CheckFlightCompensation

Flying in the US? Your rights are thinner than Europe's, with one big exception.

There is no American version of the £520 compensation cheque. US law is built around refunds instead. But American passengers are covered by the UK and EU rules far more often than they realise, because those rules follow the flight, not your passport. Here is the honest picture.

The exception first: your flights out of Europe

Any flight departing the UK or EU is covered by UK261/EU261, whoever operates it and whatever passport you hold. A New Yorker flying London to JFK on Delta, delayed 3+ hours arriving for a reason within Delta's control, is owed up to £520. Same for Paris to Atlanta, Rome to Chicago, Dublin to Boston. The return leg into Europe is also covered when the airline is a UK or EU carrier. Six-figure numbers of Americans qualify every year and almost none of them claim, because nobody told them a European law applies to their Delta ticket. It does, and it reaches back years: 6 years for England and Wales departures, 5 for Scotland.

US domestic flights: automatic refunds

Since late 2024, US airlines must refund you automatically, in cash, not vouchers, when your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you choose not to take the alternative. Significantly changed means departure or arrival moved by 3+ hours domestic or 6+ hours international, a different departure or arrival airport, extra connections, or a downgrade. The refund covers the unused ticket and any paid extras that didn't happen, like seat selection or a checked bag that arrived over 12 hours late (15 to 30 hours for international).

The catch: a refund only makes you whole on the fare. If you still need to get there, and the last-minute replacement ticket costs triple, US law does not cover the difference. That's the gap the European system fills with fixed compensation, and the reason the same delay is worth hundreds of pounds more when it starts in London than when it starts in Dallas.

Delays without cancellation: airline promises, not law

For a long delay where the flight still operates, US law guarantees nothing beyond the refund rules above. What exists instead are the commitments the big carriers filed on the Department of Transportation's customer service dashboard: most promise meals after a 3-hour controllable delay and a hotel for overnight ones. Those promises are enforceable complaints when broken, but the amounts are meals and beds, not cash.

Canada, and everywhere else

Canada's APPR pays CAD $400 to $1,000 for controllable delays of 3+ hours on large airlines, claimed within 1 year. And on any international itinerary, the Montreal Convention lets you recover documented out-of-pocket losses caused by a delay, hotels, missed prepaid bookings, up to roughly $6,700, through the airline or, failing that, small claims court. That applies to Americans too, including on US carriers.

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