Flight refunds service available to agents through Sabre partnership

Legal services provider refund.me is now available to more than 230,000 travel agents following the establishment of a partnership with global technology giant Sabre.

Image via Shutterstock

Legal services provider refund.me is now available to more than 230,000 travel agents following the establishment of a partnership with global technology giant Sabre.

Refund.me processes claims against airlines on behalf of customers for flight delays, cancellations and missed connections.

Under European law, EU 261/2004, customers who have suffered from flight issues can claim up to £600 each time. However, Joachim Hertel, chief technology officer of refund.me, told Travolution the majority of customers are unaware of their rights.

“Not even 10% of the travelling public are aware of this legislation,” said Hertel.

“The claims process is very cumbersome if done as an individual and airlines can hide behind walls because they don’t want people to know about their entitlements. We have tried to advertise in airports but were denied because they don’t want to mess with their relationship with airlines.”

Hertel said customers can claim for flight delays and cancellations dating back two years and the company deals with most airlines across the world, serving 120 countries.

“We have built up a solid network of European law firms – we operate on a no win, no fee basis and there is no fine print,” said Hertel.

He explained that customers, or agents, who have booked flights that are subsequently delayed or cancelled are automatically notified of their right to claim through refund.me through an alert system and the claim takes an average of 100 days to process.

“We have built a back engine and launched to Sabre so 230,000 travel agents around the world have access to the service now. It really opens up the value of an agent’s service and helps them to build trust with their client.”

Refund.me says it has a 94% success rate with claims it has processed.