Flight delayed or cancelled? What you're owed and how to claim it

You're at the airport, the flight is delayed (again), and all you want is to get there. But before it gets lost in the rush: that setback can have an upside. Depending on what happened, you may be entitled to food, accommodation, alternative transport, or even financial compensation of up to €600.

The awkward part is that not all delays are equal, and not all cancellations give you the same rights. Let's go case by case, without unnecessary jargon, so you know exactly what you're owed.

How much money can you get for a delayed flight?

It depends on two things: the distance of your flight and how long you actually took to reach your destination.

Flight distance	Compensation
Up to 1,500 km	€250
Between 1,500 and 3,500 km, or EU flights over 1,500 km	€400
Over 3,500 km	€600

Careful with this: what counts isn't the time you spent waiting at the departure gate, but the time you arrived at your final destination. If that delay is 3 hours or more, EU regulation entitles you to compensation — unless the airline can prove it was due to extraordinary circumstances.

To make it concrete: imagine a Madrid–Rome flight due to land at 18:00. In the end, the doors open at 21:15. That's 3 hours and 15 minutes of delay. If there was no extraordinary circumstance involved, that's €400 waiting for you.

And if it's under 3 hours, do I get nothing?

This is where many people get confused, so let's go slowly. There are two different rights, and they don't depend on the same waiting time:

• Assistance (food, drink, being able to make a call, and accommodation if the delay runs into the next day) can kick in with as little as 2, 3 or 4 hours of delay, depending on how far you were flying.
• Financial compensation is measured by the delay with which you reached your destination, not by the waiting time at the point of departure.

In other words: you can be entitled to food without having reached the threshold for money yet. They're different things.

How is the exact "arrival" time determined?

Looking at when the plane touches down isn't enough. According to AESA, what counts is the moment at least one of the doors opens.

This matters when:

• the plane lands but takes a while to reach the gate,
• you're kept on board longer than usual,
• the time reported by the airline doesn't match what you actually experienced.

Just in case, keep your flight documentation — you never know when you'll need it.

My flight was cancelled, what can I ask for?

When an airline cancels a flight, it has to let you choose between:

1. A refund of the ticket price.
2. An alternative flight as soon as possible.
3. An alternative flight on another date that suits you better, if available.

Whichever you choose, that decision affects the others — so think it through before agreeing to the first option they offer you.

And depending on when you were notified and why the cancellation happened, you may also be entitled to financial compensation.

Is a cancellation always worth €250, €400 or €600?

No, and this is one of the most common misunderstandings. What makes the difference is when you were notified:

• With more than 14 days' notice, as a general rule there's no financial compensation for that cancellation.
• Between 14 and 7 days, and with less than 7 days, there are specific rules that also depend on whether the alternative flight you were given met certain time requirements.
• And as always, extraordinary circumstances can leave you without compensation even if the notice was late.

So if your flight gets cancelled, the question isn't just "was it cancelled?" — it's when were you notified, what alternative were you given, what time did you actually arrive, and why did all this happen.

What are "extraordinary circumstances"?

It's the phrase you'll hear most often when an airline tells you it won't pay. It's also the one that's least often explained properly.

In plain terms: it's something the airline couldn't have avoided even by taking all reasonable measures. A serious storm, air traffic control restrictions, a serious security issue… those are typical examples.

Now, this matters: the airline saying so doesn't make it true. It's the airline that has to prove the circumstance existed and that it was the actual cause of your problem — not you who has to simply take its word for it.

Does a mechanical fault count as "extraordinary"?

It depends. There's no answer that fits every case. The key is whether the fault was genuinely beyond the airline's control, or the kind of problem any airline should have anticipated as part of its normal operation. If your claim is rejected for this reason, ask exactly what happened before giving up.

I missed my connection because of another flight, is there anything I can do?

Possibly, and in some cases you have more room than you think.

If you had several flights under a single booking and the first one was delayed enough to make you miss the second, what matters is the total delay with which you reached your final destination — not the delay of each leg on its own.

An example: you fly Seville → Madrid → New York. The first flight is delayed, you miss the connection, and you end up arriving in New York 5 hours later than scheduled. Even if the first leg alone didn't reach 3 hours, that final delay can still entitle you to compensation.

But watch out: everything changes if you bought the tickets separately. Seville–Madrid on one side and Madrid–New York on another isn't the same as a single booking — there the analysis is different.

My delay was under 3 hours, do I get nothing at all?

No fixed compensation, that's true — but that doesn't mean you have no rights at all. Depending on the distance, you may be entitled to assistance with lower thresholds:

• 2 hours for flights up to 1,500 km,
• 3 hours for EU flights over 1,500 km and for other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km,
• 4 hours for flights over 3,500 km.

And if the delay runs into the next day, you may also be entitled to accommodation and transport to the hotel.

What does the airline have to provide while you wait?

When you're entitled to assistance, the airline must cover:

• food and drink,
• the ability to communicate (calls, some form of connection),
• accommodation if needed,
• transport between the airport and where you're staying.

This is separate from financial compensation. You can be entitled to both, to only one, or to neither — it depends on what happened.

And if I didn't get food or a hotel?

If you were entitled to assistance and the airline didn't provide it, you can later claim back the reasonable expenses you had to pay yourself. And here's a golden rule: keep every receipt.

Hold on especially to food receipts, the hotel invoice if you had to pay for it, what you spent on transport, your communications with the airline, and all the flight documentation.

That said, don't overdo the expenses — a claim backed by reasonable receipts holds up far better than a long list with no receipt behind it.

I accepted the alternative flight they offered, do I lose my compensation?

No, don't worry. Accepting an alternative doesn't wipe out your rights.

What can happen is that the compensation is reduced by half, if thanks to that alternative you arrived within these margins:

Flight distance	Reduced if you arrived with less than
Up to 1,500 km	2 hours of delay
Between 1,500 and 3,500 km	3 hours of delay
Over 3,500 km	4 hours of delay

In those cases, we're talking about €125, €200 or €300 instead of the full amount.

I wasn't allowed to board, does that count too?

Yes. If you arrived on time for check-in, had a valid booking, and were still told you couldn't board — typically due to overbooking — you're entitled to the same scale as always: €250, €400 or €600, depending on distance.

There are also specific rules if you're offered an alternative. If what happened wasn't exactly a delay or a cancellation, but you simply weren't allowed to board, it's worth treating it as a separate case.

What documents do I need before claiming?

The more complete your file, the better. Keep hold of:

• the booking and the ticket,
• the boarding pass,
• the flight number and date,
• the scheduled time and the actual time,
• anything the airline told you in writing,
• receipts for anything you spent,
• any information about why it happened,
• the details of the alternative flight, if you were given one.

If you missed a connection, also add the boarding pass for each leg, the full booking, the scheduled and actual arrival time at your final destination, and the details of the flight you actually ended up taking.

How long do I have to claim?

The deadline can vary depending on the procedure and the country, so the advice is simple: don't wait. Claim as soon as you can and start keeping the documentation now.

Even so, if your flight was a few months ago, don't write it off just like that — sometimes you can still claim, and it's worth checking before giving up.

The airline said no, does that mean they were right?

Not necessarily. It's common for airlines to reject claims by citing extraordinary circumstances, that the delay didn't reach the required minimum, that the conditions of the regulation aren't met, that they gave enough notice of the cancellation, or that your case doesn't fall under what the regulation covers.

Always keep that response. It's exactly what needs to be reviewed to know whether it's worth pushing further.

Is it really worth claiming €250, €400 or €600?

In many cases, yes. But checking isn't always as simple as writing the flight date into a form. You need to look at the applicable regulation, the distance, the actual delay, why it happened, whether connections were involved, and what documentation you have on hand.

That's why there are quick checking tools, and also services that handle the whole process for you.

Should I claim myself or let someone else handle it?

Both options are valid — the difference is how much time you feel like spending on it.

On your own. You can claim directly from the airline without paying anyone a commission. In exchange, you'll have to prepare the documentation yourself, present the case, respond if they reply, weigh their arguments, and push back if they say no at first.

With a specialized service. They check whether your flight is eligible and handle talking to the airline for you. They usually charge a percentage of what they recover, so check their terms before starting.

Quick summary

What happened to you	Can there be compensation?
You arrived 3 hours or more late	Yes, possibly
Your flight was cancelled	Depends on when you were notified and why
You weren't allowed to board	Yes, possibly
You missed a connection on the same booking	Yes, possibly
You arrived under 3 hours late	No fixed compensation, but there may be assistance
Extraordinary bad weather	May leave you without compensation
A strike or other extraordinary event	Depends on the specific case
Two separate tickets and you missed the connection	The analysis is different

Was my flight months or years ago? Can I no longer do anything?

Don't write it off so fast. The deadlines for claiming aren't always the same and depend on the regulation that applies to your case.

If you still have the booking, the boarding pass, the correspondence, the date and the flight number, it's still worth checking before assuming there's nothing left to do.

Questions we get asked often

How delayed does my flight need to be for me to get paid something? As a general rule, arriving 3 hours or more late at your destination can entitle you to between €250 and €600, unless extraordinary circumstances or another exception applied.

How much do they pay exactly for a delay? €250, €400 or €600, depending on how long the flight was and the specific circumstances.

Am I entitled to anything if my flight was cancelled? Possibly. It depends on when you were notified, what alternative you were offered, and whether there was any extraordinary circumstance.

Do I get paid if I miss a connection? It's possible, especially if the flights were on the same booking and you ended up arriving more than 3 hours late.

What if the airline says it was due to extraordinary circumstances? It has to prove it. Just claiming it isn't enough — it needs to prove that circumstance existed and that it was the cause of what happened to you.

Do I need to hire someone to claim? Not at all. You can claim directly from the airline yourself. Specialized services save you the work, but always check their terms before using them.

Don't write off your flight without checking first

A delay, a cancellation or a missed connection can entitle you to different things depending on exactly how it happened. Before assuming you have nothing to claim — or assuming you're simply owed €600 — take a moment to think: how long was the delay, what was your final destination, when were you notified, why did it happen, and what documents do you still have.

Then, check your case with the calculator below: it tells you in a minute whether your flight may be covered, and for how much.

This article is informational. Your specific rights depend on the circumstances of your flight and the regulation that applies to your case.