Why I Started FindPassengers: My Experience with TUI fly Netherlands

Hours of Waiting Without Knowing What Was Going On

The airport was extremely busy. Our youngest child was also suffering badly from a cow's milk allergy at the time and was crying a lot because of it. Spending hours waiting at an airport with two young children is difficult enough, but when you don't know if or when you're going to leave, it becomes even harder.

And that was exactly the problem: we knew almost nothing.

We spent nearly the entire day waiting at the airport without receiving any clear information about what was happening with our flight. As passengers, we had no idea how long the delay would last or whether we would even be leaving that day.

It wasn't until towards the end of the day that something finally happened. We were told that we could "board."

Except we weren't boarding an aircraft.

We were put onto buses that were going to take us to hotels.

As if the day hadn't already been long enough, our bus then developed problems as well. That meant we had to wait for another half an hour or so. By that point, the children were completely exhausted and extremely upset.

When we arrived at the hotel, other travellers kindly allowed us to go ahead of them at check-in. Everyone could see two exhausted, crying children, and several people felt that we should be allowed to go first.

I still remember that simple act of kindness from the other passengers.

Another Delay the Following Day

After spending the night at the hotel, we were supposed to fly back to the Netherlands the following day.

But that journey didn't exactly go smoothly either.

Once again, the flight was delayed for hours. Eventually, we finally boarded the aircraft, but even then we had to wait for around another hour and a half before we actually departed. In a hot aircraft, once again with two exhausted young children.

During the return journey, we also got the impression that it had been known much earlier that there were problems with the flight. The pilot said something that led us to understand that the delay had not come entirely unexpectedly.

That made it even more frustrating for me.

Because if it had been clear earlier that we weren't going to depart that first day anyway, why had we spent almost the entire day at the airport?

Why hadn't we, as passengers, been informed sooner?

With two young children, it would have made an enormous difference if we could have gone to a hotel hours earlier.

Once We Got Home, the Second Part of the Story Began

When we finally got home, I thought: surely this can't just be it?

After such an enormous delay, I wanted to claim compensation.

I expected the process to be fairly straightforward. After all, the flight had been severely delayed, and European rules exist regarding compensation for long delays and cancellations.

The reality turned out to be very different.

Instead of a simple claims process, I received arguments and references to regulations explaining why, according to the airline, they did not have to pay compensation.

For one of the passengers, I eventually decided to use a claims company. A company like that takes a large part of the work off your hands, but of course, in return, you have to give up a percentage of the compensation.

Eventually, I received confirmation that the claim had been successful and that compensation would be paid for that passenger.

And that's when things became interesting.

One Passenger Was Paid, the Other Three Were Not

For the other three passengers in our family, I then tried to arrange the compensation myself directly.

After all, we had been on exactly the same flight.

I could also point to the fact that compensation had already been awarded for one of us.

Yet once again, I ran into a problem.

TUI ultimately took the position that the claims of the other three passengers had expired. According to the response I received, I should have taken further legal action within the applicable time limit. Because that had not happened for those three claims, I was told that I was no longer entitled to compensation.

I found that difficult to understand.

Four of us had been sitting on the same aircraft. We had experienced the same delay. Compensation had already been paid for one person, while I was being told that compensation no longer had to be paid for the other three.

So I decided to look into the matter myself.

Eventually, We Received Compensation After All

I started researching legal information, responded with arguments of my own, and continued asking questions.

What followed was a fairly lengthy discussion.

Eventually, TUI informed me that they would pay the compensation for the remaining passengers after all. They stated that this payment was being made as a gesture of goodwill.

My own feeling about the situation was different. After all the correspondence and legal arguments that had gone back and forth, I strongly felt that the situation had become considerably less straightforward than it had initially been presented to me.

But most importantly: in the end, we received our compensation.

You could say: all's well that ends well.

It didn't feel that way to me.

Because What If I Had Known What Other Passengers Had Experienced?

Throughout this entire process, one thought kept coming back to me.

We weren't the only people on that aircraft that day. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other passengers who had experienced exactly the same delay.

But I had no way of knowing:

• Had they received compensation?
• Had their claims been rejected?
• What reasons had they been given?
• Had some passengers been paid immediately?
• Had others spent months arguing their case?

I didn't know.

And the other passengers probably didn't know what had happened with my claim either.

When you think about it, that's strange.

An entire plane full of people experiences exactly the same delay, but as soon as everyone gets home, each passenger is essentially on their own again.

That's Where the Idea for FindPassengers Came From

What if passengers from the same flight could easily find each other?

What if you could simply enter your flight number and date and see that other passengers from your flight had already joined?

Then you could compare experiences.

Has someone already received compensation? Has someone had their claim rejected? What reason did the airline give? Did someone receive information that other passengers didn't?

That could make an enormous difference.

Because if you're being told that you won't receive compensation while other passengers from exactly the same flight have received it, that's information you want to have.

And the same works the other way around: your experience might help another passenger.

That became the foundation of FindPassengers.

Bringing Passengers from the Same Flight Together

FindPassengers is designed to make something very simple possible that, to my surprise, barely existed: bringing passengers from the same flight back into contact with each other.

And not just for compensation claims.

Perhaps another passenger has information you're missing. Maybe there are photos, messages or documents that are relevant. Perhaps several passengers are trying to solve the same problem. Or maybe you simply want to know how others are being treated.

Instead of a hundred passengers all fighting the same battle individually, passengers can share information with each other.

My own experience with TUI fly Netherlands ultimately inspired me to build this.

Not because I never received compensation — because eventually, I did.

But because I discovered how much of a difference access to information can make.

And, above all, how much stronger your position can be when you know what is happening to other passengers from exactly the same flight.

That's why FindPassengers exists.

Have you experienced a delayed or cancelled flight? Search for your flight on FindPassengers and find out whether other passengers have already joined. Because you were all on the same aircraft. Why should everyone have to figure it out alone afterwards?