Delayed or Cancelled? Check What You Are Owed in Two Minutes
Most people never claim the money they are entitled to, simply because no one ever told them the rules. Here they are, plainly, with a quick way to check your own flight.
When a flight is badly delayed or cancelled, you may be owed a fixed sum of money, set by law, regardless of what your ticket cost. The rules are clearer than most people think. The reason so many travellers never see a penny is simply that nobody told them how it works, and the airline is in no hurry to.
What you could be owed
Under UK261, the compensation for a delay is a fixed amount based on the flight distance, paid per person:
- Under 1,500km: £220, if you arrive at least three hours late
- 1,500km to 3,500km: £350, if you arrive at least three hours late
- Over 3,500km: £260 for a three to four hour delay, and £520 if you arrive at least four hours late
It is the arrival time at your final destination that counts, not the departure delay, and it is measured from when the aircraft door opens. So a late take-off that the crew make up in the air may not qualify, while a missed connection that lands you hours late may qualify for the full amount.
When it does not apply
Compensation is not owed if the disruption was an extraordinary circumstance outside the airline's control, such as severe weather, air traffic control restrictions or genuine security issues. Strikes by the airline's own staff and routine technical faults usually do not count as extraordinary, despite what you may be told. If a cancellation lands within fourteen days of departure, compensation can still apply. And if a delay passes five hours, you can choose not to travel and claim a full refund instead.
The honest part: knowing is not the same as getting
Here is where it gets harder. Knowing you are owed money is one thing. Actually extracting it is another, because the claim goes to the airline first, and airlines are practised at saying no, citing extraordinary circumstances that do not apply or simply going quiet. If they refuse wrongly, the routes that work are the airline's ADR scheme, the CAA, or a small Money Claim Online claim. This is exactly the sort of patient, evidence-led chase that most people give up on after the first rejection, which is precisely what the airline is counting on.
The two-minute check below tells you whether your flight qualifies and roughly what it is worth, so you start from facts rather than the airline's version of them. And if it does qualify, the same care we have just taken to lay out these rights is the care we bring to pursuing them: we know which refusals do not hold, and we do the chasing so you do not have to give up at the first no.
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Eligibility depends on your specific flight and circumstances, so check the current CAA guidance and your airline's response, and keep your booking reference, boarding passes and any delay notices.