How I got over $1400 for a delayed flight: A Guide to EU 261 Claims

Air passengers don’t have many rights when it comes to domestic US travel. Incredibly, there’s no federal requirement that an airline compensate you in any way if it cancels or delays your flight, although most airlines have policies that govern under what circumstances a customer is entitled to remuneration or accommodation. The Department of Transportation actually has a very helpful dashboard that summarizes various airlines’ delay and cancellation rules.

Things are very different on the other side of the pond. Europe has far more consumer protections for travelers, including EU 261/2004, the rule that defines what compensation is owed to an air passenger in the event of a delay or cancellation. Depending on the length of the delay and the flight distance, passengers can get up to 600 Euros (or the equivalent in USD) in cash. Travelers’ overnight stays and meals are guaranteed in some situations as well. These regulations apply regardless of whether or not you are a resident of the EU or the UK.

Earlier this year, on a Singapore Airlines flight from the Frankfurt to JFK, my wife and I had a delay of over 6 hours, making our flight eligible for the highest tier of EU 261 compensation: $600 Euros each. However, when trying to fill out our claim, I discovered that there wasn’t much in the way of straightforward guidance. It was hard to figure out exactly what information was needed, how to obtain it and where to submit the final claim.

So here you’ll find a brief guide to EU 261, as well as my experience in submitting a (successful) claim.

What is EU 261 and what does it cover?

EU 261 is a law that was passed in 2004 to govern passengers’ rights on flights that are within, into and out of the European Union (and the United Kingdom as well, even though it is no longer a part of the EU). In contrast to the US, which leaves compensation for delays and cancellations up to the individual airlines, in Europe it’s a matter of law.

Which types of delays qualify for EU 261?

Delays due to the following factors are considered grounds for compensation under EU 261:

• Staffing issues (including strikes), inbound aircraft delay, mechanical problems or other issues that are considered “within the carrier’s control.”

Some delays are not covered by EU 261, including:

• Air traffic control issues, security threats, weather, air traffic control, strikes that involve non-airline staff (such as airport personnel).

Which flights qualify for EU 261?

In order to qualify for compensation under EU 261, the flight must either be:

• A flight departing from an airport within the EU or UK

or

• An EU-based carrier flying into the EU or UK

So, for instance, all flights on all carriers flying from Europe to the US will be covered, regardless of where they are based. It’s a requirement of operating in the EU. However, if you’re flying to Europe from the US, only EU-based carriers are covered. US carriers like Delta, American and United are not.

In the case of a codeshare, compensation is determined by whomever is the operating carrier. So, a flight from JFK-London on American that was purchased through British Airways with a BA flight number would not be covered. The reverse situation, with a British Airways flight on an AA ticket and flight number, would be.

How much compensation does EU 261 guarantee passengers?

Compensation for delays is based on a combination of the length of the delay and the flight distance, according to the following table:

For delays of more than 5 hours, passengers can request a full or partial refund in addition to a return ticket to their point of departure. EU 261 also guarantees passengers hotels and meals, at the airline’s expense, in the event of an overnight delay.

What happens when a flight covered by EU 261 is cancelled?

If your flight is canceled within 14 days of departure you’re also eligible for compensation (provided it’s due to one of the reasons that were noted above).  If it was cancelled for a covered reason, you have a choice between several options, in addition to the compensation listed above, unless you’re re-ticketed on a flight that departs within two hours of the original time and arrives within two hours of the original arrival time (that shortens to one hour if you were informed of a cancellation within 7 days of departure).

The options are:

• A flight to your destination at the next opportunity
• A flight to your destination at a later date, subject to seat availability (and given similar transport conditions and passenger loads)
• Full refund with a return flight to your original departure point

In addition, EU 261 guarantees that passengers, at the airline’s expense, will receive food, lodging and transport to the accommodation in the event of a cancellation that necessitates an overnight stay.

How to submit an EU 261 claim

Here’s where it starts to get thorny. There’s not one streamlined, uniform way to file an EU 261 claim. It can vary somewhat based on country, airline and how responsive the airline is to your original claim. But, let’s go through the “basic” process.

You must file your claim in a “timely” manner

First off, EU law specifies that you must file your claim in a “timely” manner. What’s considered timely changes from country to country, ranging from as little as one year to as long as 10. In general, if you submit a claim within a year of the flight date, you should be fine. I submitted mine to Singapore two months after my flight.

Get a Flight Disruption Statement

Regardless of which carrier you’re submitting a claim to, most will require a “flight disruption statement.” This is a letter from the airline stating the reason and length of your delay. Here’s the one that I got from Singapore:

It can be tricky to figure out how to obtain these. Some airlines, like Singapore, have a designated place on their website where you can request the statement. Others ask you to contact customer care. The easiest way to find out how to get yours is to simply Google, “(airline name) flight disruption statement.” If that doesn’t turn up anything, e-mail or call the airline’s customer care. Once you learn how and make the request from your carrier, you should receive the statement by e-mail within a couple of days.

How to find out where to submit your EU 261 claim

Now for the trickiest part of all. You should first try and submit a claim directly to the airline. Google will again be your friend in this endeavor. Search “(airline name) EU 261 compensation claim” and most airlines will have some guidance. Often that will be to simply e-mail or call customer care, so if you don’t see anything online, just do that. As an example, here’s Air France’s guide to submitting a claim, as well as a breakdown of what can be expected.

Generally, you’ll have to submit an image of your boarding pass and the flight disruption statement that you received. It’s also a good idea to note the level of compensation that you believe you’re entitled to. Some airlines might have you fill out a claim form as well, in which case it should be provided by customer service or found online.

In the event that you have a valid claim, but the airline is being difficult, you can contact one of the many regional bodies that govern air travel within the EU. The full, downloadable list can be found here.

My successful EU 261 claim

In my case, Singapore had no easy-to-find online information on how and where to submit a claim, just the form to request a flight disruption statement. After looking for a bit, I gave up and called the customer service number. The agent was initially confused, but then understood what I was asking about. She filled out an internal form with my details, had me e-mail the flight disruption statement to customer service and then told me that I’d be contacted by e-mail within a week or two. Sure enough, a week later, here’s what I received:

I expected there to be a lengthy wait, so I set a reminder to myself to check in three months later if I hadn’t heard anything. To my surprise, in less than a week, I received the following e-mail:

I signed the attached settlement statement, e-mailed it back and two days later the $1482 was in my bank account:

Final Thoughts

In the end, I was actually fairly surprised by how smoothly my first EU 261 claim went. It’s extremely difficult to get straightforward information online, but once I figured out where to get the disruption statement and contacted customer service, it was easy.

As this was my first time submitting a claim, I don’t have any first-hand information about how easy or difficult it might be with other airlines. My assumption is that budget carriers like RyanAir or easyJet might be trickier.

That said, the juice is worth the squeeze. EU 261 is a great feature of European travel for consumers, actually making airlines responsible for their controllable operational issues. From the sounds of it, many eligible passengers don’t end up filing claims, probably in no small part because of the lack of a standardized way to do it. But stick with it. The 6+ hour delay on our flight stunk, but we feel a lot better about it now with almost $1500 in our pockets.

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