A missed connecting flight is a headache for any air passenger. The good news is that you are protected under EU Regulation EC 261 if your flight was to or from Europe. Under this regulation you may be entitled to up to €600 in compensation if you miss a connecting flight due to a flight delay, cancellation, or if you are denied boarding due to an overbooked flight.
A connecting flight differs from a direct flight as it contains several connected flights. Despite the fact that these flights are bought in one booking, they may be connected via other airports on the way.
If one of your flights gets delayed, cancelled or overbooked, you may miss your connection. Fortunately, the airline should arrange a new connecting flight for you. Additionally, if your flight is to or from Europe, you may be entitled to missed connection compensation under EU Regulation EC 261. Thus, if you miss your connecting flight due to a flight delay, cancellation, or boarding denial, you may claim compensation.
You can get missed flight connection compensation if:
If you think, that under these points mentioned above, you should receive compensation, you can file your claim and we will help you with getting it. If you doubt whether you are eligible, you may use our free flight compensation calculator.
You can receive missed connection compensation only if both of your flights were part of the same reservation. This means that you purchased your tickets in one booking, and the airline issued you with a ticket for connecting flights. Usually, connecting flights are with the same airline, but it’s also possible for them to be from different airlines.
If your flights are purchased in two (or more) bookings, these flights are not considered as connecting. In this case, you would not be able to receive compensation, but you would be able to claim compensation for the original disruption.
The simple way to find out if your journey is a single reservation is to look at your booking reference number. If this code is the same for all flights, they are considered as part of the same reservation and are connecting flights.
You can get compensation for your missed connecting flight if it was within Europe no matter if you are an EU citizen or not. Your flight can also depart from a European airport or land in Europe if it’s a European airline. If part of your journey includes a European connection, you may also be entitled to compensation for a missed connecting flight. Please see the table below.
| Itinerary | EU air carrier | Non-EU air carrier |
| From inside the EU to inside the EU | Yes | Yes |
| From inside the EU to outside the EU | Yes | Yes |
| From outside the EU to inside the EU | Yes | No – unless your journey originated in the EU* |
| From outside the EU to outside the EU | No – unless your journey originated in the EU* | No – unless your journey originated in the EU* |
* Under EC 261, flights are a part of the same journey if they were purchased under one booking. Flights that depart from the EU are covered by EC 261 regardless of where the flight delay, cancellation or boarding denial occurs or you miss your connecting flight.
EU Regulation EC 261 is also applicable in the following countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the so-called “outermost regions” (French Guiana and Martinique, Mayotte, Guadeloupe and La Réunion, Saint-Martin, Madeira and the Azores, and the Canary Islands).
The amount of missed connection compensation depends on the reason why you were late for the connecting flight. The most frequent reason for missing connecting flights are flight delays. Take a look at the amounts of missed connection compensation presented in the table below.
| Distance | Less than 3 hours | 3 – 4 hours | More than 4 hours | Never arrived |
| All flights 1,500 km or less | € – | €250 | €250 | €250 |
| Internal EU flights over 1,500 km | € – | €400 | €400 | €400 |
| Non-internal EU flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km | € – | €400 | €400 | €400 |
| Non-internal EU flights over 3,500 km | € – | €300 | €600 | €600 |
If the reason for the missed connection is other than a flight delay, you may be entitled to a different amount of compensation.
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