Flight cancellations are annoying, especially if they are last-minute.
A last-minute flight cancellation can completely destroy your travel plans. Even more so if you have more than one flight in your itinerary, and everything’s booked and paid for in advance. However, when it comes to flight cancellations in the UK (and in the EU), there are some very good news — you are protected by law. All passengers are protected by law.
All thanks to the Regulation UK261 and EU Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.
When things go wrong, yout airline has to take care of you.
1. Last-Minute Flight Cancellation
When your airline cancels a flight, it has to take care of you.
There are specific rules regarding that.
- If you have to wait long at the airport, you have a right to care from your airline. Sometimes you will get a coupon for a free meal, other times — a free hotel stay and a free transfer to the hotel and afterwards back to the airport.
- If you aren’t taking the new flight (which the airline has to offer you free of charge), you have a right to receive a full refund for the cancelled flight. It can be a direct transfer to your bank account or a refundable voucher.
- As long as it’s a last-minute flight cancellation, it has happened not more than 2 weeks before the date of departure, and it’s due to the fault of your airline. That includes technical problems with aircraft. In these situations, you can claim UK flight cancellation compensation.
It applies to flights to and from the UK and EU.
- If it’s a UK airline, it applies to all flights to and from the UK and EU.
- If it’s a EU airline, it applies only to flights to and from the UK. On the rest of the flights you’re protected by the EU regulation EC261/2004.
- If it’s a non-UK, non-EU airline, it applies to all flights departing from the UK. If your flight departs from the EU, you’re protected by the EU regulation EC261/2004. In the rest of the situations you aren’t protected by neither of the laws.
Here’s a summary of where and how it works (list of countries).
By Europe and EU here on this website, we mean all EU Member States, the United Kingdom (UK), Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte, Saint Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.
2. What to Do if Your Flight Is Cancelled Last-Minute?
Where are you right now? At home or already at the airport?
2.1 If You Are Still at Home or Hotel
Stay there for a while longer.
Contact your airline’s customer service to learn more of the situation.
As mentioned above, they have to take care of you. You only have to find out what’s the plan — will you fly today or maybe tomorrow, what are the other options, etc. You have a right to care, and a free alternative flight to your destination or a refund (if you don’t agree to change). You are eligible to all of it even if your flight is cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances.
2.2 If You Are Already at the Airport
What if you are already at the airport?
First of all, don’t go through the airport security yet.
If your flight is cancelled, the airline will provide you with a new flight (replacement flight). This means you will have to get a new boarding pass for this flight, check in your bag (if you have any) and go through airport security and passport control. You may not have an option to do it online.
If you have already gone through security, try to go back to the landside of the airport. Next, try to get in touch with representatives of the airline you are travelling with.
You have to find out what to do next.
3. UK Flight Cancellation Compensation
Flight compensation rules in the UK are very specific.
If a flight has been cancelled less than 2 weeks before the date of departure, it is considered as a last-minute flight cancellation.
Your flight is cancelled 7 – 14 days before the scheduled time of departure:
- You choose a new flight offered by the airline, which departs not more than 2 hours before the original departure time and you reach your destination less than 4 hours after the original arrival time. In this situation you are not entitled to compensation.
- In other situations you are entitled to compensation.
Your flight is cancelled less than 7 days before the scheduled time of departure:
- You choose a new flight offered by the airline, which departs not more than 1 hour before the original departure time and you reach your destination less than 2 hours after the original arrival time. In this situation you are not entitled to compensation.
- In other situations you are entitled to compensation.
Conditions that should be met:
- Cancellation is due to the fault of the airline;
- It’s a last-minute flight cancellation.
Read more: UK Flight Cancellation Compensation
4. How to Claim UK Flight Compensation / Refund?
Airlines often have a special form for this.
Look for a page dedicated to refunds and compensations.
To get a compensation, you must make a claim. Unfortunately, but you won’t get anything, if you don’t ask for it. The most straightforward option is to contact customer service of your airline, and submit your compensation claim. You don’t have to agree to travel vouchers if you are eligible to a compensation. According to the Regulation UK261, UK flight compensation has to be transferred to your bank account. Compensation amounts are fixed and range from £220 to £520.
You can also take the easiest path — ask for legal representation.
If you choose this option, everything is handled by a flight compensation company. They file a claim on your behalf. They also do all the negotiations and document preparation when it’s necessary. If the airline isn’t cooperative, they even take the case to court.
Our partners offer such a service.
When choosing this option, here is all you will have to do:
And that’s it — the rest is handled by professionals.
* Your boarding pass and passport or ID copy.
Read more: Why Seek Legal Representation to Claim UK Flight Compensation?
4.1 Refund, Flight Cancellation Compensation or Both?
When a flight is cancelled, passengers are typically entitled to either a refund or a rebooking at no additional cost under most airlines’ policies and many jurisdictions’ laws. This means you could choose to get your money back (refund) or arrange for another flight (rebooking). Mostly, you’ll have the same rights also in case of extraordinary circumstances.
It was a last-minute flight cancellation (less than 14 days before flight).
If your flight is cancelled, and the cancellation notice was given up to 14 days before the scheduled flight, you may also be eligible for flight compensation. As long as it’s due to the airline’s fault, and you have arrived to your destination at least 2 hours later than planned.
Note than technical problems with the airplane are considered airline’s fault.
Read more:
- How to Get a Refund From British Airways?
- How to Get a Refund From easyJet?
- How To Get a Refund From Wizz Air UK?
- How to Get a Refund From Jet2?
- How to Get a Refund From Loganair?
- How to Get a Refund From BA EuroFlyer?
- How to Get a Refund From Eastern Airways?
Do you still have questions about UK flight cancellation compensation? Or, about UK flight cancellation refund? Ask in the comments or fill in a claim form.