EU261 & Chase Compensation
EU261
If you’re ever in Europe or flying to Europe and you experience a flight delay or cancellation (that is the airline’s fault), you may be due compensation under EU261.
I purchased 3 one-way tickets from Venice to Barcelona on Vueling Airlines for the low price of $377 total. Our 9am flight was cancelled and Vueling put us on a flight the following day at 10pm, paid for a hotel with lunch and dinner vouchers, and provided transportation to the hotel and back to the airport.
Vueling Airlines sent an email with fine print regarding EU261 compensation which required that I use their online chatbot 3 times to enter information for the 3 of us, in order to receive compensation for each of us. I completed those steps when I returned home from the vacation. The airline is required to send this email, but it is often not made obvious that you are due compensation, so review the email carefully. If you didn't receive an email, reach out to the airline.
DO NOT use any online programs that claim they will get the compensation for you unless you are okay with giving them a large percentage of the money owed to you.
About 2 weeks later, I received an email from Vueling to use their chatbot again to enter banking information for a wire transfer. About a week later, a wire transfer of $840 cleared my checking account
The entire process took about 3 weeks.
Compensation is based on the distance of the flight and the length of the delay and is anywhere from $135-650 (US dollars) per person. Our flight was only 580 miles (935 km) and our delay was over 24 hours, so we each received $280, along with a new flight, hotel, transportation and food vouchers.
The compensation was actually worth the inconvenience and we ended up exploring the Venetian islands of Murano and Burano on our extra day!
CHASE COMPENSATION
If you pay for an airlines ticket using a Chase card with Trip Delay insurance, you may qualify for compensation.
After purchasing airline one-way tickets from Vueling Airlines using my Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) card and experiencing a flight cancellation, I was covered by Chase Trip Delay insurance. If you book a flight using points and pay for the tax using your Chase Sapphire Preferred card and you're also covered, even if the tax is only $5.
All of our meals during the day and a half that we were delayed were covered. We were already provided a free hotel for the evening by Vueling, so we didn’t need that coverage, but it would have included hotel had we needed it.
I completed Chase’s online form, uploaded receipts and Chase directly deposited $260 in my bank account.
If you’re looking for a credit card with a very low annual fee ($95) and a ton of benefits that earns points for some pretty incredible redemptions, the Chase Sapphire Preferred cannot be beat. The same coverage is included if you choose the Chase Sapphire Reserve that comes with a $550 annual fee and additional benefits, like a $300 travel credit and lounge access. One of those cards should be in every traveler's wallet.
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