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What rights do you have if your flight has been cancelled this Summer?

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Airlines and airports have been dominating the headlines for the past few weeks thanks to tens of thousands of flight cancellations. British Airways alone has cancelled around 16,000 flights over the Summer season, about 17% of its overall planned capacity between April and October.

That said, there is no need to panic. The vast majority of flights are still operating as normal, with only 2.5% of flights cancelled within 72 hours of departure according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

My personal view is that you shouldn’t be put off travelling, but you should expect and prepare for disruption. This includes knowing your rights in case of delay, cancellation or lost baggage.

British Airways A320

Fortunately, there are extensive consumer laws in place to protect you when things go wrong. These are primarily under EU261, which has been subsumed into UK law following Brexit, and the Montreal Convention. You can read the original text of EU261 here but case law has expanded its scope substantially since 2004.

EU261 covers all flights departing from a UK or EU airport, regardless of the airline. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are treated as EU airports for the purposes EU261.

For flights arriving from outside the UK/EU, you only qualify for compensation if you are flying on a UK/EU airline. American Airlines flights to London do not qualify, but British Airways flights do.

Crucially, these protections apply to you regardless of how you paid your flight – whether you paid for a cash ticket or using Avios or miles. The rules state:

“This Regulation shall not apply to passengers travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public. However, it shall apply to passengers having tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme by an air carrier or tour operator.”

If your flight has been cancelled ….

Article 5 of EU261 deals with cancellations:

1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:

(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8;

Article 8 outlines the duty of care an airline has towards you in the case of cancelled or delayed flights, including the right to reimbursement or re-routing.

Whilst the regulation talks about the operating carrier, precedent has pushed this back onto the marketing carrier. If you buy a ticket on ba.com for a flight with a BA flight number but which happens to be operated by American Airlines, it is BA who you should call if it is cancelled, not American.

Here is the relevant extract from Article 8:

Article 8: Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) – reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger’s original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

– a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger’s convenience, subject to availability of seats.

As you can see, there are three clear options: a full refund (clause a), re-routing as close to the original flight timings as possible (clause b) or re-routing at a later date (clause c). It is your choice which of these you choose, not the choice of the airline.

If you choose to be re-routed at the earliest opportunity but the time of departure of the new flight is at least a day later than the original flight then the airline also has a duty of care to you. This includes reasonable meals and refreshments as well as overnight accommodation, where applicable.

There does not need to be Avios seat availability if your cancelled flight is an Avios redemption and you would like to be rerouted.

British Airways will only reroute on airlines with which it has a commercial agreement to buy seats at a discount during periods of disruption. If your flight to Germany is cancelled, you will not be rebooked on easyJet even if seats are available and there is no BA alternative. You would need to obtain written confirmation from BA that they will only rebook you on a flight which departs later than the easyJet one, buy a cash ticket on easyJet, submit a claim to British Airways and then – in the likely scenario that it refuses to reimburse you – take the airline to arbitration or launch Money Claim Online legal proceedings.

Note that there is no legal definition of “at the passenger’s convenience”. During the pandemic, some travellers were taking advantage of this by booking cheap off-peak flights which were virtually certain to be cancelled and then demanding rebooking on peak Christmas and New Year or school holiday dates. The airline is within its rights to decide that your definition of ‘convenient’ is not the same as their definition, with an invitation to sue them if you disagree.

Am I eligible for compensation?

If your flight has been cancelled, you may also be entitled to compensation. This is also regulated by Article 5.

Whether or not you qualify for compensation depends on how much notice you are given for your flight cancellation:

  • If your flight is cancelled more than 14 days in advance then you are NOT entitled to financial compensation on top of your refund or rerouting
  • If your flight is cancelled between 7 and 14 days in advance then you only receive compensation if your alternative flight leaves more than two hours before the scheduled departure time or arrives more than four hours later than the scheduled arrival time
  • If your flight is cancelled within 7 days of departure you only receive compensation if your alternative flight leaves more than one hour before the scheduled departure time or arrives more than two hours later than the scheduled arrival time

You should note that being rebooked on an EARLIER flight still entitles you to compensation in certain circumstances. The rules reflect the fact that, whilst you will arrive at your destination earlier than planned, you may have been inconvenienced by having to leave your departure city earlier.

The exact amount of compensation you are eligible for varies on the length of the delay and the distance you are flying. Remember that you receive no money if your flight was cancelled over 14 days in advance and, even within 14 days, you will receive no money if your new flight has only modest time changes.

The level of compensation is outlined in Article 7:

Article 7: Right to compensation

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to:

(a) EUR 250 for all flights of 1,500 kilometres or less;

(b) EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1 500 and 3,500 kilometres;

(c) EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b)

Since Brexit, these limits have been switched to fixed Sterling equivalents although, on flights to/from the EU, you are likely to be paid the EUR levels above – British Airways is still doing so.

The compensation is halved if you accept a re-route to your final destination and the delay is under two hours for shorter flights or under four hours for longer ones. If you are re-routed on an earlier flight, your compensation will therefore be automatically halved because you did not arrive late.

It is important to note that the airline is only liable for compensation if the cause of the cancellation is the airline’s fault. If, for example, you are delayed due to bad weather conditions (or, in the case of Rob’s wife last week, Air Traffic Control issues) then you are not eligible for compensation but you are entitled to hotel and other costs.

It is not unknown for airlines to issue untruthful statements about why a certain flight was delayed. Legal precedents in recent years have substantially narrowed the list of reasons which are acceptable as being out of the control of the airline – the unavailability of spare parts, spare crew or spare aircraft is not a valid excuse.

If your flight is delayed ….

You may be eligible for compensation and care if your flight is delayed. In Article 6, a delay is defined as:

  • 2 or more hours late from scheduled time of departure for routes of less than 1,500km
  • 3 or more hours late from scheduled time of departure for for all flights within the EU over 1,500km and all flights between 1,500km and 3,500km
  • 4 or more hours late from scheduled time of departure for all other routes – ie all flights over 3,500km long.

If your flight qualifies as delayed then the airline has a duty of care to you, which includes reasonable meals and refreshments as well as overnight accommodation and transport between the airport and hotel. You are also entitled to two free phone calls, telex (!) or fax (!) messages.

If your flight is delayed by 5 hours or more then the airline must give you the option to cancel your flight and receive a refund.

EU261 does not specify financial compensation payments for delayed arrivalshave a read here. EU261 only covers (as per Article 1.1):

  • denied boarding
  • flight cancellation
  • non-financial compensation for delayed departure

Compensation for delayed arrivals is based on the 2009 legal cases of Sturgeon v Condor and Bock v Air France. The court decided that the law was wrong to pay compensation for late arrival due to a re-routing but not due to late arrival of an operating flight. For delayed flights you will receive:

  • €250 for an arrival delay of 3+ hours on a flight of up to 1,500km
  • €400 for an arrival delay of 3+ hours on a flight of 1,500km – 3,000km
  • €300 for an arrival delay of 3-4 hours, and €600 beyond that, on a flight of 3,500+ km

The arrival time is based on the time that the aircraft doors are opened. This is not stated in the regulations but was decided by the 2014 case of Germanwings v Ronny Henning.

If you have a connecting flight on the same ticket, the delay is judged by the time you arrived at your final destination. If a 30 minute arrival delay on your first flight means that your connection is missed and you eventually arrive over three hours late, you have a valid claim.

If your baggage is lost or delayed ….

Unlike for delay or cancellation, there are no fixed rules for what you are entitled to if your airline loses or delays your baggage. For this reason, you should always travel with a strong insurance policy.

The Montreal Convention provides certain protections but, unlike EU261 these are far less specific. According to Article 19, “The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage or cargo.”

Your entitlement is outlined in Article 22:

“In the carriage of baggage, the liability of the carrier in the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay is limited to 1,000 Special Drawing Rights for each passenger”

The only exception is when you have made a ‘special declaration of interest in delivery at destination’ and paid any associated charge.

(Because the Montreal Convention is an international declaration all reimbursement rights are given in ‘Special Drawing Rights’ which can be converted to your local currency. 1,000 SDR is approximately £1,115.)

Most airlines will cover you for any essentials you need to buy when your bag is delayed, including toiletries and essential clothes. However, there is no fixed list of what is eligible and what isn’t. For example, if you are going to a wedding, a suit or dress may be eligible even though it might not otherwise be considered essential by the airline.

Because your rights are so wishy-washy, it is always best to have a good insurance policy which will have much clearer claim rules.

Note that a bag is considered permanently lost if it has not arrived within 21 days of the original scheduled time of arrival.

If you want to discuss a specific case, we have a ‘Flight changes and cancellations help’ board in the HfP forums here.

PS. You should obviously take independent legal advice if necessary, and should not rely on anything written above. Remember that the many additions to EU261 which have been set by legal precedent since 2004 are not written into the official wording.

Comments (201)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Cat says:

    ‘For flights arriving from outside the UK/EU, you only qualify for compensation if you are flying on a UK/EU airline. American Airlines flights to London do not qualify, but British Airways flights do.’

    I have return flights booked with American Airlines from London to San Jose, CR. Does this mean that EU261 applies on the way out, but not on the return leg?

    Thanks all!

  • Andrew says:

    Anyone experience with expired 2-4-1 vouchers and cancelled flights?

    I’ve requested a full refund as I couldn’t make the alternative flight (next day), flights were cancelled with three weeks notice.
    But I used two 2-4-1 avios vouchers (4 of us were travelling) which are now past their expiry date ( both would have expired before the flight was cancelled if I hadn’t used them on this flight), the lady on the phone said I couldn’t get those refunded/extended.

    • meta says:

      You requested a refund, no further obligation unless you can prove that they have not informed you of all your rights under Article 15.

      In regards to expired though luck, same as cash. If the inflation was so high that your refunded cash was worthless, it’s not airlines’ problem.

      You should have insisted either on re-route at a later date or departing on the same day with another airline.

  • G says:

    The airlines will do all they can to wriggle out of paying for delays. We were over three hours late flying into Heathrow and our airline has refused to pay out blaming baggage as an exceptional circumstance whereas others left almost on time.

    • Lady London says:

      Not a chance.
      LBA them, then MCOL them

      Simply not worth wasting time with an airline that can’t come up with even a vaguely credible lie

  • Martyn says:

    Very interesting. I had a return through ticket Spain to Germany via LHR returning Germany to Spain via LHR. Had original return flights from Germany cancelled 4 days out. Accepted the rebooking offer for a flight a day later. This was then cancelled within 24hrs of accepting it. I was then offered flights to Spain via LYC which the following day again. Getting to Spain 2 days later than originally booked. Received no help or offer of hotel, food, phone call etc. Despite calling every customer care help line. Just told to claim back expenses. What do you think I am likely to be entitled too? Because the options listed appear to deal only with delays on the day. Thank you for your time.

    • wolf says:

      All reasonable food, (non alcoholic) drink, accommodation and travel expenses that wouldn’t have been needed if you’d left on time. with receipts. so everything during that 2 day period

      • meta says:

        BA will pay out for alcohol if it is reasonable amount. I think this no alcohol things comes for the fact that some people have tried to claim a night out in the bar, but one or two drinks with a meal will not be a problem.

        • Niall says:

          Your assumption of where it came from isn’t accurate for my experience. I claimed for a delay from Glasgow to London maybe 4 years ago and all expenses apart from 2 glasses of wine (1 each) with a meal were refunded.

          Perhaps it was just a fussy agent, but it definitely wasn’t a night out and was in the hotel restaurant!

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    I bought a ticket on aa.com that included a segment on Iberia Regional (Air Nostrum) originally the segment was booked on an AA codeshare but the flight was cancelled and when I rebooked it was on an IB code.

    Online check-in didn’t work so I went to the airport 3 hours before departure and the check-in staff couldn’t see my booking. No ticket desk for either AA or IB so I was told I need to call AA to sort it out. After a while on hold and them trying to sort things out eventually the check in closed and so I missed the flight.

    AA refused to book me on a flight by another carrier which was the only option to catch up with my connection and keep my itinerary. So I paid it myself.

    I tried to make a claim with AA but they said contact IB. IB said it’s a AA ticket so you have to claim with them. I went back to AA and no reply.

    Who do I need to pursue this with? To me it looks like AA issued the ticket incorrectly and so Iberia couldn’t see it on their systems.

    • Ls says:

      It sounds like you weren’t ticketed. There is no obligation under current rules for any compensation in this scenario, which only kicks in for ticketed flights.

      For the original ticket, assuming it was a through ticket from America with an AA number, this is not covered by EC261

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        It’s a weird situation there was definitely a ticket (I had a ticket number) but it seems no PNR was issued for Iberia for their leg. It was a TP run and the next airline I was connecting to was BA. The confirmation email had a PNR for BA and of course the main AA one. The person I got through to on the phone originally said my booking was fine and then gave me a different PNR for Iberia which was different to any on my emails I went back to the desk and gave it to them but they couldn’t see my booking. I typed this PNR into the Iberia app and it showed only the Iberia flight on the return leg (and the flight it was connecting from)

        • Lady London says:

          Hey @Save East Coast Rewards if @StillintheSun says this I would do this. In case you missed it, @StillitheSun did a blinding set of posts on the Creation Bashing thread as to the legal niceties of tackling Creation who have been very difficult.

          Iberia tried to put me in a similar position with the first leg of my flights to US from Europe also being on Air Nostrum which they messed around. I knew I’d be in the same position as you on the day at the airport which is why I refused and landed my IB account with -90,000 miles but it was worth it to avoid the mdr Iberia wanted to put me in.

    • StillintheSun says:

      Did you pay for your ticket with a credit card? Did it cost over £100? If the answer is yes to both and you have no immediate luck with AA, contact your credit card company, send them your complaint letter and AA reply and say that AA are in breach of contract in failing to ticket and that you want the credit card to reimburse you the cost of the replacement flight. They should pay up under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act and then go after AA. Which magazine and Citizens Advice website should have some info on this.

  • MKB says:

    Data point:

    Flight from Gothenburg to Heathrow on BA on a Sunday evening was cancelled with >14 days’ notice, so we accepted a move to the Monday morning flight, the next direct service between those cities, asking the telephone agent to note this was an involuntary change.

    Afterwards, I submitted a letter requesting hotel and meal expenses for the extra night with receipts and citing the relevant EC261 (not EU261) Articles. I made clear I understood I was not entitled to compensation as the required notice had been given. This was a succinct legalistic letter with no complaints or emotive language. I gave BA 28 days to respond, as per their T&Cs. I sent it via recorded delivery to BA’s registered office, not via their webform for expense claims.

    Three weeks later, BA emailed to say they were transferring the money claimed to my bank account and, to my very pleasant surprise, giving each passenger 10,000 Avios “for our disappointment”. (At no stage did I express disappointment.)

  • Brian78 says:

    For context, Ryanair have only cancelled 7% of their flights over the same period that BA have cancelled 18%.

    I’m no fan of Ryanair but they’ve done a gone job over recent months

    • Marcw says:

      Ryanair is excellently managed – seems like they know how to run an airline. It’s pretty obvious.

      • Michael Jennings says:

        Ryanair have cut costs and increased output for those costs way beyond what any other airline has does. A large part of how they have done this by becoming really, really, operationally efficient. At times like these, being really good at operations is what you need.

        • JDB says:

          It’s an awful lot easier to be operationally efficient if you are not an old network carrier, with a large complex route network that requires many different aircraft types/crews. Southwest is far more efficient that the big three international US carriers. Legacy flag carriers have either gone bust (e.g. Swissair, Sabena, Alitalia, Olympic & now SAS) or continue to struggle like BA, AF/KL, LH with legacy IT, restrictive staff practices, legacy pensions problems, congested hub airports etc.

          • Marcw says:

            What about easyjet?

            Also, IB is an ,”old network carrier” and is not every week in the newspaper with delays and cancellations.

          • Brian78 says:

            “legacy IT”

            Should have upgraded when times were good rather than trying to do things on the cheaper

          • Michael Jennings says:

            Oh sure. But Ryanair are particularly good at it. easyJet not quite as much.

      • Brian78 says:

        BA can rightly complain about challenging conditions etc but they’ve been allowing people to book flights that they know can’t be fulfilled. Disgusting.

        • Rhys says:

          A lot of the problems are now at Heathrow, which has been asking airlines to consolidate schedules

          • JDB says:

            @Rhys I don’t think that is strictly correct and BA has cancelled as many of not more flights % wise at LGW. I believe it is correct to say that LHR has been asking airlines to be realistic as to what services they are actually in a position to operate, because the fallout from last minute cancellations affects them badly as well as passengers. LHR did use its powers to instruct BA to cancel some flights on one particular day, but it is rare.

          • Brian78 says:

            There were problems before Heathrow asked for the consolidation weren’t there?

  • Michael Jennings says:

    A couple of weeks ago, my IBZ-LCY flight on a Tuesday evening (booked using Avios) got cancelled. BA initially offered me a routing the next morning to LHR via Mallorca, but I checked the schedules and was able to find a routing on Tuesday evening that took me to Heathrow via Madrid, leaving 50 minutes before my originally schedule departure and arriving one hour and 50 minutes after my originally scheduled arrival at City. I called BA and they were helpful and put me on the flights I requested.

    With respect to compensation when rerouted, this was slightly curious given that I was 10 minutes short of the necessary change for full compensation in terms of my departure time and scheduled arrival time.

    The flight was about 40 minutes late getting to the arrival gate at Heathrow, so my overall situation was:

    – Left IBZ 50 minutes before my original scheduled departure time
    – Scheduled to arrive at LHR 1 hour and 50 mins after my originally scheduled arrival time at LCY.
    – Actually arrived at LHR 2 hours and 30 minutes after my scheduled arrival time at LCY.

    I can see creative arguments as to why I wasn’t entitled to full compensation, but in any event BA gave it to me without complaint.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      Oh yes. the final thing is that although it was an Avios redemption, I received Avios and Tier points on the IBZ-MAD leg on Iberia, although not for the MAD-LHR leg on BA. I suspect this was a mistake.

      • Gordon says:

        Yes quite a few people have had this. Inc my return flight LHR to SIN on a 2-4-1 voucher in both directions. Now only 40 Tier points away from Silver status. It’s something to do with changing a redemption booking as it appears to go back in the system as a cash booking. I did hear about someone claiming for their OH because they did not get it and BA retracted the avios and tier points of the person they were awarded to instead, Opps…So we better not shout about it.

        • AJA says:

          Yes if you get Avios and TP for an award flight keep quiet and treat it as a bonus.

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