EC261: European Union Flight Delay Compensation Explained

The European Union has the most consumer friendly policies when it comes to what passengers are entitled to in the event that their flight is significantly delayed or canceled. For example, if your long haul flight is delayed by at least four hours, you could be entitled to 600 Euro cash, which is huge. In this post, I’d like to go over everything you need to know about how this policy works.

What is EC261 flight delay compensation?

Regulation EC261/2004 (EC261 for short, though often incorrectly referred to as EU261) is the European Union’s official rule that dictates what airlines owe passengers in the event of flight delays or cancelations. This can include everything from cash compensation, to hotels, to meal vouchers. This is truly the most generous protection you’ll find anywhere in the world when it comes to airline passenger rights.

Europe flight delay compensation basics

Under what circumstances are you entitled to compensation in Europe if your flight is delayed or canceled? As you might expect, this can be difficult to understand at times, since rules differ based on the airline you’re flying with, the cause of the delay, etc. In this post I’ll go over all the details.

Which airlines & countries are covered by EC261?

EC261 rules apply in the following situations:

• If you are traveling from a European Union airport on any airline
• If you are traveling to a European Union airport on a European Union-based airline

In other words:

• If you’re flying from Frankfurt to Newark, EC261 would apply regardless of whether you’re traveling with Lufthansa or United
• If you’re flying from Newark to Frankfurt, EC261 would only apply on Lufthansa, and not on United (since United isn’t a European Union-based airline)

A few more things to note:

• Even though Norway and Switzerland aren’t in the European Union, EC261 applies for these countries as well; furthermore, the United Kingdom has separate rules that are almost identical to EC261
• You’re only eligible for EC261 coverage if you have a confirmed reservation, and are traveling on a revenue or award ticket (in other words, staff travel or other industrial discount tickets don’t qualify)
• Frustratingly, EC261 doesn’t apply if you’re merely connecting in the European Union between two other destinations; for example, it wouldn’t apply to a New York to Paris to Johannesburg itinerary

How much money is EC261 compensation?

The amount of cash compensation you’re entitled to under EC261 varies based on the length of the flight… sort of:

• If your flight covers a distance of under 1,500km (930 miles), you’re entitled to 250 Euro compensation if you’re delayed by at least three hours
• If your flight covers a distance of 1,500-3,500km (930-2,200 miles), you’re entitled to 400 Euro compensation if you’re delayed by at least three hours
• If your flight covers a distance of over 3,500km (2,200 miles), you’re entitled to 600 Euro compensation if you’re delayed by at least four hours

So as you can see, the longer the flight, the longer the delay has to be in order to get compensated. However, you’re also potentially going to get more compensation. There are a couple more details to be aware of:

• A delay is calculated based on the time that you arrive at your gate and the doors open, rather than based on when you touch down at your destination
• Furthermore, the delay is calculated based on how late you reach your final destination; if you’re flying from Berlin to Frankfurt to New York, and your Berlin to Frankfurt flight is delayed by an hour and causes you to miss your connecting flight and arrive in New York at least four hours late, you’d be entitled to cash compensation

Which delays qualify for EC261 compensation?

If you’re looking for compensation through EC261, you’re entitled to that for any delay or cancelation that isn’t due to “extraordinary circumstances.” The issue is that this can be a bit of a gray area, and airlines have been known to play games. That’s because what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” isn’t explicitly defined.

As a general rule of thumb:

• Weather delays, air traffic control delays, delays due to strikes outside the airline, delays due to political instability, diversions due to medical issues or unruly passengers, etc., would be considered extraordinary circumstances, so EC261 compensation wouldn’t apply
• A mechanical problem, a late inbound aircraft, a crew related delay, a strike directly at the airline, etc., wouldn’t be considered extraordinary circumstances, so EC261 compensation would apply

Do flight cancelations qualify for EC261 compensation?

Not only does the above compensation apply if your flight is delayed, but it also applies if it’s canceled. EC261 compensation applies in the event that your flight is canceled within 14 days of departure. If your flight is canceled further out than that, then the compensation wouldn’t apply.

Furthermore, as is the case with delays, extraordinary circumstances are excluded from being eligible for compensation.

How do you claim EC261 compensation?

Claiming EC261 compensation is potentially the tricky part, as airlines often do everything in their power to get out of paying this compensation. There are two general ways you can approach this:

• You can contact the airline to try to claim EC261 compensation, and some airlines have forms on their websites through which this can be done
• You can use a third party service that helps consumers with this, though they usually take a significant cut; I’ve never used one of these so can’t personally vouch for any, but you can easily find them online

I’d always recommend doing everything in your power to request the compensation directly, so you can keep the entire amount. If you’re going to claim EC261 compensation, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• This isn’t something you need to do at the airport, so don’t take this up with airport staff, but rather take it up with customer relations after the fact
• I’d recommend keeping as much documentation as possible, including taking pictures of the flight status page reflecting the delay, keeping boarding passes, etc.
• Expect that airlines may try to do everything in their power to get out of paying this compensation; this can include claiming that there were “extraordinary circumstances,” just not responding for a long time, etc.

Does EC261 cover hotels & meals?

Not only does EC261 offer cash compensation in the event of a delay or cancelation, but it also offers passengers other forms of assistance, including:

• Hotel accommodation in the event of an overnight delay, including transport to and from the hotel
• Meals and refreshments
• Two telephone calls or emails

This should be offered proactively in the event of a significant delay or cancelation. There’s no promise of how efficiently any of this will be offered, though. For example, if you have a flight canceled at an outstation (non-hub airport), you might have two agents trying to work on hotels for hundreds of passengers, which could take hours. So be prepared to be patient.

What’s also nice is that the duty of care applies even if the delay or cancelation is due to extraordinary circumstances. So if your flight is delayed overnight due to weather, you’d still be owed a hotel room and meals.

What about delayed & lost bags with EC261?

EC261 doesn’t directly dictate what compensation is required for delayed and lost bags. Instead, the Montreal Convention sets minimum standards for compensation in these regards. Generally speaking:

• You’re limited to $1,700 in compensation in the event of lost luggage
• You can be reimbursed for necessary expenses due to delayed luggage, though you’ll only be reimbursed at the rate of 50% for things you can continue to use (like clothes), while toiletries and single-use items will be reimbursed at 100%
• Airlines have a lot of discretion regarding what they consider reasonable and necessary expenses

Some countries have more generous policies than that. For example, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations are more generous for flights involving the United States. Under those rules, you can be compensated up to $3,800 for lost bags on domestic flights, and you can also be fully reimbursed for necessary expenses due to lost bags (rather than just 50% for items you can reuse, under EC261 regulations).

Should EC261 compensation impact how you plan travel?

As I said, EC261 is the most consumer friendly government regulations out there when it comes to flight delays and cancelations. In the United States, airlines can delay your flight by 12 hours or cancel your flight, and you’re entitled to exactly zero dollars compensation. So it’s great to see that in at least some part of the world there’s some protection for consumers.

EC261 compensation certainly makes me feel less frustrated in situations where my flight is delayed or canceled. But I think there’s also an interesting angle here in general, which might put consumers at ease.

Many European airports have unrealistically short minimum connection times, and then they encourage passengers to book very short connections. Often people will misconnect, though perhaps one silver lining here is that you could end up getting EC261 compensation.

As mentioned above, the length of the delay is measured based on how late you arrive at your final destination. Say you’re flying Lufthansa from Chicago to Munich to Berlin with a 45 minute connection. If your Chicago to Munich flight is delayed by an hour (causing you to misconnect), and you end up being rebooked on another flight that gets you to Berlin more than four hours late, you’d be entitled to 600 Euro cash compensation.

That certainly takes the sting out of misconnecting a bit…

Are changes coming to EC261 regulations?

While nothing has officially been decided on yet, it’s worth noting that the European Union is planning changes to EC261 regulations. A majority of transport ministers in the European Union support EC261 reform, though nothing has been unanimously agreed upon.

No matter what reform we do see, it seems likely that it’ll be less generous than the current policies. For one example, one proposal calls on a maximum of 500 Euro compensation for long haul flights, and that only being triggered by a delay at least six hours.

We’ll see what comes of this, and I’ll be sure to report back if there’s any final decision.

Bottom line

The European Union has the most consumer friendly rules that you’ll find anywhere in the world when it comes to flight delays and cancelations. Under EU rules, you’re entitled to 600 Euro in cash compensation in the event that you’re traveling long haul and arrive at your destination at least four hours behind schedule.

While there are some terms to be aware of, in many ways the rules are as good as they sound. Actually getting an airline to pay, especially in a timely manner, could be a different story, though.

Hopefully the above is a useful rundown of how EC261 works. While there’s a bit more nuance, I tried to strike the right balance between keeping this brief and easy, and being thorough.

Have you ever been able to get EC261 compensation? If so, what was your experience like?