Flight delays are priced twice: once by the airline in re-booking and meals, once by law. In Europe, EU Regulation 261 — and its equivalents in the UK, and mirror rules in many other systems — entitles passengers to fixed cash compensation of 250 to 600 euro when a flight arrives three hours or more late or is cancelled outright. It is among the strongest passenger-protection regimes anywhere, and the claims process is simpler than the forums suggest. Here is what the law actually provides, what it excludes, and the order of operations that reliably gets you paid.
The compensation grid
The amount depends on flight distance, not ticket price:
- Up to 1,500 km: 250 euro per passenger
- 1,500–3,500 km (and intra-EU flights over 1,500 km): 400 euro
- Over 3,500 km: 600 euro
One nuance doubles the money and one halves it. Long-haul flights delayed 3–4 hours (rather than more) receive the 300-euro rate: halved compensation. Flights that arrive early but then hold on the ground past the threshold count too: the clock runs to arrival-gate time, not ticketed time.
What must be proven: three hours “at final destination”
The clock measures your arrival at the final destination of your booking, not any intermediate stop. A connecting booking delayed such that its final arrival exceeds three hours qualifies. This means a two-hour delay on the first leg that cascades into a missed connection can still qualify if the net arrival delay passes the threshold. Keep the boarding passes and the re-booking paperwork: they are the evidence.
The lawful excuses airlines actually use
Airlines pay nothing when the delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstances beyond their control” — a phrase with defined edges that stops well short of what airlines sometimes claim in the denial letter. Weather, air-traffic-control strikes unrelated to the airline, security risks, and political instability qualify; technical faults in the airline’s own fleet, crew shortages, knock-on effects of their own earlier delays, and routine operational failures do not, and courts have consistently sided with passengers on the boundary cases. This matters because compensation claims die in the first denial letter — reply, cite your evidence, and most claims proceed without a court. The decisive questions in any dispute: what was the technical cause stated, when was the aircraft reported into service, and was this fault present when the aircraft arrived.
Your rights in the moment (separate from compensation)
Care is owed regardless of the cause. For short delays: food and drink proportional to the wait. Beyond the threshold by hour of wait: meals, hotel accommodation where an overnight becomes necessary, transfers between airport and hotel, and two free telephone calls or emails. Re-routing must be offered at the earliest opportunity — or alternatively a refund of the unused ticket plus, where relevant, a return flight to your origin. Airlines hand out these entitlements unevenly; ask directly at the desk and confirm the duty-of-care conversation by email afterward.
The claim process, honestly mapped
- Confirm the delay from your documents (gate arrival, not scheduled arrival) — 3 hours is the wall.
- Claim direct with the airline first, in writing, with the flight number, date, booking reference, and a copy of the boarding pass. Most claims that will succeed do within 2–8 weeks.
- If refused wrongly, respond once citing the regulation and re-attaching evidence. Routes through national enforcement bodies are free: each EU country operates one, and the UK’s CAA runs a similar dispute channel.
- As a last resort, low-fee claim agencies exist; they take 20–35% but proceed to court on your behalf. The heavy-duty answer for genuinely contested cases — not the first stop.
The statute of limitation differs by country (commonly 2–3 years in Europe, 6 in the UK), so old flights in your inbox remain banked rights.
Where the systems rule differently
Canada’s APPR and the US DOT rules price differently — the US regime compensates denied-boarding rather than delay, which is why American carriers’ delays depend on the airline’s own policy rather than a legal floor. The practical takeaway for travellers mixing continents: fly Europe’s carriers for European journeys, where the floor exists; and never accept a voucher for what the law prices in cash — compensation is legally owed in money, vouchers are a settlement offer you are entitled to decline. The same fee-discipline that governs reading hotel pricing in our booking guide applies to reading a delay letter: identify the claimed excuse, decide whether it is weather or fleet-maintenance, and then claim accordingly. The system works for people who work it — which is roughly the stance that governs the rest of this site, from booking timing to layover planning.