Sources and method

How the checker decides

1. Scope. From your airports and the airline that operated the flight, it decides which of EU261, UK261, APPR and US rules apply.
2. Distance. Great-circle distance between your first departure and final destination airports, using coordinates from OurAirports (public domain). Distances within 15 km of a band edge are flagged.
3. Delay. Your scheduled and actual arrival times at the final destination, as you enter them in local time. We convert them using the airport's time zone, so delays that cross a clock change are counted in real time.
4. Rules. Thresholds and amounts come from one configuration file, dated and reviewed monthly. EU flights from 23 October 2027 use Regulation 2026/2202.
5. Reason. If you tell us the airline's reason, we apply the case law on extraordinary circumstances (EU/UK) or APPR's control categories (Canada).

The rules engine is checked against a test suite of more than 80 cases taken from the regulations, regulator guidance and CJEU rulings, re-run every quarter.

Known limits

• We rely on the times you enter. We do not use flight-tracking data.
• Connecting journeys are judged from origin to final destination and only if on one booking. Mixed cases (for example a non-EU first leg into an EU connection) can be more complex.
• EU limitation periods vary by country and have no official table. Several are disputed; we show the range.
• Gibraltar, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Faroe Islands and Greenland are shown as unclear.
• For a cancellation, we assume the 14-day, 7-day and 1-hour/2-hour windows as you describe them; the airline's records may differ.
• For a cancellation after which you took a refund, EU/UK rules still look at the replacement flight you were offered.
• Canada's proposed APPR amendments were not in force when checked. If they are adopted, the logic must be updated.
• Reg 2026/2202 brought-forward departure reductions (amended Art 7(3)) are not modelled.

Airline claim links

Links to airline claim pages were found through public search results on 15 October 2026, not by crawling airline websites. Airlines change their pages; tell us if a link breaks.

• British Airways compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.britishairways.com)
• Lufthansa compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.lufthansa.com)
• Air France compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (wwws.airfrance.fr)
• KLM compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.klm.com)
• Iberia compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.iberia.com)
• Ryanair compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.ryanair.com)
• easyJet compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.easyjet.com)
• Air Canada compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (sset.aircanada.com)
• WestJet compensation claim form (avautuu uuteen välilehteen) (www.westjet.com)

All sources

1. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (EUR-Lex) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
2. Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 amending Regulation 261/2004, OJ L 2.10.2026 (EUR-Lex), applies from 23 Oct 2027 (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
3. European Commission: Questions and answers on revised EU air passenger rights (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
4. European Commission: Air passenger rights, European case law (summary of CJEU judgments) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
5. European Commission: National enforcement bodies under Regulation 261/2004 (list updated 13 Oct 2026) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
6. CJEU joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 Sturgeon (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
7. CJEU joined cases C-581/10 and C-629/10 Nelson (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
8. CJEU C-11/11 Folkerts (delay at final destination) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
9. CJEU C-559/16 Bossen (great-circle distance for connections) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
10. CJEU C-452/13 Germanwings (arrival = doors open) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
11. CJEU C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann (technical problems) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
12. CJEU C-257/14 van der Lans (premature component failure) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
13. CJEU C-394/14 Siewert (boarding stairs collision) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
14. CJEU C-315/15 Pešková (bird strike) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
15. CJEU C-195/17 Krüsemann and Others (wildcat strike), 17 April 2018 (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
16. CJEU C-28/20 Airhelp v SAS (pilots' strike), Grand Chamber, 23 March 2021 (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
17. CJEU C-12/11 McDonagh (care during extraordinary circumstances) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
18. CJEU C-294/10 Eglītis and Ratnieks (reasonable measures, reserve time) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
19. CJEU C-22/11 Finnair (denied boarding) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
20. CJEU C-321/11 Rodríguez Cachafeiro (denied boarding) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
21. CJEU C-139/11 Cuadrench Moré (time limits set by national law) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
22. CJEU C-145/15 and C-146/15 Ruijssenaars (enforcement bodies and individual claims) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
23. CJEU C-204/08 Rehder (court of departure or arrival) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
24. UK CAA: Delays (UK261 amounts, care, connecting flights) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
25. UK CAA: Cancellations (UK261 scope and cancellation tables) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
26. UK CAA: Does UK law apply to your flight incident? (UK261 Annex 1) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
27. UK CAA: Alternative Dispute Resolution (approved schemes and airline list) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
28. UK CAA: Financial compensation, technical faults and time limitations (CAP 1275; Dawson v Thomson Airways) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
29. Air Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150 (Justice Laws) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
30. Canadian Transportation Agency: Flight delays and cancellations (modified 2026-02-26) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
31. Canada Gazette Part I, 21 Dec 2024: proposed Regulations Amending the APPR (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
32. CTA: Consultation on proposed APPR amendments (milestones) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
33. US DOT: Refunds (significant change thresholds, timing) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
34. 14 CFR 250.5: Denied boarding compensation amounts (eCFR) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
35. Federal Register 89 FR 84815 (24 Oct 2024): limits raised to $1,075 / $2,150, effective 22 Jan 2025 (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
36. Federal Register (17 Nov 2025): Airline Passenger Rights ANPRM withdrawn (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
37. US DOT: Airline Customer Service Dashboard (flightrights.gov) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
38. OurAirports open data (public domain) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
39. Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, Art. 16(m) (EUR-Lex) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
40. Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, reg. 37 (legislation.gov.uk) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
41. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) (EUR-Lex) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
42. Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 European Small Claims Procedure, consolidated (EUR-Lex), claims up to €5,000 (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
43. European e-Justice Portal: Small claims (forms) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
44. GOV.UK: Make a court claim for money (England and Wales) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
45. Scottish Courts: Simple procedure (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
46. Stripe Docs: Managed Payments (merchant of record; calculates, collects and remits VAT, GST and sales tax; sold through Link) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
47. Stripe Docs: How Managed Payments works (receipts, refunds and support through Link) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
48. US DOT: File a consumer complaint (Office of Aviation Consumer Protection) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
49. 14 CFR 250.6: Exceptions to eligibility for denied boarding compensation (eCFR) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
50. 14 CFR 250.2b: Carriers to request volunteers (oversold flights) (eCFR) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
51. UK Regulation 261/2004 Art 6 as amended by SI 2023/1370 (legislation.gov.uk): "three hours or more" (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
52. UK Regulation 261/2004 Art 2 (legislation.gov.uk): "Community carrier" means a carrier licensed by a Member State (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
53. UK Regulation 261/2004 Art 3 (legislation.gov.uk): scope (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
54. UK Regulation 261/2004 Art 7 (legislation.gov.uk): amounts and 50% reduction (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
55. The Air Passenger Rights (Amendment) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1370 (legislation.gov.uk) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
56. Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76 (Court of Appeal, 2 Feb 2022): own-staff strike not extraordinary (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
57. European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, s.6 (post-exit CJEU judgments not binding on UK courts) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
58. Carriage by Air Act 1961, Sch 1B: Montreal Convention, Art 35 (2-year limit for damages actions) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
59. Högsta domstolen NJA 2018 s. 127 (T 2659-17, 15 Mar 2018): notice to the airline within a reasonable time; 2 months always in time (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
60. Corte di Cassazione, Sez. III civ., ord. 20 Feb 2024 n. 4427: Montreal 2-year limit not automatically applicable to Reg 261 compensation (headnote, ilcaso.it) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
61. Hof van Cassatie 11 June 2021, C.20.0185.N (ECLI:BE:CASS:2021:ARR.20210611.1N.5, Juportal): 1-year limit under the Transport Act; 5 years if a timely request is wrongly refused (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
62. UK GDPR Art 27 (legislation.gov.uk): representatives of controllers not established in the UK; exemption for occasional, low-risk processing (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
63. Commission Decision 2002/2/EC: adequate protection by PIPEDA (Canada) (EUR-Lex) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
64. Data Protection Act 2018, Sch 21 para 5 (legislation.gov.uk): EU adequacy decisions, including Canada, recognised in the UK (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
65. Cloudflare Docs: Web Analytics, information collected (no cookies or localStorage, no fingerprinting) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
66. Cloudflare Docs: RUM beacon, data processing and privacy (IP address discarded, nothing stored in the browser) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
67. Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5 (Justice Laws) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
68. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: file a complaint (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
69. Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I), Art 6(2) (legislation.gov.uk; EU text identical): consumer keeps mandatory protections of home law (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
70. Canadian Transportation Agency: Air travel complaints (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
71. Canadian Transportation Agency: Denied Boarding: A Guide (section 5, call for volunteers) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
72. Canadian Transportation Agency: FAQs, Air Passenger Protection Regulations (volunteers in writing; adjusting denied boarding compensation) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
73. Canada Transportation Act, s.86.11(3) (Justice Laws): no APPR compensation if already compensated for the same event under another regime (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
74. 14 CFR 250.9: Written explanation of denied boarding compensation (eCFR) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
75. AirHelp: Our Fees (price list, updated 11 August 2026, version PL2.26) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
76. Flightright: Costs (success fee and legal surcharge) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)
77. Skycop: Price List (updated 1 May 2024) (avautuu uuteen välilehteen)