HOME / PASSENGER RIGHTS / MISSED CONNECTION
MSX-261 UNDER EUROPEAN PASSENGER-RIGHTS LAW

Missed your connection? if it was their fault, they pay.

Your inbound was late, the gates closed before you sprinted across the terminal, and the airline shrugged. Under European passenger-rights law, if both legs were on one ticket and the delay was the carrier's fault, you're owed compensation calculated on the FINAL destination distance.

YOUR FLIGHT
MISSED
FROM
VIE
Vienna
TO
AYT
Antalya
FLIGHT
QS-1142
ISSUE
MISSED CONNECTION
OWED TO YOU
€600
DEPARTURES · GATE B12
QS-1142 ● MISSED
FR-247 ● ON TIME
OK-672 ● BOARDING
THE RULES · WHEN THE LAW APPLIES

When am I owed money?

The short version of a 30-page regulation. We made it readable so you can self-qualify in under a minute.

Single booking covering both flights
One PNR / one reservation number. Self-connections (two separate tickets) aren't covered, even by the same airline.
OWED
Final destination reached 3+ hours late
It's the final arrival time at your last destination that determines the payout. Not the connecting hub.
OWED
Compensation is based on TOTAL distance
Vienna → Frankfurt → Bangkok pays €600, not the €250 of the Vienna→Frankfurt leg. Most people don't realise this.
OWED
×
You missed because security took 90 minutes
Airport-side delays (security, immigration, your own slow walking) don't count. The first leg needs to be the cause.
NOT OWED
PAYOUT CALCULATOR

How much is your route worth?

Compensation is calculated by the great-circle distance of your booked route, not how long you actually waited.

Short-haul (under 1,500 km)
250
Medium-haul (1,500 – 3,500 km)
400
Long-haul (over 3,500 km)
600
DISTANCE OF FLIGHT
2,000 km
≈ Warsaw → Athens
200 km8,000 km
YOU MAY BE OWED
400
PER PERSON · TAX-FREE
Confirm with my actual flight →
WHAT TO DO AT THE AIRPORT

If this is happening to you right now…

A quick checklist. Snap these in the next 10 minutes and the rest is up to us.

01
Save BOTH boarding passes

Original outbound + missed connecting flight. The single PNR is your strongest evidence.

02
Get the missed-flight notification

Most airlines auto-email when you can't make a connection. Save it.

03
Log time you arrived at the gate

If you sprinted and the door was closed, that's relevant. Take a photo of the gate clock.

04
Note your final arrival time

When did you actually get to your final destination, on whatever rebooked flight? That's the clock that counts.

THE FINE PRINT (HONEST)

When you won't get paid.

We'd rather tell you upfront than waste your time. The law has carve-outs, "extraordinary circumstances" the airline isn't liable for. These are the big ones.

Even if your case looks like it falls under one of these, send it our way. The line between "extraordinary" and "ordinary" is where most of our wins live, airlines lie about it all the time.

×
Two separate bookings
If you self-connected on different tickets, no protection under the law. Travel-insurance territory.
×
Cause was a non-EU carrier outside EU airspace
Inbound on a non-EU carrier from a non-EU origin, the law doesn't apply to that leg.
×
Layover was longer than 24 hours
Not really a 'connection' under the law, separate journeys.
×
You were rebooked and arrived within 3h
Same as a regular delay: under the 3h line, no cash compensation.
READ UP BEFORE YOU CLAIM
MIDDLE EAST · 2026
Flight cancelled because of the Middle East situation: when the airline doesn't have to pay, and when it does
Airspace closure due to a military conflict really does fall under extraordinary circumstances, so the €250–€600 statutory compensation isn't payable by the airline. This is one of the few situations where that excuse actually holds. But your right to a full refund of the ticket, or to a replacement flight, doesn't disappear. And if the airline tries to force a voucher on you instead of cash, you don't have to accept it. Insist on a refund to your account.
Read the guide →
Passenger Rights
Extraordinary circumstances – when you are not entitled to compensation
EU Regulation 261/2004 lets airlines refuse compensation when a flight was disrupted by so-called extraordinary circumstances. Weather, ATC strikes, bird strikes or an unexpected technical fault outside the airline's control can all qualify. But not every refusal is valid – airlines routinely misuse this defence. This article explains, based on Court of Justice of the EU case law, which situations are truly extraordinary and which are not.
Read the guide →
WEATHER · EXCUSES
Weather delays: when it's an excuse and when it's a real extraordinary circumstance
Weather is the excuse we hear most often. But not every weather event is created equal. De-icing in winter is a routine, predictable procedure. The airline has to plan for it, and if it makes you over three hours late, the entitlement to compensation stands. A real extraordinary circumstance is a closed runway because of extreme fog, or wind a pilot can't safely fly through.
Read the guide →
ONE LAST THING

Your flight was ruined.
Make it pay.

Two minutes. Free. No credit card. We'll tell you in 24 hours whether you have a claim, and exactly how much.

Start free claim → OR EMAIL air@refundio.eu