UK Missed Connection Compensation

UK missed connection compensation.

What are the rules? What happens if you miss your flight connection?

Flights get delayed or cancelled almost every single day. If you have a connecting flight, and one of your flights gets delayed or cancelled, you may miss your next flight. What happens if you miss your connection because of that? Very few know this, but in many of these situations you can claim compensation for missed connection flight.

It applies to flights with UK, EU and also other airlines.

1. UK Missed Connection Compensation (Airline Protected Transfer)

The rules in these situations are super simple.

Especially, if it’s a “proper connecting flight” (airline protected). So, what happens if your flight is delayed and you miss your connecting flight?

1.1 Missed Connecting Flight Due to Delay: Compensation 

Due to the fault of the airline you have arrived 3+ hours later.

If you’re flying to or from the United Kingdom, your flight is delayed for more than 3 hours, and it’s the airline’s fault — you may be entitled to UK missed connection compensation up to GBP 520.

• 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. 

You may be entitled to compensation if the following conditions are met:

• You reach your final destination with a 3+ hour delay;
• It’s due to the fault of the airline.

It applies both to regular and connecting flights.

You don’t have to be a citizen of the UK to be entitled to UK flight compensation. Because these rules apply also to tourists from overseas travelling in the UK.

If, for example, you are flying from London to Phuket via Doha, Phuket is your final destination. If you have made it to Phuket 3 or more hours later due to fault of your airline, you will be entitled to compensation for missed connection flight for the whole “London – Phuket” journey.

Don’t forget to file a compensation claim!

1.2 Missing a Connecting Flight Due to Cancellation

All in all, the rules are very similar.

If you’re flying to or from the UK, and because of this cancellation you reach your destination 3+ hours later, you are entitled to compensation up to GBP 520. The only thing that matters is that the cancellation must be due to the fault of your airline. Not something unavoidable, not your mistake or problems with your travel documents. Only then you will be entitled to missed connection flight compensation.

• 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. 

These rules don’t apply to self transfer flights.

You can’t get compensation, if your flights are booked separately. For example, if you have one flight with British Airways and the other with Wizz Air, and your BA flight is cancelled, BA is only liable for their flight. You can get compensation for this one BA flight when it’s due, but BA won’t offer you any help with your Wizz Air flight.

1.3 Scenarios When You Can Get Compensation

Here are all the possible scenarios.

In some situations you can refer either to UK or EU law, in others — only to one. Take into account that with connecting flights, your final destination is your destination.

You’re flying with a UK airline:

	Regulation UK261	Regulation EC261/2004
EU – EU	✓	✓
EU – UK	✓	✓
EU – Third Country	✓	✓
UK – EU	✓	–
UK – UK	✓	–
UK – Third Country	✓	–
Third Country – EU	✓	–
Third Country – UK	✓	–

You’re flying with a EU airline:

	Regulation UK261	Regulation EC261/2004
EU – EU	✓	✓
EU – UK	✓	✓
EU – Third Country	✓	✓
UK – EU	✓	–
UK – UK	✓	–
UK – Third Country	✓	–
Third Country – EU	✓	–
Third Country – UK	✓	–

You’re flying with other airlines (non-EU, non-UK):

	Regulation UK261	Regulation EC261/2004
EU – EU	–	✓
EU – UK	–	✓
EU – Third Country	–	✓
UK – EU	✓	–
UK – UK	✓	–
UK – Third Country	✓	–

1.4 Extraordinary Circumstances

These situations are out of the airline’s control.

If you miss a flight due to things like extreme weather conditions or airport staff strike, in these situations you can’t get compensation. When in doubt, however, double check what you’re told, because, for example, technical problems aren’t extraordinary circumstances, but mostly you won’t be entitled to any extra compensation.

Or, hand over the case to a flight compensation company, for them to double check it on your behalf. Fill in our compensation claim form, and our partners will do that for you.

Read more: Extraordinary Circumstances and UK Flight Compensation

1.5 Right to Care

If you have to wait at the airport, you have a right to care.

For example, your flight arrived late due to cancellation or delay (fault of your airline), you missed connection flight, and now you are at the airport waiting for another flight. According to EU and also UK connection flight rules, the airline has to offer you a new flight completely for free.

Apart from that in many situations you also have a right to care from the airline.

• After 3 hours of waiting, the airline must offer you free meals and drinks in a reasonable relation to the waiting time, plus two free phone calls, e-mails or faxes.
• In case of an overnight delay, free hotel accommodation and free airport transfer must be offered.

2. Self Transfer Flights (You’re Only Partly Protected)

If you book your flights separately, you are less protected.

What happens if you miss connecting flight due to delay?

In this case it isn’t considered a connecting flight. It’s a self transfer flight. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, and because of that you miss another flight, you won’t be given a new flight (for the one you missed). The same is true with compensation. You may get compensation for your first flight but not the second. So, you may get UK flight delay compensation / UK flight cancellation compensation, but not UK / EU missed connection compensation. Because from the legal point of view there is no connecting flight.

Another difference is what happens with your luggage.

In case of a self transfer flight, you have to take care of your checked luggage yourself. You have to collect it and check it in after every flight on your itinerary. The airline (or, airlines) is not going to transfer it to your final destination.

Read more: Delayed and Lost Baggage compensation

3. How to Claim UK Flight Compensation?

There are two ways you can claim this compensation.

One of the options is to contact the airline directly. Contact your airline’s customer support center via their website, and request compensation for missed connection. Do not forget that it may take months. Also be prepared for negotiations. It’s great if you know exactly how much later you arrived to your destination, and have some sort of proof to show. 

You can also take the easiest path — legal representation.

In this case everything is handled by legal professionals. You only submit one form, and that’s all. Our partners offer such services.

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?

3.1 How Long Does It Take?

In most cases, the whole process takes at least a couple of months.

On average it takes between 2 to 3 months from the moment you file a claim until compensation arrives in your bank account. When there’s a need to take a particular case to national enforcement body or court, it adds at least a couple of months, sometimes 6+ months to the whole process. That’s also why many people choose to work with compensation companies instead — because of how long it may take.

4. How Much Can You Claim?

UK missed connection compensation amounts are fixed.

The amount of compensation is based on the distance of your flight and occasionally some other factors. However, it’s not affected by the price of the plane ticket or airline you are flying with, it doesn’t matter if it’s a full service airline, budget airline or charter airline.

In general, the longer your flight, the more you can claim.

So, how much you can claim?

When your destination is within the UK / EU:

When your destination is outside the UK / EU:

There is one exception. If the distance of your flight is greater than 3,500 kilometres, and you reach your destination with a delay between 3 to 4 hours, you will be receiving £260 not £520 (50% of the compensation). If the delay is longer than 4 hours, you will get full compensation of £520.

Read more: How Much Compensation Can You Claim?

4.1 Airline Voucher Refund or Cash?

You might be offered a voucher instead of compensation.

Don’t agree to that if you want money not coupons.

In the UK and the EU airline compensation and refunds have to be paid in cash or by bank transfer. The rules are the same in all situations. You don’t have to agree to anything else. 

5. Connecting Flights

5.1 What is a Connecting Flight?

Not always taking a direct flight is an option.

Often people book connecting flights because they are cheaper than direct flights. A connecting flight is two or more subsequent flights. It means that in order to reach your destination you have to change planes. You aren’t flying directly from A to B, but there is also C. Sometimes there are more than a single stop.

There are two types of connecting flights. 

One is called airline protected transfer, the other — self transfer. There are considerable differences between the two.

5.2 Airline Protected Transfers

This is when connecting flight procedure is very easy. 

Because you are “travelling on a single ticket”. You have only one reservation for your whole journey.  First of all, you have protection against missed connections (see above for more on this). In addition to that, your baggage is checked through to your destination. 

Airline protected connecting flight example:  Paris, Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) – Cancun, Cancun International airport (CUN), Mexico, with a stop in London, Heathrow Airport (LHR). Booked from Air France. Only one booking reference number for this whole trip.

5.3 Self Transfer Flights

Self transfer is when:

• You have booked two or more flights separately;
• You have two or more reservation numbers;
• You have paid for these flights separately.

Usually travellers book self transfer flights when there are no airline protected transfers, or they are too expensive. Example — you are booking several flights with a budget airline such as WizzAir. In this case, if your first flight gets heavily delayed, and you can’t make it to the next one, this is your responsibility. It’s your responsibility to buy yourself a new flight or flights. In this case you also can’t get compensation for missed flight connection, as it isn’t considered a connection.

Sometimes it might be hard to distinguish the two, self transfer and airline transfer. For example, kiwi.com allows you buy several flights as a single booking. But if you look at the boarding passes, you’ll see that each one of them has their own reservation number or so called booking reference. That means it’s a self transfer.

In most cases, flight search sites tell it somewhere, if it’s a self transfer.

Frequently Asked Questions

UK – Third Country Flights, Tourists

Cancelled, Delayed Flight > Missed Connection

Other Situations

Do you still have questions about UK missed connection compensation? Ask in the comments.

Featured photo by Alexandr Podvalny from Pexels