Flight Cancellation Refund – How to get your money back

Flight refund in the EU — your rights

The European legislation protecting air passenger rights is called the European Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004.

When are you entitled to a flight refund in the EU? According to the regulation, if your flight has been cancelled and you did not take an alternative flight offered by the airline, you are entitled to a flight refund.

The European flight refund regulation applies in the following cases:

• Flights within the EU

• Flights between the EU and the UK (after Brexit)

• Flights with EU airlines to and from non-EU countries

• Flights from the EU with non-EU airlines
  

Flight refund in the UK — your rights after Brexit

After Brexit, the UK has adopted the European flight refund regulations and adjusted them to cover flights to and from the UK specifically.

Just like with European Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004, you are entitled to a full monetary flight refund if your flight was cancelled and you did not take an alternative flight offered by the airline.

The British flight refund regulation applies in the following cases:

• Flights within the UK

• Flights to and from the UK with British airlines

• Flights from the UK with non-British airlines

British citizens flying from the EU to a non-EU country different than the UK (for example, the United States), can still apply for flight refund based on the European regulation.

Flight refunds in non-EU countries — what are my rights?

Are you flying to the UK or Europe from a non-EU country? Then the British and EU flight refund regulations might also apply to your case!

You are eligible for a flight refund if:

• You are travelling to the UK with a British airline

• You are travelling to the EU with an EU-headquartered airline

If you are flying from the UK or the EU, it doesn’t matter which airline you are flying with. The EU and British flight refund regulations apply to all flights from the EU and the UK.

Unfortunately, other cases are not covered by the British and European flight refund regulations. However, some countries have similar laws in place. For example, the American Department of Transportation mentions the following regulations applicable to flights within the United States: “A passenger is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger chooses not to travel.”

Am I entitled to a refund for a flight cancelled due to coronavirus?

Yes, according to European and British law, you are entitled to a full monetary refund in the event of a flight cancelled due to COVID.

=> Claim your flight refund

The airline offered me a voucher for my cancelled flight, should I take it?

We highly recommend you not to accept an airline voucher as a flight refund.

There are two main reasons for it.

1. By law, the airline owes you an actual monetary flight refund — voucher policy is not in compliance with European and British regulations. Accepting a voucher as a flight refund locks your money and forces you to use this specific airline in the future.

2. If an airline goes into administration, passengers holding a travel voucher will lose their money. Therefore, it’s much safer to claim a flight refund instead.

I have already accepted a voucher. Can I still claim a flight refund?

In some circumstances, yes, you can still exchange your travel voucher for a flight refund. However, this partly depends on the airline’s own policy.

We recommend you claim the flight refund via our online system — just let us know which flight of yours was cancelled, upload relevant documents, and our legal team will look into your case. We work exclusively on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, so if you are not eligible for a refund, we will not charge you anything.

=> Is your travel voucher expiring soon? Read our blog post ‘What can you do if your travel voucher is about to expire’.

Cancelled flight compensation — get even more money!

Was your flight cancelled fewer than 14 days before the departure date? According to the British and EU regulations, there is a high chance that you might be entitled to cancelled flight compensation of up to €600!

There are a few additional criteria, however, that we laid out in the table below. These criteria are related to the alternative flight offered by the airline. If you did not take the alternative flight, you might be eligible for both a cancelled flight refund and compensation.

=> Check your flight compensation eligibility

Cancelled flight compensation — how much money can I get?

The compensation amount depends on the distance of your flight.

Cancelled flight compensation — when can the airline deny my claim?

There are situations in which the airline can rightfully deny your compensation claim (not the flight refund claim, though!). We call these extraordinary circumstances.

• Bad weather, for example, thick fog, heavy rain, or thunderstorms.

• A strike, most often specifically within the aviation industry.

  HOWEVER! A strike of a specific airline/their crew is not considered an extraordinary circumstance!

• Political circumstances, such as a terrorist attack or general security risk due to political unrest.

• Natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions and hurricanes.

• A collision between the aircraft and birds or other foreign objects.

• An unruly or ill passenger.

• Flight delays caused by the airport staff, such as extraordinarily long queues to security checks.

Reimbursement of unexpected expenses due to flight cancellation

Did you incur unexpected expenses due to your flight being cancelled? If you have the receipts/invoices, you can claim reimbursement from the airline.

This includes hotel expenses, restaurant meals, spendings on transportation (taxis, car rentals), and more.

If you decide to claim your flight refund or compensation with Flight Delayed, you can upload all the receipts and invoices to our online system and we’ll take care of getting your money back from the airline.

Flight delay refund — how does it work?

If your flight was delayed by more than 5 hours and you do not wish to travel, you are entitled to a refund.

However, you should keep in mind that you are not entitled to a refund if you do travel, but according to the British and EU law, you might be entitled to flight compensation of up to €600. Delayed flight compensation applies to flights delayed by at least 3 hours. The flight must be delayed because of the airline’s fault — remember about extraordinary circumstances.

Can you cancel a flight and get a refund?

In most cases, if you are the one cancelling your trip, you will only be entitled to a full refund if you’ve bought a fully-refundable ticket. Most fares will not be covered, especially when flying with low-cost airlines.

However, there are certain occasions on which you may be allowed to receive a refund of your ticket. For example, some airlines offer flights refunds in the event that an immediate family member passes away.

How long do I have to claim flight refund and compensation?

If you are flying to or from the UK, you have 6 years to claim your flight refund and compensation.

If your itinerary does not include the UK, different local laws will apply.

If you are unsure if you can still claim your flight refund and compensation, you check it in as little as a minute using our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.

=> Check flight refund eligibility

How long does a flight refund take?

Most often, it takes a few weeks to a few months to receive a flight refund.

However, in some more complex cases, such as those including legal proceedings in court, the wait time might be longer — even up to a few years.

How to claim a flight refund?

First, we recommend you double-check whether you are for sure eligible for a flight refund. You can do it using our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.

Afterwards, you can decide to either try to claim the flight refund by yourself or let us handle it for you. We will carefully review your case, prepare documentation, get it to the right people at the airline and — if the airline denies your claim — fight for your rights in court.

Learn more about our fee on our Price List page or claim a flight refund now straight from your phone or your computer using our Claim Calculator.