Flight disruption tips most commonly sought on Citizens Advice site

Britons sought tips online about delayed or cancelled flights more than any other consumer issue this year, and by some margin, Citizens Advice said.

The free advice network has tallied up which pages on their website were visited most in 2018, with flight disruptions dominating searches.

Citizens Advice’s “delayed or cancelled flights” tips page had 600,000 visits, five times as many as the second most popular page about building and home improvement problems (120,000 visits).

Other popular issues included used car problems, ordering something that has not arrived, while returning faulty goods rounded out the top five.

“By far the biggest consumer issue in the last year was people wanting to claim compensation for cancelled or delayed flights,” Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said.

Ms Guy said there was clear advice online about these issues, and said it may prove handy for travellers keen on post-Christmas flight sales.

“We’re urging them to check their rights before buying so they aren’t left out of pocket,” she said.

The website figures reflect the period of December 2017 to November 2018, pre-dating the drone drama that caused huge disruptions at Gatwick Airport last week.

A grounded plane at Gatwick Airport
A grounded plane at Gatwick Airport

But the tips on the Citizens Advice flight page, which likely received an influx of recent enquiries, sets out what those impacted should do.

Anyone whose flight was cancelled has the right to a refund or a replacement flight to their destination, it said.

Citizens Advice provides free advice to people to help them resolve money, legal and other problems, while also influencing policymakers to help consumers.

The charity network’s website received more than 5 million visits to the consumer section while more called helplines or visited a branch, Ms Guy said.

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