Flight Delay Compensation: What You’re Owed and How to Claim It

If your flight departed from an EU (or EEA/UK-equivalent) airport on any airline, or arrived in the EU on an EU-based carrier, and you reached your final destination three hours or more later than scheduled, you are entitled to fixed compensation under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 ("EU261") regardless of your ticket price.

The amount depends on the flight distance, not on how late you actually were beyond the three-hour mark — a flight that’s 3 hours late pays the same as one that’s 12 hours late, for a given distance.

There is no US federal law requiring cash compensation for a delayed flight, and that is a real, important difference from the EU regime — don’t assume EU261-style money is coming.

What US law (via the Department of Transportation) currently guarantees: an automatic cash refund — not a voucher, unless you choose one — if your flight is cancelled or "significantly changed" (domestically, more than 3 hours later/earlier than scheduled; internationally, more than 6 hours) and you no longer want to fly. This has to be issued automatically, promptly, and to your original payment method; airlines can’t force you to request it or accept a credit instead. This rule took effect in stages through 2024.

Through DOT’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard (flightrights.gov), the ten largest US airlines have committed — as a matter of policy, not law — to rebooking on the same airline at no cost and, for most, to covering meals and hotel stays when the delay/cancellation is the airline’s fault. A few airlines have separately agreed, after DOT pressure, to provide at least modest travel credit (commonly cited around $50) for controllable disruptions — but this is airline-specific, not a universal entitlement, and it is credit/vouchers, not cash, for most carriers.

DOT had proposed a formal cash compensation rule in late 2024 (a tiered $200–$775 structure depending on delay length), but that rulemaking was shelved in November 2025 and is not in effect. Don’t rely on a US cash-compensation right existing — check flightrights.gov for the current, airline-specific dashboard commitments before you fly and again before you file a claim. verify current dashboard commitments at time of filing, since individual airline policies change

Note: denied boarding due to overbooking is a separate, better-established US right under 14 CFR Part 250, with mandatory cash compensation formulas — that’s a different scenario from a delayed-but-not-oversold flight and is covered on the denied-boarding-compensation page.

Airlines can refuse compensation if the delay was caused by "extraordinary circumstances" outside their control — genuine safety-related air traffic control restrictions, severe weather, security threats, or strikes not called by the airline’s own staff. This exception is narrower than most airlines present it as.

The EU’s top court settled this in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (Case C-549/07, 2008): a technical fault is not automatically "extraordinary." The court set a two-part test — the event must not be inherent in the normal exercise of an airline’s activity, and it must be genuinely beyond the airline’s control. Routine mechanical problems, and anything traceable to inadequate maintenance, do not qualify, even if the airline followed minimum maintenance rules — following the minimum isn’t proof that "all reasonable measures" were taken.

In practice, most delays caused by "the plane broke" or "the previous rotation ran late" are compensable; delays from a lightning strike, a bird strike causing structural damage, air traffic control ground stops, or an unexpected security lockdown usually are not.

Most straightforward EU261 claims — clear delay, no obvious extraordinary-circumstances defense, complete documentation — are paid by airlines within the two-month response window or shortly after NEB involvement.

Contested claims (airline invokes extraordinary circumstances, disputes the distance tier, or disputes your final-destination arrival time) can take months to a year or more if you end up in court or arbitration.

This page, and the linked calculator, can estimate what you’re likely owed under the fixed EU261 tiers — it cannot predict whether a specific airline will accept, dispute, or drag out your specific claim, and it is not a guarantee of payment.