Over the years, I have written many times about filing complaints to the DOT over bad behavior from an airline.
There are 2 types of DOT complaints. You can file a basic informal complaint here. These are usually good enough in the vast majority of cases to reach the attention of an airline agent who is empowered to make things right, though airlines have up to 60 days to respond to an informal complaint. In nearly every case, I had success by filing an informal complaint.
If you don’t reach a satisfactory resolution, you can file a formal complaint. Just be aware that your name and complaint will be published if you go down this route. Airlines must respond to formal complaints in a timely manner, and the DOT investigates these complaints seriously.
The formal complaint found in docket DOT-OST-2020-0236 is an interesting one.
It starts off with a November 2020 complaint from a DansDeals reader against Turkish Airlines. The reader confirmed with us that they learned about filing a formal DOT complaint from this DansDeals post that was last updated in October 2020 with a reader success story after filing a formal DOT complaint. They first filed an informal complaint, but failed to achieve a resolution via that route.
In the formal complaint, Turkish Airlines is accused of failing to compensate for necessary items purchased when a checked bag arrived 33 hours late.
Turkish Airlines offered $100 compensation, as they said delayed baggage compensation was limited to $50 per day.
However, the DOT does not allow airlines to set arbitrary limits for delayed baggage compensation.
- “Airlines are required to compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable, and actual incidental expenses that they may incur while their bags are delayed – subject to the maximum liability limits.
- Airlines are not allowed to set an arbitrary daily amount for interim expenses. For example, an airline cannot have a policy that they will reimburse a passenger up to only $50 for each day that a passenger’s bag is delayed.”
That means airlines are responsible for up to 1,288 Special Drawing Rights per passenger, which is currently equal to $1,691.
Formal complaints must be addressed quickly, but Turkish Airlines requested a 2 week and then a 1 week extension, which were granted. The airline offered $1,800 to settle the case and that was accepted.
But that’s not what got my attention.
Last month, a consent order was filed by the DOT against Turkish Airlines using the same docket number as the delayed baggage order compensation, DOT-OST-2020-0236.
In it, the DOT cites that Turkish Airlines, “arbitrarily limited compensation for damages related to mishandled checked baggage on flights to and from the United States in contravention to the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention).”
It also cites that the airline, “routinely failed to provide timely refunds to passengers for flights to and from the United States that the carrier cancelled or significantly changed.”
The DOT continues, “Based on a consumer complaint, OACP investigated Turkish Airlines’ policies and practices in connection with its handling of monetary claims for mishandled checked baggage on flights to and from the United States.”
The DOT says in a footnote there that it only received one formal complaint in docket, DOT-OST-2020-0236. Yes, that’s the complaint mentioned above.
Turkish Airlines blamed refund delays on COVID and wrote that it corrected baggage reimbursement in 2021.
Nevertheless, the DOT fined Turkish Airlines $1,300,000 due to these violations, saying that it will establish a deterrent to future unlawful practices by Turkish Airlines and other carriers. The DOT also officially dismissed the DOT-OST-2020-0236 complaint as part of the consent order, bringing an end to the case after more than 4 years.
Have you been successful filing an informal or formal complaint with the DOT against an airline?
HT: chff
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52 Comments On "Sky-High Consequences: How A DansDeals Reader’s DOT Complaint Led To A $1,300,000 Fine For Turkish Airlines"
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Nice
I am curious…. did the person filing the complaint get a piece of that… or just proper comp. What happened to them in the end?
It goes to the DOT, but they should totally file for a piece of the action!
https://www.whistleblower.gov/overview
Not Bad According to the Website He should get between 130,000.00 – 390,000.00…
wow thanks Dan did not even know about this. Any readers or anybody else you know got part of the pie?
Hi Dan. I have a quick question what did the DOT work with me on a flight that originated in Toronto via Air Canada but that was headed for LaGuardia. Thank you.
If the US is on the ticket, it’s under DOT jurisdiction.
I never fly on Turkish even if it is half the price. Sorry I don’t support terrorists, for me that is pretty simple.
This person did not support them in anyway..
100%. Never fly w/ anti-semites.
Bh let the anti semites lose money
Wow Those were the good old days when we had a federal government that worked.
The good ol days when it was ok to fly TK
Bh let the anti semites pay
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I’m curious to know what gave them the push to actually go ahead and Fine Turkish Airlines for this 4-year-old complaint.
Elon Musk is neutering the DOT while awarding himself a $2.4 billion FAA contract. Will the DOT ever put passengers first again? And will flying remain safe?
Turkish Airlines lost my luggage for 48 hours and refused to give me anything.
Should I file a formal complaint or waste of my time?
Did you make purchases for items that you needed in that time period?
I’ve had a baggage delay with Turkish for several days and needed to buy many items needed
Turkish never agreed to pay
This was 3 years ago
Is it still worth filling?
Same question
Do these complaints ever expire?
The incident happened 3 years ago and eventually gave up fighting with them
Hi Dan – can an airline ban you/refuse to let you fly in the future, if you submit either a formal or informal complaint?
I have never heard of that happening. I don’t think the DOT would be very happy at the airline if that happened either.
I filed a DOT complaint against a European airline cancelling my flight from Israel about half a year ago due to the situation in Israel. They refused any compensation, but after months filing the complaint, they let me know they received the complaint and will issue a refund, not for the cancellation as it was due to the security concerns, but for not receiving prompt assistance.
Curious what you received?
A few hundred me and companion each. Flight was to originate from Israel and land in Europe. Ticket was booked on a partner airline w/ points that were reinstated.
I had rescheduled to a stopover in London w/ BA booked w/ AA points. That too was canceled and AA rebooked me on El Al (after some back & forth) Premium Economy for free and also compensated w/o specifying for what, as we also had some other complaints along w/ the cancellation. We did not file a DOT against AA.
Why would the DOT get involved if the US wasn’t part of the ticket?
Also why would the airline need to compensate you when all airlines have canceled their flights from Isreal after oct 7, nobody provided anything bedsides a refund of the points, including United
DOT – I don’t know. After months of refusing, they emailed that they received a inquiry from DOT, and then an update that they investigated the matter, and the right of compensation is not recognized, but they apologize if i didn’t receive a prompt assistance, so they’re willing to refund; may be because I felt they didn’t help in arranging a new booking.
I think AA rebooking me on El Al also was not the standard.
Refund or compensation? You said the points were refunded before already
Points were from a partner airline and they refunded the points. I filed against them too at DOT and waiting for the response still after months.
Formal complaint of informal?
I had a major dispute with Turkish for destroying a brand new golf club protective bag on a flight from Miami to TLV. I gave up after 9 months and filed it with Chase. It took 9 months for Turkish to formally deny the claim. Their systems are from 1985.
File a DOT complaint.
customers b*tch govt get rich!
DOT “fighting for the people” ie. their own coffers 🙁
I recently flew AA and the flight was delayed 4 hours due to a mechanical issue on the inbound plane. They sent an email with a $12 food voucher.
Am I entitled to further compensation? What would be the best way to file for that.
I filed the same type of complaint against Lufthansa this year. My luggage was late by 26 hours and I purchased some personal items. At first they denied me, but after filing the complaint with the DOT they offered me $500 compensation. I turned them down and settled for $1000
How did you accrue 1000$ in personal expenses in 26 hours?
@dan do you have a post about what we can reasonably expect to recover for expenses relating to lost/delayed bags? How many hours do I need to wait before I go shopping? What if I’m flying in 2 hours before a wedding and they lose my ball gown and sheitel?
There’s no time limit. You can buy what you need that is reasonable and get reimbursed up to ~$1,690 per passenger.
Airlines usually decline any reimbursement if the incident occurs with the flight back to your home country, are they right with that??
Happy those Turks have to pay up, soneh Yisrael!!!
all my friends lugage got lost on elal after pesach it took a week to get it back could file a dot complain
I submitted a complaint to dot at the beginning of November, I received an email from the airline at the beginning of January in which they say that they received the request from dot and they have no way to help me. .
In the meantime, since opening my complain, I have not received any response from dot.
Does that make sense?
Consider filing a formal complaint.
Can the DOT help with denied boarding en route to USA? Had a flight from Europe with a stopover, the first flight left a bit late and while in the air I was reassigned a new flight without my knowledge. I only realized when I got to my gate at the layover and was denied boarding. I checked my email and saw they rebooked me for hours later and wouldn’t let me board my original flight.
I’m not sure if it’s related. Two or three years ago, I got an email about a lawsuit against Turkish, and they asked me to fill out paperwork. I ended up getting $3,600 from it.
How can this be done against Turkish for delayed refund for an EU flight? I bought a refundable ticket between FRA-EDI in August 2023 and I still cannot get my refund. There’s no way to contact them to speak to a person in customer care.
Just curious, if the airlines is obligated by the law to provide for delayed luggage etc. Then why do we need delayed luggage benefits on the credit card?
I filed a complaint against frontier a few days ago for seating my young children 6 rows behind my wife when they were on the same reservation. Let’s see what happens.
also filed a dot complaint with turkish in 2015 regarding baggage compensation being lost for 2 days on both legs of trip. took a while but got a few hundred dollars back. Didnt know about the rules you stated at the time.
Flying Blue canceled award tickets for my friends (my account – fraud suspicion) after Checking in (They had boarding passes), and refuses to compensate.
Can the DOT help with that?
For a US flight? Sure.
In May 2023 they gave me a ticket with a 45 minute transfer from Israel, making the gate halfway across the airport. Our flight was delayed, and they made it impossible to make the flight, and we were a party with small children. Nevertheless, they made us wait 12 hours for the next flight to USA with no Kosher meals, and were very rude and cold. I tried complaining, and all I got was “Where we were unable to provide for our passengers, we try to help them retroactively by paying the incurred costs during the waiting time, such as food, accomodation, communication” I even told them we were stuck a day with no food, and could not purchase anything due to keeping Kosher! Anything people can do now for a compensation?