Icelandair Flight Delay Compensation

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How much compensation are you entitled to for Icelandair cancellation or delay?

The amount of compensation you can claim will depend on the length of your flight with Icelandair and the duration of your delay.

If your journey was shorter than 1,500 km, you could be entitled to €250. When the flight distance is between 1,500 and 3,500 km, your Icelandair delay claim will be worth €400. Finally, if your trip exceeded 3,500 km, you could claim compensation of up to €600!

If the length of your flight is over 3,500 km and the duration of your delay was between 3 and 4 hours, your Icelandair compensation claim amount could be reduced in half.

When can you claim flight compensation?

Passengers can submit compensation claims when their Icelandair flight has been delayed, cancelled or they have experienced a denied boarding. In addition, if your trip included more than one flight, you could be entitled to compensation for a missed connecting flight.

Icelandair Flight Delay

To claim Icelandair delay compensation, your flight needs to meet two basic conditions:

• You arrived at your final destination more than three hours behind schedule.
• Your flight was not delayed due to any extraordinary circumstances.

Is My Flight Eligible?

Unfortunately, despite the disruption to your plans, not all delays are eligible for compensation. As per EC261, passengers can only claim for flight delays of over three hours.

The duration of your delay is defined as the discrepancy between your actual and your expected time of arrival at your final destination.

As the delay is calculated at your final destination, in a few rare cases in which the flight crew makes up for the delay, passengers would not be entitled to Icelandair compensation even if their departure was delayed by more than three hours.

Because the arrival time is so important, we highly recommend that you note it down when the plane door opens. This is also how EU Regulation 261/2004 defines arrival- as the time when at least one of the aircraft doors opens after landing.

In addition, in order to be eligible for Icelandair delayed flight compensation, your disruption should not be brought about by any extraordinary circumstances. These commonly include:

• Bad weather conditions
• Bird strikes
• Security risks
• Control tower traffic restrictions
• Medical emergencies
• Union and airport strikes (but not airline strikes)

In general, any event which leads to a delay or cancellation that the airline cannot prevent or mitigate can be considered an extraordinary circumstance. Since in these cases Icelandair should not be held responsible for the delay, it would not be required to pay delay compensation to the passengers travelling aboard the flight.

Claim Delay Compensation

Claim Icelandair Cancelled Flight Compensation

According to EC261, you can claim flight cancellation compensation if you were informed of the disruption less than two weeks before your flight’s departure.

The table below details the conditions under which passengers are entitled to Icelandair compensation.

In most cases, flights are cancelled on the day they are supposed to depart. In these circumstances, you can claim EU flight compensation if your alternate flight lands at your final destination more than 2 hours late.

Even if the airline informed you about the cancellation well before the flight and you are not eligible for compensation, you have the right to either rerouting to your final destination or a full refund of your ticket price. Moreover, if the cancellation was brought about by the presence of extraordinary circumstances, you still retain this right.

Claim Flight Compensation

Icelandair Overbooking

If you were denied boarding due to an overbooked flight, you could claim Iceland compensation. The most important condition for eligibility is that you were denied seating against your will. If a flight ends up with more passengers than seats, the airline would ask for volunteers, who are willing to give up their seat in exchange for benefits. Consider the offer carefully as if you accept it, you would lose your compensation eligibility.

As with flight delays and cancellations the amount of denied boarding compensation you claim will depend on the length of your journey. Your refund could reach €600 for any trips of over 3,500 km.

Right to Food, Drinks and Accomodation

Regardless if your flight was cancelled, delayed or you were denied boarding, Icelandair is required to provide you with food and drinks for the waiting time you spend at the airport

To claim a refund for your necessary expenses, remember to keep your receipts. They are the acceptable proof of expenditure. Without it, you would not be able to get your money back.

If your disruption forces you to fly the next day, the airline should also provide you with accommodation and transportation to and from the airport to your hotel room. Again, remember to keep your receipts.

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About Icelandair

Icelandair, Iceland’s flag carrier was founded in 1937. Its hub is Reykjavik’s Keflavik International Airport. From Iceland’s Mid-Atlantic location, the airline operates flights to both sides of the ocean. In fact, Icelandair can take fly you all the way to the Pacific- to San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma and Anchorage, Alaska on the West Coast of the US. The airline’s 36-strong fleet consists entirely of Boeing aircraft, including 4 Boeing Max 737 MAX-8, which are expected to be reintroduced by the end of 2019.

In May 2019, it was reported that the carrier is considering Airbus aircraft as a potential substitute of some of their ageing Boeing planes and potentially to the 737 MAX.

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 Icelandair rankings

Icelandair holds a 5/10 rating on Skytrax where more than 500 passengers have the reviews of their experience with the airline. This score reflects the carrier’s overall flight experience as well as the value for money that passengers get. Customers rate Icelandair’s staff service particularly high.