Flight Delayed or Cancelled? Here's How to Claim Up to €600 in Compensation

Your flight from Madrid to London was supposed to depart at 14:00. It's now 19:30 and you're still sitting at the gate, eating your third overpriced sandwich, watching the departure board flicker between "Delayed" and nothing at all.

Here's what most people don't know: that delay might be worth €400 in your pocket. Not a voucher. Not airline credit. Cash.

Every year, millions of European air passengers are entitled to compensation for flight disruptions — and the vast majority never claim it. Not because they don't qualify, but because they don't know they can, or because the process feels too complicated to bother with.

It's not. And this article will show you exactly how it works.

What is EU261 and who qualifies?

EU Regulation EC 261/2004 is a European law that protects air passengers when flights go wrong. It covers three types of disruptions: long delays, cancellations, and denied boarding (being bumped from an overbooked flight).

You are covered if your flight meets ANY of these conditions:

• Your flight departs from any EU airport, regardless of the airline (even non-EU airlines like United, Emirates, or Turkish Airlines departing from an EU airport are covered)
• Your flight arrives at an EU airport AND is operated by an EU-based airline (Ryanair, Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, KLM, etc.)

You are NOT covered if:

• Your flight departs from outside the EU on a non-EU airline (e.g., Delta from New York to Paris — Delta is not EU-based)
• Your disruption was caused by "extraordinary circumstances" outside the airline's control (severe weather, air traffic control strikes, security threats, volcanic eruptions). Note: technical problems, crew shortages, and operational issues are NOT extraordinary circumstances — airlines must pay for those.

How much can you get?

The compensation amount depends on the flight distance, not the ticket price. You could have paid €29 for a Ryanair flight and still receive €250 in compensation.

Flight distance	Compensation amount	Example routes
Under 1,500 km	€250	Madrid–Barcelona, London–Paris, Rome–Berlin, Amsterdam–Brussels
1,500–3,500 km	€400	London–Athens, Paris–Istanbul, Madrid–Helsinki, Rome–Cairo
Over 3,500 km	€600	Madrid–New York, London–Tokyo, Paris–São Paulo, Frankfurt–Bangkok

When do these amounts apply?

• Delay at arrival of 3+ hours: Full compensation as per the table above.
• Cancellation with less than 14 days notice: Full compensation, unless the airline offered a reasonable alternative flight.
• Denied boarding against your will: Full compensation, always.

Important: the compensation is per passenger, not per booking. A family of four on a delayed Madrid–London flight? That's €250 × 4 = €1,000.

What airlines must pay (and what they won't tell you)

Airlines are legally required to pay EU261 compensation, but they have zero incentive to make it easy. Here's what they typically do instead:

They offer vouchers instead of cash. An airline might offer you a €200 travel voucher and hope you accept it instead of the €400 cash you're legally owed. You are under no obligation to accept a voucher. Demand cash.

They blame the weather. Airlines frequently cite "weather conditions" as the reason for delays, even when the actual cause was a technical fault or crew scheduling problem. Weather is an extraordinary circumstance that exempts them from paying — but the burden of proof is on the airline. If it was sunny at both airports and your flight was delayed for "operational reasons," the weather excuse doesn't hold.

They make the claims process slow and confusing. The airline's own complaint form is often buried deep in their website, and responses can take months. Many passengers give up. This is by design.

They don't proactively inform you. EU261 requires airlines to inform passengers of their rights at the time of disruption. In practice, most airlines hand out a small leaflet that's easy to miss or skip printing entirely.

The bottom line: airlines count on most passengers not knowing their rights or not having the patience to pursue them. The law is on your side — you just need to use it.

How to file a claim — the easy way

You have two options for claiming your compensation:

Option A — Do it yourself. Go to the airline's website, find their complaints section (it's often under "Customer Service" or "Contact Us"), and submit a formal claim citing EU Regulation EC 261/2004. Include your booking reference, flight number, date, and a clear statement that you're requesting compensation under EU261. The airline has up to 6 weeks to respond. If they reject your claim or don't respond, you can escalate to your country's National Enforcement Body (NEB) — for example, AESA in Spain, CAA in the UK, or DGAC in France.

Option B — Let someone do it for you. Services like blueGo's Flight Protection handle the entire process on your behalf. You provide your flight details, they check if you qualify, and if you do, they file the claim, deal with the airline's legal team, and pay you when the compensation comes through. You pay nothing upfront — the service takes a commission only if the claim is successful.

For most people, Option B makes more sense. Airlines drag their feet, send confusing legal responses, and count on you giving up. A professional claims service has lawyers, templates, and experience dealing with every airline's specific stalling tactics.

What happens after you file?

Whether you file yourself or use a claims service, here's the typical timeline:

Week 1–2: Claim submitted to the airline with all required documentation (booking confirmation, boarding pass, flight disruption evidence).

Week 2–6: The airline reviews the claim. They may accept immediately (rare but it happens, especially with budget airlines that know they'll lose), request additional information (common), or reject it citing extraordinary circumstances (frequent).

Week 6–12: If the airline rejects or ignores the claim, escalation begins — either to the National Enforcement Body or through a legal process. This is where having a professional service pays off: they know which enforcement bodies actually act on complaints and which legal strategies work.

Week 8–16: Resolution. Either the airline pays directly, or the enforcement body orders payment. In some cases, small claims court is necessary — but the amounts involved (€250-600) and the strength of EU261 case law mean passengers win the vast majority of cases.

Average total time: 6-12 weeks for straightforward cases, 3-6 months for disputed ones.

Real examples of successful claims

Case 1: Madrid → London, 4-hour delay. A business traveler's Iberia flight from Madrid Barajas to London Heathrow was delayed by 4 hours and 20 minutes due to a "technical issue with the aircraft." Distance: 1,264 km. Compensation: €250. The airline initially offered a €50 voucher. The traveler declined and filed an EU261 claim. Paid in full within 8 weeks.

Case 2: Rome → New York, cancellation. A couple's Alitalia flight from Rome Fiumicino to JFK was cancelled 3 days before departure. The airline offered an alternative flight arriving 14 hours later. Distance: 6,889 km. Compensation: €600 per person = €1,200 total. The airline cited "operational restructuring" — not an extraordinary circumstance. Paid after escalation to ENAC (Italian enforcement body).

Case 3: Amsterdam → Barcelona, denied boarding. A student was denied boarding on a KLM flight from Schiphol to El Prat because the flight was overbooked. KLM rebooked them on a flight 5 hours later. Distance: 1,233 km. Compensation: €250. In this case, KLM paid within 3 weeks — denied boarding cases are the most clear-cut under EU261.

Don't leave money on the table

Across Europe, billions of euros in flight compensation go unclaimed every year. If your flight was disrupted, you almost certainly qualify — and the claim process, while annoying if done alone, is straightforward when handled by a specialist.

With blueGo, you don't even have to think about it. Every eSIM purchase includes Flight Protection. If your flight has a qualifying disruption, we detect it, notify you, and our licensed claims partner handles everything from filing to payment. You don't pay unless you receive compensation.

Your flight might be delayed. Your compensation shouldn't be.

Get Flight Protection with your blueGo eSIM →