Missed Connecting Flight: What the Airline Owes You

Quick answer: On one booking, the airline gets you to your final destination. On a US airline that caused the delay, that means a new flight at no cost and a meal after 3 hours; under EU or UK rules, meals, a hotel overnight and up to €600 or £520 if you land 3 or more hours late. On separate tickets, nothing.

How to use it

Say how you booked, why you missed the connection and which rules cover the trip. For a US airline, pick it to see its own promises. For a trip leaving Europe or the UK, add how late you will land at your final destination and how far the whole trip is. The answer lists what you are owed and what to do now, in order, with the rule in its own words. Under it, every US airline’s promises side by side.

One booking or two: the question that decides everything

A connection is protected only when both flights are on one booking, with one confirmation number. The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority puts it plainly: with two or more separate flight bookings (sometimes called ‘self-transfer’) you do not have a statutory right to care, compensation or transport to your last destination if delays mean that you miss a flight in your journey. The EU’s rule is the same: compensation for a missed connection needs flights booked as part of a single reservation.

US airlines: what each one promises

No US law pays compensation for a delay. What you get is what the airline promises in its customer service plan, and the US Department of Transportation lists those promises on its dashboard. They apply to delays the airline causes: A controllable flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline.

• All 9 airlines on the dashboard rebook you on their own next flight at no cost, and give a meal or a meal voucher when the wait is 3 hours or more.
• All but Allegiant, Frontier and Southwest also rebook you on a partner airline at no cost.
• All but Frontier pay for a hotel and the ride to it when the delay runs overnight.
• None promises cash. Alaska, Hawaiian, JetBlue and Southwest give a travel credit after a 3-hour delay; Alaska and Hawaiian give miles too.

Leaving Europe or the UK: care and compensation

On one booking, the distance that counts is the whole trip’s, from the first airport to the last, and the delay that counts is at your final destination. The CAA: Late arrivals at your connection destination are not taken into account for the purposes of compensation. While you wait, the airline owes you meals and drinks once the wait passes 2 hours on trips up to 1,500 km, 3 hours up to 3,500 km, and 4 hours beyond that (Regulation 261/2004, Article 6), and a hotel when your new flight is the next day. If it offers nothing, the EU says the airline should reimburse you, provided the expenses were necessary, reasonable and appropriate.

No compensation is due when weather, air traffic control or security caused the delay, but the meals and the hotel still are. To work out the amount from your own airports, use the Flight Delay Compensation Calculator.

Worked examples

Chicago to Atlanta to Orlando on one Delta booking, a crew delay, the next flight tomorrow. Delta rebooks you at no cost, and its dashboard promises cover a meal, a hotel and the ride to it. No cash.

The same trip on Frontier. A new flight at no cost and a meal after 3 hours, but Frontier’s dashboard column says no to the hotel.

Paris to Frankfurt to New York on one booking, a technical fault, 3½ hours late in New York. The whole trip is over 3,500 km, so €300, plus meals while you wait.

London to Amsterdam on one ticket, then Amsterdam to Lisbon on another. The second airline owes you nothing for the missed flight; only the first flight’s own rights apply.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the airport before you are rebooked. Go to the transfer desk or the airline’s app first.
• Paying for a meal and throwing away the receipt. The EU says to keep every receipt.
• Counting the delay at the connecting airport. Compensation is for how late you land at the last airport.
• Booking two cheap tickets with a short gap. If the first is late, the second is yours to lose.
• Missing it at security and expecting compensation. The EU: You are not entitled to compensation if you miss your connecting flight due to delays at security checks or if you did not respect the boarding time of your flight at the airport of transfer.

Before the next trip

A nonstop flight has no connection to miss: see the US cities with direct flights to Italy and to London. Read the best time to book flights and, for the long legs, the long-flight survival guide. Plan the first leg with When to Leave for the Airport.