Fares, baggage rules and passenger rights, the parts of flying where knowing the rule is worth real money.
Airlines are not required to tell you what you are owed, and most passengers never find out. These guides work from the regulations themselves, Regulation 261/2004, the Montreal Convention, the UK’s retained version, and link to every source so you can check any claim before you act on it.
Start with what you’re owed for a delay or cancellation. If your flight touched the UK, the UK rules differ in three ways, one of them strongly in your favour.
Everything in this section
Air Passenger Duty Refunds: What You Get Back If You Do Not Fly (2026)
Did not fly? The airline owes you the taxes even on a non-refundable ticket. Air Passenger Duty runs to 253 pounds a head, and…
The Airline Moved Your Flight: Schedule Change Rights (2026)
Moved earlier by more than one hour, your flight counts as cancelled and is worth up to €600. Pushed later by under three hours,…
Booked Through an Agent: Who Owes You When the Flight Is Cancelled (2026)
Telling the agent is not telling you. Two Court of Justice rulings put cancellation compensation on the airline, plus the 7 day refund deadline.
Downgraded on Your Flight: What the Airline Actually Owes You (2026)
Downgraded to economy? UK and EU law owes you 30, 50 or 75 percent. Not of what you paid, though, and one 2016 ruling…
Stranded Overnight: What the Airline Must Pay For (2026)
The airline owes you food and a hotel whatever caused the delay. What counts as reasonable, which receipts win, and the three night cap…
The Airline Rejected Your Claim: How to Escalate (2026)
Your airline said no. Four routes go over its head, three of them free. What each costs, what each can force, and the 12…
Rebooked Three Days Later? When You Can Buy Your Own Ticket (2026)
Your flight is cancelled and the rebooking is three days out. When you can buy your own ticket on another airline and bill the…
Extraordinary Circumstances: The Excuse Airlines Overuse (2026)
Airlines refuse compensation by saying extraordinary circumstances. Nine court rulings say most refusals are wrong. How to test one and rebut it.
Your Airline Went Bust: How to Get Your Money Back (2026)
Your airline collapsed and will not refund you. Here is who actually pays, from Section 75 to the 120-day chargeback clock, and where claims…
Missed Connection: Who Owes You What (2026)
Miss a connection on one booking and the airline owes a re-route, care and up to 600 euros. On separate tickets it owes nothing.…
Delayed, Lost or Damaged Baggage: What You’re Actually Owed (2026)
The airline’s liability for your bag is capped at 1,519 SDR, about 1,900 euro. The deadlines are brutally short: seven days for damage, twenty-one…
Bumped Off Your Flight? What to Do at the Gate (2026)
Overbooking is legal, but bumping you is expensive for the airline. What you are owed, why volunteering can pay far more than the statutory…