Refund or voucher

Money back, not a voucher, unless you choose one.

When your flight is cancelled, European rules give you the choice: your money back, or another flight. A refund is due within seven days, in money. A voucher counts only if you sign for it.

Download on the App Store What the rules say Check your route

General information, not legal advice. Not a promise of payment.

The choice is yours

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, usually called EU 261, says the airline offers you the choice between three things (Article 8(1)):

Your money back within seven days. The full cost of the ticket at the price you paid, for the flights you did not take. And for the ones you did, if the trip no longer serves any purpose, with a flight back to where you started.
Another flight as soon as possible. To your final destination, under comparable conditions.
Another flight later. On a date that suits you, if there are seats.

When you have the choice

A cancellation, whenever you were told (Article 5(1)).
Denied boarding against your will (Article 4(3)).
A delay of five hours or more. Here the rules give the refund, and a flight back to where you started when relevant (Article 6(1)).

Refund or rebooking: From 5 h: you can give up the trip and get the unused fare back in 7 days.

The line AirwayControl shows for a route under EU 261, word for word.

Money, unless you sign

The refund is paid the way compensation is: in cash, by bank transfer, or by bank order or cheque. Travel vouchers or other services only with your signed agreement (Article 7(3), which Article 8 points to).

A refund is not compensation

The refund pays back the ticket. Compensation of €250 to €600 is a separate sum. After a cancellation it may also be owed if you were told less than 14 days before departure and were not rebooked close to the original times, unless the cause was outside the airline's control (Article 5).

The ticket's terms cannot take it away

These rights cannot be limited or waived by a clause in the contract of carriage. A passenger who was not correctly told of their rights and accepted less can still go to the competent courts or bodies (Article 15).

A flight that is part of a package holiday may be refunded under the package travel rules instead (Article 8(2)).

If the airline offers a voucher

Say which you choose, in writing. A refund, another flight now, or another flight later.
Keep the cancellation notice. The message or email with the date you were told, and the booking confirmation with the price you paid.
No refund after seven days? Write to the airline that operated the flight, then take it to the complaints body in the country you departed from.

AirwayControl

Or let the app fill it in.

AirwayControl is a flight tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch. Set your flight before you leave, and it follows the day for you. If the day goes wrong, it already knows the details the claim needs.

It tells you when it matters. A notification when your flight lands three hours late or more.
It knows which rules cover your route. EU 261, UK 261 and the rules of 18 more countries, in plain words.
It fills in the claim. Airline, flight number, date and route come from My Flight.
You send it. From your own email, or through the airline's own claim form with every answer ready to copy.
No fee and no share. AirwayControl never takes a part of what you receive.

Download on the App Store

7 days free, then 29 NOK a month.

Questions people ask

Can an airline give me a voucher instead of a refund?

Under EU 261, only with your signed agreement. Otherwise the refund is paid in money: cash, bank transfer or cheque.

How long does the airline have to refund a cancelled flight?

Seven days, says Article 8 of EU 261.

Is compensation owed as well as a refund?

It may be. The refund pays back the ticket. Compensation of €250 to €600 may also be owed if you were told less than 14 days before departure and were not rebooked close to the original times, unless the cause was outside the airline's control.

My flight is delayed, not cancelled. Can I get my money back?

From five hours, EU 261 lets you give up the trip and get the unused fare back within seven days.

Is AirwayControl a claims company?

No. It tells you which rules cover your route and writes the claim, and you send it from your own email. AirwayControl never sends or handles a claim for you, and takes no share.