Your Rights When a Flight Is Delayed or Cancelled

A delayed or cancelled flight is frustrating, but you often have more leverage than you think. What you’re actually owed depends on three things: where you’re flying, what caused the disruption, and whether the airline cancelled or just delayed. Here’s how it breaks down.

In the United States: refunds, yes — compensation, no

The US has no law requiring airlines to pay cash compensation for a delay. What it does require, as of the US Department of Transportation’s 2024 rule, is a prompt, automatic refund to your original form of payment whenever the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you don’t accept the alternative offered.

A “significant change” includes things like:

• A departure or arrival time that moves by 3+ hours (domestic) or 6+ hours (international);
• A change of departure or arrival airport;
• An added connection, or a downgrade to a lower cabin.

You’re entitled to a refund of the unused portion of your ticket — not a voucher — and the airline must issue it automatically once you decline rebooking. The same rule covers refunds for significantly delayed bags and for extras you paid for but didn’t get (Wi-Fi, seat selection). See the DOT refund rules.

For meals or a hotel during a long delay, the US relies on each airline’s own commitments rather than law. The DOT publishes what every large carrier has promised for delays and cancellations within their control on its Airline Customer Service Dashboard — worth a glance before you book.

In Europe and the UK: cash compensation on top

EU261 (and its post-Brexit twin, UK261) goes further. It applies to any flight departing an EU/UK airport, and to flights into the EU/UK on an EU/UK airline. When the airline is at fault, you may be owed cash compensation — separate from any refund — for a cancellation or an arrival delay of 3 or more hours:

• Short flights (under 1,500 km): €250 (about £220);
• Medium (1,500–3,500 km): €400 (about £350);
• Long (over 3,500 km): €600 (about £520).

The big exception is “extraordinary circumstances” — weather, air-traffic-control strikes, security, political instability. Those suspend the cash compensation (the airline didn’t cause them), but you keep your right to care (meals, communication, and a hotel if you’re stranded overnight) and to a refund or re-routing. Details: the EU’s air passenger rights page and the UK CAA.

How to actually claim it

1. Keep everything: boarding passes, booking reference, and receipts for any meals or hotel.
2. For a cancellation, explicitly request a refund — airlines often push a voucher first.
3. For EU261/UK261, file a written compensation claim with the airline, citing the regulation and your delay length.
4. If the airline denies a valid claim, escalate — a DOT complaint in the US, or the national enforcement body / UK CAA in Europe.

Rules change and thresholds vary by situation — treat this as a starting point, not legal advice, and confirm specifics with the official sources linked above.