Guide
Flight cancelled: your options by region
A cancelled flight can mean a refund or a new flight, care while you wait, and sometimes fixed compensation. Notice and cause decide the compensation.
We are not lawyers. This is legal information, not legal advice, and we are not liable for how you use it. Official sources and the decisions of regulators and courts come first. Read the disclaimer.
The short version
According to the published rules, a cancelled flight can give you up to three separate things: a refund or a new flight, care while you wait, and in some cases fixed compensation. How much notice you received, and the cause of the cancellation, decide the compensation.
You choose between a refund and a new flight
According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, if your cancelled flight is covered by UK law, the airline must let you choose between a refund for the parts of the ticket you have not used, and an alternative flight. If you still want to travel, it is up to you whether to fly as soon as possible or at a later date.
Care while you wait
According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the airline must provide a reasonable amount of food and drink, a means to communicate, accommodation if you are re-routed the next day, and transport to and from it. Your Europe lists the same kinds of assistance for EU flights.
Compensation depends on notice and cause
- United Kingdom. According to the CAA, you may be able to claim compensation if you received less than 14 days' notice. With 7 to 14 days' notice the amount depends on the timings of the replacement flight, and with under 7 days it depends on how late you arrive. Disruption caused by extreme weather, unrelated strikes or other extraordinary circumstances is not eligible.
- European Union. According to Your Europe, you can claim compensation unless the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances, and you are entitled to assistance.
- Canada. According to the Canadian Transportation Agency, compensation applies when the cause is fully within the airline's control and not required for safety, you were told 14 days or less before departure, and you arrive 3 or more hours late. Large airlines pay C$400, C$700 or C$1,000 and small airlines C$125, C$250 or C$500.
- United States. According to secondary sources, a cash refund is available if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you choose not to travel. We could not confirm the thresholds on the official site, so check the Department of Transportation page.
Next steps
Keep the airline's notice and the date you received it, ask for the reason in writing, and claim from the airline first. The flight claim guide has wording for each step.
Sources.
Checked 02 Oct 2026. Where we could only find press reports, the text says so.
More articles.
- Guide
Delayed flight: getting food and hotel costs back
Care while you wait is a separate right from compensation. What the CAA and Your Europe say, why receipts matter, and how it connects to travel insurance.
- Guide
Denied boarding compensation by region
What the published rules say if you are bumped from an oversold flight in the UK, the EU, the US and Canada, and why volunteering changes the answer.
- Guide
EU261, UK261 or APPR: which rules apply?
Which flight compensation rules cover your flight depends on where it left, where it landed and which airline flew it. Here is how each rule set describes its own scope.