What are you owed for a cancelled flight?

An email on 1 May tells you your June flight is cancelled. That is more than 14 days' warning, so you get no €250 or €400 payment. You can still ask for the whole fare back or a seat on another flight.

Under EU261, Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004 links cash compensation for a cancellation to the warning you got. With 14 days or more, the airline owes you no fixed payment, whatever caused the cancellation.

Your other rights stay intact. Article 8 still lets you choose a refund, a new flight at the earliest opportunity, or a later flight that suits you. A refund must reach you within seven days. The airline may offer a voucher, but it only counts as payment with your signed agreement.

Check the exact date and time of the airline's email or text. If it reached you inside the 14 days, different rules apply and compensation may be owed. Flights from the UK follow the same structure under the retained UK regulation, with amounts in pounds.

Imagine a 1,200 km flight booked to leave at 10:00 and land at 14:00. Ten days out, the airline cancels it and offers a flight landing at 19:00. You would arrive five hours late.

With 7 to 13 days' notice, Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004 judges the airline by that replacement. It escapes compensation only if the new flight left at most two hours before your original time. It must also have landed less than four hours after it. Five hours late fails that test, so the airline owes €250 per passenger, or £220 on a UK261 flight.

Its remaining defence is extraordinary circumstances, such as severe weather or air traffic restrictions. The airline must prove they caused the cancellation and that reasonable measures could not avoid it. A fault found during the pre-flight checks generally does not qualify.

Keep the cancellation message and write down the times of every flight offered. Ask the airline in writing for compensation and the specific reason for the cancellation. Your choice of refund or rebooking under Article 8 stays open either way.

At 21:00 the evening before, the airline cancels your 1,800 km flight inside the EU. It rebooks you on a flight landing six hours late.

That puts you in the tightest notice band of Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004. The airline avoids compensation only if the replacement left at most one hour before your original time. It must also have arrived less than two hours after it. Six hours misses that window, so the airline owes €400 per passenger. Its only way out is to prove extraordinary circumstances, and a maintenance problem generally does not count.

Your practical rights start straight away. Article 8 lets you choose a refund within seven days, the earliest new flight, or a later date that suits you. While you wait, the airline owes meals and refreshments for the waiting time and two calls or emails. If you must stay overnight, it owes a hotel and transport to it. Those care duties apply even when the cause was extraordinary.

Keep the message showing when you were told. Save receipts for anything you buy, and ask in writing for the reason.

Being rebooked does not settle the question on its own. Under Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004, the airline avoids compensation only when its replacement fits tight time windows. With under seven days' notice, it must leave no more than one hour early and land less than two hours late. With 7 to 13 days, the limits are two hours early and four hours late.

Here's how that plays out: a 1,000 km flight is cancelled with three days' notice. The airline moves you to a flight landing three hours after your original time. That misses the two-hour limit, so the airline owes €250, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances.

The payment can be halved. Article 7(2) allows this when your rerouted arrival stays within its distance-specific time limits. For a flight over 3,500 km, that can mean €300 instead of €600.

Measure arrival at the moment the doors open, as the Court of Justice ruled in Germanwings. Compare the old and new arrival times in your booking emails. Then send the airline a written claim with both sets of times.

Read the airline's options screen slowly before you click. Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004 puts the choice with you, not the airline. You can take your money back, fly at the earliest opportunity, or fly later on a date you prefer, subject to seats.

Pick the refund when the trip has lost its point, such as a missed event. The airline must pay it within seven days, and in vouchers only with your signed agreement. Choose the earliest reroute when you still need to arrive. A later date suits flexible plans.

None of this decides whether fixed compensation is owed. That turns on the notice, the replacement offered and the cause. Think of a traveller with a €180 fare, cancelled five days ahead. They can take the €180 back and may still claim €250 on a short flight.

If the earliest flight on offer is days away while others fly sooner, say so in writing. When the airline fails to offer a compliant reroute, you may be able to recover reasonable costs of arranging your own.

You learn five days ahead that your 1,100 km flight is cancelled. The airline offers a flight the next day, and you take a €150 refund instead. That offered flight missed the one-hour-early and two-hour-late window. So the airline can owe you the €150 refund and €250 compensation, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances.

This works because Regulation 261/2004 keeps two rights apart. Article 8 covers the refund or new flight you choose. Article 7 covers the fixed compensation. Article 5 decides whether that compensation is owed. It looks at the notice and the replacement offered, not at the option you picked.

Long notice changes the position. With 14 days or more, no fixed compensation is due, whichever option you chose.

Ask for the refund first, since the airline must pay it within seven days. Then send a separate written compensation claim. Include the notice date and the times of the flight the airline offered.

Once you choose a refund after a cancellation, Regulation 261/2004 gives the airline seven days to pay you. Article 8 gives you the choice, and Article 7(3) sets the payment terms. The same rule applies to flights under the retained UK regulation.

You get back the full cost of the ticket you did not use. Say you paid €220 for a cancelled flight and asked for your money on 3 March. The €220 should be with you by 10 March. A €220 voucher does not meet that duty unless you signed up to accept it.

When a refund stalls, send a dated written request naming the flight, the booking reference and your choice of a refund. Keep every reply. Once the deadline passes, send a reminder that quotes the seven-day rule. If that fails, complain to the national body that enforces the regulation in the departure country.

Compensation is a separate matter. Your fare comes back either way, while fixed compensation depends on notice, the replacement offered and the cause.

Airlines often put the voucher first, sometimes with a bonus. Think of a €240 return fare that is cancelled, with a €260 voucher on offer. That offer is legal, but taking it is optional. You can refuse it and ask for the €240 in money instead.

Under Article 7(3) of Regulation 261/2004, travel vouchers count as payment only when the passenger agrees in writing. Article 8 gives you the right to choose reimbursement after a cancellation. Together they mean the airline cannot impose a voucher on you.

Reply in writing that you choose a refund under Article 8. Quote the booking reference and the date you made the request. The airline then has seven days to pay. If you already clicked a voucher option, write promptly to explain that you wanted cash.

Compensation is a separate question. Whether the airline also owes €250, €400 or €600 depends on notice, the replacement flight offered and the cause.

A departure brought forward by more than one hour counts as a cancellation. The Court of Justice said so in Azurair (C-146/20), and the 2024 Commission guidelines follow that view. The cancellation rules of Regulation 261/2004 then apply in full.

Here's how that plays out: five days before travel, your 14:00 departure moves to 11:30. With under seven days' notice, a replacement leaving more than one hour early fails the exception by definition. On a 1,200 km flight, the airline owes €250 unless it proves extraordinary circumstances. With 14 days' notice or more, though, no fixed compensation is due.

You also keep the Article 8 choice. If the earlier time no longer works, ask for a refund within seven days or a different flight.

Keep the change email and compare the old and new departure times to the minute. Ask the airline in writing to treat the change as a cancellation. If it refuses, keep its reply for your file.

Four days before travel, your 08:00 flight of 1,300 km is replaced by one at 13:00. It lands five hours late, so the airline can owe €250, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances.

That answer treats the replacement as a cancellation. For earlier departures the rule is clear: the Court of Justice treats a move of more than one hour forward as a cancellation. The 14-day notice test in Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004 then applies.

Later retimings are less clear-cut. If the airline replaced your flight with a different one, treat it as a cancellation and apply the notice windows. With under seven days' notice, a replacement landing two hours or more late leaves compensation due. With 7 to 13 days, the limit is four hours.

If the new time no longer works, ask what refund or alternative the airline offers. Keep the original confirmation and the change email. Then write to the airline with both sets of times.

Imagine your evening flight is cancelled and you are rebooked for 09:00 next day. The airline should book your room and get you there. If staff send you away with nothing, choose a reasonable hotel near the airport. Pay for simple meals and keep every receipt.

That duty of care comes from Article 9 of Regulation 261/2004. After a cancellation, it covers meals and refreshments for the waiting time and two calls or emails. When you need to stay overnight, it adds a hotel and transport to it. In McDonagh v Ryanair, the Court of Justice confirmed that care continues even in extraordinary circumstances.

Compensation is a separate right. A next-day flight usually lands far more than two hours late. With under 14 days' notice, the airline can also owe €250, €400 or €600, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances.

Before you book your own room, ask the desk for a hotel in writing or by app chat. Then claim the costs from the airline with the receipts attached.

In practice: the airline cancels your evening flight and offers a seat three days later. Another carrier flies the same route the next morning. You ask the airline to book it, and it refuses. You then buy that seat for €320, and you have a case for reclaiming the €320.

The airline's refusal is your evidence. Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004 obliges it to reroute you at the earliest opportunity when you ask. When it fails to do this, the 2024 Commission guidelines say you may recover reasonable self-rerouting costs. You must prove the purchase was necessary and that you limited the cost.

The case is weaker if you booked before asking. It is also weaker if you picked business class when economy was available.

Compensation sits on top of this. With under 14 days' notice, the airline can still owe €250, €400 or €600, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances. Keep screenshots of the airline's offer, your request, the fares available and your receipt.

A vague label is not a defence. Under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, only extraordinary circumstances free the airline from compensation. It must prove the event caused the cancellation, and that it took all reasonable measures. 'Operational reasons' does neither.

Some causes behind the phrase can count, such as air traffic restrictions or severe weather. Many cannot. In Wallentin-Hermann, the Court of Justice held that routine technical problems are generally part of normal operations. In Krüsemann, it held that a strike by the airline's own staff is not extraordinary merely because it came as a surprise.

Imagine your 2,000 km flight inside the EU is cancelled two days ahead for operational reasons. If the airline cannot point to an extraordinary cause, it owes €400 per passenger.

Write to the airline for the exact cause and its evidence. If it refuses or stays vague, keep its reply. You can then escalate the claim with that reply as part of your file.

Think of a 3,800 km flight from Madrid to a non-EU city, cancelled at the gate for an engine fault. The airline rebooks you on the next morning's flight, landing 15 hours late. It can owe €600 per passenger. The amount falls to €300 only if the rerouted arrival stays within the Article 7(2) limits.

The fault does not get the airline off. In Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia, the Court of Justice held that technical problems found during maintenance, or caused by poor maintenance, are generally not extraordinary. The 2024 Commission guidelines repeat that view. They note that a hidden manufacturing defect, sabotage or terrorism can differ.

Notice still matters under Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004. With 14 days' notice or more, no fixed compensation is due. With less, it depends on how close the replacement flight came to your original times.

You also get meals, a hotel for the night and your choice of refund or rebooking. Ask the airline in writing what the fault was, and keep its reply.

You claim from the operating air carrier, the airline whose aircraft and crew were meant to fly you. Articles 2 and 3(5) of Regulation 261/2004 place the compensation duty there. The ticket seller or agent is not the party that owes it.

What counts is when you were told. Article 5 removes compensation only when you were informed of the cancellation in time. Here's how that plays out: the airline tells your agent 20 days ahead, but the agent emails you five days ahead. You were informed five days ahead.

The airline then owes compensation unless its replacement met the one-hour-early and two-hour-late window, or extraordinary circumstances apply. On a flight under 1,500 km, that is €250. It may argue that it informed you through the agent. Keep the first message you received and its timestamp, and ask the agent in writing when the airline told them.

Your refund or rebooking choice under Article 8 also stays open. If the agent handles the refund, ask both the agent and the airline who will pay it.

Your 1,300 km flight to Frankfurt diverts to Cologne, and a coach gets you to Frankfurt four hours late. The airline can owe €250, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances. Bad weather or a medical emergency may count, but the airline must prove it.

Two rules decide how the diversion is treated. The 2024 Commission guidelines treat a diversion to a distant airport as a possible cancellation. When the new airport serves the same town, city or region, Article 8(3) of Regulation 261/2004 applies instead. The airline must then pay to move you to your booked airport or another agreed destination.

The delay rule can apply as well. A final arrival three hours or more late can trigger fixed compensation, measured when the doors open at your real destination. The bus or train leg counts towards that time.

Keep your boarding pass and note when you reached the booked airport. Save receipts if you paid for onward transport yourself. Then claim from the airline in writing.

In practice: your €300 return booking loses its outbound flight. If you no longer want to travel, ask for the full €300 back, not €150. If you still plan to fly the return, say so in writing, because some airlines cancel unused return legs on their own.

Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004 lets you choose reimbursement after a cancellation, paid within seven days. On a single booking, the refund is meant to cover parts of the journey you can no longer use. A return leg loses its purpose when you never reach your destination.

Compensation is counted per flight. The Commission's 2024 guidelines treat the outbound and return as separate flights. Only the cancelled flight can earn €250, €400 or €600. Your return flight earns nothing unless it was itself disrupted.

Separate tickets change the answer. A return bought on a different booking is a separate contract, and its refund then depends on that ticket's terms.

Article 7 of Regulation 261/2004 fixes the amounts by great-circle distance to your final destination. They are paid per passenger, and the UK version uses the same bands in pounds. For a family of four on a cancelled 1,400 km flight, the total today could reach €1,000.

Two conditions come first. Article 5 removes compensation with 14 days' notice or more. Inside that period, the times of the replacement flight decide it. The airline also pays nothing if it proves extraordinary circumstances it could not avoid.

The amount can drop. When the airline reroutes you and you land within the Article 7(2) time limits, it may pay half. On a flight over 3,500 km, that means €300 or £260.

The rules are changing. The European Parliament approved an EU261 reform on 7 July 2026. It is expected to apply from the second half of 2027. It will give airlines 30 days to pay or give a specific reason for refusing. Until it applies, the current rules stand.

Decide early what you want, because seats on the next flights go fast. Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004 gives you the choice between a refund, the earliest reroute and a later flight. If you want the refund, the airline must pay it within seven days.

While you wait, Article 9 gives you care. That means meals and refreshments for the waiting time and two calls or emails. If you need to stay overnight, it means a hotel and transport there. The airline owes this even in extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather.

If the airline offers a reroute days away while other flights leave sooner, ask it to book one of those. Write down its answer. When it fails to offer a compliant reroute, you may recover reasonable costs of booking yourself.

Keep evidence for a compensation claim later: the cancellation message, your boarding pass and any rebooking. A next-day arrival on a 1,200 km flight can mean €250, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

Article 8(3) of Regulation 261/2004 deals with cities served by several airports. If the airline flies you to an alternative airport, it bears the cost of the onward transfer. That covers the trip to the airport on your booking, or to another close-by destination you agree with it.

Imagine a Nice to London Heathrow flight, about 1,041 km, cancelled two days before departure. The airline books you on an evening flight to Gatwick, landing five hours after your original time. It owes the train or taxi from Gatwick to Heathrow. The late arrival on short notice also means €250 per passenger in compensation.

Ask the airline first how it will get you there, since some arrange a coach. If it offers nothing, pick a reasonable option, such as the train or a shuttle, and keep the ticket. A long private taxi may be questioned when a cheaper route was easy, because you have to show the cost was necessary.

Send the receipt to the operating airline with your booking reference and the cancellation message. The fixed compensation is a separate claim. It can fail if the airline proves extraordinary circumstances, but the transfer duty sits in Article 8, not in the compensation rules.