Tramada Systems and AirHelp, the largest global flight compensation claim handling company, now offer tramada®-enabled travel agencies a value-adding service for all air travellers who experience delays, cancellations, missed connections or denied boarding when travelling within or departing European Union (EU) countries on any carrier or arriving in the EU with a EU-based carrier.Travellers can be compensated up to 600 Euros (AU$960/NZ$990) for inconvenience that
airlines could have prevented.
Compensation claims apply to all flights subject to a little-known ruling under EU air passenger rights law EC261/2004. This ruling protects travellers of any nationality and regardless of country of residence when they have been denied boarding or their flight has been cancelled or delayed causing the traveller to be delayed by more than three hours at their final destination. Claims can be made for disruptions that have occurred up to three years ago.
Importantly, connecting flights are covered as well. This is good news for Australian and New Zealand travellers, as most flights to and from the EU include transit stop-overs in places such as Singapore, Bangkok or the Middle East.
New level of customer care and income This new service provides travel agents with a new level of customer care, gives their travellers peace of mind, and when the traveller’s claim is successfully processed, the agent receives a percentage of the service fee AirHelp charges receives providing the agency with a valuable new revenue stream.
“AirHelp is fabulous value-add for our clients,” said Karsten Horne, CEO of Melbourne-based TMC Reho Travel. “In the past, if a client’s flight was cancelled or delayed, generally no compensation was available to them, or if there was, it was a long-winded battle to get it.
Now with the AirHelp-tramada integration, an email is sent to the client advising that compensation may be due, and all they need to do is accept that AirHelp will chase on their behalf,” he said.
“Just last week we received a call from a very happy client whose flight was cancelled during the World Cup in Russia. At the time we arranged a new flight and he was satisfied. Until now he had totally forgotten about it, so it came as a big surprise when he received a compensation payment of AU$900,” said Horne.
Alan Wolf, Managing Director of corporate travel specialists Bay Travel Group, agrees. “We have recently implemented AirHelp and I’m pleased to say that our first claims are already going through the process successfully,” Wolf said.
“The tramada integration is essential to streamline the process and our clients are delighted to receive unexpected funds.” 7 million claims since 2013
AirHelp has helped more than seven million passengers to process travel claims since 2013.
Its claim process applies to both new and historical bookings, has a fast turnaround, and results in a high conversion rate of claims to successful refunds.
Henrik Zillmer, CEO of AirHelp, estimates that more than 10 million air passengers worldwide experienced flight disruptions that were within airline control, and therefore eligible for compensation, in 2018.
“While travel agents cannot prevent flight disruption, what matters is how they handle customer service when it happens,” Zillmer said. “AirHelp is excited to partner with Tramada to assist agents to surprise and delight their customers with a hassle-free, value-add service, while at the same time earning commission.”
Susan Enners, Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand of Tramada Systems, said, “AirHelp is yet another key partner we’ve identified that will benefit our corporate and leisure clients alike, around the world. The AirHelp integration is a genuine win/win for our clients, who can provide their passengers with peace of mind knowing if they are entitled to compensation under the EU air passenger rights law, they will automatically receive it for the inconvenience caused.
“We absolutely love having tools available for our clients to continue to demonstrate exemplary service and value to their own customers. This integration with AirHelp is a perfect example of that,” Enners said.
HOW THE INTEGRATION WORKS
The new integration involves a secure extract sent regularly in a PCI DSS and GDPR-compliant manner from tramada to AirHelp for recently completed air travel segments. AirHelp matches this data with its own information about route delays and cancellations and, if a traveller’s flight warrants a compensation claim under EC261, the organisation contacts the agency to help notify the passenger and commence claim proceedings. As well as EC261 protection, AirHelp can also assist travel agents‘ travellers who are covered by the Global Montreal Convention which provides reimbursements for unavoidable costs they incur, such as hotel and car costs, from disruptions that were within airline control.
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