The American rules
United States law is strong on refunds and thin on compensation. When an airline cancels a flight or changes it significantly and you decline the alternative, the Department of Transportation requires a refund to your original form of payment, including fees for bags and seats you did not get to use. The department currently treats a change of three hours or more on a domestic trip, or six hours on an international one, as significant. Accepting a rebooking or a voucher ends the refund claim. No federal rule requires payment for a delay itself. Meals and hotel rooms are promises each airline makes in its own customer service plan, generally only when the cause was within its control, such as a mechanical or crew problem.
The European rules
European regulation covers any flight departing an EU airport, on any airline, and flights into the EU on an EU carrier. Britain keeps a near-identical rule. The regulation sets fixed cash compensation, long pegged at 250 to 600 euros by distance, when you arrive three or more hours late or are cancelled on short notice. The exception is an extraordinary cause, which means weather or air traffic control and not a broken aircraft. The airline also owes meals during the wait and a hotel if you are stranded overnight, whatever the cause. These thresholds have been under revision, so confirm the current figures before you claim. Claim from the airline directly, because claim firms keep a quarter or more for filling in the same form.
Bumped from a full flight
Airlines oversell, and they must ask for volunteers first. The price is negotiable, so confirm your seat on the next flight before agreeing. If you are bumped involuntarily from a US departure and arrive substantially late, federal rules set cash compensation as a multiple of your one-way fare, up to a cap the department adjusts.
At the gate
- Open the airline's app and call its phone line while you queue, because whichever answers first can rebook you.
- Look up the alternatives yourself, including nearby airports, and ask for a specific flight.
- Ask the agent for the cause of the delay and write it down, since the cause decides what you are owed.
- Keep every receipt, and file a complaint with the Department of Transportation if the airline refuses what the rules require.
Tip The credit card you used for the ticket may carry trip delay cover that reimburses meals and a hotel after a set number of hours. Read its benefits guide first.
