Missed your connecting flight?

Did you miss your connecting flight due to a delay of your previous flight? Has this caused you to be delayed for a long time? If you arrived with a delay of three hours or more to your end destination, you could be entitled to compensation of up to €600 per person.

Your rights for missing your connecting flight

When you missed your connecting flight, you can report this with the airline desk. The airline is responsible for accommodating a replacement flight for you, under Regulation 261/2004. If it is not possible to reach your end destination, they have to offer you a flight back to your place of departure.

Example: You booked a flight to New York via Amsterdam. Your flight from London to Amsterdam is delayed for twenty minutes. Because of this delay, you cannot make it in time and you miss you connecting flight to New York. The airline offers you a replacement flight departing eight hours later than your original flight. In this case you are entitled to compensation for the loss of time. Besides that you can also claim back additional costs for a meal for example.

Right to care

If you missed your connecting flight and your replacement flight departs a day later, the airline is obliged to provide you with accommodation and meals. Often the airline will offer you vouchers for drinks and food. If they do not offer vouchers, you can purchase this yourself and claim back the costs with the airline.

Missed flight compensation

A missed connection due to a delay may mean that you are entitled to compensation. If you arrive at your end destination with an arrival delay of three hours or more, you could be entitled to up to €600 per person. It is important to note that you have to fly with a European airline or from an EU country to a country outside the EU. Furthermore, your flights must be in one booking. The amount of compensation is determined by the flight distance. The distance is calculated from the start of your journey until the end destination.

Flight destinations in the EU

  • €250 compensation for a missed flight up to 1500km
  • €400 compensation for a missed flight exceeding 1500 km

Flight destinations outside the EU

  • €250 compensation for a missed flight up to 1500 km
  • €400 compensation for a missed flight between 1500 and 3500 km
  • €600 compensation for a missed flight exceeding 3500 km

Arrival delays between three and four hours on long distance flights of 3500 kilometers or more, entitle you to 50% of the compensation.

Vergoeding bij vertraging of annulering

Extraordinary circumstances making you miss the flight

If you miss your flight because of a delay on the first flight caused by extraordinary circumstances, you are not entitled to compensation. Extraordinary circumstances apply when the airline cannot be held responsible for the delay of the flight. Examples of such are poor weather conditions, such as fog, but also terrorist attacks and Air Traffic Control strikes are extraordinary circumstances.

Delayed baggage due to missed connection

The chances of your baggage not arriving in time when you missed your connecting flight are quite large. In case of a missed connection, the baggage is often left at the airport of your stopover, as you were unable to board the planned flight. If your luggage is not on the baggage-belt, it is important to report this at the ‘Lost and Found’ desk at the airport and submit a PIR (Property Irregularity Report) document. If your luggage arrives a day late for example, you can purchase the needed items such as toiletries, underwear and clothes. The costs you made can be reclaimed from the airline.

Claiming compensation for a missed connection

Claiming your compensation and possible additional costs can be done with the airline. If the airline does not reply or if you would rather not do this yourself, you can consult other parties such as your travel insurance or a specialized agency that is experienced in claims handling.