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 us
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 our Kiwi.com Guarantee.
Our Kiwi.com Premium Guarantee grants you a free alternative itinerary or immediate refund in case of disruptions that affect your trip. It’s especially useful if your booking includes multiple carriers or carrier reservations — if you have a self-transfer.
If you had the choice to opt for one of our Kiwi.com Plus Guarantee, we'll get you a free alternative flight with the same carrier, at no extra cost. If you'd prefer a refund over an alternative flight, we'll apply for a refund from the carriers on your behalf, as part of our standard assisted refund procedure.
Without coverage from one of our Kiwi.com Guarantees, we can only offer you paid alternative options or a refund according to the carrier policies and applicable laws. We can’t promise you the refund or its amount beforehand as it depends on the above, and it might take longer until we get it to you.
Getting help from the carriers
If you’d rather deal directly with the carriers 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 carriers.
Carriers 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 carriers are not responsible for parts of your trip that were booked with other carriers as part of our self-transfer travel hack.
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.
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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