How long do you have to be delayed before compensation?
Delayed flights: you may be able to claim compensation if your flight arrived 3 hours or more late. Canceled flights: you may be eligible for compensation if your flight was canceled less than 14 days before it was due to depart.
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So if your flight is delayed by 2 hours, there is no compensation. However, you can make a different claim. For example, if your flight is delayed by two hours or more, your airline must take care of you by offering you support services. These can be very different.
If you are connecting on a different airline, airlines are not required to provide compensation if a delay on the first flight causes you to miss your connection. However, if your first flight is delayed for more than 3 hours, you may be entitled to compensation from the airline that caused the delay.
But as a rule of thumb, only expect compensation when the delay is the airline's fault and lasts longer than three hours. If the delay arises from inclement weather, issues at the airport,or other circumstances outside the airline's control, you won't be eligible for compensation.
So it can delay the flight for an hour to several hours until the problem is fixed. Technical issues are pretty rare, but airlines are liable to pay compensation to their passengers if the delay is of more than 3 hours. The amount of compensation, however, depends upon the flight distance.
Delayed FlightsIf your flight is delayed, the airline is required to rebook you on a different flight. However, federal law does not require airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when flights are delayed.
Right to reimbursement or re-routingIn addition to compensation for your loss of time, if your delay exceeds 5 hours, you are entitled to a full or partial refund of your original ticket and a return flight to your point of departure, if needed.
If the change is significant enough and there are no other flights that work with your schedule, you do have the option to request a cash refund (even with a normally non-refundable basic economy fare). Again, this varies by airline; for United it's two hours, for Delta it's 90 minutes and for American it's 4 hours.
The credit maxes out at $200 for delays of six hours or more. Once passengers have boarded the aircraft, the compensation structure is $100 in credit for a delay between three and five hours, $175 in credit for a delay between five and six hours, or a $250 credit for a delay of six hours or more.
If your flight's delayed for 3 or more hoursYou're entitled to get compensation if the flight arrives more than 3 hours late and it's the airline's fault - for example, if they didn't get enough bookings or there was a technical fault.
For the most part, it's up to individual airlines to decide how to compensate their passengers after a delay. “There's no specific policy on compensations, said Shaiy Howard, president and CEO of Travel by Shaiy, a travel agency based in South Florida. Just keep in mind that all airlines vary.
If you contact the airline or ticket agent to obtain a required refund and you are refused that refund, you should file a complaint against the airline or ticket agent with the Department at https://secure.dot.gov/air-travel-complaint.
To receive compensation, you must file a claim with the airline for the delay, and the delay must have been caused by a factor within the airline's control (so a weather delay wouldn't count).
Beyond Airline Compensation: Other Rights That Come With EC 261. In addition to compensation for your loss of time, if your delay exceeds 5 hours, you are entitled to a full or partial refund of your original ticket and a return flight to your point of departure, if needed.
To receive compensation, you must file a claim with the airline for the delay, and the delay must have been caused by a factor within the airline's control (so a weather delay wouldn't count).