What to do when a flight is delayed or cancelled
A delay or cancellation leaves you a choice between a refund and a rebooking. Knowing which rules apply makes the claim straightforward.
When a flight is delayed or cancelled, the airline owes you one of two things: a way to reach your destination, or your money back. What you are entitled to beyond that depends on where the flight starts, where it ends and which rules cover it, so check which rulebook applies.
Find out which rules cover your flight
Flights leaving an airport in the European Union fall under EU passenger rights, and the United Kingdom keeps a similar set of rules for its own departures and arrivals. Flights to, from or within the United States are covered by airline customer service commitments. Elsewhere, the airline's own conditions of carriage usually decide the basics. The UK Civil Aviation Authority explains delays and cancellations at caa.co.uk, and the EU passenger rights page at europa.eu sets out the same framework.
Refund or rebooking: ask for the right one
If an airline cancels your flight, you normally choose between a refund of the unused ticket and an alternative flight. Where the rules provide a cash refund, you should not be pushed into accepting a voucher instead. If you still want to travel, ask for the earliest available rerouting, including on another carrier where the rules allow.
Long delays trigger a duty of care in several jurisdictions. That can mean meals, refreshments and overnight accommodation while you wait. Keep every receipt and ask the desk staff to confirm in writing what they will and will not cover.
Keep a paper trail
- Photograph the departure board and save the airline's delay message.
- Ask for a written note that names the reason for the disruption.
- Keep receipts for meals, taxi fares and any hotel night you had to book.
- Save boarding passes and booking references until a claim is settled.
When weather or air traffic control is blamed
Some rules treat severe weather, air traffic control restrictions and similar events as extraordinary circumstances. Cash compensation may not apply in those cases, but that does not remove the airline's duty to look after you during a long wait. Ask for the stated reason in writing; it has to be genuine.
The two documents that decide most claims are a written reason for the disruption and a receipt for what you spent. Ask for both before you leave the airport.
What to do while you wait
Stay near the gate or the service desk until you hold a confirmed rebooking, because later flights fill quickly. Check the airline's app as well as the desk, since the app sometimes shows options the queue does not. If you booked through an agent or as part of a package, contact them too, because your contract may be with them rather than with the airline.
Bottom line: find out which rules cover the flight, choose refund or rebooking deliberately, and collect written evidence as you go. Paperwork gathered calmly at the airport is what gets a claim paid weeks later.