Compensation rights and money you could get if your flight is delayed

This summer, thousands of Brits will be heading to the airport to catch flights heading to a variety of foreign destinations.

But the one thing that holiday makers are hoping won’t cause their plans to go sideways is delays at the airport - especially when it comes to their flights.

There’s nothing worse than being ready to get on a plane but being told you have to wait a little bit longer for one reason or another.

And sometimes what seems to be a short 20 minute delay can add up to hours of waiting to even board a plane.

So what rights do you have if your flight is delayed, and what compensation could you get?

Thanks to the team at Money Saving Expert, there is a brilliant checklist holidaymakers can look through if their flight has been delayed this summer to figure out whether they’re eligible for compensation.

Step 1 - Is your flight EU/UK regulated?

According to Money Saving Expert, all rules come from this one simple fact - to be covered for your delayed flights, they must be regulated by the UK or EU. 

This means:

• Any FLIGHT leaving a UK/EU airport
• Any UK or EU AIRLINE arriving at a UK/EU airport

So, if you’re flying from any UK airport to somewhere like America, Africa or Asia then any delays will be covered, regardless of airline.

But your flight back won’t be covered unless you fly back with an airline like BA, Ryanair, easyJet etc that is a UK or EU company.

The other thing when it comes to the actual flight/airline is whether or not you are flying with a codeshare.

Again it's the operator that counts, so if you’ve booked with British Airways but are flying back to the UK with American Airlines then you won’t be covered as it’s American Airlines that counts in this example.

Step 2 - Are you eligible for compensation?

There are certain EU/UK regulated flights that are eligible for compensation at a set rate but they need to fit the following criteria:

• You arrived at your destination more than three hours later than scheduled.
• The flight was scheduled to fly in the past 6 years (5 in Scotland).
• The reason for the delay was the airline’s fault (bad weather would not apply).

Unfortunately for claimants, when it comes to delays, your chance of compensation depends on when you land, not when you leave.

And the arrival time is deemed to be when at least one door of the aircraft has been opened, not the time you land or the time you go through passport control.

Below is a list of what compensation you could claim:

• Flight length 1,500km, delay 3+ hours - £220
• Flight length 1,500km to 3,500km, delay 3+ hours - £350
• Flight length 3,500km, delay 3 to 4 hours - £260
• Flight length 3,500km, delay 4+ hours - £520

You could also be entitled to compensation if you are bumped from your flight due to overbooking.

Those who are removed for this reason might be able to expect up to £520 compensation, depending on how far they are flying, but also how long they are delayed.

For more information and access to MoneySavingExpert’s free claim tool, head to its website.