Layover Limbo: Surviving Unexpected Travel Delays in Abu Dhabi
A travelers guide for missed flights, compensation and how to make the most out of it
Happy Saturday people, it’s me, Mike 🙋🏼♂️
As promised in last week’s post, we’re talking about the return journey from my Oman trip with my friends. Because, during our layover in Abu Dhabi, we experienced every traveler's nightmare…
We missed our flight.
But, before we delve into the details, let me make one thing clear: it wasn't our fault.
And if you love traveling as much as we do over here on Mapping Memories, chances are this will happen to you as well. So if you’re lucky enough that you haven’t experienced it (yet), or you're still unsure about your rights as a stranded passenger, this blog’s for you.
I’ll demystify the process of organizing your transfer, help you check and understand your rights as a passenger, and share how you can make the most of a - how should I put it - “unfortunate” situation.
Sound like something you can use before your next flight takes off? Let’s get into it.
You missed your connecting flight, now what?
When they send you to a transfer desk instead of your gate, you know you’re done.
This is what happened to us when we arrived in Abu Dhabi for our layover to Amsterdam. When we made our way to the transfer desk, they offered to put us on the next flight, which went via Zurich to Amsterdam. Not a bad deal, until they told us what time the flight would leave.
2:40 AM.
Seriously? Ugh.
That would mean spending hours waiting at the airport, boarding a red-eye flight, possibly grabbing just an hour or two of sleep, making a stopover in Zurich, and ultimately, throwing away any hope of a decent rest before finally heading home.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Travel tip from Mike: you don’t have to take the first flight alternative they offer you.
At the transfer desk, it’s their job to solve the problem of getting you home on another flight (if the delay wasn’t your fault and you booked your flights through the same airline, of course). And even though it may not always seem like it, you do have a bit of a say in which option you end up accepting - provided there are indeed several options.
Luckily for us, there were.
They were able to put us on our “original” flight for the next day. This meant we’d be able to enjoy a normal night’s sleep. Also, even though two of us (including myself) had already been to Abu Dhabi, our other friends got to see Abu Dhabi for the first time.
Now that you know your options at the transfer desk, let's get into your rights and possible compensation options as a stranded passenger.
What are your rights and compensation options?
When you miss your flight, there are three things you should check to make sure you get compensated fairly:
Does the airline offer a ‘Right to care’?
Does the airline offer cash compensation?
Does your travel insurance or credit card company offer additional coverage?
Let’s go over each one:
1) Right to care
Most airlines have something called a ‘Right to care’. This means that if your flight is delayed for more than 3 hours, you get:
Meals and refreshments reasonable to the waiting time.
Hotel accommodation if your flight is the next day.
Transport between the airport and your accommodation.
It is the airline’s responsibility to arrange these aspects. If they are unable to do so, they will compensate for the missed service if your claim is reasonable.
So next time you miss your connecting flight because of the airline, don’t arrange something yourself, but wait for the transfer desk agents to do it for you. And if they can’t, don’t book the most expensive hotel for the night, because you might not get it all back.
In our case, we were promised 3 meals (lunch, dinner, and breakfast), accommodation for the night, and a taxi from and towards the airport.
2) Cash compensation
If you’re flying with an EU airline, chances are that you’ll get cash compensation.
This is because of EU legislation and if you have a delay of more than 3 hours, they are obligated to compensate:
€250 for flights up to 1500 km
€400 for flights between 1500 and 3500 km
€600 beyond 3500 km, provided that you are at least 4 hours late (€300 for a delay between 3 and 4 hours)
For non-EU airlines, it’s up to the airlines themselves to decide whether to offer you monetary compensation or not. Always make sure to check their policy after you’ve suffered a delay or re-booking.
In our case, Etihad’s compensation is quite similar to the EU-legislation. If things go as expected, we’ll each get a 600 euro reimbursement for the involuntary Abu Dhabi stopover. Fingers crossed our claim gets accepted!🤞🏼
3) Credit card or travel insurance coverage
Depending on your credit card and/or travel insurance, you might be able to make claims through this as well.
For example, with my AMEX Flying Blue Credit Card, I’m able to claim for incurred costs if my flights are delayed more than 3 hours. And my travel insurance covers this risk as well.
Now before you go and claim all parties, that’s not how it works. For example, before submitting a claim with AMEX, they first want proof that the airline carrier (Etihad in my case) and my primary travel insurance aren’t compensating for any of the incurred costs.
So first shoot your shot with the airline, and then these other two as your backup.
To conclude this part, check your rights, and keep track of all delay-related expenses (or, if you want to be next-level like Hannah, track all your holiday expenses 😉). It is also never a bad idea to take pictures of all receipts and vouchers you accumulate during this time. This will make collecting all the information for any possible claims much easier in the future.
This still leaves us with the fact that your travels didn’t go according to plan…
How can you make the most of it?
Let me get this right: No one likes missing their flight.
You’re most likely traveling somewhere for a reason: a family celebration, a time-bound event like a conference or New Year’s Eve, or you might just want to get back home after your holidays (which was the case for us 🙃).
But, since you’re stuck there for a few hours anyway, try to make the most of it.
That is also what we tried to do.
We played some darts and pool in the hotel bar, and in the evening we had a nice dinner close to the hotel since the hotel wasn’t able to provide lunch and dinner (remember the 3 meals Etihad promised us? Turns out they could only facilitate 1 in the end 😂). Then, we went to view the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque since our hotel was only a short Uber ride away, and we had some drinks at the rooftop bar to celebrate the birthday of one of our friends (the next day, but who’s counting).
In the end, we had an eventful 24 hours in Abu Dhabi and landed back in Amsterdam the next day.
What about you?
Have you ever missed your connecting flight due to delays? Did you end up having to stay the night in a random location? And how easy was it to get some form of compensation for this?
I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments!
Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen to you sometime soon, but if it does, you’ll know what to do.
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Really useful article!
Been caught in so many flight cancellations and delays myself -ironically, mostly within Europe.
Knowing your rights as a passenger (and playing it smart!) is key.
Etihad is a FRAUD Airlines & they are CHEATING their customers. (PNR DUR6BJ)
I had booked a flight for my wife from Mumbai to London on Etihad Airways for the 3rd of October & return on 13th of October. The fair booked did not have a check-in luggage included & nowhere on their website were we able to add the check-in luggage. On contacting the airlines, we were told that the check-in luggage cannot be added in advance & we will need to do the same at the counter. On enquiring about the cost, we were told that the cost for the luggage would be max. 200$. We found this price very high & we could have booked an AirIndia or British Airways DIRECT flight for this extra, but did not have much choice as the travel date was only few days away.
On reaching the counter for the Check-In, we were informed by the staff that it will cost us Rs. 55,000/- (USD 650$) for check-in bag weighing 20 Kgs. This was ridiculous, but even after arguing with their manager for an hour, they did not even budge & as my wife was travelling alone & had a schedule ahead, we had to pay that amount.
Next day I talked to Yatra & my travel agent to cancel the return flight so that I can book another flight, but was informed that the cancellation fees is 100% & I will not get any refund, nor can I upgrade the ticket to a higher class which will include the luggage.
This means that the Etihad Airways wants me to pay a total cost of Rs. 1,70,000/- (USD 2000$) for an Economy class return flight from Mumbai to London. I can easily get a BUSINESS CLASS ticket on any reputed airlines for that price.
I have travelled the world to more that 70 countries, but have never experienced this type of shameless THEFT. This is absolute FRAUD being committed by ETIHAD AIRWAYS on unsuspecting customers.
All flyers kindly beware of ETIHAD & use it only if you want to be CHEATED. We will never use this airlines again as they are absolute FRAUDS.
SAMIR GARG (M: +91-9820127458)