EU261 is a regulation that entitles you to up to 600 euros of compensation if your qualifying European flight is delayed three hours or more. It applies to Europe’s foreign visitors and residents alike.
While that sounds great in theory, the policy is complicated, and airlines are often reluctant to pay.
Luckily, we’ve decoded the legalese to spell out which flights qualify, what compensation is due for delays, and how to get what you're owed!
. . .
What Is EU261?
“EU261” is an informal term for Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, air travel legislation enacted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2005.
The regulation defines the minimum levels of assistance and compensation you’re entitled to if you’re denied boarding or are affected by long delays or cancellations of qualifying EU flights.
. . .
Which flights are covered by EU261?
A flight covered by EU261 either:
- Departs from within the EU
- Arrives in the EU and is operated by an EU airline
For this legislation, “EU” refers to EU member countries, certain territories, and three non-EU countries:
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden
- The Azores, the Canary Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint-Martin (French Antilles)
- Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland
A flight’s operating airline is the airline that flies the plane, which may not be the airline that sold the flight.
This distinction can be important if you bought the flight from a non-EU airline but the operating airline is EU, or vice versa.
Here are some examples of flights that would or wouldn’t be covered by EU261:
Departure | Arrival | Airline | EU261? |
---|---|---|---|
New York | Paris | Air France | Yes |
New York | Paris | Delta Air Lines | No |
London | Dublin | Ryanair | Yes |
Dubai | London | Emirates | No |
Berlin | Istanbul | Turkish Airlines | Yes |
Istanbul | Berlin | Turkish Airlines | No |
Singapore | Amsterdam | KLM | Yes |
Singapore | Denpasar (Indonesia) | KLM | No |
EU261 Delay Care, Compensation, and Reimbursement
EU261 compensation may consist of:
- Care you receive while waiting for a delayed departure
- Payments for the inconvenience of arriving late to your destination
- Reimbursement or rerouting for particularly long delays
The same rights apply to all passengers, regardless of cabin class.
Care
You’re usually entitled to free meals, refreshments, and two phone calls, emails, or faxes if your EU261-covered flight is:
- 1,500 km or less and delayed at departure by at least two hours
- Over 1,500 km, delayed at departure by at least three hours, and flying within the EU
- 1,500 to 3,000 km, delayed at departure by at least three hours, and departing from or arriving outside the EU
- Any other flight delayed at departure by at least four hours
The airline must also provide a hotel stay if your flight is delayed until the day after its originally scheduled departure time.
However, an airline may not be required to provide you with care if it would further delay the flight. For example:
- If a flight that was supposed to depart at 11 p.m. is delayed until 2 a.m., the airline can skip the hotel accommodation.
- If a delayed flight becomes ready for boarding as its staff is about to distribute meal vouchers, the airline may withhold the vouchers and board passengers.
If the airline doesn’t provide care during qualifying delays, save your receipts for “necessary, reasonable, and appropriate” food, lodging, ground transport, and communication services, so you can request reimbursement later.
Not all airlines disclose what they consider “reasonable” meal or hotel costs in print, and customer service representatives usually avoid giving specific guidelines. But they will likely reimburse around 30 euros for food and 150 euros for a hotel, per person per day.
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. . .
Compensation
You’re entitled to financial compensation if your qualifying flight reaches your final destination at least three hours after its scheduled arrival time, including tarmac delays.
A plane is considered to have arrived when one of its doors opens and you can disembark.
Compensation varies by flight distance and location:
Flight distance (km) | Airport locations | Compensation (€) |
---|---|---|
1,500 or less | Any qualifying | 250 |
Over 1,500 | Entirely within the EU | 400 |
1,500 to 3,500 | Any qualifying | 400 |
Over 3,500 | Includes non-EU | 600 |
If you accept an alternative flight that arrives at its final destination later than your original flight’s scheduled arrival time, the airline must compensate you as follows:
Delay length | Flight distance (km) | Airport locations | Compensation (€) |
---|---|---|---|
Up to 2 hours | 1,500 or less | Any qualifying | 125 |
Up to 3 hours | Over 1,500 | Entirely within the EU | 200 |
Up to 3 hours | 1,500 to 3,500 | Any qualifying | 200 |
Up to 4 hours | Over 3,500 | Includes non-EU | 300 |
The airline isn’t obligated to compensate you if it can prove the delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.”
Examples of these circumstances include:
- Disruptive weather
- A terror attack or war outbreak
- A labor strike outside the airline’s control, like an air traffic controller strike
If the delay’s cause was preventable — like an internal company strike or a mechanical failure caused by improper maintenance — the airline is on the hook for compensation, which it can pay in hard currency, by bank transfer, or by check.
Alternatively, you can agree to receive a travel voucher or air miles — but unless you know you’ll redeem your miles strategically, cash is best.
Reimbursement or rerouting
When your flight’s departure is delayed by at least five hours, you can choose to receive one of the following:
- A refund of your ticket and, if you have a connecting itinerary, a return flight to your original departure airport
- Another flight to your final destination at a date and time of your choice
Refunds must be issued within seven days of the delay and include used itinerary portions — like the first leg of a multi-flight itinerary — if the delay prevented you from fulfilling your original reason for traveling.
How To Claim EU261 Compensation for Flight Delays
Step 1: Take a photo showing the delay on the airport’s flight information display system and ask the airline’s staff what’s causing it. The reason will determine whether you’re entitled to expense reimbursement and financial compensation.
Step 2: Record the flight’s precise departure and arrival times for your records.
Step 3: Gather information and documentation you may need to submit a claim. This may include:
- The flight number, operating airline, reservation code, and departure, arrival, and connecting airports. These should appear on your boarding pass.
- Personal details (name, address, and contact info) for you and other passengers from your booking
- Clear receipt photos showing expenses you incurred during the delay
Step 4: Check if the airline has an automated process online for filing claims by googling “[operating airline name] delayed flight claim form.” An airline may have one form for submitting compensation, care reimbursement, and ticket refund claims — or separate forms for each.
Be aware that some airlines, like Ryanair, have notoriously buggy online claim forms seemingly designed to discourage you.
Step 5: If you can’t find an airline’s automated claim system or it isn’t working properly, fill out this Air Passenger Rights complaint form and send it by email or registered mail to the airline’s customer service department.
Step 6: If you don’t get a response within two months of your submission or the response fails to fulfill the airline’s legal obligations, it’s time to escalate your claim.
Modify section 9 of your complaint form to indicate you already submitted it to the airline, and attach copies of any related airline correspondence.
Then send your modified form to the national enforcement body for the EU country where your flight arrived or departed. If your itinerary included multiple EU countries, submit it to your flight’s departure country.
Response times vary depending on the enforcement body processing your complaint. An investigation by the Cyprus Department of Civil Aviation, for example, takes up to nine months.
How Does EU Flight Delay Compensation Compare?
Although the claim process has room for improvement, a 2018 study of EU261 by Loughborough University concluded that “the EU mechanism affords the clearest and most comprehensive air passenger rights protection in the world.”
By comparison, U.S. flight delay policies are limited. While the U.S. Department of Transportation requires airlines to provide ticket refunds for flights delayed over three hours, delay care and compensation policies are decided by the airlines themselves.
And no major U.S. airline guarantees financial compensation to passengers inconvenienced by domestic flight delays.
. . .
How Else Can You Get Flight Delay Compensation?
EU261 is generous relative to other flight delay regulations. But there are many scenarios when it won’t cover your financial bases during a European flight delay:
- Not all European flights qualify.
- Airlines arbitrarily define which delay expenses are “reasonable.”
- Unavoidable delays aren’t compensable.
- Its maximum €600 payout may not cover the full cost of prepaid hotels, car rentals, and activities you miss out on due to a long flight delay.
You can fill those gaps by buying a travel insurance policy that bundles trip delay and other recommended coverages, like travel medical insurance.
Particularly comprehensive plans, like OneTrip Premier from Allianz Travel Insurance, provide up to $1,600 of travel delay coverage, including prepaid expenses, for delays over three hours. Covered delays include extraordinary circumstances that don’t qualify under EU261.
Just keep in mind that those exhaustive plans with high coverage limits and low minimum delay periods tend to be pricey.
Before deciding on a policy, compare it with a few other options using a travel insurance marketplace like VisitorsCoverage or SquareMouth.
You might be able to find a more affordable plan with coverage levels you’re still comfortable with.
Alternatively, some credit cards with travel insurance include trip delay coverage. But the minimum required delay before their coverage kicks in is typically longer than what you can get from a separate travel insurance policy, and their coverage limits are often lower, too.
For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card provides up to $500 in trip delay coverage, but it only kicks in for delays that last over 12 hours or require an overnight stay.
Upgrading to its luxury sibling card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, provides the same amount of coverage for six-hour delays.
Neither card’s policy covers prepaid expenses, but both cover delays caused by unavoidable events like bad weather.
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. . .
FAQs About EU261
Does EU261 apply to UK flights?
The United Kingdom (UK) is no longer part of EU261’s jurisdiction.
However, UK flight delay compensation laws are similar to the EU’s and apply to flights that:
- Depart from a UK airport
- Arrive at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline
- Arrive at an EU airport on a UK airline
What’s the EU261 time limit for filing claims?
The time limit for filing an EU261 claim depends on the laws of the EU261 member states your flight departed from or arrived at.
Your claim-filing window may be as short as one year if you flew to or from a country like Belgium. If you flew to or from Cyprus, however, there’s no time limit for filing a claim.
Can I apply for multiple flight delay payouts if my itinerary included the EU and other jurisdictions?
EU261 compensation doesn’t apply if you’ve already received benefits for a delayed flight “under the relevant law of a non-EU country.”
Other jurisdictions with similarly generous flight delay policies, like Canada, also void compensation rights if you’ve already received benefits under another country’s rules.
If a delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstances,” do I still have a right to care under EU261?
Yes. Though an airline isn’t required to provide financial compensation for delays caused by extraordinary circumstances under EU261, it’s generally obligated to provide care — like meals — while you wait for a significantly delayed flight, no matter the delay’s cause.
TL;DR: Claiming EU261 Flight Delay Compensation
EU261 is one of the strongest passenger protection regulations in the world. It grants you financial compensation for delays and cancellations on EU routes and airlines.
How much you can get depends on how long the delay was and how far you were flying. But in general, if you were delayed at least two hours and departing from within the EU, you’re entitled to something.
Know your rights, document the delay, and don’t hesitate to file your claim!

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Michael Dempster is a writer and editor who covers personal finance, travel, LGBT issues, fashion, sports, and healthcare. His clients include adidas, Haaretz, ConsumerAffairs, Retirement Living, and Money Under 30.
Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.