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Start with the booking structure

Missed connection compensation: one ticket or self-transfer?

The most important fact is often not the time you reached the connecting airport. It is whether the flights formed one protected booking and how late you reached the final destination on that booking.

One connecting booking

The CAA says that where two or more flights form one connecting booking, care and compensation are assessed using the journey from the first airport to the last airport in that booking. If a delay makes you miss the connection, the airline should organise onward travel. A final arrival at least three hours late may support a compensation claim, subject to UK261 coverage and the cause of the disruption.

Do not calculate the case from the delay at the connection alone. Record when you reached the final destination shown on the through booking, including a replacement itinerary.

Separate tickets or a self-transfer

If you bought separate bookings and were expected to collect baggage or check in again, the CAA describes this as a self-transfer. UK261 does not create an overall statutory right to care, compensation or transport to the final point merely because disruption on the first booking caused the second to be missed. Each individual flight can still have its own rights.

A travel agent showing two flights on one screen does not prove they are one booking. Check the e-ticket, booking reference, baggage instructions and whether the airline accepted responsibility for the connection.

Care while you wait

On a protected connecting booking, the airline's care duty can apply while you wait for the replacement flight once the relevant delay threshold is reached. That can include food, communication, overnight accommodation and transport. If the airline does not arrange reasonable care, retain itemised receipts.

If a connecting flight is delayed by at least five hours and you abandon the journey, the CAA says you can choose a refund for the unused part and the airline remains responsible for returning you to the original departure point. Do not select a refund if you still want the airline to carry you onward.

Build a connection timeline

  1. Save the complete ticket showing every sector and booking reference.
  2. Record scheduled and actual arrival of the first flight.
  3. Record the scheduled connection time and when boarding closed.
  4. Save the replacement itinerary and actual arrival at the final destination.
  5. Keep messages about the cause, rerouting and any assistance offered.
  6. Keep itemised receipts and separate them from the fixed-compensation request.

Who should receive the claim?

Start with the operating airline responsible for the disruption and use its official claim route. If the itinerary involved more than one operator, describe the complete booking and identify the sector that caused the missed connection. Do not guess which regulation applies to a complex itinerary; ask the airline to state its route-coverage position and reasons in writing.

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