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THE 60-MINUTE PLAYBOOK · EC261 / UK261

Missed your connection? The airline owes you for the whole journey.

By Nathan Zarcaro, founder of MyAirAdvocate · 4 min read · Updated

A plane parked at the gate at sunrise, with ground crew around it

THE SHORT ANSWER

If a delayed first flight makes you miss a connection on the same booking, EC261 and UK261 measure the delay at your final destination, not on the flight that ran late. A 40-minute delay out of Edinburgh that costs you the London to New York leg is a £520 claim. The catch is that it has to be one booking.

Does this apply to my flight?

EC261 · UK261

COVERED

  • ●Any flight departing the UK or an EU country, on any airline (including US carriers)
  • ●Any flight arriving into the UK or EU on a UK or EU airline
  • ●Connecting itineraries on one booking, where the final destination is late

NOT COVERED

  • ●US domestic flights (Boston to Denver) — different rules, no fixed compensation
  • ●Flights into the EU or UK on a non-European airline (New York to London on Delta or American)
  • ●Anywhere else in the world, unless local law says otherwise

This is EU Regulation 261/2004, called EC261, and its UK copy, UK261. It is the reason a cancelled Paris flight pays €600 and a cancelled Phoenix flight pays nothing.

In this guide · 4 sections
  1. 01Do I get compensation if I miss my connecting flight?
  2. 02What should I do when I’ve missed my connection?
  3. 03How is the compensation calculated on a missed connection?
  4. FAQQuestions people ask

THE RULE

Do I get compensation if I miss my connecting flight?

Yes, if both flights were on one booking and you arrived at your final destination three hours or more late. The court settled this in 2013 (Folkerts, C-11/11): a connecting itinerary is one journey, the compensation band follows the total distance from your first airport to your last, and the delay that counts is the one at the end.

That produces the outcome airlines like least. A short feeder flight runs forty minutes late, the long-haul leaves without you, the rebooking lands the next morning, and the claim is €600 on the whole journey rather than nothing on a forty-minute delay. This is the claim people most often don’t file, because the flight that went wrong looked too small to matter.

AT THE AIRPORT

What should I do when I’ve missed my connection?

  1. Go to the transfer desk, not the gate

    The gate agent for the flight you missed can’t rebook you. The transfer desk or the airline’s app can. Do both.

  2. Keep the original itinerary

    Your claim depends on showing one booking with a connection the airline sold as workable. The confirmation email is that proof; screenshot it now in case your app updates it away.

  3. Take the care you’re owed

    Meals now, a hotel if the rebooking is tomorrow, transport to it. Article 9 applies from the moment you’re stranded, and the receipts get reimbursed.

  4. Note your final arrival time

    Doors open, at the last airport. Compare it to the original scheduled arrival. That gap is your claim.

See exactly what your flight owes you. Free, no card.

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THE MONEY

How is the compensation calculated on a missed connection?

On the whole journey’s distance, first airport to last, in a straight line. Manchester to Frankfurt to Singapore is a €600 itinerary even though the flight that ran late was the 900 km hop to Frankfurt. If a partner airline operated the late leg, the claim goes to whichever airline actually flew it, not the one on the ticket.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions people ask

Both flights were on one ticket but with different airlines. Who pays?

The airline that operated the flight that ran late. That’s the operating carrier, which may not be the name on your ticket.

They rebooked me the same day. Can I still claim?

Yes, if you still reached your final destination three hours or more late.

Is the distance measured through the connection airport?

No. Straight line from your first airport to your last, ignoring where you changed planes.

My connection time was very short. Is that my fault?

If the airline sold it as a connection, the airline accepted it as workable. A legal connection that failed because the first flight was late is the airline’s delay.

What if the first flight was cancelled rather than delayed?

Then the cancellation rules apply to the whole journey, including the notice-period exemptions. The compensation band is the same.

See exactly what your flight owes you — free, no card. We check it against the rules, and if it qualifies and you say go, we file the claim for you.

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The law this guide is written against: EC261 full text (EUR-Lex) · UK261 full text (legislation.gov.uk)

General information, not legal advice. Compensation depends on the facts of each disruption and the airline’s evidence. MyAirAdvocate files claims for a flat $39, charged only if the airline pays, and never takes a percentage of what you are owed.