Do airlines share passenger data with third-party companies?

Simon Calder answers your questions on airlines sharing passenger information, airport transfers and passport rules post-Brexit

It is unlikely British Airways would pass on a customer’s booking details to a third party (PA)

Q My British Airways flight was cancelled and rebooked for the following day. I claimed for this direct and got compensated. But I have now had a text from a third party saying I’m due compensation. My question is: who is sharing my data for them to know this?

Jane B

A You were sent a text out of the blue asserting: “Your recent flight was delayed/cancelled and you are eligible for up to 600 [no currency specified] in compensation. Start your claim here.” It then offers a link to click upon that I am not going to share with the wider world.

I am confident that this odd approach is nothing to do with British Airways and that no one has passed on your booking details.

Instead, I believe the arrival of this message from out of the blue was pure coincidence. Mass marketing by text is a long-established technique from claims harvesters. They know that a few of the thousands of people who get their messages will recently have had a delayed or cancelled flight, and may feel that this has some sort of official status.

The message to you comes from a company called AirHelp, whose registered office is a WeWork shared space in Berlin. The “600” referred to is the figure, in euros, specified by European air passengers’ rights rules for long-haul flights that are seriously delayed or cancelled. But anyone who tries to claim through this German company will discover the service fee of 35 per cent, plus a possible legal action fee of 15 per cent. As you discovered, there is no need to give up half your cash.

One separate strand of rip-offs that should be called out is targeted, as opposed to random. Sometimes, passengers who resort to Twitter to complain to their airline are contacted by scammers who pretend to be from the carrier's customer service team, and will ask (for example) for cash to find travellers’ baggage. No reputable airline will ever do this.

Our reader is flying from Sorrento to Crete (Getty)

Q In June we have a package holiday to Sorrento. But from there we are flying to Crete to extend our stay in the Mediterranean. So we won’t be flying back on the booked return flight to Manchester. My question is this: can we still use the complimentary transfer from the hotel to the airport, and just switch to the Greek flight there? When I asked my travel agent, they said that as I wasn’t taking the flight, I couldn’t use the transfer. Is this correct?

Name supplied

A In my opinion you are perfectly entitled to use the transfer, and I suggest you ignore the travel agent’s warning. In buying your package holiday, you contracted for the holiday company to provide flights, accommodation and transfers from the airport to your resort and back. The coach journey between the two typically takes 75 minutes and is expensive if you pay for separate transport. But I cannot see any reason why you cannot opt to relinquish one component of the holiday.

You are free to continue to avail of the agreed services up to the point when you arrive at Naples airport from Sorrento. Once at the airport, declare to the holiday company rep that you do not wish to travel on the homeward flight. This is just a courtesy to allow the airline to decide what to do with the seats; there may be someone on standby who can take your place.

In some rare circumstances, there could be a theoretical downside to “no-showing” on the inbound half of a flight. Some scheduled airlines on specific routes, such as across the Atlantic, charge far more for a one-way than a return ticket (London-New York next month, a single is five times more expensive than a round trip on British Airways). Failing to show up for the inbound portion of the trip theoretically invalidates your contract and potentially makes you liable for a claim from the airline for the difference.

In your case, though, just hop on that airport transfer and try for a window seat, it’s a beautiful ride.

A lot of confusion still surrounds travel documents since the UK left Europe (Simon Calder)

Q My passport was issued on 28 December 2012. It expires on 28 August 2023. On 28 December 2022, I was booked to fly on Ryanair from London Stansted to Milan Bergamo in Italy. Ryanair informed me at the airport that my passport was not valid after midnight. Fortunately, I was able to board my flight, but I was extremely upset. My travel document is a British passport, issued by Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State and in the name of Her Majesty and requires that the bearer be allowed to pass freely, without let or hindrance. Does the word of Ryanair carry more weight than that? If one cannot rely on printed information on such an official document, what can one rely on?

Ann G

A My response to your tale is to breathe a huge sigh of relief on your behalf that you managed to avoid one of the many downsides of Brexit by the narrowest of margins.

Forget what your passport says on the front about being a European Union travel document: the UK erased all the rights that previously pertained to EU citizens and asked for your passport to have its validity reduced.

Your travel document must comply with two rules:

Day of arrival in the EU – no more than 10 years since issue.

Day of intended departure from the EU – at least three months remaining to expiry.

Your passport didn’t “expire” at midnight on 28 December 2022, but its validity for entering the European Union ended.

In your position, I would be sending the Ryanair staff at Stansted airport a box of chocolate for their kindness in allowing you to travel. They might, not unreasonably, have decided to err on the side of caution in case the Italian officials decided a passport on its actual 10th birthday is no longer acceptable.

Also, you had just 65 minutes before midnight after a scheduled landing – whereupon your passport would instantly become a useless travel document. There was also the risk that the flight could have been delayed, or even that the non-EU queue at the Milan airport would be so long that you would pass the “Cinderella moment” (I have waited over an hour in just such a line).

Once you were safely in Italy, you were entitled to stay for up to 90 days. Your passport won’t allow you to enter the EU now. But for a destination such as Egypt or Turkey, your passport is comfortably valid until the end of February. And for the US or Australia, it lasts right up to the expiry date.

Far from Ohrid: the lakeside town is a 10-minute drive from the airport (Simon Calder)

Q You have mentioned North Macedonia as a possible package holiday location this summer. But is it a reasonable place to travel to independently and also to explore for around five days?

Caroline N

A Yes. The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia (now renamed with the North prefix to assuage an international nomenclature dispute with Greece) has much to offer. It is fascinating, friendly and beautiful, with the added benefit of being extremely good value.

The new package holiday flights with Tui are flying from Manchester and Gatwick to Ohrid from May. But I flew there from Luton on Wizz Air, which began the route in 2015. The lakeside town of Ohrid is a 10-minute drive from the airport. It combines ornate and ancient monasteries (Unesco World Heritage listed) with being a fun resort beside the deepest lake in the Balkans.

You can easily find somewhere to stay: I just turned up and found an excellent apartment for €45 a night. For carnivores at least, the local Balkan cuisine is excellent.

Lake Ohrid is roughly the size of Rutland though rather more scenic. A road runs right around the water beneath soaring mountains. One-third of the circumference is in Albanian territory, but border formalities are brisk. An international day trip, making a circuit around the lake, is highly recommended.

Next, head for the capital, Skopje; there are plenty of minibuses charging a couple of pounds for the 90-minute trip. A devastating earthquake in 1963 wiped out a large amount of more traditional architecture, though there is still an area with something of the feel of a Turkish quarter north of the river. Look out for some unusual monuments. Hotels are easy to find – again, you can just turn up.

If you have any time left, you might want to venture into Kosovo, whose frontier is close to Skopje. The capital, Pristina, is just 54 miles away. No need to retrace your steps to fly home: Wizz Air flies from Skopje to Luton.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder