The airline is counting on you not knowing the rule. A delay over three hours in Europe is worth up to €600. In the US, the new DOT rules force an automatic cash refund. Here is the full map of what to claim, where and how.
The airline is counting on you not knowing the rule. A delay over three hours in Europe is worth up to €600. In the US, the new DOT rules force an automatic cash refund. Here is the full map of what to claim, where and how.
In the US, the **DOT** rules effective 2024-2025 require an **automatic cash refund** (not a voucher) when a flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline the rebooking. "Significant" is now objective: a **3-hour domestic** or **6-hour international** delay.
The US still has **no fixed compensation** for the disruption itself like EU261. You get your money back, but not a flat sum for the delay, except for forced overbooking under the denied-boarding table.
In Europe, **EU261** pays a flat sum for a delay over 3 hours at the final destination or a cancellation: **€250** (flights up to 1,500 km), **€400** (1,500-3,500 km) and **€600** (over 3,500 km). It applies to any flight departing the EU, and to flights arriving in the EU on an EU carrier. The UK kept it as **UK261**.
**Overbooking** (denied boarding) pays the most: in the US, the DOT denied-boarding compensation can reach four times the fare with a cap; in the EU, the full EU261 band plus rebooking. Airlines must seek volunteers first.
The airline owes **no EU261 compensation** if the delay is an "extraordinary circumstance" (severe weather, ATC strike, security risk). A technical fault on the aircraft does **not** count as extraordinary under EU case law.
The airline is counting on you not knowing the rule. A delay over three hours in Europe is worth up to €600. In the US, the new DOT rules force an automatic cash refund. Here is the full map of what to claim, where and how.
