A cancelled flight gives you a choice the airline does not get to skip: a refund of the ticket you will not use, or a reroute to your destination at the earliest chance, or at a later date that suits you. Compensation, the €250 to €600 sum, is a separate question. It turns on notice, and on whether they got you there almost on time anyway.
Refund or a new flight, before any argument about cash
If you are at the airport, or the cancellation hits close to departure, the airline has to offer care as well: something to eat in proportion to the wait, a hotel if you are stuck overnight, and transport to that hotel. This duty survives even when they later refuse compensation. People mix the two up and walk away from a hotel voucher because someone said "weather."
Take the refund if the trip is dead. Take the reroute if you still need to be there. Do not accept a voucher for future travel unless you actually want one. A refund of the unused fare is money. A voucher is a gift card with the airline's rules on it.
If you buy your own replacement because the desk has no seats, keep the receipt and the emails that show what they offered. That file matters if you ask them to cover the new ticket. Price a replacement calmly on Holipay rather than grabbing the first fare the airport wifi serves you.
When the fixed sum is owed
Under EC 261/2004, notice of 14 days or more usually kills compensation. The trip is annoying. It is not a €600 event.
Inside 14 days, compensation is the default unless they reroute you inside tight windows:
- 7 to 13 days' notice: no compensation if the new flight leaves no more than 2 hours early and arrives less than 4 hours late.
- Under 7 days' notice: no compensation if the new flight leaves no more than 1 hour early and arrives less than 2 hours late.
Miss those windows and the distance bands apply: €250, €400, or €600 in the EU, and £220, £350, or £520 in the UK. Long-haul compensation can be halved if the reroute gets you in under four hours late. The UK CAA walks through the same structure for flights covered by the British rules.
| Question | What you are owed |
|---|---|
| Do you still want to travel? | Reroute, at the earliest opportunity or a later date you choose |
| Is the trip finished? | Refund of the unused ticket |
| Are you stuck waiting? | Meals, and a hotel if it runs overnight |
| Was notice under 14 days, and the reroute late? | The fixed compensation sum, unless extraordinary circumstances apply |
Extraordinary circumstances, again
Weather, a closed airport, a security threat, and many air-traffic restrictions still defeat the fixed sum. They do not defeat the refund or the care. An airline that cancels because it scheduled the aircraft badly does not get to borrow a storm from another country.
Questions
I was told 12 hours before departure. Is that enough notice to avoid paying me?
No. Twelve hours is inside seven days. Compensation still depends on the reroute times and on whether the cause was extraordinary.
They refunded the ticket. Can I also claim compensation?
Often yes. The refund returns the fare. Compensation is for the short notice. They are different lines.
The airline rebooked me and I arrived two hours late.
If they told you less than seven days out, a two-hour late arrival is exactly the edge of the "no compensation" window, provided the new flight also did not leave more than an hour early. Check both clocks.
If the cancellation made you miss a separate connection, read missed connection compensation before you assume one claim covers both tickets.