Kayak to Help Flyers Get Compensated for Delayed and Canceled Flights
Skift Take
Some airlines will not be happy that Kayak has lent its credibility and, in effect, its customer base, to startups that specialize in travel claims compensation. The claims cost airlines money. But Kayak still likes doing things a bit different from the other global online players.
Consumer laws and airline policies often entitle passengers to receive compensation from carriers when flights experience major delays or cancellations. But few jilted passengers file the paperwork to claim what they deserve.
Enter, Kayak, the travel price-comparison search engine. Quietly for the past few months, it has been using its marketing heft to let consumers know they may be able to either receive cash or vouchers redeemable for future travel.
When a traveler's flight has been disrupted, Kayak sends an email notification that says, "Good news: You could get compensation." It then encourages the traveler to try one of two claim compensation firms — AirHelp or Service — to process their claim quickly.
Since November 2017, if the flights are covered by European consumer regulations, the user is referred to AirHelp, which has a speciality in filing cases in Europe even though it can also file claims in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Since March 2018, if the Kayak user is based in the U.S., he or she is instead invited to try Service, which
