Trying to claim compensation for a delayed flight can be daunting, with many exceptions and loopholes you may need to go through. So it makes sense to find out if you’re eligible to claim for that delayed flight before you start the process.
Fortunately, Resolver’s Flight Compensation Tool lets you do just that. Simply enter your flight details and the date of your flight and you will see in seconds if you are eligible for compensation.
How to use the Flight Compensation Tool
If you know your flight number and date, enter these in and click ‘check compensation’. If there were a number of flights from your airline that day, you may be asked to confirm which one you are looking for in one easy step.
If you don’t know your details offhand, you have the option to ‘look up’ your flight. So long as you know where you were taking off, arriving and the date of your flight you will be able to select yours from the options we provide you.
To compensate or not to compensate
Under a law called EU261, passengers are likely to get a successful claim – of up to €600 – for compensation if:
- Your flight has been delayed by more than three hours – though if the delay is more than two hours the airline must take care of you in the form of food and drink, access to phone or email or accommodation if required;
- There are no extreme circumstances such as weather, a pandemic or political instability that may have affected the flight; and
- If your flight is operated by an EU-based airline. If your flight is operated by a non EU-based airline, you may still be able to claim, but only for flights leaving or arriving in the EU that are more than 3,500km in distance.
As with everything, there are exclusions which can make it confusing to work out if you’re entitled or not. Typically, you will not be eligible for compensation for a delayed flight if:
- There have been adverse weather conditions that affected the flight;
- Political instability or security risks are occurring in either the departure country or the destination which can mean it is unsafe to fly; and
- There have been issues that have resulted in strike action by airline staff or air traffic management issues.
If your flight was on or after 26 November 2019, Resolver’s Flight Compensation Tool will take all of this into account to ensure you get the facts on whether or not you are eligible, and how to proceed if you can claim.
However, if you are a UK citizen, you actually have up to six years from the date of departure to submit a claim for compensation if it is eligible, so if your flight was before then, use Resolver to try and make a claim.
What about cancellations?
Typically, if your flight is cancelled then you will be eligible to choose between a refund or an alternative flight – known as ‘re-routing’ – without having to ‘claim’ for compensation. However, there may be circumstances where compensation could still apply to you, such as if your flight was cancelled within two weeks of its scheduled departure.
Resolver is working on including a check for cancelled flights in the Flight Compensation Tool.
Complain or claim
Don’t forget, even if you’re not eligible for compensation, you may still get some form of redress for your delayed or cancelled flight. If you have an issue with an airline, use Resolver for free to complain to it directly.