What are you owed for an overbooked flight or a downgrade?

Articles 4 and 7 of Regulation 261/2004 give you a fixed payment for involuntary denied boarding. You qualify when you hold a confirmed reservation, present yourself on time and carry valid documents. Overbooking is not one of the excluded grounds. Only reasonable health, safety, security or document grounds take you outside the rule.

The distance bands are simple. A flight of up to 1,500 km pays €250. An intra-EU flight over 1,500 km, or another flight of 1,500 to 3,500 km, pays €400. Any other flight pays €600. Bumped from a 4,000 km flight from Madrid, you are owed €600. If the airline reroutes you within the time limits in Article 7(2), it may halve that to €300.

The money is not all. You also choose between a refund and a replacement flight. While you wait, the airline must give you care, such as meals and a hotel if you need to stay overnight.

Ask the gate staff to confirm in writing that they refused you boarding. Keep your boarding pass and receipts, then claim from the operating airline.

Imagine you are bumped from a 1,000 km flight from Manchester. The airline owes you £220, even if your ticket cost less than that. A flight leaving a UK airport falls under UK261 whatever the airline.

UK261 is the retained version of the EU rules. It uses UK territorial and carrier rules and pays in pounds. Its scope differs from EU261, so do not mix the two up. The bands match the EU ones: £220 up to 1,500 km and £350 for 1,500 to 3,500 km. A longer flight pays £520, or £260 when the reduced long-haul rate applies.

You also keep the right to a refund or a new flight, plus care while you wait. The UK Civil Aviation Authority sets out these remedies in its passenger guidance.

Get the refusal confirmed in writing at the gate, and keep receipts for food, hotel and transport. Then write to the operating airline and quote UK261, Articles 4 and 7. In England and Wales you generally have six years to go to court, and five years in Scotland.

Article 4 of Regulation 261/2004 covers volunteers and passengers refused against their will, but it treats them differently. The fixed compensation is for those refused against their will. When you step forward as a volunteer, you have not been refused. The airline is then bound by the deal you strike, such as cash, vouchers or a later flight.

That makes the comparison worth doing at the gate. Think of a 4,000 km flight leaving the EU, where an involuntary bump would earn €600. Volunteering for a €300 voucher means giving up the chance of that cash. On a 1,000 km flight the fixed sum is €250, so a better offer may be worth taking.

Watch for tick boxes and forms. Which? has reported a case in which an airline treated a ticked online rebooking box as volunteering. Only volunteer when you clearly mean to.

Ask exactly what you get, in what form and when, and whether the new flight is confirmed. If you refuse to volunteer and the airline still keeps you off, you are an involuntary passenger.

You check in online for a 1,400 km flight from Rome and reach the gate on time. Staff tell you the flight is full and give your seat away. The airline owes you €250, plus a refund or a later flight. It also owes you meals while you wait.

A boarding pass does not guarantee a place on the aircraft. Airlines sometimes refuse passengers who already hold one. Your protection comes from the law, not from the seat number.

Articles 3, 4 and 7 of Regulation 261/2004 set out what EU261 gives you when you are refused against your will: compensation, a refund or new flight, and care. You must have a confirmed reservation, valid documents and present yourself on time. Your boarding pass and check-in confirmation are good evidence for each point.

Screenshot your boarding pass and keep any messages from the airline. Ask the gate staff to write down that they refused you boarding. Then send your claim to the operating airline.

Under Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation 261/2004, denied-boarding rights protect passengers who did their part. You need a confirmed booking, and you must present yourself on time. If you reached the gate after the cut-off the airline told you, staff are not refusing you. You arrived too late.

It is different when you were on time. Perhaps the gate closed before the time the airline gave, or staff stopped you while boarding was still open. Either way, you presented yourself properly. A refusal then can be involuntary denied boarding, with compensation, a refund or rerouting, and care.

Here's how that plays out: your boarding pass says the gate closes 20 minutes before departure. You arrive 25 minutes before, but the gate is already shut. On a 1,200 km flight, the airline would owe you €250 if this counts as denied boarding.

Evidence decides these cases. Photograph the departure board and the gate with the time showing. Keep your boarding pass with its printed closing time, and write down the names of the staff you spoke to. Then claim from the operating airline.

Imagine you fly 2,500 km from Athens to a city outside the EU. Staff refuse you, saying you need a visa. The destination's official rules show you did not need one. If the refusal was wrong, the airline owes you €400.

Everything turns on one word: reasonable. Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation 261/2004 let an airline refuse you when your travel documents are inadequate, without the fixed compensation. If your passport had expired or you lacked a required visa, the airline is acting within the rules.

Staff do get it wrong at times. They may misread passport validity rules or ask for a visa you do not need. You then carried valid documents and presented yourself on time. The refusal can be involuntary denied boarding, with compensation, a refund or rerouting, and care.

Check the official entry rules of your destination and save a copy. Ask the staff to state in writing why they refused you. Photograph your passport's data page and expiry date, then claim from the operating airline.

Stay calm at the gate, because your conduct there becomes evidence. EU261 treats a refusal on reasonable health, safety or security grounds differently from overbooking. If staff reasonably judge that you are drunk or a risk to others, they may keep you off. That refusal does not trigger the fixed payment.

The grounds must be reasonable, though. If you were sober and calm and staff acted on a mistake, the refusal may fail that test. You would then be a passenger refused despite valid documents and timely presentation. Under Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation 261/2004, the airline would owe compensation, a refund or rerouting, and care.

Think of a 3,800 km flight from Dublin where staff refuse you, saying you seem unwell from drink. You had not been drinking, and others saw you. If the refusal was not reasonable, the airline owes you €600.

Ask for the reason in writing. Collect the names and contact details of witnesses. Note the time and the staff involved, then write to the operating airline.

The airline's rules ask for a certificate after a set week of pregnancy. You carry one, but staff reject it on a 1,300 km flight from Paris. If the refusal was not reasonable, the airline owes you €250.

Airlines set their own rules for pregnant passengers and for people with medical conditions. They publish them in their conditions of carriage. Under Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation 261/2004, EU261 lets an airline refuse you on reasonable health grounds. That refusal does not trigger the fixed compensation.

So the question is whether the refusal was reasonable. It may not be if you carried the letter the airline asked for and staff rejected it anyway. The same goes for a demand for a document the airline's own rules do not require. You then presented yourself on time with valid documents. The airline could owe you compensation, a refund or rerouting, and care.

Print the airline's medical rules before you travel and bring them with you, along with the original certificate. Ask the staff to write down the reason for the refusal. Then claim from the operating airline.

In practice: the airline swaps a large jet for a smaller one on a 3,000 km flight from Frankfurt to a non-EU city. You are one of 20 passengers kept off. The airline owes you €400. If it gets you there within the Article 7(2) limits, it may halve that to €200.

From your side, a smaller aircraft looks just like overbooking. There are fewer seats than passengers, so some people stay behind. Articles 4 and 7 of Regulation 261/2004 ask whether you were refused against your will, not why seats ran short.

The conditions stay the same: a confirmed reservation, valid documents and timely presentation. The excluded grounds are reasonable health, safety, security or document reasons. If none of those applies, the airline owes you compensation, a choice of refund or new flight, and care.

Ask the gate staff to confirm in writing that they refused you boarding because of the aircraft change. Keep your boarding pass and receipts, then claim from the operating airline.

You fly Vienna to Brussels to a non-EU city on one booking. Vienna to that city is 4,200 km in a straight line. The first leg lands 40 minutes late and you miss the connection. You reach your destination five hours late, so the airline owes you €600, assessed on the full distance.

That is the delay route. On a single booking, the airline must get you to your final destination. If the first flight runs late and you miss the second, EU261 treats it as a delay. Compensation is due when you arrive at least three hours late, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

Sometimes you reach the gate in time, but the airline has already given your seat away. Staff may have expected you to miss the flight. You presented yourself on time, so the refusal can be denied boarding.

Note the exact time you reached the connecting gate, keep both boarding passes and ask the staff what they recorded. Then claim from the operating airline, citing the Folkerts judgment or Article 4, depending on what happened.

Imagine you are bumped from an evening 1,800 km flight from Barcelona, and the next seat is the following morning. The airline should give you dinner, a hotel room and transport to it. It also owes you €400 in compensation.

Under EU261, Article 9 sets a duty of care for passengers refused boarding against their will. The airline must provide meals and refreshments while you wait. It must offer two phone calls, emails or similar messages. If your new flight leaves the next day, it must provide a hotel and transport between the airport and the hotel.

Care runs alongside your other rights. The fixed compensation by distance under Article 7 still applies, and you still choose between a refund and a replacement flight. Care gets you through the wait; it is not the money for the disruption.

If staff do not offer care, ask for it and note their answer. Buy only what is reasonable, such as a standard meal and a modest hotel. Keep every receipt and claim the costs from the operating airline.

You are bumped from a 1,100 km flight from Milan and no longer need to travel. You ask for a refund of your €180 ticket. The airline owes you that €180 within seven days, plus €250 in compensation.

When an airline refuses you boarding against your will, the choice is yours. You can take a refund, the earliest possible rerouting, or a rerouting at a later date that suits you, if seats are available.

A refund must reach you within seven days, and in vouchers only if you agree in writing. The fixed compensation is separate. You get it whether you choose the refund or the new flight.

Tell the staff clearly which option you choose, and ask them to confirm it in writing. Do not sign anything that calls you a volunteer. Keep the confirmation and your boarding pass. In your claim, quote Articles 4, 7 and 8 of Regulation 261/2004.

Think of being bumped against your will from a 3,000 km flight from Stockholm to a non-EU city. The airline owes you €400 in money. A €300 voucher is worth less, and it may expire or carry conditions. A €700 voucher might suit a frequent traveller better.

Gate staff sometimes offer vouchers in place of cash. Article 7 of Regulation 261/2004 lets an airline pay in travel vouchers only when you agree in writing. You do not have to sign, and if you refuse, the airline still owes you the cash amount.

Read every form before you sign. Some describe you as a volunteer, and volunteering changes your rights. If a form says you accept the voucher in full settlement, think twice.

If you decline, ask the staff to note that you refused the voucher. Keep your boarding pass, then claim the cash compensation from the operating airline afterwards.

In practice: you paid €2,000 for business class on a 6,000 km flight from Amsterdam, and the airline seats you in economy. It owes you 75%, which is €1,500. On a 1,000 km flight with a €400 business fare, it would owe you €120.

Article 10 sets these refunds. When an airline moves you to a lower class than you paid for, it must reimburse part of your ticket price. Flights of up to 1,500 km earn 30%. Intra-EU flights over 1,500 km earn 50%, except those between the EU and the French overseas departments. Other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km also earn 50%, and all other flights earn 75%.

This is a reimbursement, not the fixed compensation for delays or denied boarding. Call it a downgrade refund under Article 10 when you write. An airline that seats you in a higher class cannot charge you extra for it.

Ask the crew or gate staff to confirm the downgrade in writing. Keep your boarding pass showing the new seat, then claim from the operating airline.

You paid €3,000 for a business-class return between Amsterdam and Singapore, far over 3,500 km each way. On the way back you are moved to economy. That return flight is worth roughly half the fare, so €1,500. At 75%, the airline owes you about €1,125.

The refund attaches only to the flight where you sat in the lower class. EU261 sets it at 30%, 50% or 75% of the affected ticket price, following the distance of that flight. Other flights on the same booking do not count.

Return and multi-leg tickets often show one total price, which makes the calculation harder. If your ticket shows a separate price for the downgraded flight, use it. If not, the airline must work out a fair share of the total.

Ask the airline to state in writing what price it used and how it reached it. Keep your booking confirmation and the fare breakdown. If you think the share is too low, challenge it with your own figures. Your claim rests on Article 10 of Regulation 261/2004.

Airlines sometimes offer only the difference between the two fares. Article 10 of Regulation 261/2004 does not work that way. It applies whenever you are placed in a class lower than the one on your ticket. Premium economy is its own class, so moving you into economy is a downgrade.

The airline must then reimburse a share of the ticket price for that flight. The share depends on distance: 30% up to 1,500 km, 50% for 1,500 to 3,500 km, and 75% for longer flights.

A premium economy ticket on a 7,000 km flight leaving Madrid cost you €1,200, and the airline seats you in economy. At 75%, it owes you €900. A fare-difference offer of €300 would be well short of that.

First check which rules cover your flight. A departure from the EU is covered on any airline. A flight into the EU is covered only on an EU carrier. Ask the airline to confirm the downgrade in writing, keep your boarding pass, and claim after the flight.

Your right to the money arises at the gate. Under Articles 4 and 7 of Regulation 261/2004, once the airline refuses you against your will, it owes the fixed amount for your distance. It also owes care and your choice of a refund or a new flight.

Desk staff may still not hand over cash. They may offer a voucher, a form or a phone number. A voucher needs your signed agreement, so you can decline it. Declining does not cancel what the airline owes you.

You are bumped from a 2,200 km flight from Copenhagen to a non-EU city. Ask the desk for €400. If staff can only offer a voucher, say no and ask for written confirmation that they refused you boarding.

That written note is the most useful thing you can leave with. Add your boarding pass, booking reference and the names of staff, and note whether anyone asked for volunteers. Then send a written claim to the operating airline.

EU261 uses the term for one situation, set out in Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation 261/2004. You did everything right, and the airline still would not let you on. The cause can be overbooking, a smaller aircraft or a seat given to someone else.

Three conditions apply. You need a confirmed reservation. You must present yourself on time, as the airline required. You must carry valid travel documents. If any of these fails, the refusal is not denied boarding under the rule.

Some refusals fall outside it. The airline may refuse you on reasonable health, safety or security grounds, or because your documents are inadequate. A passenger who volunteers to give up a seat has not been refused against their will either.

When the definition fits, three rights follow: fixed compensation of €250, €400 or €600 by distance, a choice of refund or replacement flight, and care while you wait. A passenger refused on a 1,600 km intra-EU flight is owed €400. Check each condition against your own case, then claim from the operating airline.

A low-cost airline refuses you boarding on a 1,000 km flight from London Gatwick. Your ticket cost £40. The airline still owes you £220 under UK261, and it must also offer a refund or the next suitable flight.

The rules attach to the flight, not to the ticket price or the airline's business model. Any departure from an EU airport is covered. A flight into the EU is covered when an EU carrier operates it. UK261 covers UK departures in the same way.

The usual conditions in Articles 4 and 7 of the Regulation apply: a confirmed booking, valid documents and presenting yourself on time. The excluded grounds are reasonable health, safety, security or document reasons.

Ask the gate staff to confirm the refusal in writing. Do not tick any voluntary rebooking box unless you mean to volunteer. Keep your boarding pass and receipts, then use the airline's claim form or write to it.

The denied boarding rules do not stop at the aircraft door. Article 4 of Regulation 261/2004 covers any involuntary refusal to carry a passenger who presented on time with valid documents. Being asked to leave a seat you were already in fits that description.

Take an Edinburgh to Rome flight, about 1,934 km. You board, then staff offload you to make room for other passengers, and you fly the next day. UK261 covers that departure, so the amount is £350 per passenger. The airline also owes you a refund or a new flight, plus meals and a hotel while you wait.

Airlines sometimes cite weight limits or a seat that cannot be used. A reasonable safety ground is excluded from compensation, so the stated reason matters. Ask for it in writing before you leave the airport.

Compensation is for passengers who did not agree to give up their seat. If you did not volunteer, say so plainly in your claim. Keep your boarding pass, which proves you presented on time, and claim from the operating airline.