AirHelp is generally known for pursuing compensation for flight delays and cancellations from airlines in exchange for a percentage of the compensation. However, with AirHelp+, they offer a subscription for €100 per year that comes with various benefits:
- 100% of the compensation received from the airlines (up to €600, depending on the flight distance) if AirHelp successfully files the claim for you.
- Lounge access voucher if your flight is delayed by more than one hour.
- AirPayout Insurance: A flat €100 is paid to your account if your flight is delayed by more than three hours, cancelled within 28 days before departure, or diverted. This is in addition to any compensation from the airline.
- AirLuggage Insurance: A flat €100 for lost or delayed luggage, completely independent of claims against the airline.
So, you’ll break even (or even make a profit, depending on the situation) if you have 1 issue on any of the 9 trips you register. Two issues and you’ve already more than doubled your money.
AirHelp basically offers two tiers for the Plus subscription: Smart for €40 per year, limited to three trips. Pro, on the other hand, covers 9 trips.
With the following coupon code, you can get a discount on the membership in the first year, exclusive for our Travel-Dealz readers:
- AirHelp+ Smart: €37.99 instead of €39.99
- AirHelp+ Pro: €94.99 instead of €99.99
AirHelp Plus used to cover unlimited trips and only cost €50. Those crazy-good conditions were too good to be true, and while they were honoured (albeit slightly modified) for the first year after subscribing, the company cancelled all existing memberships under these conditions at the earliest possibility – without giving notice to its subscribers.
While this deal is not as good as the one before (it now costs twice as much and is limited to 9 trips), it may still be worthwhile, especially if you have some bookings coming up where you can expect issues coming up (e.g. because of very short layovers). However, be aware that AirHelp has a history of changing its conditions quite often, as you can see in our changelog.
100% Payout of Compensation
When your flight is delayed or cancelled, AirHelp will ensure you receive compensation according to EU air passenger rights. As a Plus member, you get 100% of the compensation without AirHelp taking a commission. If you use AirHelp without AirHelp+, you receive a maximum of 65% of the compensation. AirHelp normally charges a success fee of 35% if the airline pays without legal action, and 50% if AirHelp has to go to court.
However, AirHelp is generally quite expensive. There are significantly cheaper providers that charge a commission starting at 27% or at least buy your claim and pay you within a few days. Of course, you can also pursue the claim yourself without hiring a service. Providers like AirHelp are convenient and low-risk only when the airline rejects the claim.
Lounge Pass for Delays or Cancellations
You’ll receive a lounge pass if your flight is delayed by more than 1 hour or cancelled at least 6 hours before departure. You don’t have to use the voucher for the delayed flight; you can use it flexibly in 1,100 lounges worldwide within 90 days. The voucher is provided by LoungeKey for participating lounges worldwide.
The airport, however, has to actually have a lounge for AirHelp to grant you the lounge pass. In my personal experience, I’ve received lounge passes even when I wasn’t entitled to one (e.g. the delay was less than one hour but I still got a lounge pass).
AirPayout: €100 Payout for Delays or Cancellations
The membership pays off once your flight arrives at the destination at least 3 hours late or is cancelled within 28 days before departure. In such cases, the AirPayout insurance pays a flat €100. This is in addition to any compensation from the airline regardless of whether you have a claim. Moreover, it even applies to flights outside of Europe, such as within the USA, where passenger rights are limited compared to the EU.
While there are some exceptions in which the insurance doesn’t pay, these are quite limited. For instance, in cases of war or disruptions lasting more than 7 days, such as strikes or volcanic eruptions.
In addition, only one compensation of €100 will be paid per trip, even if it consists of multiple flights. If there is a delay on both the outbound and return flights, you will only receive €100 once.
To be eligible for the €100, the trip must be registered in the AirHelp dashboard at least 48 hours before the departure of the first flight. If your flight is delayed or cancelled according to the rules, AirHelp will notify you and ask for your bank details. Afterwards, you will receive the compensation within 5 working days.
AirLuggage: €100 Payout for Delayed or Lost Luggage
You can receive even more money if an airline loses your luggage or it arrives late. In such cases, you receive a flat €100 per incident without having to prove any damage. AirLuggage is also limited to a maximum of 1 claim per trip.
Changelog
AirHelp has made a lot of changes to its AirHelp+ membership conditions, some even retroactively for existing memberships. From being a no-brainer, you now have to think about it rather carefully. Here’s everything they’ve changed in the past months:
November 2023:
- The AirPayout and AirLuggage insurance now compensates only once per trip, even if multiple flights are affected, such as on the outbound and return flights.
- To receive compensation from the AirPayout insurance, you no longer need to fill out the privacy-questionable Google Docs form. Instead, AirHelp monitors the flights you have registered and pays the compensation in the event of a delay or cancellation. You will then receive an email, provide your bank details, and receive the €100 within 5 business days. However, if you are not informed, you will still need to fill out a Google Docs form.
- Previously, the AirPayout insurance only paid for cancellations within 7 days before departure. Now, it pays for cancellations within 28 days before departure. Additionally, the compensation from the AirPayout insurance is now also paid for diverted flights.
January 2024:
- In the Complete plan, only 7 trips are insured, no longer unlimited as before.
April 2024:
- For the AirLuggage insurance, only a one-time compensation of €150 per case is paid, no longer €150 per piece of luggage for up to two pieces of luggage.
- A trip must now be registered at least 48 hours before departure, instead of the previous 24 hours before departure.
May 2024:
- The Essential and Complete packages have now been discontinued. Instead, there are two new packages that are even less attractive than before:
- Airhelp+ Smart for €40/year: AirPayout & AirLuggage for 3 trips per year
- Airhelp+ Pro for €100/year: AirPayout & AirLuggage for 9 trips per year
- Both plans now include lounge access in case of delay and compensation service without commission, instead of only the Complete package.
Conclusion
In essence, the €95 per year membership can be worth it for frequent flyers who have some fragile bookings with risky layovers, where issues are probable. You only need one issue to make a (slight) profit.
For normal people, however, the risk of making a loss is probably too high. The fact that AirHelp has changed the conditions so often is also worth mentioning and casts a shadow on this deal.
Have you had any experience with AirHelp Plus and used the included insurance? Please share your experience in the comments section.
Cover Picture: Ditmar Lange
Comments (11)
I had a delay of more than 3h at departure and I didn’t get any lounge access. After returning home, I wrote the customer service and they admitted it was a mistake and they’ve issued me a voucher that I can use in the next trips, so it doesn’t really worked automatically for me with this feature.
Also, at landing the delay decreased to 2h 45m and no compensation 🙂
Are flights covered worldwide, for example Bangkok to Kathmandu, Sydney to Auckland, internal flights in New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia etc etc ? Thanks
Hi Nick,
yes, the coverage is worldwide.
The new airhelp offer seems to be limited to only 7 trips yearly unannounced. Why??? double check this please
suddenly I am confronted with a maximum of 7 trips per membership year I stead of 20 like you say. is this a new thing on airhelpplus?
Yes, it’s new and apparently it also applies to existing customers, though I doubt that it is legal. We have already inquired about this with AirHelp and will provide an update once we got a reply.
What a useless way to deal with existing customers it is a lack of respect to the law. airhelp plus is a at out of line here
We have received another update from AirHelp today: They have reverted the changes for existing customers, and the ability to add AirPayout to trips should be restored within 1 or 2 days.
Yes, meanwhile I realized this was the case – but couldn’t find a way to change or withdraw my comment. 🙂 Anyway, used your link to buy the subscription, thank you. Now happily registering the closest ones from my 70+ upcoming flights.
I am a bit confused about one point… “You receive a lounge pass when your flight is delayed over 1 hour or cancelled 6 hours before departure. Valid at over 1,100 airport lounges worldwide for 3 months”. Does it mean you pay a yearly subscription, but you only get 3 months of coverage on that? 🙂 Plus, it’s so hard to believe that they are giving up all the money they make from flight delay claims for just €50… I am looking for a catch here. 🙂
No, the lounge voucher is valid for 3 months. The coverage is year-round.
And yes, I was also looking for a catch but couldn’t find one. A colleague of mine already received the 100€ for a cancellation a few weeks ago. For frequent flyers, this surely is a no-brainer.