APPR Standard Treatment Rights — Force the Airline to Cover Meals, Communication, and Hotels During Major Delays
What Is It?
APPR does not only deal with cash compensation. In many qualifying disruptions, airlines also owe passengers basic treatment while they wait, including food, drink, access to communication, and hotel accommodation when an overnight wait is expected.
This matters because passengers often argue only about compensation and miss the shorter-term rights that apply during the disruption itself.
Do I Qualify?
- Your flight is covered by Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations
- The delay, cancellation, or denied boarding situation is one where standard treatment rules apply
- You have already waited long enough for the treatment duty to kick in, or the airline expects an overnight delay
- You can keep receipts if the airline fails to provide what it should
How It Works
- Ask the airline for meals, communication access, and hotel or transport when the delay reaches the required point.
- Separate the treatment issue from any later cash compensation argument.
- Keep receipts and screenshots if the airline does not provide the required support.
- Use the airline complaint process and CTA recourse if the carrier refuses or ignores the claim.
What Most People Don’t Know
- Treatment rights and compensation are different questions. You may be entitled to meals or a hotel even if the airline later disputes cash compensation.
- Timing matters. Standard treatment typically begins after the passenger has waited two hours after the original departure time in the qualifying situations covered by the regulation.
- Hotel rights can exist even when the airline says the disruption was outside its control. The exact category matters, but passengers often give up too early.
- Receipts matter when the airline fails to act. If the airline does not provide the treatment it owes, your records are often the best evidence later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as compensation for inconvenience?
A: No. Standard treatment is about support during the disruption. Compensation is a separate issue.
When do meals and communication support start?
A: In the covered situations, the regulation generally requires treatment after you have waited two hours after the departure time on your original ticket.
What if the delay goes overnight?
A: If the airline expects you will need to wait overnight for alternate travel, it generally must offer hotel or comparable accommodation and transportation to and from it.
Should I keep my own receipts?
A: Yes. If the airline does not provide what it should, receipts and records help support reimbursement claims.
What is the biggest mistake passengers make?
A: Focusing only on later compensation and failing to ask for immediate treatment while still at the airport.