Airline compensation is money or vouchers a carrier owes a passenger when it cancels, delays, downgrades, or denies boarding on a covered flight, set by rules such as EU261, UK261, Canada’s APPR, Brazil’s ANAC Resolution 400, and the US DOT.
Compensation sits on top of the refund. A refund returns what the passenger paid; compensation is a separate payment for the disruption itself. The applicable rule depends on the flight’s origin, destination, operating carrier, and disruption reason. EU261 is the most cited framework because it applies to any flight departing the EU or arriving in the EU on an EU carrier. Support desks working across regions maintain a compensation matrix so an agent replies with the correct amount and window every time.
“Extraordinary circumstances” is the most-argued phrase in airline compensation. Weather, ATC strikes, and third-party industrial action usually exclude the carrier from paying, while technical faults and crew scheduling normally do not. A travel-native desk logs the disruption reason on the ticket, so the compensation claim uses the actual reason on file, not a passenger’s paraphrase.
Common questions
What is the difference between a refund and compensation?
A refund returns the fare paid; compensation is additional money owed for the disruption itself. Both can apply to the same ticket.
Does US law offer compensation similar to EU261?
No cash compensation regime as broad as EU261 exists in the US. The DOT requires refunds for cancellations and significant delays and enforces denied-boarding compensation, but not the EU261 fixed sums. Verify against primary source at build time.