What happens if my flight gets cancelled

Contrary to popular belief, for domestic itineraries airlines are not required to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled. According to the DOT, compensation is required by law only when a passenger is bumped from an oversold flight.

When a flight is canceled, most people's instinct is to stand in line at a service counter or get on the phone. Delta, for example, offers the feature consistently via both its app and website for even the smallest of delays, as do numerous other airlines. You can also try this if you're catching a tight connecting flight that you might miss. On flights with Wi-Fi, most airlines give you free access to their own website, so you can use your smartphone to check the status of your connection, see options, and sometimes rebook before you even land.

If you do end up needing to speak with an agent, but airline call centers have hours-long hold times, consider calling an international customer service number. Sometimes agents on those lines will pick up faster. The big airports aren't usually the only airports in town; think about the alternates.

If you get stuck and the next available flight is from a different, nearby airport, considering taking it. There is always a way to get between airports, whether renting a car, taking a ride-share or taxi, or hiring a shuttle.

The same goes for wherever you're heading to. In bad weather, seats are constantly changing hands. This one might be a long shot, but it is certainly worth trying. If you're facing a significant delay and chances of getting another seat with your original airline are looking slim, you can ask to be rebooked on a competing airline. Keep in mind that there is no rule compelling airlines to do this, so politeness is crucial in this scenario.

If your original carrier has codeshare agreements with any other airlines, start your search with them. Keep in mind that the EU Regulation Nr.

Your flight must have been scheduled to depart from the EU with any air carrier, or land in the EU with an EU air carrier. Additionally, you need to have presented yourself at the airport with sufficient time to check-in and board your flight unless your flight was cancelled before you reached the airport. If your flight qualifies based on the above notification periods, you have the right to compensation if the following conditions are also met:.

Every country has its own rules when it comes to how much time you have to claim compensation. In Germany, for example, claims must be enforced within three years. The three year period begins from the end of the year in which the incident occured. This means that if your flight was cancelled on If the airline you flew with is headquartered in the UK, you have even more time to enforce your claim: six years! The country to watch out for is Sweden where customers have just two months to raise a complaint against the airline.

Not sure how much time you have left to enforce your claim or want to check a past flight problem that you had forgotten all about? Enter your original flight details into our free online compensation calculator and we will let you know if you are eligible to claim delayed or cancelled flight compensation. Extraordinary circumstances are events which cause flight disruption over which the airline has no control.

This could be something like a medical emergency or a national strike, bad weather conditions or air traffic control restrictions. When an extraordinary event occurs, the airline is not legally obliged to pay compensation. The air carrier must be able to prove that it took all reasonable measures to minimise disruption to flight schedules.

Following a thorough inspection of the case, our legal assessment team often finds that the airline did not do everything they could to avoid the delay or cancellation. In such cases, air passengers may still be entitled to claim compensation for the cancelled flight. If you have a flight coming up in the future, you can already take steps to ensure that your rights are protected. Simply enter the details of any upcoming flights into our online compensation calculator and we will reach out to you if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

In the event that any of your flights are disrupted, we will supply you with relevant information about your rights and let you know if you are entitled to claim compensation for your cancelled flights. Another practice with some airlines is to offer discount coupons, which are often much lower in value than the owed compensation, claiming that this is what their passengers are entitled to.

In reality, European rules on air passenger rights are not well known, and airlines do not always inform passengers of their rights. Without sound legal knowledge, passengers are often lost and do not know how or to whom to turn for help with claiming compensation. This is something that Flightright refuses to accept. Thanks to our experience and expertise at the European level, we know the subtleties and pitfalls to avoid in this matter, which makes us able to assist you in obtaining compensation for your flight cancellation.

Among other thing, the airline is required to provide its passengers with food and refreshments. Passengers are also entitled to 2 free phone calls or emails.

When your flight is rescheduled for a next-day departure, the company usually arranges your hotel accommodation and transportation to and from the hotel. Your rights as a canceled passenger derive solely from the airlines' contracts of carriage, plus relevant principles of general contract law. All airline contracts go to extremes to make sure you understand that 1 airlines do not guarantee schedules, and 2 airlines are never responsible for consequential damages—losses you might suffer because you don't arrive at your destination on time or at all.

But in a routine cancellation, you have two basic contractual rights on any airline, subject to minor variations: either 1 a seat on your original airline's next available flight, or 2 a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Some airlines go beyond those bare-bones rights. In addition, most airlines promise various forms of assistance if they cancel your flight for a reason within the line's control, but not when they cancel the flight because of bad weather or some other force majeure factor.

Although general provisions are similar, you will find significant airline-by-airline variations in cancellation policies in four major areas. In general, airlines define "cancellation" pretty much as you'd expect. Some, however, limit cancellation procedures to cases where the airline can't get you to your destination without a delay—either a "reasonable time" in some contracts or a specific time, such as 90 minutes, in others.

The almost universal policy is that when an airline cancels your flight, regardless of cause, you have a right to a full refund equal to the remaining value of your ticket. Refunds are given in the same form as the ticket was purchased, either cash or credit. A few airlines go beyond this basic requirement to include a provision that if your onward connecting flight from a hub airport is canceled on an outbound trip, and you no longer want to continue the trip, the airline will return you to your original airport at no charge and refund the entire value of the ticket.

A few lines' contracts do not specifically promise a refund, but in practice, a refund is almost always an option. As vaccines continue to roll out and travel picks back up, many airlines are relaxing their COVID-specific cancellation policies and returning to previous operations. However many airlines have continued to be more flexible if a passenger themselves wishes to make changes to their itinerary.