United Airlines flight delay and cancellation compensation

United Airlines flight delay compensation is usually €600 per passenger on transatlantic flights from Europe, or £520 from the UK. You can claim when you land three or more hours late, when United cancels with less than 14 days' notice, or when it turns you away from a full flight. Flights from the US into Europe fall outside both schemes.

Why does EU261 cover United from Frankfurt but not from Chicago?

United Airlines is a US carrier and a Star Alliance member, serving Europe from hubs including Newark, Chicago and San Francisco. As neither an EU nor a UK airline, its coverage attaches to the airport you departed from, not to the aircraft.

• Departing an EU/EEA airport on United — EU261 applies, so a Frankfurt, Paris or Rome departure to the US is covered.
• Departing a UK airport — UK261, the retained British version, applies.
• Arriving into the EU/EEA or the UK from the US — not covered. EU261 reaches flights from a third country only on an EU airline, and UK261 only on a UK or EU airline. United is neither, so a Chicago to Munich flight sits outside both regimes.

Compensation is triggered by arriving at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation with under 14 days' notice, or involuntary denied boarding.

How much you could receive

The amount is fixed by route distance, not the fare. Almost all of United's European flying is transatlantic and over 3,500 km, so the top band is usual:

• EUR 250 — 1,500 km or less
• EUR 400 — 1,500 to 3,500 km
• EUR 600 — over 3,500 km, covering nearly every United route out of Europe

UK261 pays GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. Article 7(2) lets the airline halve the top figure where a re-routing lands you under four hours late. Each passenger claims separately, whatever the cabin.

When United Airlines doesn't have to pay

There is no compensation where the cause was an extraordinary circumstance unavoidable even with all reasonable measures — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security alerts or a bird strike. The airline carries the burden of proof: a one-line "operational reasons" message is an assertion, not evidence. A strike by United's own crew is generally not extraordinary, whereas third-party strikes such as air-traffic controllers or airport handlers usually are, and routine technical faults from ordinary maintenance remain the airline's responsibility.

How to claim from United Airlines

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes and any notification of the change, and for a missed connection note your actual arrival time at the final destination, not the first delay. United handles claims through its own process and may ask for verification before paying; we run the submission and any appeal. We escalate to the enforcement body or court if a claim is wrongly refused.

What does a United Airlines claim cost?

The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed EUR 39 success fee — the same whether you're owed EUR 250 or EUR 600 — and the airline's payment goes to you. No win, no fee.

How to claim United Airlines compensation

Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded times for your United Airlines flight and tells you which band it falls in, in about two minutes.

For the law behind the figure, the flight delay compensation guide covers arrival delays and the cancellation compensation guide covers a flight that never operated. If United Airlines has already refused you, the case law summary sets out what the courts have said about the usual excuses.