compensation for Flight cancellation

Claim if they cancelled your flight

To sum up, you are entitled to a compensation of 250 to 600 euros + any expenses + moral damages.

A claim for a flight cancellation, delay or overbooking  may get a compensation of 250, 400 or 600€ depending on the distance of the  flight the passenger bought a ticket for. In the next table you can see the money you should get per passenger according to the european law:

Flight under 1500 km

With the characteristics below
250
  • Airline based in the EU
  • OR
  • Flight departure from the EU

Flight between 1500-3000 km

With the characteristics below​
400
  • Airline based in the EU
  • OR
  • Flight departure from the EU

Flight over 3500 km

With the characteristics below​
600
  • Airline based in the EU
  • OR
  • Flight departure from the EU

Compensation for extra expenses

But this is not the only thing you can request to your airline. You can also ask for a compensation for the next expenses:

What do you need to know before making a claim due to a flight cancellation?

 

Here is the list of prerequisites to claim a flight to an airline:

  •  For a delay claim, the delay of your flight must have been over 3 hours.
  • On the case of a flight time or date change: If the airline told you about the change more than 14 days in advance, you can´t request for any compensation.
  • According our statistics, only a 5% of people who make a claim on their own get any money from the company. Besides, those who achieve it get 30% less than what they get through us.

We will study the case FOR FREE

We will evaluate if your claim meets the requirements to be successful FOR FREE. Just fill in the form in the next button.

Which documents do you need to prepare a flight claim?

 
  • Flight tickets
  • Trip itinerary
  • ID of the passenger
  • Recipes of all the expenses generated by the incident

How long after a cancelled flight can I claim?

According to the EU Regulation you have 2 to 10 years after the incidint happened to make a claim. It is necessary to read the civil code for each country as it may change from a country to another. For example, in Spain or France it´s 5 years while in the UK is 6 and in Germany or Portugal is 3 years. Actually, in most EU countries 3 is the most common number of years after a flight you can claim for it. In the next table you can find the times in main European countries.

Sweeden10 years (2 months after flight problem customer must contact airline)
UK6 years
France5 years
Spain5 years
Germany3 years (from the end of the year in the flight problem occurred)
Austria3 years
Norwegia3 years
Denmark3 years
Finland3 years
Portugal3 years
The Netherlands2 years
Poland1 year
Italy1 year (in EU), 1.5 years for non-EU cases, or according to many Italian T&Cs 2 years from flight problem
Belgium1 year

Can I claim my cancelled flight directly to the airline?

First of all, if you want to claim directly to the airline, you should know your chances are very small, since very often airlines try to justify their flight cancellations with extraordinary circumstances that didn’t really happen, such as issues with air traffic control. Consequently, it’s highly recommendable to direct your claim through a specialized third party.

Extraordinary Circumstances and cancelled flights

“Extraordinary circumstances” may apply to a number of scenarios where the cancellation was caused by something out of the ordinary; things like:

  • Acts of terrorism or sabotage
  • Security risks
  • Extreme weather conditions e.g. volcanic ash cloud, heavy wind or snow…
  • Political or civil unrest
  • Some strikes unrelated to the airline such as baggage handlers or air traffic control

Airlines often use these excuses to avoid paying compensations for cancellations such as:

  • Issues with airline staff e.g. crew turning up late or understaffing
  • Bad weather conditions (normally not true) affecting a previous flight, causing your flight to be delayed
  • Denied boarding due to the flight being overbooked
  • Technical problems with the aircraft (except hidden manufacturing defects or problems caused by sabotage)

There will be no right to claim a flight cancellation if…

  • The cancellation of the flight is informed two weeks in advance.
  • If the passenger is informed of the cancellation of the flight between 2 weeks and 7 days prior to the departure of the flight and the new flight offered by the company leaves at least 2 hours before the estimated time of departure and reaches the final destination less than 4 hours late with respect to the expected arrival time.
  • If the passenger is informed of the cancellation of the flight on the same day of departure or less than than 7 days prior to the date and the new flight offered by the company leaves 1 hour in advance as maximum as originally planned and reaches its final destination less than 2 hours late than expected.

We will study the case FOR FREE

We will evaluate if your claim meets the requirements to be successful FOR FREE. Just fill in the form in the next button.

My flight has been cancelled and I will not get on time for the scale or connection

In this case, there are two possible scenarios:

  1. Cancellation of a flight with a sole reservation that will connect multiple flights
  2. Cancellation of a flight that causes the miss of a second reservation that is independent of the first one

1- Cancellation of a flight with a sole reservation that connects multiple flights

When you hire a flight with stops in a single reservation that will take you from point A to point C with a stop on B, as it may be Madrid-Paris-New York, this is seen as a single flight and the airline must take you to your final destination. In this case, New York. If you face a cancellation, whether in the first departure or during the halfway stop, the airline is obligated to take you to your final destination without any extra cost, assuming the expenses of support and hotels, and will have to reschedule a later flight.

If, after this reschedule, you arrive at your destination at least three hours late according to the original schedule (which is almost certain), you will be able to claim a compensation (in this case, €600, since the cancelled flight would be from Madrid to New York and said flight is longer than 3.500 kilometers). To this compensation for cancellation, it could be added not only the expenses you have to incur if the airline does not fulfill their obligations but all of the additional expenses you were not able to enjoy plus other damages like hotels missed at your destination, rent, cars, tours…

2- Cancellation of a flight that causes the miss of a second reservation that is independent of the first one

Sometimes, the agencies or ourselves, instead of getting a sole reservation with stops, get “separated” flights. This means different reservations. In this case, the scenario in front of a flight cancellation is slightly different.

Since they are two different reservations, the first airline is in charge of taking you from A to B and the second one from B to C. The fact that your first flight is cancelled, does not obligate the second airline to take you to your final destination C since the contract of the reservation with the first airline states that it should take you from A to B. That is to say we are going to lose the second reservation since the second airline is not going to wait and does not have the obligation of offering another flight. However, and this is very important, since the first airline has caused you to lose your second reservation, along with the compensation for the cancellation of A to B, you will be able to demand compensation for damages for the cost of the lost reservation (or, even, the new reservation you buy to go from B to C).

That is to say, if you have two different reservations, the first one going from Madrid to Paris and the second one from Paris to New York, and you face a cancellation of your first flight and cannot reach the second reservation, you will be able to ask for €250 (cancellation of a flight of less than 1.500 kilometers since it goes from Madrid to Paris) + cost of the lost second reservation + expenses and damages.

If your flight has been cancelled your compensation could be reduced to 50%

There exist some assumptions to be considered, in which the compensation of the objective part could be reduced a 50%. These are very particular and specific cases but, if you are interested, these are the assumptions:

  • After a cancellation where compensation of €250 is granted, if the rescheduled flight arrives with less than two hours of delay, only 50% of the objective side will be up for claiming. This would be €125.
  • After a cancellation where compensation of €400 is granted, if the rescheduled flight arrives with less than three hours of delay, only 50% of the objective side will be up for claiming. This would be €200.
  • After a cancellation where compensation of €600 is granted, if the rescheduled flight arrives with less than four hours of delay, only 50% of the objective side will be up for claiming. This would be €300.

Other aspects to consider when claiming a cancellation…

The burden of proving of having informed the passenger of the cancellation of the flight, as well as of the moment in which it has been informed, will correspond to the airline in charge of making the flight. That is, the airline must show that the cancellation of the flight was notified.

After a cancellation, in the case of cities or regions where there are several airports, the airline responsible for carrying out the flight must offer the passenger a flight to another airport different from the one for which the reservation was made and must run with the with the passenger’s transportation costs from that second airport, either to the airport for which he made the reservation, or to another nearby place agreed with the passenger. If the airline does not do this or the passenger does not accept the relocation, the airline will be charged with the cost of the new flight contracted by the passenger.

How does claiming with us work

Send your claim

Fill in the form in 1 minute and tell us about your incident

Check feasability

Our team will check for free if your claim meets the criteria to win the case.

Claim your money

We will send the claim and go to court if the airline refuses to give you your money.

Get your money

Once we win the claim, we will transferthe money directly to your bank account.

travel, airport, boarding pass-5219496.jpg
Do you have any doubt?

Ask us your questions.

Fill in the form and we will analyze your issue for free.

Our Services

You can claim up to 600€ if you had any of these issues.

Delay

If your flight arrived over 3 hour late.

Cancellation

If the company cancelled your flight (except for metereological reasons or air control strikes)

Overbooking

If the company overselled tickets and you couldn´t get into de plane.