Your rights in case of carrier cancellations, changes, or delays
When the carriers cancel or significantly change your trip, or there’s a delay that affects your trip, you can either get help from us or from the carriers who caused the disruption. On top of that, you might also be eligible for further compensation.
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Getting help from Kiwi.com — Disruption Protection and a quick refund
We’ll be there for you in all situations — whether it means helping you with alternative travel options or with a refund — but we will only cover the costs if you have a version our disruption services.
If you have Disruption Protection, we'll offer you an immediate refund in Kiwi.com Credit to put towards an alternative flight or to apply for a refund from the carriers on your behalf, as part of our standard assisted refund procedure.
Connection Protection covers self-transfer itineraries from airline cancellations or significant delays. If that happens, we’ll offer you instant compensation in Kiwi.com Credit (up to the cost of your entire booking) to book a replacement flight. Knowing you can get instant Kiwi.com Credit to book a new flight in the case of significant disruptions can help re-assure you for your trip.
With or without our disruption services, we will offer you to apply for a refund from the carriers on your behalf. The refund amount and processing speed will depend on airline rules and applicable laws.
Airline schedule changes can be problematic for your trip if they arise. We recommend adding our disruption services to your flight to ensure you have peace of mind ahead if your trip is disrupted or canceled. Without coverage from our disruption services, we can only offer you paid alternative options or a refund according to the carrier policies and applicable laws.
If you have a trip including a flight with an origin or destination in the United States, you also might be eligible for a refund to your original payment method directly from us. But sometimes we need to check your refund eligibility with the carrier first.
Getting help from the airlines
If you’d rather deal directly with the airlines and you haven’t accepted any alternative option or a refund from us, you can. Your options will always depend on the applicable law (such as EC261) and the conditions of the airlines.
Airlines who caused the disruption should always offer you some options for the disrupted part of the trip. For example, under EU rules, they have to provide you with a free alternative or refund if they cancel your flight.
Please note that the airlines are not responsible for parts of your trip that were booked with other airlines as part of a self-transfer itinerary. They'll only be able to offer support on affected flights of their own, and not of the other airlines within your itinerary.
Let’s say your self-transfer trip was changed, canceled, or delayed. Even if certain parts of your itinerary were disrupted, there’s a high likelihood you won’t get alternative options for the parts of your trip that weren’t canceled or changed. You can still apply for a refund, but it will depend on regular carrier policies — as if you were canceling these parts voluntarily.
However, if your self-transfer trip includes a flight with an origin or destination in the United States, you might be eligible for a refund from us.
Extra compensation and other air passenger rights
Regardless of whether you get an alternative travel option or a refund from us or from the carriers, you might still have a right to extra compensation.
For example, passengers traveling from the European Union with any airline or to the European Union with an EU airline are protected by the EC 261 regulation. Other states, such as Canada, also offer similar protection, and some carriers have extra compensation stipulated in their terms and conditions.
When it comes to flights, your rights — depending on the circumstances of your travel disruption, include the right for reimbursement, re-routing or return, and the right to care, usually consisting of free refreshments, hotel accommodation, and transport between the airport and your accommodation.
You might also be eligible for monetary compensation. The EC 261 regulation grants you compensation for denied boarding, delays of more than 3 hours, and cancellations* announced less than 14 days before departure. Depending on the distance of the disrupted flight, it’s ranging from €250 to €600 but doesn’t apply in case of extraordinary circumstances.
* Under the EC 261 regulation, schedule changes that bring the departure forward by more than 1 hour are considered as cancellations and passengers have the same rights.
Read more about how to claim your EC 261 compensation in this article.
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