Many Vietnamese passengers were surprised to receive compensation for their delayed flights thanks to flight delay insurance.
Insurance against flight delays or cancellations is becoming increasingly popular in Vietnam.
Reimbursement of flight delay insurance purchased via e-wallets is faster than for insurance purchased directly through the airline’s website.
T., a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, shared her experience of a two-hour flight delay for which she received 888,000 VND ($35.60) in compensation.
She had purchased her flight ticket worth 800,000 VND (32 USD) along with flight delay insurance worth 38,500 VND (1.5 USD) through a local e-wallet.
“The amount of compensation was very satisfactory,” she said.
Another traveler was similarly impressed when she received 1 million VND ($40) in compensation after a delay of over four hours.
“The compensation was paid out so quickly,” she noted, pointing out that she too had purchased her insurance through an e-wallet platform.
Many insurers have begun to automate the compensation process so that passengers whose flights are delayed can receive payouts from their flight delay insurance more conveniently and quickly than before.
In contrast, Hoang, who had purchased a ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City through a website, had difficulty obtaining compensation for the delay, even though he had taken out the insurance unintentionally.
This means that the ticketing system activates flight delay insurance by default when passengers purchase a flight ticket.
After checking his previous transactions, he found that insurance was included on other tickets and that they cost between 37,000 VND ($1.48) and 70,000 VND ($2.8) per ticket.
These insurance packages cost him millions of Vietnamese dong.
“My flight was delayed, but I didn’t know how to get compensation,” he said.
Many others expressed frustration that when they contacted their insurance company to claim compensation for delayed flights, they received only evasive answers from insurance officials.
Local airlines and e-wallet providers have collaborated with insurance companies to offer air travelers insurance against flight delays and cancellations.
For example, the national carrier Vietnam Airlines offers flight delay or cancellation insurance called Fly Pro, provided by the Post And Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation.
The insurance fee is 60,000 VND ($2.4) per ticket and provides a maximum compensation of 1.5 million VND ($60.2).
The airlines Vietjet and Bamboo Airways are no exception and offer their passengers insurance packages with different fees and benefits.
Passengers can receive a refund within 15 days of a flight delay.
Meanwhile, if passengers purchase Bao Viet Holdings’ flight delay insurance through the e-wallet MoMo for VND35,000 ($1.4), they will receive compensation of up to VND888,000 credited to their e-wallet account if the flight is delayed by two hours or more.
Minh Son, director of an online platform that provides tourism and airline ticket services, said Your Tre (Youth) newspaper that compensation for flight delays should be automatic.
AirAsia has partnered with Malaysia-based Tune Protect Group to offer flight delay insurance and automate compensation processes.
If an AirAsia flight is delayed by more than two hours, affected passengers will automatically be credited with 200 Malaysian ringgit (US$46).
The aim of the automated compensation process is to strengthen passenger confidence and reassure frustrated air travelers.
A representative of a local airline said the airline had worked with an insurer to offer insurance packages to passengers.
The insurer pays compensation if customers who purchase insurance coverage experience a flight delay.
The representative said that insurance companies should adopt digital technologies for compensation to improve customer service, thereby building a sustainable insurance climate and boosting Vietnam’s aviation and insurance industries.
Statistics from the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Administration showed an increase in flight delays in July.
Vietnam Airlines operated 11,066 flights last month, while Vietjet and Bamboo Airways operated 10,551 and 1,423 flights respectively. Of these, 9,114 flights were delayed, accounting for 36.8 percent of the total and an increase of over six percent from the previous month.
According to Circular 19/2023 of the Ministry of Transport, a flight is considered delayed if it departs more than 15 minutes later than the scheduled time.
If the delay was not caused by the passengers, airlines are obliged to apologize to those affected and to cover the costs of food, accommodation and transport.
In the event of delays of five hours or more, airlines must reimburse passengers for the ticket price upon request.
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