If your flight is delayed or cancelled or the airline lose your luggage

Delays and cancellations are the last thing anyone wants when travelling abroad. You might get a call or text before you leave for the airport, or you could be faced with a changed or cancelled flight while you’re on your travels, or you could arrive at your destination, only to find your luggage has gone walkies. Either way, this kind of disruption to your journey is hugely stressful - especially if you miss a connecting flight, need to book extra accommodation or purchase emergency clothes - when it could cost you.

Often, there’s little support and advice on hand at the time. The airline may well offer you limited options when it comes to rebooking or compensation, or even deny responsibility for the difficulties you face.

You have a number of rights under EU regulations

As a consumer, you have important legal rights when the flight you’ve booked is delayed or cancelled. But a lot depends on the cause, how much notice you were given, and how far your flight was travelling. You also need to be flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

Getting rerouted, refunded and/or compensated may be simply a question of contacting the airline or the agent you booked your flight through. But the airline will have to accept that the disruption was their fault, and not caused by ‘extraordinary circumstances’ outside their control.

For lost luggage, you should fill in a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) – a form you can get from airline staff – and keep receipts for everything you need to buy.

How we can help

We can help you work out whether you might be entitled to compensation. We’ll talk you through your options and how best to approach the airline or travel agent.

Perhaps you’ve already tried to get a refund from the airline and were unsuccessful. If so, we can tell you if you should be due that refund, or compensation, and advise you on next steps. If the airline still refuses to cooperate, we can explain how you may be able to escalate the issue to a dispute resolution service. We’ll:

• listen to the problem and explain what your rights are
• talk you through the different ways you might be able to resolve the situation
• help you understand what steps you can take to get the refund or compensation you’re entitled to