Three separate rights
What you’re owed, even with no compensation
Compensation is only one of three things the law gives you, and they stack. You can be owed all three at once — and you keep the other two even when no compensation is due.
Article 7
Compensation
The fixed €250–€600 for a qualifying delay, cancellation or bump. This is the one that depends on cause and threshold.
Article 8
Refund or re-routing
Your money back within seven days, or a new flight to your destination. Your choice. Owed whenever a flight is cancelled or you are bumped, whatever the cause.
Article 9
Care while you wait
Meals, drinks, two calls or emails, and a hotel plus transport if you’re stranded overnight. No cap (McDonagh). Owed even when the cause was extraordinary. A three-night ceiling arrives with the 2026 reform, not before.
The point most people miss
Airlines love to answer a compensation claim by pointing at the refund they already gave you — as if that settles it. It does not. A refund is Article 8. Compensation is Article 7. Meeting one duty does not discharge the others. If a flight was cancelled for weather, you get no compensation, but you are still owed the refund or a new flight, and still owed food and a hotel while you wait.
Questions
Do I get compensation and a refund?
They are separate rights. If your claim qualifies, you can receive Article 7 compensation as well as an Article 8 refund or re-routing. One does not cancel the other.
What am I owed if the delay was the airline’s fault but under three hours?
No fixed compensation, because the three-hour threshold is not met. But you are still owed care under Article 9 once the wait passes the time limits — meals, and a hotel if you are kept overnight.
Rather not chase it yourself?
Everything above can be claimed for free with the letters on this site, and you keep the whole amount. If you would rather not spend the time, a no-win-no-fee claims service will chase the airline for you and take a percentage only if it pays out.
Compensair charges 25–35% no-win-no-fee and is generally the cheaper option on European short-haul. AirHelp runs legal teams in around 30 countries at 35%, rising to 50% if court action is needed — the stronger pick for long-haul or anything likely to be fought. Both are affiliate links; the fee is the same whether you arrive through this site or not.