Missed Connection Flight Compensation: What Are Your Rights?

In some cases, as per EU Regulation 261/2004 , travellers could be eligible for missed connection flight compensation and receive up to €600 as a refund for their troubles. This article will help you find out the necessary steps for claiming airline compensation and give you some advice on what to do in case of a missed connection.

Do I get compensation for a missed connecting flight?

Yes, you can get compensation for a missed connecting flight but only if it's the airline's fault. Under EU261, all passengers are entitled to compensation if the one of the flights in their journey is delayed or cancelled causing them to miss their subsiquent flight. 

The silver lining is that you could be entitled to compensation of up to €600, an alternate flight and to be provided food and drinks for the duration of your wait. 

But in  case you missed your connection due to bad weather, your carrier is only obliged to help you find an alternate flight as soon as possible but would not be required to pay compensation for the missed connection.

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When am I entitled to compensation for a missed connecting flight?

According to your passenger rights, you may have the right to compensation of up to €600 for any flight delays or cancellations which prevent you from boarding your connection.  There are a few criteria that need to be met to be eligible for compensation for your missed flight connection.

1. Your flights were booked under the same booking reference 
2. You missed your connection due to delay, cancellation or overbooking caused by the airline 
3. In case of delay, your arrival at the final destination at least 3 hours after the original arrival time
4. In case of a cancellation, you were informed about the cancellation less than 14 days prior to your flight
5. The airline is responsible for the flight disruption (e.g. knock-off effects, airline strikes, technical difficulties)
6. You flew with an EU airline or the flight departed from an EU airport
7. You didn't miss the connection due to reasons within your control
8. There weren't any extraordinary circumstances (e.g. bad weather or airport strikes) causing you to miss your flight

Book your flights under the same reservation

One of the key requirements to claim missed connection compensation is to have flights with the same reservation. This means that you need to have one journey from start to finish by booking your flights with the same airline. If you don’t have all your flights under the same reservation number, the airline’s responsibility towards you would end once they take you to your in-between destination. 

If for any reason it’s not possible to fly with the same airline, we would recommend finding flights which are operated by carriers within the same alliance. While you might not be eligible for missed connection compensation, alliances often have their dedicated desks at airports and would help you find alternate flights more easily. 

You can check if your flights are part of the same itinerary by looking at the reference number. If they all have the same number, they're part of the same reservation.

Keep in mind, that you can still be eligible for flight delay or cancellation compensation, even if you can't claim one for missed connection.

Can you claim money back if you miss your flight?

Yes, you can claim money back if you miss your flight but it depends on the reason. In case you missed your flight because of something under your control (e.g. you arrived late at the gate) you won't be compensated.

But if the cause of the disruption is a flight delay or cancellation due to the airline's negligence, you can claim compensation. The amount for a missed connection is based on on the total distance of your journey and the length of the delay. This means that regardless of which leg of your journey is affected, you can claim compensation for the whole trip, if the airline responsible for the delay is the same. You can see on the table below how much you can claim depending on the legth of the flight delay.

Less than 3 hours	Between 3 - 4 hours	More than 4 hours	Distance
€ -	€ 250 (£220)	€ 250 (£220)	Up to 1,500 km
€ -	€ 400 (£350)	€ 400 (£350)	1,500 - 3,500 km
€ -	€ 400 (£350)	€ 400 (£350)	3,500+ km (within EU)
€ -	€ 300 (£260)	€ 600 (£520)	3,500+ km (departing from EU)

To illustrate, if you were flying with KLM from Jakarta to Sao Paolo with a change in Amsterdam, and your flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam was delayed because of airline strike causing you to miss your flight from Amsterdam to Sao Paolo, you can claim missed connnection compensation. Since KLM is a Dutch airline registered in the EU, you can claim compensation even if you're not taking off from an EU airport. But if your Jakarta - Amsterdam flight was delayed because of bad weather, you won't be compensated but KLM will rebook your flight. 

Missed connection compensation: Other passenger rights

According to EU261, air passengers have additional rights in case of delayed or cancelled flights. So, even if you aren't eligible for missed connection compensation, you're still entitled to the following rights: 

Upgrading and downgrading

As the airline will rebook your ticket, the new one has to be from a similar standard of the one you missed. But in case the new ticket is from a lower class standard, you should be reimbursed between 30% and 75% of the original price of your ticket. 

On the other hand, if your ticket is upgraded for the new flight, the airline can't charge you additionally for the upgrade. 

Right to Care

If your inbound flight was delayed or cancelled and caused you to miss your flight, the airline is required to provide you with vouchers for food and drinks for the entire duration of your airport stay. According to EC261, your carrier must provide you with:

• Food and refreshments;
• Hotel accommodation in case you need to stay at your transitional destination overnight;
• Transportation to the hotel accommodation;

Right to refund or re-routing

In case the flight delay is over 5 hours, passengers have the right to a full or partial refund of the journey and to opt out from flying. Since a delay of 5 hours will significantly impact your travel plans you can choose not to fly at all. Additionally, with connecting flights you can choose not to fly for a part of your journey. 

The airline is also obligated to rebook your ticket either to your original destination or back to the departure point. 

What to do if an airline refuses compensation?

Sometimes passengers miss their connection because the airport is too big for them to reach the departure gate on time. Unfortunately, in this case, the airline is not required to assist in finding an alternate flight, nor to cover any expenses at the airport or accommodation. That is why we advise you to contact the airline immediately and attempt to find the earliest possible flight. 

In addition, ask your airline representative about retrieving your baggage, you might need it if you have to spend the night at a hotel.

Missing your connecting flight could bring you a lot of trouble but we hope that these simple tips will spare you some stress. Of course, missing a connection is sometimes unavoidable, but in some situations you would be eligible for missed connection compensation that you can claim in just a few clicks. 

How can I claim missed connection compensation?

At SkyRefund we help air passengers receive their rightful flight delay or cancellation compensation. If you are entitled to compensation, our experienced aviation law experts can help you receive your payment. Once you have submitted your flight information, we will take every legal measure to ensure that you receive what is rightfully yours—even take the airline to court if necessary. What’s more, the whole process would be completely risk-free for you. We would only earn our fee once the airline has sent you your compensation: “No Win—No Fee”. You can check your compensation eligibility using our calculator.