This week brought stories of two over-stuffed flights, one with excess fuel and the other with excess luggage.
That ended with passengers being asked to get off to lighten the load, or their bags being left behind.
In one case, some Jetstar passengers on an Auckland to Dunedin flight didn't get their luggage for 48 hours.
One of those passengers said they were not offered any compensation despite having to delay and re-book onward travel.
Consumer's Sahar Lone said costumers should be able to claim up to $2000 per lost or damaged bag, and in the case where passengers were asked to get off the flight, they should be able to claim about $100-$300.
"In [the excess fuelling] instance [passengers] were compensated, which we believe that should be in the realm of about $100-$300 and, you know, they were offered upwards of that which is great.
"I believe it got up to $700, so if you are in the situation where you can take that, you know, take your boots."
Lone said the Jetstar case - where the passengers were not told their bags were left behind - was different, and said it sounded like it was "handled pretty poorly".
"It caused quite a bit of disruption to those who had onward travel, you know, on to Stewart Island. There was the chap who had their laptop removed which caused some issues for him having a presentation the next morning.
"The airline does have the responsibility of taking, you know, responsible care and skill and, you know, making sure their services are fit for purpose."
She said in the situation bags were lost or damaged on a domestic flight, you could claim back up to $2000 per bag.
"And we think this includes temporary loss of your bag," Lone said.
"That has to be reasonable cost based on what you've actually incurred.
"So if you had to book an overnight stay suddenly, you know, to collect your bags the next morning, and if there are meals that suddenly you have to incur costs for. Or say you have an occasion you suddenly have to buy an outfit for, you know, you might have to wear those costs and get them reimbursed from the airline."
Lone said when spending more than $2000, getting reimbursed depended on the circumstances.
"If you can make the argument that 'look, I have incurred a reasonable loss and under the circumstances, you know, I had to fork out for this purchase' and the airline says no that's not reasonable, then you can take it to the Disputes Tribunal and argue your case."
She said both situations were avoidable.
"Really the onus is on the airline to get it right, and in both instances it strikes me that they've failed, so they really need to wear the costs of that," Lone said.
