You took the new flight the airline offered. Can you still claim?
Updated
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.
On this page
Your flight was cancelled or badly delayed, or you were denied boarding. The airline put you on another flight, you took it, and later the airline refused compensation because you "accepted the rerouting". Taking the new flight does not remove your right to compensation under EU261. Only the timing of the new flight can lower or remove the amount.
What the law says
EU Regulation 261/2004 (EU261) gives you separate rights:
- Rerouting or refund (Article 8): after a cancellation or denied boarding, you choose between a new flight and a refund of your ticket.
- Compensation (Article 7): €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, depending on distance.
- No advance waiver (Article 15): the airline cannot limit these rights in its conditions.
Accepting a new flight is using your Article 8 right. It is not a payment of the Article 7 compensation.
When the new flight lowers or removes the amount
Cancellations (Article 5(1)(c)). No compensation is owed if:
- you were told 14 days or more before departure, or
- you were told 7 to 13 days before, and the new flight left no more than 2 hours before the original time and landed less than 4 hours after the original arrival, or
- you were told less than 7 days before, and the new flight left no more than 1 hour before and landed less than 2 hours after.
The 50% rule (Article 7(2)). The airline may halve the amount if it rerouted you and you arrived no more than 2 hours late (up to 1,500 km), 3 hours late (1,500 to 3,500 km) or 4 hours late (longer flights).
Outside these windows, the full amount applies, whether or not you took the new flight. A flight moved more than an hour earlier counts as cancelled (Azurair C-146/20).
How to answer the refusal
Reply in writing in the same case:
"Taking the alternative flight was my right under Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004. It does not replace the compensation under Article 7. I arrived [hours] late at my final destination. Please pay €[amount] per passenger for flight [number] on [date], booking reference [ref]."
Add when you were told about the change and the times of the new flight. The airline has to prove when you were told (Article 5(4)).
When it is worth it, and when it is not
Usually worth it: you were told less than 14 days before and the new flight left more than an hour early or arrived well over 2 hours late, or the refusal only says "you accepted the rerouting".
Harder: the new flight landed within the windows above. Then the airline can owe nothing for a cancellation, or half for a delay.
Appeal My Flight's pack contains a reply to the airline and the board complaint, built from standard texts and your answers, for €29 per booking. You send it yourself and keep the payout. We cannot promise an outcome. See also cancelled flight compensation refused.
FAQ
I volunteered to give up my seat on an overbooked flight. Can I still claim?
Usually not the Article 7 amount. As a volunteer you get what you agreed with the airline, plus a refund or rerouting.
I took a voucher for the new flight. Does that change anything?
A voucher replaces the money only with your signed agreement. See airline voucher instead of compensation.
The new flight was on another airline. Who pays?
The airline that operated your original, disrupted flight. See which airline pays on a codeshare flight.
Got the airline's reply? Paste it into the rejection checker and see what court rulings say about their excuse.