When the airline owes you
Three triggers, all measured at your final destination (and a delay counts from when the doors open, not when you take off):
- Delay: you arrived 3 or more hours late.
- Cancellation: told less than 14 days before departure (re-routing timings can adjust this — but under 7 days’ notice with a significantly later arrival almost always qualifies).
- Denied boarding: bumped because the flight was oversold — compensation is owed on the spot.
| Flight distance | Example | Per person |
|---|
| Under 1,500km | London → Amsterdam | £220 |
| 1,500–3,500km | Manchester → Marrakesh | £350 |
| Over 3,500km, 3–4 hrs late | London → New York | £260 |
| Over 3,500km, 4+ hrs late | London → New York | £520 |
- Which flights: anything departing a UK airport (any airline), plus flights arriving into the UK on a UK or EU carrier. EU departures carry the near-identical EU261 in euros.
- On top, not instead: compensation is separate from your refund or replacement flight — and from the care owed while you wait (food, drinks, communication, and a hotel + transfers if it’s overnight).
The “extraordinary circumstances” excuse
Airlines don’t pay when the cause was genuinely outside their control — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, security alerts. But technical faults and crew shortages usually DO count as the airline’s problem, and carriers have a long record of stretching the excuse. If their reason feels thin, ask in writing exactly what the circumstance was — and escalate. Don’t take the first “no” as the answer.
Claim it yourself — free, 15 minutes
- Gather: booking confirmation, boarding passes, the delay/cancellation notification, and your actual arrival time (screenshots of flight-tracker pages work). Keep receipts for food/hotel if care wasn’t provided — those are claimable too.
- Use the airline’s own compensation form (every UK carrier has one — search “[airline] EU261/UK261 claim”). Quote UK261, state the distance band and the fixed amount per passenger, and give your bank details — you don’t have to accept vouchers.
- One claim per passenger on the booking — children included.
Never pay a claims firm
“No-win-no-fee” flight-claim companies typically take
25–50% plus VAT of your fixed-amount compensation for submitting the same free form. The amounts are set by law — there is nothing to negotiate. The only time professional help earns its keep is a complex court case, and even then
small claims is built for doing it yourself.
Refused? Escalate free
- Step 1 — ADR: most UK airlines belong to an approved alternative dispute resolution scheme (AviationADR, CEDR). It’s free for passengers and the decision binds the airline.
- Step 2 — the CAA: where an airline has no ADR scheme, the Civil Aviation Authority’s passenger complaints route takes it up.
- Step 3 — small claims: the backstop with teeth. In England & Wales you have up to 6 years to claim, the fee starts at £35 and comes back if you win — the full route is here. Airlines very often pay once court papers arrive.
Package holiday?
You hold a second set of rights against the tour operator under the Package Travel Regulations — price reductions and compensation for the holiday itself, on top of any UK261 claim against the airline. Two doors, both open.
Do this now
Dig out the booking email and boarding passes, check your arrival time against the table above, and put the claim in on the airline’s own form tonight — quote UK261, fixed amount per passenger, bank transfer not vouchers.
Knocked back with a vague excuse? Ask for the specific circumstance in writing, then go ADR → CAA → small claims. Track the claim as a case in My Sorted.