Missed connection compensation is decided at the last airport, not at the one where you stood and watched the onward flight leave. If the flights were sold as a single ticket and you arrive at the final destination three hours late or more, the delay rules can apply to the whole journey. If you bought two tickets and built the connection yourself, the first airline usually owes you nothing for the second flight you missed.
One contract, one clock
Airlines and agencies sell connections as one itinerary: one booking reference, baggage checked to the end, a minimum connect the carrier chose. When the first flight arrives late and you miss the second, the carrier that sold the trip has to get you to the final city. Care, a hotel if you are stranded, and a seat on a later flight are the immediate duties.
Compensation uses the scheduled arrival at the end of the ticket. A 40-minute delay into a hub that blows a connection and puts you in four hours late at home is a four-hour arrival, not a 40-minute story. Distance is measured on the journey they sold, and the €250 / €400 / €600 bands (or the UK pound figures) follow that.
Extraordinary circumstances still apply. If the first flight was late because of a storm, the fixed sum may fail even though they still have to rebook you.
Two tickets, your transfer
A self-connection is two contracts. The first airline promised to land you in the hub. It did not promise the next airline would wait. If you miss that second flight, the first carrier's liability usually stops at its own delay rules, and only if that first flight itself was long enough and covered. The second airline can treat you as a no-show.
This is why a cheap split itinerary, including some "hacker" fares built from two one-ways, needs a long gap and a plan for a hotel. The saving is real until the first aircraft sits on a taxiway. Then you are buying a new ticket at walk-up prices. If you are pricing that replacement, do it on Holipay and keep every receipt. Those receipts are for the airline that failed you, or for your travel insurance, not automatically for EU compensation.
| Single ticket | Two tickets you joined | |
|---|---|---|
| Rebook to the final city | The airline that sold the itinerary | You, unless insurance says otherwise |
| Hotel and meals if stranded | Yes, while they sort the journey | Not from the first airline as a connection duty |
| Fixed compensation | If final arrival is 3 hours late or more, and no extraordinary cause | Only for a flight that itself qualifies, not for the one you missed |
| Checked bag | Through to the end, in the ordinary case | You collect and recheck |
What to ask for in the hub
- A confirmed seat on the next flight to the final city, in writing.
- Meal vouchers, and a hotel if the next seat is tomorrow.
- The original arrival time and the new one. The claim is the difference at the end.
- If they call it a self-transfer, ask them to show you two booking references. Do not let a single-ticket itinerary be redescribed at the help desk.
Separate tickets plus a long delay on the first flight can still be a delay claim for that first flight alone. It will not magically buy the second ticket. Insurance is the product that sometimes does.
Questions in the hub
The airline checked my bag to the final city. Is that one ticket?
Almost always yes. Through-checked bags are a strong sign of a single contract. Still keep the booking reference that lists both flights.
I built the connection on purpose with two airlines. The first was 30 minutes late and I missed a 45-minute connect.
That is the risk you priced in. Thirty minutes is not a three-hour delay, and the second airline does not inherit the first airline's lateness.
They rerouted me via a different city and I arrived five hours late.
On one ticket, look at the final arrival against the original schedule. Five hours is over the line, subject to extraordinary circumstances and the long-haul reduction if you were under four... you were not.