Understanding EC261: Europe's Comprehensive Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation
The European Union has the most consumer friendly policies when it comes to what passengers are entitled to in the event that their flight is significantly delayed or canceled. For example, if your long haul flight is delayed by at least four hours, you could be entitled to 600 Euro cash, which is huge. In this post, I'd like to go over everything you need to know about how this policy works. What is EC261 flight delay & cancelation compensation? Regulation EC261/2004 (EC261 for short, though often incorrectly referred to as EU261) is the European Union's official rule that dictates what airlines owe passengers in the event of flight delays or cancelations. This can include everything from cash compensation, to hotels, to meal vouchers. This is truly the most generous protection you'll find anywhere in the world when it comes to airline passenger rights. Europe flight delay & cancelation compensation rules Under what circumstances are you entitled to compensation in Europe if your flight is delayed or canceled? As you might expect, this can be difficult to understand at times, since rules differ based on the airline you're flying with, the cause of the delay, etc. In this post I'll go over all the details. Which airlines & countries are covered by EC261? EC261 rules apply in the following situations: If you are traveling from a European Union airport on any airline If you are traveling to a European Union airport on a European Union-based airline In other words: If you're flying from Frankfurt to Newark, EC261 would apply regardless of whether you're traveling with Lufthansa or United If you're flying from Newark to Frankfurt, EC261 would only apply on Lufthansa, and not on United (since United isn't a European Union-based airline) A few more things to note: Even though Norway and Switzerland aren't in the European Union, EC261 applies for these countries as well; furthermore, the United Kingdom has separate rules that are almost identical to EC261 You're only eligible for EC261 coverage if you have a confirmed reservation, and are traveling on a revenue or award ticket (in other words, staff travel or other industrial discount tickets don't qualify) Frustratingly, EC261 doesn't apply if you're merely connecting in the European Union between two other destinations; for example, it wouldn't apply to a New York to Paris to Johannesburg itinerary EC261 also potentially applies on non-EU airlines How much money is EC261 compensation? The amount of cash compensation you're entitled to under EC261 varies based on the length of the flight… sort of: If your flight covers a distance of under 1,500km (930 miles), you're entitled to 250 Euro compensation if you're delayed by at least three hours If your flight covers a distance of 1,500-3,500km (930-2,200 miles), you're entitled to 400 Euro compensation if you're delayed by at least three hours If your flight covers a distance of over 3,500km (2,200 miles), you're entitled to 600 Euro compensation if you're delayed by at least four hours So as you can see, the longer the flight, the longer the delay has to be in order to get compensated. However, you're also potentially going to get more compensation. There are a couple more details to be aware of: A delay is calculated based on the time that you arrive at your gate and the doors open, rather than based on when you touch down at your destination Furthermore, the delay is calculated based on how late you reach your final destination; if you're flying from Berlin to Frankfurt to New York, and your Berlin to Frankfurt flight is delayed by an hour and that causes you to miss your connecting flight and arrive in New York at least four hours late, you'd be entitled to cash compensation EC261 compensation can get you up to 600 Euro Which delays qualify for EC261 compensation? If you're looking for compensation through EC261, you're entitled to that for any delay or cancelation that isn't due to "extraordinary circumstances." The issue is that this can be a bit of a gray area, and airlines have been known to play games. That's because what constitutes "extraordinary circumstances" isn't explicitly defined. As a general rule of thumb: Weather delays, air traffic control delays, delays due to strikes outside the airline, delays due to political instability, diversions due to medical issues or unruly passengers, etc., would be considered extraordinary circumstances, so EC261 compensation wouldn't apply A mechanical problem, a late inbound aircraft, a crew related delay, a strike directly at the airline, etc., wouldn't be considered extraordinary circumstances, so EC261 compensation would apply Extraordinary circumstances aren't eligible for compensation Do flight cancelations qualify for EC261 compensation? Not only does the above compensation apply if your flight is delayed, but it also applies if it's canceled. EC261 compensation applies in the event that your flight is canceled within 14 days of departure. If your flight is canceled further out than that, then the compensation wouldn't apply. Furthermore, as is the case with delays, extraordinary circumstances are excluded from being eligible for compensation. Flight cancelations also qualify for EC261 compensation How do you claim EC261 compensation? Claiming EC261 compensation is potentially the tricky part, as airlines often do everything in their power to get out of paying this compensation. There are two general ways you can approach this: You can contact the airline to try to claim EC261 compensation, and some airlines have forms on their websites through which this can be done You can use a third party service that helps consumers with this, though they usually take a significant cut; I've never used one of these so can't personally vouch for any, but you can easily find them online I'd always recommend doing everything in your power to request the compensation directly, so you can keep the entire amount. If you're going to claim EC261 compensation, there are a few things to keep in mind: This isn't something you need to do at the airport, so don't take this up with airport staff, but rather take it up with customer relations after the fact I'd recommend keeping as much documentation as possible, including taking pictures of the flight status page reflecting the delay, keeping boarding passes, etc. Expect that airlines may try to do everything in their power to get out of paying this compensation; this can include claiming that there were "extraordinary circumstances," just not responding for a long time, etc. You can claim EC261 compensation directly with an airline Does EC261 cover hotels & meals? Not only does EC261 offer cash compensation in the event of a delay or cancelation, but it also offers passengers other forms of assistance, including: Hotel accommodation in the event of an overnight delay, including transport to and from the hotel Meals and refreshments Two telephone calls or emails This should be offered proactively in the event of a significant delay or cancelation. There's no promise of how efficiently any of this will be offered, though. For example, if you have a flight canceled at an outstation (non-hub airport), you might have two agents trying to work on hotels for hundreds of passengers, which could take hours. So be prepared to be patient. In many cases you can also just book your own hotel and then be reimbursed after the fact, though in some cases airlines may have a cap on how much they're willing to reimburse, and it can be tough to know that in advance. What's also nice is that the duty of care applies even if the delay or cancelation is due to extraordinary circumstances. So if your flight is delayed overnight due to weather, you'd still be owed a hotel room and meals. EC261 compensation should also cover hotels What does EC261 say about rebooking flights? In the event that your flight is substantially delayed or canceled, EC261 requires that airlines rebook passen