To win financial compensation for a canceled flight, basic conditions must be met to make it worth claiming compensation from the airline for the given flight - and not a waste of your time. The initial conditions for claiming compensation for a canceled flight are as follows:

• length of delayed flight at final destination
• whether this is a flight subject to EU Regulation (EC) 261/2004 or whether there are other options and forms of obtaining compensation (flight miles, gift vouchers).
• the length of time before departure that you were given information about the cancelled flight

There are also supplemental conditions for obtaining possible financial damages for a cancelled flight, such as:

• distance from initial location and final destination for calculating the amount of your damages
• delayed flight was caused by circumstances that the airline could or could not have controlled.

The combination of factors described above subsequently defines whether a potential claim for obtaining financial compensation has been incurred, and the amount thereof.

Definition of length of delayed flight due to canceled flight

The length of the delay is calculated as the difference between the time of arrival at the final destination compared to the original planned time of arrival. To obtain compensation you must have a delay at your final destination of at least three hours when compared to your planned time of arrival. A canceled flight is defined as the situation when the air carrier changes your flight less than 14 days prior to your planned date of departure.

Definition of whether or not a flight is subject to EU Regulation (EC) 261/2004

In order to claim compensation for delayed flight as part of the European Regulation, the flight must be operated by at least one of the following methods:

• The flight must have taken place within the European Union or a member state (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland)
• The departure location must be within the European Union or a member state
• The flight is operated by an airline that has its registered office in the territory of the European Union or a member state

The definition of flight distance for determining the amount of your compensation for delayed flights

If you meet the main conditions regarding length of delay and jurisdiction of the flight as part of the EU Regulation, your next step will be to specify the maximum amount of compensation for the delayed flight. This amount is defined on the basis of the distance between the departure location and the final destination as part of a single reservation. Please note: this distance does not include any stopovers or transfers during the course of the trip. It consists solely of the ?shortest distance between the initial departure city and the final destination. All as shown below:

Beispiel für eine Entfernung ohne Zwischenstopp Prag - London

• Distanz 1047 KM (Beispiel Nr. 1)

Beispiel für die Entfernung eines neuen alternativen Fluges
Prag - Wien - London

• Entfernung Prag - Wien 278 km
• Entfernung Wien - London 1279 KM
• Gesamtstrecke 1557 km (Beispiel Nr. 2)

Die Entfernungsberechnung basiert auf der kürzesten Entfernung zwischen dem anfänglichen Abfahrtsort und dem endgültigen Ziel, in diesem Beispiel 1 – 1047 km

Option of reducing compensation from the airline by 50%

With compensation for a canceled flight there is one aspect to keep in mind. In the event that the passenger uses an alternative mode of transport proposed by the original air carrier to the final destination, the airline can reduce the amount of your compensation by 50% in cases when the arrival of the alternative flight does not exceed the original arrival time by:

• two hours for all flights with distance of no higher than 1,500 km
• three hours for flights within the EU longer 1,500 km and all other flights ranging from 1,500 km to 3,500 km or
• four hours for all other flights

Other options for obtaining compensation for delayed flights? that are not subject to EU regulations

Compensation can be obtained for flights that are not subject to EU Regulations or are not operated by air carriers with registered office in the EU. The amount of the compensation varies on an individual basis and conforms either to the legislation of the given country or the terms and conditions of the given air carrier. At the same time, the form and amount of any compensation varies and can consist of a financial value or of damages in the form of flight miles or bonus or gift vouchers.

The option not to use a flight in the case of significant delay

If the delay of the flight is more than 5 hours, you have the option not to take the flight. This means, therefore, that if you decide in this case not to continue?with your trip, you are entitled to a refund of the price of your ticket for all unused portions of your itinerary and the airline must also transport you back to the location where your trip began.

Definition of extraordinary circumstances

In order for the airline to be obligated to pay you financial compensation for your delayed flight, this cannot consist of extraordinary circumstances that could not have been prevented by the airline. If this is the case, the airline is released in these circumstances of any obligation to pay compensation.?In all other cases you are entitled to obtain your financial compensation for the delayed flight.

Situations categorized as extraordinary circumstances:

A summary of the conditions for obtaining compensation for a cancelled flight

To successfully win compensation for a canceled flight it is necessary to carefully verify the reasons that led to the cancellation of the flight, as well as to calculate the time in advance that the airline reported the cancellation of the flight. In the event that the airline does not communicate with you, it will be necessary to use legal help and compel the airline to obtain your compensation through legal actions. If you are not successful in compelling the airline to communicate with you, you are not satisfied with the response of the airline, you lack the necessary language skills, or you do not have access to legal representation, do not hesitate to make use of our services, where we will always verify the circumstances of your flight. If we judge that you are entitled to compensation, we will take care of everything and obtain your compensation for you using our legal team.

Why ask for compensation with a company instead of doing it yourself?

Our advice at the end

Regardless of whether you turn out to be entitled to financial compensation from the airline depending on the circumstances and causes of your delayed flight, the airline must take care of you at the site of the delay. It is their obligation to provide you with refreshments and provide you with the option to make a phone call or send an email. This does not apply in cases when the flight will be delayed up to two hours and allows you to board the plane (for distances of up to 1500 km) or three hours (for distances above 1500 km). If the airline can’t manage to prevent the delay on the given day, it is obligated to provide you with accommodations with transport to the hotel and back. If this should fail to happen, definitely keep all receipts for expenses you incurred due to the unexpected delay for later claimed reimbursement from the air carrier.