money if your flight is delayed So, the child has now fallen into the well: your flight was delayed or canceled completely, you had a lot of stress on site and a lot of costs. How do you get your money now? Basically there are three different ways in which you can claim both the costs incurred and the compensation to which you are entitled under the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance. That’s how it works! Claim compensation for flight delays yourself The most obvious way is to contact the airline directly for compensation. To do this, you should first calculate how high your own demands are. To assert your claim, you can  download and fill out a sample form . Although this route is the direct one and is possible without additional costs, the experience of many travelers shows that the prospect of success is very slim. The airlines are usually cross or deaf and simply do not react. Be prepared for extensive correspondence and expect to have to claim your claim with the help of a lawyer. This in turn is associated with further costs and also with the risk of going out of the thing at a loss. Use the SÖP as an intermediary If the airline refuses or plays dead, you can call in arbitrators. The Arbitration Board for Public Transport (SÖP), which can check and mediate the claim, helps . However, this arbitration procedure will take some time, unfortunately we cannot say anything about the chances of success of this procedure. In any case, there are no further costs. Enforce passenger rights with the help of professional service providers Over the years, many professional service providers have established themselves who strive for the rights of passengers by collecting compensation claims from the airline themselves. This means that a success commission is due for the respective service provider (usually around 25% of the compensation amount), but all of the work is done for you. Since lawyers who specialize in travel law sit on the part of the professional providers, the chance of a successful payment is much higher than if you tried it yourself. With all providers, the commission is only due in the event of success , ie you will not incur any costs until then. The basic offer of all these service providers is basically almost identical: with Fairplane, for example, you pay 24.5% of the compensation amount in the event of success, with Flug-verspaetet.deit is 25% (plus VAT). With this basic offer you usually have to wait 8-10 weeks for your money. If you would like to have your money immediately without waiting, the world looks a little different: You assign your claims in full to the service provider with immediate effect and of course that means an increased risk for the service provider because he cannot yet assess the chances of success. For you this means that you have to pay a correspondingly higher commission for this speed variant, usually between 35 and 50%. So if you choose this option because you want to have the compensation immediately, you should look carefully when choosing the provider. Think about the statute of limitations The right to compensation for flight delays or entire flight cancellations applies not only to flights that have just taken place, but also to previous flights. Limitation is the keyword! A limitation period of three years according to § 195 BGB applies to these claims from the past. So think about whether you haven’t had a flight with a long delay in the last few years. The anger you had with it at the time could now turn into small earnings. The only important thing is that all documents and documents are still available for this flight so that you can prove that you actually booked this flight at the time and that there were problems with it. Whether you are still entitled to compensation payments for flights in the past, You can check with most providers with a few clicks directly on the homepage, just like with flights that were not long ago. If the machine spits out a positive result – go for it! ? Self-inflicted flight cancellation? You can do this if you need to cancel your flight At this point we would like to deal with a small special case that many of you are probably not aware of. Have you ever been in the situation that you have booked a non-cancelable ticket for cost reasons (of course without cancellation or cancellation insurance) and then it happens – you cannot or do not want to take the flight under any circumstances. Either because you are really sick, a hurricane has just swept over your holiday destination, your dog is sick or your friends have chosen exactly this one for their wedding 365 days a year, which falls in the middle of your vacation – JUHU! And now? If it is up to the airlines, you will be completely or at least partially seated on the cost of the flight. Pretty nasty when you consider that the airline can simply sell your seat again in the event of a ticket cancellation. So what can you do? Again, there are providers such as Ticket Refund who will help you enforce your contractual right of termination. You can get back a large part of the ticket costs for a commission (usually max. 30% of the price reimbursement), even for tickets that cannot be canceled. However, it is important that you cancel your flight in any case and as soon as possible, ie as soon as you know that you will not be able to take it. If you simply let the flight expire, you unfortunately have no chance of a refund. The same applies here: Even flights canceled some time ago are still refundable – you can have the relevant providers checked what works and what doesn’t. Restrictions on passenger rights and compensation at Ryanair: are they allowed to do so? Some of you may have noticed: The airline Ryanair hit the headlines in mid-2016 with a change to its general terms and conditions. Accordingly, passengers were unceremoniously prohibited from assigning compensation claims to third parties in the event of delays or cancellations. This means that Ryanair has prohibited its passengers from making claims with the help of the service providers described above . Unbelievable, is not it? So if you wanted to insist on your compensation, you could only claim it personally, with the time and risk involved. However, these GTC changes have since been declared invalid in several legal proceedings. So you don’t have to worry anymore: Even if you flew with Ryanair and had to contend with a delay, you can use the help of professional service providers to collect your compensation within the scope of the passenger rights. Ryanair is not allowed to exclude this route with its terms and conditions! Passenger rights and compensation payments: our conclusion For most of us, the topic of air passenger rights seems pretty complicated at first glance, so in this article we have tried to make it as understandable as possible for you. I hope we succeeded. On closer inspection, the topic quickly loses its complexity and when you have the most important points on the screen, nothing can actually go wrong on site at the airport (you can save the table above and take it with you on your travels, then you will know always informed). Still, collecting your compensation payments on your own can be quite frustrating – not because you’re wrong, but because it’s David versus Goliath. We therefore recommend that you seek professional help from a specialist provider . The airlines know that these providers do not shy away from expensive legal proceedings and therefore usually pay the compensation without objection. That costs you a little commission, but it also saves you all the hassle. Unfortunately, we ourselves have only had really severe delays outside of the EU and unfortunately haven’t seen a cent for them. What experiences have you already had?

Traveling with hand luggage is unfortunately often the only way to keep the costs of a short vacation from getting too far in times of reduced services by many airlines. We already did this when we were studying and saved a lot of money and running systems shouldn’t be changed, right … that’s why we still practice traveling with hand luggage today, both for reasons of cost and time. We’re already going to Prague for a few days tonight and we’re definitely not going to take anything more than hand luggage there! , then you ‘ll be there live. We have put together the most important points for you, with which you can get the most out of your hand luggage without getting into the wool with your airline or the people from the security check. Liquids in hand luggage First things first: The point that causes most problems for many travelers is the hand luggage regulations regarding the amount and size of liquids or the liquid containers that can be carried in hand luggage. It is actually quite simple, because there is only one rule worldwide: You are allowed to carry a maximum of 1L of liquids with you, divided into containers with a maximum capacity of 100ml, packed in a single transparent, sealable bag. The number of containers does not matter as long as they all fit in the bag and do not exceed 100ml in size. The filling level of the container is also irrelevant, a shampoo bottle with 200ml may not be in hand luggage, even if it is almost empty. So what do you need? 1. A transparent, sealable bag with 1L capacity: It is available in an uncomplicated and inexpensive way as a freezer bag with a zipper. If you want it to be more sustainable, you can get this transparent cosmetic bag * , for example . 2. Containers / vials with a maximum capacity of 100ml each: In the drugstore ( e.g. at DM) you can buy ready-made sets with vials and containers as well as individual bottles, which, however, rarely have the maximum allowed 100ml. If you really want to almost max out the permissible maximum size and it is important to you that nothing leaks, then these bottles are for you . Your products / liquids do NOT have to be transferred to the transparent bottles. You can just throw everything as it is in the transparent bag, as long as it doesn’t contain more than 100ml and everything fits into the bag. Incidentally, medicines are generally excluded from the hand luggage regulations! All you need is a certificate from your doctor stating that you have to carry the medication (s) with you in your hand luggage. At the ADAC there is a form for taking medication with you .   Make the most of airlines’ hand luggage regulations This point is a little more complicated, because the hand luggage regulations of the airlines differ considerably. There are basically 3 aspects that must be taken into account: 1. Dimensions of hand luggage: The airlines’ regulations are largely very similar here; the maximum permitted dimensions are usually around 55x40x23cm, including handles and castors. You can find a good overview of the maximum dimensions allowed by many airlines here or here, but please check back with the airline itself, the conditions change frequently. The search for the piece of hand luggage in the optimal size and shape is a little tricky and requires some perseverance, as you should, for example, depend on which airlines you fly with frequently. Wizzair, for example, has completely different regulations than Ryanair, but since Wizzair does not fly from our home airport at all, we don’t care. Here you will find a good pre-sorting of luggage in hand luggage size, unfortunately Amazon does not do that well. 2. Weight of hand luggage: The regulations on the maximum permitted weight differ considerably, sometimes you can only take 6kg with you, sometimes a whole 12kg. Therefore: When buying the piece of luggage, pay attention to the weight, less is more. In any case, do your research and take advantage of the airline’s regulations! A luggage scale * is really worth gold , even when it comes to normal luggage. At the end of our vacation we often stood at the check-in and joked to see if everything was going through. With a mobile luggage scale you no longer have this stress. 3. Number of pieces of luggage: With some airlines you are only allowed to take a single piece of hand baggage with you, but with most of them a large and a smaller handbag (there are also maximum dimensions for this handbag, please be smart!). Some even allow you to take a laptop bag and / or a garment bag with you.   Inception: Bag in Bag (in Bag) Point 3 leads us to this trick, which is more of interest to the ladies among us: Inception! Ha! Traveling for several days with just one handbag is stupid. After all, you need a large bag for the daytime, a small one for the evening and it’s not so easy in terms of color, but there’s no more space in your luggage … you know that. My trick: Take a large handbag as a second piece of hand luggage and then the smaller bag stuff in. If the small bag is just big enough, your liquid bag can fit in here and you can use every millimeter. Not elegant, but efficient. Roll it up! You probably all know the roll trick by now, right? At the beginning we neither believed nor understood why you should get more clothes in your suitcase this way. Somehow doesn’t make sense. But trying is better than studying and lo and behold: it really works! The vulture knows why. We’ve only packed like that since then. What is not true, however, is that the rolling technique means that the clothes remain wrinkle-free. Rethink your cosmetic routine This appeal is directed again at the ladies: If you are not one of the lucky women who can simply walk around without make-up in everyday life, you always have to carry at least a basic stock of cosmetic products with you. And yes, there is also a little bit of chick behavior at the start. The liquid regulations in hand luggage regularly present me with a tough challenge and the total amount is simply a problem. This is exactly why it is worth rethinking your personal cosmetic routines. Here are a few tricks that work well for me, at least for a few days over the years, that will reduce the number of products I carry with me: – A brown eyebrow pencil can also be used as a kohl / eyeliner. The other way around, however, does not work well, since an eyeliner is too greasy and soft for the eyebrows – Eyebrow powder also works as a matt eyeshadow and vice versa (use your eyeshadow as an eyebrow powder, please make sure that it is really matt and without shimmer!) – Mineral powder = foundation + powder. The best mineral foundation is and will remain Bare Minerals * – Concealer also works as a foundation, dose carefully! – Buy a Cheeks & Lips Stick and you have blush and lip color in one – Straighteners in hand luggage? Oh dear … if you can’t do without it, there are also mini straighteners * – Hand cream = face cream. But make sure that it is not greasy and that it absorbs well, otherwise the make-up will slip away. It is also the other way around, but it is the worse option for reasons of cost – Buy all cheap products locally: shampoo, conditioner and shower gel are cheap everywhere. Most of the time the products are also available in the hotel and you don’t need to take them with you

I know that at the start of the year, many of you, like most people, are in the middle of planning your vacation. Maybe you already have a concrete idea of ​​where it should go, but maybe you are still completely haphazard. It is very likely that the money is causing you a little problems thanks to all the insurances that arise at the beginning of the year and the fun electricity and gas back payments – and so dreams are big, but the travel budget is rather small (struggle of my life: p). But there is good news: REWE Reisen has a pretty cool campaign on Valentine’s Day that could solve this problem. Last year I already pointed out the campaign to you on my Instagram channel and without wanting to promise too much for this year – last year, among other things, there was a trip to Mauritius for very little money. Since it’s twice as good, I would like to take this opportunity to once again present the REWE Reisen Valentine’s Day campaign in detail. REWE #meinbesterdeal: This is how it works From 02/10 Until February 16, 2020 there is a new travel deal every day under #MEINBESTERDEAL as part of the # meinbesterdeal campaign by REWE Reisen . On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, the travel deals are basically designed for two people, so it’s best to think about who your company might be (if you don’t already know). The principle is very simple: True to the motto ‘pay half’, there are, for example, deals in which you travel as a couple but only pay the price for one person. Or there is, for example, a combination of a beach holiday and a round trip, but you only pay one of them. I admit that this doesn’t make sense at first glance – but trust me as soon as the deals start on February 10th. go online on REWE Reisen , you can see immediately what it is about. And there are no hidden costs or similar, everything is very transparent and you can in any case assess whether the price is okay for you for two people. What you get is what you see ? 7 holiday deals at a bargain price A total of 7 holiday deals will be activated in the REWE Reisen Bargain Week, a new one every day. This deal can then be booked for 24 hours or as long as the quota lasts. The highlight: Unfortunately, you don’t know beforehand which deal there will be, ie you have to be surprised and simply decide spontaneously. My observation from last year’s # meinbesterdeal campaign shows me that you sometimes have to be really quick! Some of the deals were actually sold out within a few hours. And that actually shows impressively that you can get some really great bargains on the trips offered, because we Germans are not necessarily known for spontaneous decisions, especially when it comes to travel planning, are we? ? But I can tell you that it was precisely these spontaneous decisions and the openness to goals that were not necessarily high on my bucket list that were often the best decisions in retrospect. My trip to Lofoten in Norway, for example, was made with a very short lead time, I was still on the plane in panic researching how to take photos with the northern lights and finally, in the dark with my feet in the maybe 5 degree cold water , I used the manual mode for the first time almost blindly used my camera. Hawaii was also a super spontaneous decision (because when are there flights to Hawaii for less than € 700 ?!) and I couldn’t have a flight to the west coast of the USA for a flight to the west coast of the USA in 2016 without waiting for the approval of my former employer Booked just € 200 if this travel blog wouldn’t exist today (and I might still have the job from back then, but that’s another story ?) Long story short: Sometimes you just have to let life happen. By the way, I myself discovered the # meinbesterdeal campaign too late last year and I couldn’t find anyone in a hurry who would be tempted to travel with me … and to be honest, I still mourn the lost Mauritius trip a little . Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers At this point, another thought that I would like to bring you closer: The vacation deals of this Valentine’s Day promotion are for two people, but that doesn’t mean that you have to travel with your partner. I myself used to travel exclusively with my partner and when this relationship broke up I stood there and didn’t know what to do next. Out of necessity, I tried to travel alone, some of these breaks were also very good, but in the end I realized that I prefer to travel with other people. For me, there is nothing better than experiencing things together with someone I like and who is just as enthusiastic as I am and sharing these experiences and stories. So if your partner may not want or be able to decide as spontaneously as you yourself or doesn’t feel like going to certain travel destinations – why don’t you travel with a girlfriend or boyfriend? My learning from my time as a single is that you should never limit yourself to someone else. You yourself are the most important and valuable person in your life and that is precisely why Valentine’s Day can be a day on which you first and foremost give yourself presents ? Cheat Sheet: This way you can find out beforehand which trip there will be the next day I know … spontaneity is often somehow not as easy to implement in practice as one would like it to be in theory. Therefore, there is a very simple way for the # meinbesterdeal campaign as you can find out one day in advance what offers will be available the next day: Subscribe to the REWE Reisen newsletter . Or even easier: Subscribe to the REWE Reisen Facebook page and check out every day which deal is in the starting blocks. So you can agree with your travel partner a day in advance whether the offer is something for you and, if necessary, quickly apply for a vacation from your employer. In any case, I’m following the campaign closely this year because I don’t want me to miss another great offer like Mauritius last year. I am definitely curious where I will end up this year!