Today, we're gonna cover what you're owed, how to get what you're owed, what to do when you're not owed anything, and what to do the second that you realize that your flight is delayed or canceled.

Make sure to stick to the end because there are a lot of exceptions and loopholes that you need to know so that you don't get screwed. Let's go.

Alight, step number one is to know what you're owed.

You have to know what you're eligible for so that you don't accidentally accept less.

There's a ton of different factors here like your location, your destination, the distance of your flight, the length of your delay or how much in advance is canceled.

And so you have to take all of these into account to understand what you're eligible for.

For example, we'll start in the US, where you're really not protected as much as other places in the world.

Airlines usually aren't required to compensate you if your flight is canceled or delayed, but they are required to compensate you if you're bumped from an overbooked flight.

If you are bumped, you're entitled to up to 200% to 400% of the cost of a one way ticket and that maxes out at $1350 for international flights.

That said, even though you may not be protected for canceled and delayed flights in the US, you may be protected in other countries that you're traveling to.

For example, if you're traveling to the EU, which we'll get to in a second.

This lack of protection in the US is one reason why travel insurance is so important.

In addition to covering medical expenses for accidents and injuries you may have on the road, many also cover any extra expenses that you may have for flight delays or flight cancellations.

That may include food, transportation, accommodation, any nonrefundable reservations that you made for your trip that you had to miss.

It all depends on the exact policy that you buy.

And I'm actually making a video comparing the top three insurances for travelers, depending on what type of travel you are and what type of trip you're taking,

so make sure to subscribe if you're interested in that one.

And if you're headed out now and don't have time to wait, I'll link to my favorite travel insurance in the description below.

It's also possible to protect yourself from some of these delays and cancellations if you purchase your flight with certain different credit cards, and I'll put a list of some of my favorite ones down below as well.

The cool thing about these is not only do they protect you from delays and cancellations, but if you do get delayed, some of these also include free lounge access.

So you have a comfortable place to stay while you're waiting.

Alright, now back to those European Union regulations that may come in to save the day.

The regulation in question here is called EU261 and it applies to all flights leaving the European Union and all flights arriving to the European Union on an EU airline.

There are a bunch of different compensation rules based on your unique circumstances and these can get kind of confusing to remember,

so if your flight is covered under EU261 and you get bumped or delayed or canceled or any other sort of timing issue happens, just pop online real quick and search to see what you're eligible for.

Two sites with a bunch of good information on these topics are AirHelp and ClaimCompass. More on those later.

Note that in most of these circumstances, if it's not the airline's fault for a bad thing happening, you're probably not eligible for compensation by them.

So now that we know what we're owed, the next step is knowing how to actually get what we're owed.

But before we get into that, make sure to tap that like button if you're finding this video helpful.

Ok, so before worrying about getting what you're owed, your first priority should be figuring out how to get to your destination as fast as possible.

The first thing you want to do is to get in touch with customer service ASAP.

Don't just wait in line like everyone else. While you're waiting in line, call up the customer service number. If there's a long wait time, try calling their international customer service number.

Start a chat with the customer service chat at the same time if you can.

And while you're waiting for people to answer you, start looking up different alternative flights to get you to your destination.

That way, when someone does answer you or you do get to the front of the line, you'll have everything ready and won't have to spend time having the agent help you find the next available flight.

Time is really of the essence here because when everyone is trying to reroute their flights at the same time, these alternative flights fill up quick,

and so if you're not quick on your feet, you might end up having to wait even longer.

Even if your flight gets canceled in advance and you're not at the airport yet, it's still a good idea to get things figured out and arrange to your destination as fast as possible.

Note that if the flight that the airline tries to rebook you on is a crappy flight with a long layover, a bunch of connections or something,

you can always try to find a flight with one of their partner airlines and ask if they can put you on one of those flights instead.

Now, whichever flight issue you have, whether that be a delay or a cancellation, you just have to remember these five rules.

The first is to figure out what caused the delay or the cancellation because this is important to determine what compensations you're eligible for.

Second is to keep all your travel documents and receipts and emails and texts from the airline and anything related to this flight experience so that later you can have them when you need to claim for reimbursement.

This includes meals, transportation, accommodation, everything that was related to your change flight plans.

Three is to request food transportation and accommodation if you need them.

You don't have to memorize all the different airline rules to see if you qualify or don't qualify.

Just ask, and if you qualify, they'll give them to you. And even if you don't qualify, sometimes they'll still give them to you.

Four, if your flight is canceled, you need to ask for a new flight or a refund, whichever makes more sense for you.

If your flight was nonrefundable, you should still be able to request a refund, it was canceled.

And five, make sure that you read carefully anything you're asked to sign to make sure you're not signing away your rights to compensation.

This is super important. If you are delayed because of an overbooking and you accept their offer for a voucher or whatever, you are essentially waiving your rights to your other compensation.

So before you agree to anything, make sure to quickly look up what you're actually eligible for.

Remember what we said earlier about compensation for getting bumped in the US?

It would be a shame if you were actually eligible for that maximum of $1350 cash and you accepted a flight voucher credit for a couple $100 instead.

It's also important to note that you can make these reimbursement claims after the fact.

And so if you're all stressed out in the airport, trying to figure things out in the moment, just remember that you can relax. You don't have to do everything right now.

As long as you keep receipts and everything, you can make a claim later.

And if you can't be bothered to make a claim later by yourself, there's actually companies like I mentioned earlier, like AirHelp and ClaimCompass, who will make claims for you.

They're better at getting reimbursements and you just have to pay them a cut of what your reimbursement is.

The last question is what should you do if you're not owed anything for a delay or cancellation?

Most airlines will rebook for you, but you can choose if you want them to rebook your flight or if you want a refund, even if you purchased a non-refundable ticket.

If they end up offering you some kind of flight voucher, make sure to ask about flight restrictions like advance notice or blackout dates or expiration dates.

You can also ask them to put you on a flight from a different airline if it means arriving to your destination faster.

Technically, they're not required to help you out in the situation, but a lot of times they'll help you just to keep you happy.

On a similar note, if you have a long delay, you could also ask for meal reimbursement while you're in the airport.

Again, if you're in the US and they're not required to help you at all, they don't have to do this, but it doesn't hurt to ask a lot of times they're happy to help.

Just don't get grouchy if they say no, though, because they're not required to help.

Also, remember, even if you're not eligible for compensation from the airline, you may be eligible if you bought your tickets with certain credit cards or if you have travel insurance.

So make sure to save all your documents anyway, so you can make those claims.

I have a ton more little known travel hacks that I want to teach you, and so if you want to save big money on your next flight, dive into this playlist next, which is full of cheap travel hacks.

See you guys. Bye-bye