EU261 has applied since 2005 to any flight leaving an EU or UK airport, and to flights arriving on a European airline. It doesn't care what your ticket cost or which website sold it.

How much

Per passenger, including children with their own seat. Measured on the whole journey, so a missed connection counts once, not twice.

When

• Delays — three hours or more late at your destination, not at the gate.
• Cancellations — unless they told you more than fourteen days ahead.
• Denied boarding — if you didn't volunteer to give up the seat.

The excuse they'll try

Airlines can avoid paying for “extraordinary circumstances”. Courts have spent twenty years narrowing what that means.

Technical faults were settled in Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07; crew strikes in Krüsemann, C-195/17. And whichever they claim, Article 5(3) makes them prove it — not you.

Owed either way

How far back

Set by the country you departed from. Periods vary and get litigated — the free check confirms yours before you pay anything.