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What you can claim after a flight delay depends first on the route and the rules that apply—not just how long you waited. A refund, a new flight, meals or a hotel while you wait, compensation, and reimbursement for delayed-bag expenses are separate remedies with different tests. This guide covers U.S., UK, and EU rules; it is not a worldwide summary. Check the operating airline, your itinerary, and whether connecting flights are on one booking before deciding whether to travel or request a refund.
Which passenger-rights rules apply to your flight?
Start with the airports and the airline that operated the flight. A booking may involve a different airline from the one that actually flew the aircraft; for EU code-shares, the European Commission says complaints should go to the operating airline.
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- United States: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) refund rules are a separate regime. The DOT refund guidance addresses flights to, from, or within the United States.
- United Kingdom: UK rules cover flights departing a UK airport on any airline, certain flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline, and flights arriving in the EU on a UK airline. Check the UK government guide and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidance for the route-specific details.
- European Union: EU passenger-rights rules can apply to flights departing the EU, and to some flights arriving from outside the EU when operated by an EU-licensed carrier. Consult the European Commission’s passenger-rights guidance for the precise route and operating-carrier test.
These regimes are not interchangeable, and none of these summaries establishes rights for every country, package holiday, or itinerary. A passenger’s choice to stop travelling, the airline’s duty to provide care, and eligibility for compensation are assessed separately.
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Should you accept a rebooking or ask for a refund?
Before accepting a changed itinerary, decide whether you still want to make the trip. In some cases, taking the replacement flight means you cannot also claim a ticket refund under the delay or cancellation rules. Note any response deadline the airline gives you; it need not leave an offer open indefinitely.
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United States: significant delay or change
Under DOT rules, a passenger who declines travel or offered alternatives may be entitled to a ticket refund when a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed or changed. A significant change includes a scheduled arrival at least three hours later for a domestic itinerary or at least six hours later for an international itinerary. It can also include certain airport changes, an added connection, or an involuntary downgrade.
Airlines often offer other flights after a cancellation or significant delay, but DOT says they are not required to rebook passengers on alternative flights. If an airline offers alternative transportation, it must tell the passenger about the refund right. Rejecting the offer—or not responding and not taking the alternative—can result in an automatic refund. DOT says credit-card refunds are due within seven business days after rejection, and refunds for other payment methods within 20 calendar days. Its guidance describes timing for cases where the passenger does not respond and does not travel in relation to the delayed or changed flight or the alternative flight.
Passengers who take the significantly changed or delayed flight, or an offered alternative, generally are not entitled to a ticket refund under these rules. These refund rules do not, by themselves, promise that the airline will arrange another flight.
United Kingdom: cancellation or a delay of at least five hours
For a flight covered by UK law, a passenger whose flight is cancelled can choose a refund, paid within seven days, and, where applicable, a return flight to the first departure point at the earliest opportunity; alternatively, the passenger can choose rerouting under comparable conditions. For a delay of at least five hours, the CAA says a passenger can decide not to travel and seek a refund for the unused flights on the booking. On a multi-flight journey, if the passenger abandons the trip after a qualifying connecting-flight delay, the airline remains responsible for arranging a return to the original departure point.
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European Union: reimbursement or rerouting
For qualifying disruption, European Commission guidance describes a choice between reimbursement and rerouting, as well as care while waiting. It says a refund after cancellation should be received within seven days. Compensation is a separate question: it is not automatically part of a refund and has its own eligibility conditions.
Who pays for meals and a hotel while you wait?
Care during a delay is distinct from both a ticket refund and compensation. Check the rules for the flight and ask the airline what it will provide. Keep receipts if you have to pay reasonable expenses yourself; reimbursement is subject to the applicable rules and claim process.
United Kingdom
The UK government guide says a long delay of at least two hours triggers care and support such as meals and refreshments. If an overnight stay is needed, the airline should provide hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the accommodation. The CAA sets care thresholds by flight distance: at least two hours for flights under 1,500 km, and three hours for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km. Consult the CAA’s current guidance for the remaining distance details. On a missed connection within one booking, care may be due if the replacement flight exceeds the relevant threshold, including overnight accommodation when needed.
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EU guidance says the operating carrier must offer assistance and care while a passenger waits for alternative transport, even when extraordinary circumstances mean compensation is not due. A reason that defeats a compensation claim does not automatically remove every other right.
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United States
For U.S. domestic delays, federal rules do not require airlines to provide meals or hotel rooms for every delay. Airline policies and commitments vary, including depending on whether the disruption is within the airline’s control. DOT’s customer-service dashboard describes participating airlines’ commitments; check the carrier’s own policy rather than assuming a hotel or meal is federally guaranteed.
Can you get compensation for arriving late?
Compensation is not the same as a refund or care. The UK and EU guidance focuses on arrival at the final destination and the cause of the disruption; a long wait at an intermediate airport alone does not establish the relevant arrival delay.
United Kingdom
The UK government guide says a passenger may qualify for compensation if arrival at the final destination is more than three hours late and the cause is attributable to the airline. It lists circumstances outside the airline’s control—such as bad weather, natural disasters, air-traffic-control decisions, bird strikes, and political instability—as examples where compensation is not due. Claim compensation from the airline; the CAA notes that compensation and expenses may require separate claims.
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EU guidance says arrival at the final destination three or more hours late may qualify for compensation if extraordinary circumstances did not cause the delay. It distinguishes internal airline staff strikes from external actions such as air-traffic-controller or airport-staff strikes, so a strike should not be treated as automatically qualifying or disqualifying without checking the circumstances. Even where compensation is unavailable, care and reimbursement or rerouting may still apply.
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United States
The DOT refund rules described here do not establish a general cash-compensation entitlement for a delayed arrival. A refund may be due if you decline travel after a qualifying significant change, but that is not the same as compensation for arriving late.
What if a delay makes you miss a connecting flight?
Check whether all flight segments are on one booking. For a UK-protected multi-flight booking, the CAA assesses relevant care and compensation using the distance between the first and last airports. If the first flight is delayed and you miss a connection, care may be due while you wait for a replacement flight once the applicable threshold is crossed; an overnight wait can trigger accommodation. For compensation, the relevant test can be arrival more than three hours late at the final destination, not simply the delay at the connection airport.
Separate self-transfer bookings are different. The CAA says there is no statutory right to care, compensation, or transport to the final destination if a delay causes you to miss a flight booked separately. Each individual flight may still have its own entitlements, but the airline operating the first flight is not thereby responsible for the separate onward booking.
What should you do if your checked bag is delayed or damaged?
Report a missing checked bag to the airline promptly and keep the mishandled-baggage report reference. Save receipts for necessary purchases and make claims through the airline’s process. The rules differ by route.
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United States
DOT says airlines are responsible for locating checked baggage that does not arrive. For a baggage delay, airlines must compensate passengers for reasonable, verifiable, actual incidental expenses, subject to applicable maximum liability limits; they cannot impose an arbitrary daily cap such as a fixed $50 per day.
For a refund of a checked-bag fee, DOT uses these significant-delay thresholds. A mishandled-baggage report is required to claim the fee refund, and DOT recommends filing as soon as you learn the bag is missing.
| Journey | DOT significant-delay threshold for checked-bag-fee refund |
|---|---|
| Domestic flight | 12 hours after arrival |
| International flight of 12 hours or less | 15 hours after arrival |
| International flight longer than 12 hours | 30 hours after arrival |
Exceptions include some cases where a passenger fails to collect and recheck baggage at the first U.S. international entry point. DOT’s stated liability limits are 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger for baggage on most covered international flights (approximately $2,175 at the conversion on its guidance page) and a domestic U.S. maximum liability amount permitted of $4,700 per passenger. These are legal limits, not guaranteed payouts; coverage, proof, depreciation, and carrier liability can affect recovery. Check DOT’s current figures before relying on them because limits and currency conversions can change.
United Kingdom
The UK government guide says airlines are liable for lost or damaged baggage based on baggage value. It says most airlines reimburse essentials when baggage is delayed away from home, but that is not a promise that every purchase will be reimbursed. Check the carrier’s procedure, retain receipts, and submit a claim.
Quick Recap
What should you do at the airport and after the disruption?
- Check the airline’s messages and identify the operating carrier. Monitor the airline app, email, and text alerts. Ask what rerouting is available and whether the notice concerns a cancellation, a delay, or a significant change.
- Choose whether to continue or abandon the trip. Before accepting a changed itinerary, check the refund threshold that applies to your route and whether the airline has set a response deadline.
- Ask what care applies and keep expense records. Request meals, accommodation, or transport where the relevant rules provide for them. Keep receipts for reasonable expenses you pay yourself.
- Report a missing bag immediately. Get a baggage-report reference and retain receipts for necessary purchases made during the delay.
- Keep the evidence together. Save the original itinerary, boarding passes, delay or cancellation notices, receipts, baggage report, and written responses from the airline.
- Escalate a UK claim if needed. Claim expenses and compensation from the airline first. If its final response is unsatisfactory or it has taken more than eight weeks, the CAA says to escalate to the airline’s ADR provider if it participates, or to the CAA’s PACT.
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