The exception first: your flights out of Europe
Any flight departing the UK or EU is covered by UK261/EU261, whoever operates it and whatever passport you hold. A New Yorker flying London to JFK on Delta, delayed 3 hours or more arriving for a reason within Delta's control, is owed up to £520. Same for Paris to Atlanta, Rome to Chicago, Dublin to Boston. The return leg into Europe is also covered when the airline is a UK or EU carrier. Six-figure numbers of Americans qualify every year and almost none of them claim, because nobody told them a European law applies to their Delta ticket. It does, and it reaches back years: 6 years for England and Wales departures, 5 for Scotland.
Flights covered by US rules: automatic refunds
For flights to, from or within the US, airlines must refund you automatically, in cash, not vouchers, when your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you choose not to travel and decline the alternative. Significantly changed means departure or arrival moved by 3 hours or more domestic or 6+ hours international, a different departure or arrival airport, extra connections, or a downgrade. The refund covers the unused ticket and any paid extras that didn't happen, like seat selection or a checked bag that arrived over 12 hours late (15 to 30 hours for international).
The catch: a refund only makes you whole on the fare. If you still need to get there, and the last-minute replacement ticket costs triple, US law does not cover the difference. That's the gap the European system fills with fixed compensation, and the reason the same delay is worth hundreds of pounds more when it starts in London than when it starts in Dallas.
Delays without cancellation: airline promises, not law
For a long delay where the flight still operates, US law guarantees nothing beyond the refund rules above. What exists instead are the commitments the big carriers filed on the Department of Transportation's customer service dashboard: most promise meals after a 3-hour controllable delay and a hotel for overnight ones. Those promises are enforceable complaints when broken, but the amounts are meals and beds, not cash.
Canada, and everywhere else
Canada's APPR pays CAD $400 to $1,000 for controllable delays of 3 hours or more on large airlines, claimed within 1 year. And on any international itinerary, the Montreal Convention lets you recover documented out-of-pocket losses caused by a delay, hotels, missed prepaid bookings, up to roughly $6,700, through the airline or, failing that, small claims court. That applies to Americans too, including on US carriers.
What to actually do
- • Delayed or cancelled on a flight that departed the UK or EU, up to 6 years ago? Check it. That's the money nobody collects.
- • Cancelled or significantly changed US flight you didn't take? The refund should be automatic. If it isn't, demand it in writing and file a DOT complaint.
- • Long controllable delay on a US carrier? Claim the meals and hotel their dashboard commitment promises.
- • Out of pocket on an international trip? Keep receipts and invoke the Montreal Convention.
Routes we track
The busiest UK to US routes
Leaving the UK is covered whoever you are and whichever airline you fly, so these all pay under UK rules even on a US carrier. US domestic flights do not.