There’s nothing quite as annoying as a flight delay when you’re either heading off on holiday or at the end of a holiday and waiting to get back home. There’s some EU regulation that means airlines must compensate you for delays under certain circumstances. Read all about that here. In this particular post, we take a look at the Thomas Cook policy on handling flight delay compensation queries.
Can I Claim Compensation for a Thomas Cook Flight Delay?
With Thomas Cook, as with any airline, whether you can claim flight delay compensation under the EU regulation will depend upon:
- Where you were departing from and flying too
- How long the delay was
- Whether or not the delay could reasonably be considered the fault of Thomas Cook
Here’s a summary of delay lengths and potential compensation levels if it was indeed Thomas Cook’s fault:
Can I claim if the flight was part of a Thomas Cook package holiday?
Whether the flight was part of a package holiday or not won’t affect your ability to claim. It’s all about whether the delay was Thomas Cook’s fault and how long the delay was as above.
How do I claim compensation from Thomas Cook?
If your delay meets the criteria above and you’re confident this was the fault of Thomas Cook, then you have two options:
- Claim to Thomas Cook directly yourself
- Appoint a flight delay compensation claims company or solicitor
Personally, I’m a fan of the DIY approach in the first instance. After all, it isn’t too much effort to just make the enquiry and it could save you anything from 20 – 30% of your final payout if successful.
To do it yourself (as of 24th January 2017):
- Visit https://www.thomascook.com/customer-relations/
- Choose “Make a flight delay claim,” from the dropdown menu
- The form will load on the page and the first thing to do is select “I would like to make a claim,” as on the screenshot below:
- You’ll then see further form fields load and you’ll need to complete the form:
You should note the following text on Thomas Cook’s form:
If your claim is successful, compensation will be paid in Thomas Cook Vouchers, however, should you prefer a cash payment, please tick the box below and complete your bank details.
It’s a bit cheeky, if you ask me! But there’s a clear option at the end of the form to request cash instead of Thomas Cook vouchers and you’re well within your right to do so. If you switch to cash, you’ll be asked to put bank details in.
You’ll need your flight number and booking reference to hand.
Anecdotally, based on reading around online, in some cases it really is as simple as completing the form with Thomas Cook and completing the form isn’t a particularly complex task.
But if things get more complicated and Thomas Cook initially denies a claim you believe to be legitimate, you can of course take it further either by notifying the Civil Aviation Authority or by getting the assistance of a specialist claims management company.
Go Direct or Use a Company?
Myself, I would always rather go direct. And for the little effort it takes to simply complete the Thomas Cook form, I think it’s worth anyone at least making the initial enquiry directly.
But if things get more complicated and it looks like it might be a difficult or time consuming claim, you may opt for some professional help. Check out a range of companies, look for the no win no fee companies, read reviews from previous customers and make sure you’re aware of what the costs will be in the event of both failure and success.
Good luck 🙂
My flight was delayed last year can I claim compensation now?