apf: The blog is back...

The Agency for Passenger Rights, or apf for short, began its work in mid-2015 and helps passengers in rail, bus, ship and air transport to obtain their rights in accordance with the relevant EU regulations by means of arbitration procedure .

This means that the apf reclaims all reasonable/reasonable costs incurred as a result of a delay, cancellation, etc. In addition to compensation payments and the reimbursement of care services such as hotel or replacement transportation, this often also applies to ticket refunds in the event of cancellations, which was particularly relevant in the previous year of the pandemic.

Since its foundation, over 30,000 arbitration requests have been submitted to the apf and examined and processed by the experts in the rail, bus, ship and air sectors.

⇒ And the best thing is: apf's service is always free of charge and commission-free for passengers - regardless of the outcome of the dispute resolution procedure.

And now to the practical side: what to do if the trip did not go as planned...

In the first step, the claim must be submitted in writing directly to the company concerned. The apf has provided sample letters specifically for the aviation sector, which can be downloaded at www.passagier.at.

If the company does not respond adequately or not at all within a reasonable period of time (flight: six weeks, train/bus/ship: four weeks) after the claim has been submitted, a arbitration request can be submitted to apf online via www.passagier.at.

Specifically, apf can mediate in the following problems:

• Compensation and refunds for delays
• Compensation and refunds for canceled trips or flights
• Compensation for overbooking or denied boarding
• Lack of assistance (food, accommodation, transportation)
• Inadequate or missing information about travel and passenger rights and
• Non-compliance with the rights of people with disabilities, e.g. failure to provide assistance.

In rail transport, apf also mediates in cases such as problems in connection with bookings, fines (e.g. for missing tickets), refunds of (e.g. unused) tickets and damaged or lost luggage.

In addition, apf helps with air travel problems relating to refunds in the event of downgrading to a lower class than originally booked (e.g. from Business Class to Economy Class).

And if you still have questions, the experts at apf are also available by phone:

Train:[nbsp] [nbsp]+43 1 5050707 - 710
Bus:[nbsp] [nbsp] [nbsp]+43 1 5050707 - 720
Boat:[nbsp] +43 1 5050707 - 730
Flight:[nbsp] [nbsp] [nbsp]+43 1 5050707 - 740