Passengers have so far paid for their flights in advance. That creates trouble when the planes don’t take off at all. This affects many travelers this summer. Lower Saxony is now proposing to delete the principle of payment in advance. Then travelers would only have to pay when they check in.
The initiative of the Lower Saxony state government in Hanover states: The principle of payment in advance “has often led to considerable difficulties for travelers in recent years if the respective flights have not been carried out as planned”. In the future, ticket prices should therefore only be allowed to be charged “when the flight is dispatched”.
“In future, the ticket would only have to be paid for at check-in. We want to significantly improve consumer protection for travellers,” said Lower Saxony’s Transport Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) to the “Handelsblatt”.
Thousands of flights have already been canceled due to a lack of staff. Althusmann said these flight cancellations were almost always at the expense of travelers. “They often paid for the plane ticket months in advance, but in the event of a cancellation they have to work hard and sometimes tediously to get a refund.”
According to the report by the “Handelsblatt”, complaints to the arbitration board for public transport (SÖP) have recently increased significantly. According to this, 3082 applications were received between July 1st and August 15th this year – that was 127.5 percent or 1727 cases more than in the same period last year. Around 80 percent of the disputes were related to air traffic. The train affected around 15 percent of the cases, another three percent included long-distance buses and local transport.
According to the Ministry of Economics in Hanover, the red-black state government wants to put the proposal on the agenda of the next Federal Council meeting on September 16th.
Check your entitlement in the event of a flight delay or flight cancellation now
The claims that have now become known have been raised by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations vzbv since March 2021.
At that time, the vzbv formulated that travel or flight prices are due at the earliest at the start of the trip or flight. A study by the association had shown that this would increase consumer prices “by a maximum of 3.3 percent”. In view of the currently galloping inflation, the value is probably too low, and experts would have to recalculate the exact value.
Lufthansa, on the other hand, defends the practice of paying in advance. It gives the airlines planning security and allows them to grant favorable early booking discounts.
According to the “Handelsblatt”, approval came from the SPD and CSU parliamentary groups. “A softening of the principle of prepayment is conceivable and, in view of the increasing number of complaints, a step that should be seriously considered,” said CSU consumer politician Volker Ullrich. He emphasized that in his view it would be just as effective to oblige airlines to automatically compensate their customers using so-called smart contracts.
If an airline cancels a flight without replacement, clear legal requirements apply. The passenger rights regulation obliges them to reimburse the costs within seven days. However, customers often have to wait longer for the refund. Consumer advocates also complain that customers usually have to actively seek reimbursement.
Refunds can be made in a number of ways, such as reimbursing the ticket price by bank transfer. In principle, vouchers or flight rebooking are also possible. However, affected consumers do not have to accept either of these – they can insist on a cash payment.
Passengers have higher claims if airlines cancel a flight relatively late. Then, in addition to the ticket costs, consumers also receive “pain and suffering”:
Consumers can claim compensation under the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation (EC No. 261/2004) if your EU flight is canceled less than 14 days in advance. Depending on the length of the flight, the compensation payment is between 250 and 600 euros. The ADAC points this out.
An EU flight is considered to be a flight departing from the EU. This also applies if the destination airport is within the EU and the passenger is flying there with a European airline.
Consumers can also use the help of service providers such as MyFlyright to enforce their reimbursement claims, which will take care of the reimbursement for a fee.