Missed a Connecting Flight? You May Still Be Owed Compensation
If a delay caused you to miss a connecting flight, your compensation depends on your final arrival delay, not the first leg. Here is how missed connection claims work.
Missing a connection because an earlier flight ran late is one of the most stressful ways a trip can go wrong, but it's also one of the more commonly misunderstood situations when it comes to compensation. Here's how it actually works.
The rule that matters: your final destination, not the first delay
If your connecting flights were booked on a single booking or ticket, compensation is assessed on how late you arrived at your final destination, not how late the first leg was. A 45-minute delay on the first flight that causes you to miss your connection and arrive at your final destination 4 hours late still qualifies for compensation based on that 4-hour delay, even though no single leg was delayed by 4 hours on its own.
Single booking vs separate bookings
This is the detail that decides everything:
- Single booking (one reservation covering both flights): The airline is responsible for getting you to your final destination and for compensation based on your total arrival delay, even across different flight numbers or airlines within the same alliance or codeshare.
- Separate bookings (you booked each flight independently): Each flight is treated on its own. If you miss a separately-booked connecting flight because your first flight was delayed, that is generally treated as your own risk, not the airline's liability, unless the delay itself was long enough to independently qualify.
This is exactly why booking connecting flights on one itinerary, rather than piecing together separate tickets, matters far beyond convenience. It changes your legal position entirely if something goes wrong.
How much can you claim?
Based on your total delay to final destination:
- £220 for a total journey under 1,500km
- £350 for a total journey between 1,500km and 3,500km
- £520 for a total journey over 3,500km, with a 4+ hour final delay
What if the airline rebooked me and I arrived a day later?
You're still entitled to compensation based on your actual arrival delay, and separately, the airline must cover reasonable costs incurred while you waited: meals, communication, and overnight accommodation if the rebooked flight wasn't until the next day.
What if I booked the connection myself as separate tickets?
You may still have a claim on the first flight alone if that delay, by itself, reached 3+ hours to its own scheduled destination. But if the first flight was only slightly delayed and the real damage was a missed separately-booked connection, that risk generally sits with you, which is exactly why single through-bookings are worth the extra effort when planning connecting itineraries.
How to claim a missed connection
Gather your full booking reference showing both flights were one itinerary, the scheduled and actual arrival times at your final destination, and any costs incurred while delayed. Klaimly checks all of this automatically against real flight data when you submit a claim, so you don't need to work out the single-booking rule yourself. Flat 5% fee, only if we win.