Flight delayed, cancelled or overbooked?

You may be entitled to up to £520 in compensation!

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Flight Cancellation Refund – How to get your money back

Has your flight been cancelled? 
Stay away from travel vouchers offered by airlines and claim a full monetary flight refund instead!

Plus, did you know that besides a flight refund you might be also entitled to cancelled flight compensation of up to £520?

Check if you are eligible now with our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.
 

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What you must know

  • Was your flight cancelled and you did not take an alternative flight? Then you are most likely entitled to a flight refund!

  • Was your flight cancelled fewer than 14 days prior to the departure date? Then you might be entitled to cancelled flight compensation!

  • Flight cancelled due to coronavirus? You are entitled to a full monetary flight refund — don’t accept vouchers!

  • Despite the regulations in place, airlines still often try to avoid their flight refund responsibilities. At Flight-Delayed.co.uk, we have been helping passengers enforce their rights for over a decade. For your convenience, we work on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

  • Not sure if you are entitled to a cancelled flight refund or compensation? You can check it using our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.

 


Table of contents

Flight refund in the EU

Flight refund in the UK — your rights after Brexit

Flight refunds in non-EU countries

Flight refund for a flight cancelled due to coronavirus

Why you should NOT accept travel vouchers

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

Cancelled flight compensation — get even more money!

Cancelled flight compensation — how much money can I get?

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

Reimbursement of unexpected expenses due to flight cancellation

Flight delay refund

Can I cancel my flight and get a refund?

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

How long does a flight refund take? When will I get my money?

How to claim a flight refund?


 

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
     

It’s worth noting that the European regulation does not consider a travel voucher as a flight refund. The airline owes you an actual monetary refund.

Additionally, it's worth remembering that the EU flight refund regulations apply also to countries which are not part of the EU but are members of the European Economic Area: Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

 


Cancelled flight to or from the EU? Claim your flight refund with Flight-Delayed.co.uk!

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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.


=> Learn more about post-Brexit air passenger rights in the UK
 


Cancelled flight to or from the UK?

Get a flight refund and up to £520 in cancelled flight compensation!
 

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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.”

 


Not sure if you are entitled to a flight refund?

Check it for free with our smart Claim Calculator!
 

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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 blogpost ‘What can you do if your travel voucher is about to expire’.


Enforce your rights — get a full flight refund, not a voucher!

Check if you are eligible with our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.
 

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Cancelled flight compensation — get even more money!

Was your flight cancelled fewer than 14 days before the departure date? Then there is a high chance that you might be entitled to cancelled flight compensation of up to £520!

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 rules

 

Cancelled flight compensation — how much money can I get?

The compensation amount depends on the distance of your flight.
 

  • For all flights of fewer than 1,500 km, the compensation is £220.

  • For all flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, the compensation is £350.

  • For all flights of over 1,500 kilometres within the EU, the compensation is also £350.

  • For all flights of over 3,500 kilometres outside of the EU, the compensation is £520 — however, if your flight was delayed by fewer than 4 hours, the total amount might be reduced by 50%.

 


Turn your luck around — claim a refund and compensation for your cancelled flight!

Check if you are eligible using our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator.
 

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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.


A recent example of extraordinary circumstances is the wave of flight cancellations due to coronavirus. If your flight was cancelled because of COVID travel ban, you are not eligible for compensation — as the cancellation is not the airline’s fault — but you are entitled to a full monetary flight refund.
 


Are you not sure if you are entitled to a flight refund and compensation?

You can check it for free using our mobile-friendly Claim Calculator!
 

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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.co.uk, 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.

 


Legal teams in 9 countries. 
98% success rate in courts.
No win, no fee.


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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 if you do travel, you are not entitled to a refund but you might be entitled to flight compensation of up to £520. 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.
 


Not sure if you are eligible for compensation or a flight refund?

Check it fast with our free, no-obligation Claim Calculator!
 

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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.
 


Start your flight refund claim process before it’s too late.

Claim today with the help of Flight-Delayed.co.uk
 

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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.
 

Why claim flight refund with Flight-Delayed.co.uk?

  • We handle the whole process for you — including court proceedings

  • Helping passengers since 2010

  • Legal teams in 9 countries

  • 98% success rate in courts

  • No win, no fee — always

 

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.
 

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