Flight cancellation is never a pleasant experience. But even if you do experience a flight disruption of such kind, there is some good news for you: as long as the airline cancelled your flight and informed you about it less than 14 days before the scheduled departure date, you could be entitled to compensation from the airline. The amount of compensation can be up to €600.
But let’s get to the basics. So basically – what should you do if your flight was cancelled? And what actions to avoid?
1. Replacement flight or a refund – it’s up to you
If your flight is announced as cancelled earlier than on the day of departure, the airline should contact you to offer another flight or a full refund – it is totally up to you to decide which option you should take. If you are informed about the flight cancellation just before departure, a local airline representative should be waiting for you either at check-in or, if you already reached the boarding area, next to the gate.
When deciding between taking another flight or getting a refund, it is worth remembering that you won’t keep the right to care (more about this below) you’ll choose the latter option. That’s because of your relationship with the airline ends at the moment you make this decision.
But under the circumstances when the flight is cancelled due to the airlines' fault and the only option for another flight they gave you is obviously unreasonable, you can take a refund and claim cancelled flight compensation.
2. Ask for care – or take care of yourself
And even if you agree to take another flight – which could be hours or even days later – you immediately gain the right to airline’s care. The care includes all the basics specified in Regulation (EC) 261/2004, which should make the whole situation a little more bearable. By that, we mean your right to:
Two telephone calls
Two faxes or e-mails
Meals & Drinks
Although, you may be directed to a hotel if your next flight is not about to depart in the next few hours and you’ll have to wait overnight.
Accommodation if you need to wait overnight
Transportation between the hotel and the airport
Usually, a representative of the airline should wait to take care of you at the check-in counter or next to the gate – and is legally obliged to state you all the rights you have in the event of a flight cancellation. In such a situation, it is really not that usual to provide food vouchers and other coupons.
We should remind you that you should take the hotel provided by the airline. And if the air carrier does not provide you with any, you are free to choose the most reasonable option. It means that the airline will be obliged to cover your accommodation, transportation, food and communication expenses as long as they are made with common sense.
Any airline should cover your expenses for a two or three-star hotel near the airport without additional disputes, if you provide the receipts to them when you ask for a refund (if they don’t, reach out to us).
Your transportation to and from the airport is also refundable.
3. Get it right: is it a cancellation or a delay?
So your flight is not about to leave as planned this morning. You were informed that instead you will have to leave just before midnight after a prolonged period of uncertainty and you couldn’t even see the plane through the airport window. So… even if you are about to board totally different aircraft after the whole day of hopeful – or not so hopeful – waiting and even if you can swear that you did see a ‘cancelled’ sign next to your destination… it still doesn’t mean that it’s the flight cancellation you were dealing with.
It’s worth mentioning that this technicality applies to disrupted flights not only in the European Union but also in the majority of other countries worldwide.
The thing here is pretty simple: even if a flight seems to be cancelled and you are about to leave on another plane, but your initial departure date did not change and flight number remains the same, your flight doesn’t count as cancelled, but as delayed.
In that situation everything we told you before about delayed flights and claiming compensation applies.
4. Do not forget to consider every option
It is not unusual that in the event of a flight cancellation bigger carriers operating busy routes can offer you an alternative flight which departs earlier than your initial one. And even though this way your flight disruption does not seem like a major inconvenience, you can still claim cancelled flight compensation.
But in this case - if the cancellation happened due to the airline’s fault - you are legally entitled to 50% of the original amount of compensation.
5. How much compensation for a cancelled flight?
The original amount of cancelled flight compensation specified in Regulation (EC) 261/2004 depends on your flight distance.
Up to 1500 km
Relatively short hops of up to 1500 km are worth:
€250
From 1500 km to 3500 km
If your flight was from 1500 km to 3500 km long, you can get:
€400
More than 3500 km
If your flight was over 3500 km in length, your compensation can be up to:
€600
6. How to get compensation for a cancelled flight?
So your flight was cancelled, you got an alternative flight, refund or decided to choose another option. Still, after your journey is over, you are still asking yourself: “How can I claim compensation for a cancelled flight?” Well, we have a perfect solution for you: just claim your compensation via Skycop. If your flight is eligible for flight compensation, we will get it for you. Up to €600 in compensation for your cancelled flight could be waiting for you – just fill in our claim form and we’ll take care of the rest!
Related articles:
7 Things To Do When Your Flight Is Delayed
Flight delay compensation calculator
5 Essential Travel Gadgets for Every Trip
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