When Iberia won’t pay your compensation claim…
Has an airline cancelled your flight or did you experience long delays in reaching your final destination? If the airline is headquartered in the European Union you’re most likely entitled to compensation according to EU Regulation 261/2004.
The problem is that many airlines won’t willingly pay out what you are legally due. They make it difficult for you in the hopes that you give up in frustration.
That’s my situation with Iberia right now. And as I’ve told them in writing: “I’m not letting it go”. And it has nothing to do with the 600 Euros that I am due. I’m just angry. I’m angry about spending 6 hours in a customer service line. I’m angry about arriving at my final destination 36 hours later than scheduled. And I’m angry about getting crappy form letters in non-sensical English in reply to my compensation claims. Being angry is why I’m not letting this go.
In this post I’ll cover my personal experience, I’ll explain EU Regulation 261/2004, and I’ll go over how you can (hopefully) get the compensation claim that you are legally entitled from the airline.
What happened
I was flying Granada -Madrid – Mexico City on October 30th. I had checked in online 24 hours before boarding so I had my two boarding passes. Iberia had contacted me via Whatsapp, an automatic message. Everything was on schedule, the flight would depart at 9:40 PM. Perfect.
I took the taxi to the airport. Immediately after going through security, I saw a message on the board: my 21:40 pm flight would be late…with an estimated boarding time of 23:30. That would mean missing my connecting flight to Mexico City in Madrid (scheduled for 23:55).
After talking to a security guard, I left the waiting area and went to the Iberia customer service desk. I explained the issue: “I’m going to miss my connecting flight. What do I do?” I was open to rebooking the flight for the following day.
The lady at the desk told me she couldn’t do anything even if she wanted to. “Go to Madrid, maybe your flight will be delayed. If not, they’ll help you when you get there”.
Famous last words.
I went back through security and waited for my flight. I also played around with Iberia’s Whatsapp Help.
That’s where the chat ended. Not helpful at all.
It was 12:30 am when we actually took off from Granada, 3 hours late.
An automatic message came on as we approached Madrid telling us that for customer help we could go to gate K68 when we disembarked at Terminal 4.
Disembarking into the terminal in Madrid, everything was dead. No sign of other delays or other flights, no passengers except for us. There was no service personnel at gate K68. The big board didn’t have any indication that my Mexico flight was delayed. It was long gone. In fact, the next major international flight would be at 6:30 in the morning.
I had missed my flight.
It took me an hour to find Iberia Customer Service because there was absolutely no Iberia personnel anywhere. For your info; Iberia customer service is on the 2nd floor of Terminal 4 next to the check-in counters (so you have to leave the secure area).
It was 2:30 in the morning. This is what I saw when I got there.
Everyone was waiting to get Iberia customer service because they had all either missed flights or had flights cancelled. The old man in front of me (who almost killed me with his breath) told me there were 2 people working the desk.
I wish I could convey how slow the line moved. It seemed forever. People lay down where they were. Couples and families took shifts, keeping their place in line.
By the 2 hour mark I was still the last person in line. I had moved almost halfway from where I had started.
Soon after a new batch of people came in. They were all French.
The old man and I took turns watching each other’s place in line when we needed to go to the bathroom or get water.
It was around 5 am that there was a shift in the energy of the airport. Passengers started arriving for early morning flights. By 5:30 it was pretty busy. By that time I was getting close to the Iberia customer service area but saw it would take at least a few more hours – the line within the service area was a winding, clustered mess.
By 6:30 I was within the customer service zone. I had been in line 4 hours. The light had come up and tempers were short. A few newbies trying to get help for a boarding pass issue were told by a few loud queuers to get at the back of the line. A lady started crying. Most of the passengers I had lined up with at this point were lying on the floor, getting up only when the line moved.
By 7:30 I was nearing the end. I mentioned that when I had gotten there at 2:30 that there were 2 Iberia employees. Now there were 5. It didn’t seem to move any faster though.
Then there was a giant kerfuffle when a man barged in shouting at the Iberia employees. With him were a gang of equally irate Uruguayans who had been “screwed” around. Something to do with boarding passes. A loud debate ensued between customer service staff and the 10 or so passengers who had butted in line. When it finally it died down, the angry Uruguayans had new boarding passes and we were still waiting in line.
I got up to the counter at 8:30. I had been waiting in line for 6 hours.
The lady behind the counter was nice, maybe because the client before her was an angry young American woman. So when I got there she was apologetic and helpful. I had automatically been rebooked for a flight on the afternoon of the 1st (30 hours away). I asked her to give me a similar seat to what I had paid for (Iberia charges 40 euros per leg for seating on these international flights). She did and printed out a boarding pass for the next day. I asked for a hotel voucher which she gave me (but I couldn’t check in until 12 which meant another 3 hours to kill in the airport). Finally, she gave a breakfast voucher for the restaurant downstairs (which, as I would find out, only covers you for a croissant and coffee).
It took 10 minutes and I was done.
I killed another 3 hours at the airport.
At noon I took the shuttle bus to the airport hotel that Iberia had booked for me. I took a nap, went for dinner in the evening (for which I had a food voucher), then went back to sleep.
The next day I was back at the airport for my flight to Mexico City.
All went well and I arrived in Mexico City 36 hours later than originally scheduled.
Of course that meant: 1) I lost 36 hours I would have spent with my mother (the reason for the visit), 2) I lost money on the bus tickets (non-refundable) I had bought to get to San Miguel de Allende and the taxi I had to pay to get from Queretaro to SMA (there were no more buses running that that time of night).
So the delay had cost me both time and money.
EU Regulation 261/2004
The above is why EU Regulation 261/2004 was put in place. It is to compensate passengers where the airline is responsible for delays, cancellations or other kinds of disruptions to your flights.
In the case of delays, you are entitled to compensation if your flight arrived at its destination 3 hours late (or more).
The amount of you compensation claim is dependant on the distance: For short distance (under 1500km) flight delays passengers are due 250€ in compensation. For medium distance (between 1500 km and 3500 km) flights they are due 400€. For long-distance (over 3500km) flights they can receive 600€ in compensation.
Again: note that regulation EU 261/2004 is only valid if the airline is an airline based in the EU and if the flight starts or ends in the EU.
In my case, I was flying a European airline (Iberia), was flying out of an EU country (Spain) and I had a delay to my final destination of over 3 hours (36 in fact). The distance covered was slightly over 9,000 km so the entitled compensation according to the regulation was deemed to be 600 Euros.
So how to collect?
Iberia Customer Service
If you are in a situation such as what I experienced, you contact Iberia customer relations here. You just have to fill in the required fields and explain your situation and detail the compensation claim that you are entitled to.
A reader of this blog who experienced the same situation twice (and received compensation both times) gave me a template. I used it and I’m including it below (minus personal and banking info)
Compensation Claim for Flight Delay – Flight IB1026 on October 30, 2024
Dear Customer Relations Team,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to request compensation for a flight delay that I experienced on October 30, 2024, while traveling with Iberia. I was a passenger on Flight IB1026, which was scheduled to depart from Granada and arrive in Madrid…from where I was booked on connecting flight IB0303 to Mexico City
Flight Details
Flight Number: IB1026
Departure: Granada
Destination: Madrid
Date: October 30, 2024
Class: Economy
Ticket Number: (fill in your ticket # here)
Regrettably, the aforementioned flight was delayed by over 3 hours, causing significant inconvenience and disruption to my travel plans: I missed my connection to Mexico City, waited for 6 hours at Iberia customer service at Barajas, and was delayed 36 hours in arriving in Mexico City.
According to EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers are entitled to compensation for flight delays exceeding 3 hours, which applies to my situation.
In light of this, I kindly request that Iberia provide me with the compensation of €600 as stipulated by the regulation. I have provided my bank account details below for the refund to be credited:
Bank Account Information:
Bank Name:
Account Holder:
Account:
I kindly ask for your prompt response and confirmation of the compensation process as specified by the regulation. Failure to do so within 30 days will mean that I will assume that this claim is not being processed and I will report the delay and the lack of compliance to the regulation to the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency which is charged with enforcing the regulation and passenger rights in Spain.
Please feel free to contact me via email if you require any additional information or documentation to process my compensation claim.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in resolving this matter. I look forward to a timely resolution of my compensation claim.
Sincerely,
Frank
When you submit the claim, you will get an automatic message from Iberia telling you that you will get a reply from Iberia within 7 business days. That was November 13th.
4 days later I received this:
That was November 17th. I didn’t know what the above meant. They were apologizing but not really saying anything else. Would they pay?
I decided to wait for something further, it couldn’t possibly end there right?
I waited because I had given them a deadline of 30 days to pay.
Finally, a few days before the 30 days was up, I followed up.
Compensation Claim for Flight Delay – Flight IB1026 on October 30, 2024
Dear Customer Relations Team,
I’ve previously written concerning a compensation claim (P20241113-54014771) and received an apology letter from Iberia. This however does not absolve Iberia from EU Regulation 261/2004 which clearly states that I am due compensation of 600 Euros from the flight delay that occurred on October 30th, 2024.
This did not need to happen. When I learned about the flight delay on the Granada – Madrid flight, I went to Iberia customer service in Granada and explained that it would cause me to miss my connecting flight to Mexico City. I was open to re-booking the flight. I was told that they couldn’t do anything and that I would have to deal with customer service in Madrid.
From 2 AM to 8 AM (6 hours) I stood in the customer service line at Terminal 4 in Barajas. There were 2 employees there to deal with a huge line of customers. Finally, I was rebooked to Mexico City but I would end up arriving 36 hours later than originally scheduled. Through it all, I incurred costs on bookings in Mexico City and, worst of all, lost 2 days that would have been spent with my mother who I was visiting.
In my previous letter I stated that I would give Iberia 30 days to respond to my claim. The 30 days expires this week and I will be contacting the AESA next week.
Again, this does not need to happen. Iberia can resolve this now with a meaningful reply. I will not be letting this go, contacting AESA will only prolong this exercise.
Thank you and have a good day.
Frank
It literally took less than 10 minutes to get a reply to this 2nd letter.
Resolution?? I didn’t realize there was a resolution in the poorly worded letter Iberia had sent me. Obviously they were just playing “Silly Buggers” (as my British boss used to say). It only further angered me that they couldn’t even provide an explanation.
I had to take it to the next level.
What to do when Iberia won’t pay your compensation claim
There are a few things you can do when Iberia won’t pay your compensation claim. But the first thing you should do is contact the AESA: the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency. They’re responsible with enforcing the regulation of passenger rights in Spain. You’ll find the form to fill out here.
I wrote them on December 10th:
Hello!
I am writing you about a 600 Euro compensation claim under EU Regulation 261/2004 that I have ongoing with Iberia.
I was scheduled to fly Granada – Madrid – Mexico City on October 30th 2024 with Iberia. Unfortunately the first flight was 3 hours late. I ended up spending 6 hours in the Iberia customer service line in Madrid and, when finally rebooked, I arrived 36 hours later than initially scheduled in Mexico City. I incurred costs because of this and, more importantly, lost 2 days with my mother who I was visiting.
I’ve written on 2 occasions to Iberia. They apologize for the incident…but are totally dismissive of my claim for compensation. They don’t even explain why they are rejecting my claim. I advised them that I would contact the AESA and that didn’t change their attitude.
So I am contacting you to exercise my claim to this compensation.
I am at your disposal for any information and documents that you require.
Thank you,
Frank
As of January 6th 2025 I have not yet received a reply.
But here is what you have to know:
- AESA takes time, up to 6 months for a reply and resolution. But everything I’ve read says that they do get back to you and in most cases, they do enforce payment of claims on Spanish airlines.
- In most cases, Iberia won’t pay without an AESA resolution telling them to pay. Again, the idea is delay, delay and obfuscate. Maybe you’ll give up in frustration. That’s what they’re counting on.
I’ve done a lot of reading on how Iberia settles their claims. A few resources below (some are a bit dated but the same practices hold true today)
- Iberia: refusing compensation and lies on flyertalk.com
- Iberia promised luggage compensation then now decided to not pay on flyertalk.com
- Iberia flight compensation issues on Reddit.com
- Where’s compensation for my Iberia flight? On the Chicagotribune. The article is written by Christopher Elliott, the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and he’s got some good resources on his blog including some executive customer service contacts at Iberia if you want to shake some trees.
A 2nd option to getting your compensation claim
Some people work with outside agencies to get settlement of their compensation claim. I don’t recommend this because:
- With patience, AESA/Iberia do come through with compensation settlements.
- Some of these outside agencies are scammers and they’ll use your name and details to get the claim and never pay you. It seems to be a common theme.
- Outside agencies, even if legitimate, take a large commission (about 40% according to various reviews).
The one with the best rating that I’ve come across is Flightright. Their reviews here. Again, I wouldn’t recommend going down this route but if all else fails then it might be your last option.
Conclusion
I’m not unreasonable, sometimes shit happens. But companies have to be held accountable. Why does Iberia send me a Whatsapp message telling me that my flight is on schedule…only to arrive at the airport to find out that the flight will be at least 2 hours late? Why couldn’t Iberia customer service in Granada be any help when I told them I would miss my connecting flight? They could have rebooked me for the next day and I could have gone home and slept in my bed. How can Iberia have only 2 employees on staff at Barajas airport? On what planet is it acceptable to have to wait 6 hours in a customer service line? Finally, if a company sends you an “apology”, at least make it sound like you mean it.
And that’s why I’m not letting this go…
(Note: I’ll keep this post updated for changes to the status of my compensation claim)
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