Travelers at airports all over Europe are currently experiencing long queues, long delays and canceled flights. Air strikes make an already difficult staffing situation at the airports worse after the pandemic. Many people now risk that the holiday goes in the sink. news has received help from four experts to answer what you as a consumer should be aware of in the special situation. These are the experts The following professionals answer questions: Frode Steen, professor of economics at the Norwegian School of Management. Thomas Iversen, Consumer Lawyer, Consumer Council. Maren Van Buren Struksnæs, communications consultant, Consumer Council. Kristine Nergaard, research coordinator at Fafo. Should I cancel now? If your trip is canceled, you are entitled to rebook or refund the ticket. You do not have it if you cancel. – Remember that if you cancel the ticket yourself, you lose the right to a refund. If the flight is canceled, you are entitled to a refund, so it pays to have ice in your stomach. It writes Maren Struksnæs, communications advisor in the Consumer Council. What rights do I have, and what can I expect to get back? You are therefore entitled to rebooking or the money back for canceled travel. If you want rebooking, but it takes a long time to get help, you can order another option yourself and get a refund for the outlay. – If the airline does not rebook you as soon as possible, you can book yourself and demand a refund, that Struksnæs writes. If you have bought a return trip and one of the flights is canceled, you can claim a refund for both flights. But only as long as you have bought the tickets together. – If you have bought a return ticket, you are entitled to a refund of the entire purchase, writes Thomas Iversen, consumer lawyer at the Consumer Council. What about hotel or rental car expenses? If you are going to stopover, and have to spend the night somewhere due to changes, you are entitled to be covered by accommodation and food from the company you are flying with. The airlines do not have a claim to cover your lost expenses for, for example, hotels or rental cars that you are not allowed to use. However, passengers are often entitled to compensation at standardized rates. – You may be entitled to an additional standard compensation from the airline that can cover some of those costs. How much you are entitled to depends a bit on the distance traveled, writes Maren Struksnæs. You can calculate it in the Consumer Council’s flight calculator. Standard compensation in the event of cancellations can help cover expenses for, for example, hotels. Photo: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher / AP Do you have any extra rights when packing? If you have booked a package tour, with both travel and hotel through a travel agency, you will be able to claim a refund for the entire trip upon cancellation. – For charter flights, the company is responsible for the entire package, but you can also make a separate claim against the airline if there is a delay or a cancellation, writes Thomas Iversen. Are there any companies that do not strike? – Now there is a strike only in SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe, and it is the employed aircraft technicians who have now gone on strike, says Thomas Iversen. In addition, the pilots of SAS have also announced a strike from 29 June. Nevertheless, other companies may be affected. – It is basically these three that are affected, but we can not rule out that other companies are affected by delays and the like, writes Maren Struksnæs. Both Norwegian, SAS and Widerøe are now affected by strikes among aircraft technicians. Here from Gardermoen on Tuesday. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news How long does the strike last? Experts say it is difficult to say how long the strike will last. – It is difficult to say anything about. However, if your flight is canceled, you have the right to be rebooked so that you get where you are going as quickly as possible. You can also demand the money back if you prefer, writes Struksnæs. On Tuesday evening, NHO announced a lockout in the aircraft technician strike from and including night to Sunday. Some politicians now want a forced wage board, if the parties to the strike do not agree. Will there be repercussions after the strike? After the strike, it is expected that we will soon return to normal operations. – From experience from previous strike situations, we must expect some consequential errors and delays for a couple of days after a strike, but it tends to return to normal quickly, writes Maren Struksnes. Here you can read all the answers to questions that came in to news on Tuesday:
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What you should know about holiday chaos and air strikes – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
