Passenger rights

Rerouting and the right to care

Compensation is only one part of what you are owed. When a flight is cancelled or heavily delayed, the airline also has to get you to your destination or refund you — and look after you while you wait. These duties apply even when no compensation is due.

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Rerouting or refund — your choice, not the airline's

When a flight is cancelled, or a delay is long enough that you no longer wish to travel, you choose between:

Rerouting to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, under comparable transport conditions.
Rerouting at a later date that suits you, subject to seat availability.
A full refund of the unused part of the ticket, plus the parts already flown if the journey no longer serves any purpose, and a return flight to your first point of departure where relevant.

A voucher is not a substitute for a refund unless you accept one freely and in writing. Accepting a voucher can limit what you recover later.

What “earliest opportunity” means in practice

Rerouting is measured by when you actually arrive, not by which airline is most convenient for the carrier. Where the airline's own next flight is days away, an alternative carrier or another mode of transport may be required. If you had to buy a reasonable replacement ticket yourself because nothing was offered, keep every receipt — those costs are commonly recoverable.

The right to care while you wait

For waiting times that pass the applicable thresholds, and free of charge, the airline must provide:

Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time.
Two telephone calls, emails or equivalent means of communication.
Hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary.
Transport between the airport and the accommodation.

The right to care applies regardless of the cause of the disruption — including strikes, weather and other extraordinary circumstances that remove the right to cash compensation. It is the one duty an airline cannot avoid by blaming events outside its control.

If the airline provides nothing

Buy what is reasonable — a modest meal, a standard hotel room, transport to it.
Keep itemised receipts and note the times.
Photograph the departure board and any written notice you were given.
Ask staff, in writing where possible, why care was not provided.
Claim the costs back from the airline afterwards; unreasonable or luxury spending is not recoverable.

How this interacts with compensation

Care, refund and rerouting are separate from cash compensation. An airline can owe you a hotel and a rebooking while owing no compensation, and it can owe compensation on top of a refund. A claim should be assessed on all of them, not just the headline amount.

Not sure what you were owed?

Tell us what happened and we will assess compensation, refund and care together — for free.