Flight delayed or cancelled? This is what you are entitled to
If your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, under the rules of the European Union you may be due in addition to rerouting or refunding the ticket price also flight delay compensation. Whether there is room for it depends on how late you arrived at your final destination, how long the route was and what caused the problem.
The protection covers all flights departing from an EU airport — regardless of the airline’s nationality — and, for arrivals, flights of EU airlines. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are covered by the same rules.
When can you enforce your rights?
- You had a confirmed reservation and you checked in on time.
- The flight departed from an airport of the European Union, or it arrived in the EU on an EU airline.
- The problem was not an extraordinary circumstance — or only the flat-rate compensation lapses because of this, the other rights don’t.
Delay: from what delay is there compensation?
If you arrive at your destination at least three hours late, flat-rate compensation may be due. Its amount depends on the distance of the route: the lowest for short flights, higher for medium distances, and the highest for long-haul routes — between roughly two hundred and six hundred euros.
The compensation can be halved if the airline got you there with a rerouting flight with only a small extra delay. The delay is always examined at the final destination, not at the transfer.
If you missed your connection
If you bought both flights as one booking, what matters is how late you arrived at your final destination. If you missed the connection because the first flight was late, you are entitled just as much.
The connecting ticket bought separately is not covered by this: in such a case the two airlines treat you as two separate passengers.
Cancellation: refund, rerouting, compensation
In case of cancellation you can choose between refunding the ticket price and rerouting. The refund must be paid back within a short deadline, usually to the original payment method. Rerouting happens at the earliest opportunity, or at a later date at your convenience.
In addition to this flat-rate compensation may also be due — unless the airline informed you of the cancellation at least fourteen days before departure, or the rerouting got you there at approximately the original time.
Extraordinary circumstances: when there is no compensation
The airline doesn’t have to pay compensation if the delay or the cancellation was caused by an extraordinary circumstance. These can be, for example:
- extreme weather,
- air traffic restrictions,
- a security risk,
- a strike beyond the airline’s control.
A technical fault is generally not an extraordinary circumstance: the carrier is responsible for the condition of its fleet. Its own employees’ strike usually doesn’t count as such either.
Important: the mandatory care, refund and rerouting are owed regardless of the cause. The extraordinary circumstance only exempts from the compensation.
Care while you wait
While you wait, the airline must provide meals and refreshments proportionate to the waiting time, and the possibility of two phone calls or e-mails. If the departure slips to the next day, accommodation with transfer is due.
Keep the invoices of everything you had to pay for — you can claim them back later.
Overbooking and downgrade
If the airline sells more tickets than there are seats, it first seeks volunteers for attractive benefits. If not enough people apply, it carries out the denied boarding involuntarily: in this case you are due compensation plus refund of the ticket price or rerouting.
If you are placed in a lower class than the one you bought, a proportion of the fare fixed by the regulation is refunded, proportionate to the length of the route.
Enforce it like this
- Collect the documents: booking confirmation, boarding pass, receipts, a photo of the display board.
- Find the operating carrier. This is the airline that actually operated the flight — not the booking page or the travel agency.
- Send the claim through its official complaint channel, in a traceable way, and keep a copy of everything.
- Count a few weeks for the response, and don’t be discouraged by a template refusal.
The statute of limitations differs from country to country — in many places you can claim for several years after the flight. Still, act as soon as possible: documents and recollections fade.
What to put in the claim
- the flight number and the date,
- what happened and what delay or cancellation awaited you,
- what are you claiming: compensation, ticket refund, reimbursement of costs,
- reference to the EU air passenger rights rules,
- copies of the documents — never send the originals.
If the airline refuses or doesn’t respond
- Turn to the national enforcement body supervising air passenger rights. Every EU country operates one; in Hungary the competent consumer protection authority handles this. The examination of the complaint is free of charge.
- Alternative dispute resolution is also an option in many countries.
- Court is the last resort. In cross-border cases, within the EU, the European small claims procedure makes the process easier.
A claim company takes over the entire administration for a share of the compensation. Comfortable, but expensive: it is worth first trying direct enforcement.
Three things to watch out for
- Vouchers only with your consent. You can insist on cash payment or bank transfer.
- Don’t sign anything for a lower sum that is a waiver of your further claims. A “goodwill” offer is often far below what you are truly entitled to.
- The compensation and the costs incurred are independent of each other: both can be claimed.