Check out Susan Stellin’s article on how to get money back from airlines who leave you stranded or deliver your luggage late. Click here to read the whole story.

Ms. Stellin  notes that there are laws that  give travelers greater protection in Europe than in the United States. However, the airlines on both sides of the Atlantic are often resistant to pay up let alone notify you of your rights.

The article says, for example, that Delta offers customers a $25 voucher if you pay for a checked bag and don’t receive it within 12 hours.

My advice from experience—

1. Keep all documentation including your airline tickets, luggage stubs, and sales receipts for anything you had to expend because of this problem. You might be surprised as to what you might need to prove your case for your particular airline.

2. Call the appropriate number and fill out any needed forms as soon as possible to avoid missing a deadline.

3. Follow up. I’m not saying at all that you should harass the company, but an occasional reminder may move you along in the process.

Here are some recent times that I’ve received compensation back:

Air Canada: Remember my problem with Air Canada last July? My daughter and I took the one hour flight from Albany, New York to Toronto only to spend another hour at Pearson waiting for luggage that had been purposely left behind because the plane was found to be too heavy. The luggage came the next day.

I kept all of my airline and sales receipts and emailed the proper department ( Air Canada won’t let you call). I then filled out the needed forms and mailed them certified with the original receipts to the appropriate address. I received a check for $200 for the two tickets.  I was advised in the letter that went with the check that it was this airline’s policy to reimburse $100 per ticket for a luggage delay of my type with appropriate receipts.

United Airlines: Last May of this year, while traveling back from Panama, my United Airlines connection from Washington DC to Albany, New York was canceled, and I was bumped onto a flight that would have taken off the next morning. I took matters in to my own hands and caught a Southwest Airlines flight back home that day. I called and wrote and I received the value of my United ticket back (greater than what it cost me to go on Southwest) along with a certificate for $150.00.

Amtrak: Not an airline, but as I’ve written before, if you have more than a one hour delay on Amtrak, keep your ticket, call customer service to connect you to the appropriate representative, and let them know about the problem. Depending how great the delay, they will refund you a percentage of your ticket back in the form of a travel voucher.

Let us know if you have tips as well!