The EU makes airlines pay cash for long delays and care for you while you wait, whatever the cause. The US mandates no delay compensation at all - but gives you a hard cash-refund right and a denied boarding payout. The whole comparison. Rules last reviewed: August 2026.
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, arriving 3 or more hours late at your final destination, or a cancellation with less than 14 days notice, generally pays fixed compensation of €250 to €600 per passenger - and the airline owes you food, drinks, and a hotel while you wait, even in bad weather. The US has no cash-compensation law for delays or cancellations. What US DOT rules give you instead: a cash refund when a canceled or significantly changed flight (3 hours domestic, 6 international) makes you choose not to travel, refunds of fees for services you did not receive, and mandated cash in exactly one situation - involuntary denied boarding, up to $2,150. Which regime applies depends on your route and airline, and one trip can be covered by both.
Flights within the EU; flights departing an EU airport to anywhere, on any airline, including US carriers; and flights arriving in the EU from outside only when operated by an EU airline. The UK runs a mirror regime for UK departures, paying in pounds: £220, £350, or £520.
Flights to, from, or within the United States. Both regimes can cover one flight: Frankfurt to Chicago is an EU departure and a US-bound flight, so EU261 compensation and DOT refund rights both apply. Chicago to Frankfurt on a US airline gets DOT rules only - EU-arriving flights are covered by EU261 only on EU carriers.
Arrive at your final destination 3 or more hours late and EU261 generally pays, per passenger, regardless of what your ticket cost: €250 for flights of 1,500 km or less · €400 for longer flights within the EU and all other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km · €600 for flights over 3,500 km. You are owed it even if you took the flight. The escape hatch is extraordinary circumstances - events outside the airline's control, such as severe weather - which the airline must prove, and which remove the cash but never the care.
No US federal law pays cash compensation for a delay, however long. That is the honest answer, and any service promising a US "delay payout" is dressing up the refund right or a card benefit. Your US leverage is different: the refund below, plus care commitments for controllable disruptions.
Under the US DOT automatic refund rule, a cancellation or significant change - a delay of 3+ hours domestic or 6+ hours international, an airport change, an added connection, a downgrade, or a less accessible aircraft - entitles you to a full cash refund of the unused ticket if you decline to travel. To your original payment method, within 7 business days for credit cards and 20 calendar days otherwise; a voucher only if you affirmatively choose it, and offered credits must be valid at least 5 years. Details on the 3 hour delay refund page.
A cancellation notified less than 14 days before departure generally pays the compensation bands above, with exceptions when the airline offers suitable rerouting close to your original times. Separately, you choose between rerouting and a refund of the unused ticket - refundable within 7 days - and a delay of at least 5 hours at departure also unlocks the reimbursement option.
EU261 requires meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation if you are rebooked to travel the next day, transport between airport and hotel, and two calls or emails - starting from as little as a 2 hour delay on short flights. Weather is not a defense to care: extraordinary circumstances can cancel the compensation, never the duty of care.
No US law requires meals or hotels. Most large US airlines have committed on the DOT customer service dashboard to meals once a controllable delay passes 3 hours and a hotel for a controllable overnight - mechanical, crew, airline IT. Weather or air traffic control events generally get rebooking or a refund only. The playbook is on the hotel and meals page.
Involuntary denied boarding is the single US situation with a legally defined cash number: generally 200 percent of your one-way fare up to $1,075, or 400 percent up to $2,150 if you arrive more than two hours late, depending on the circumstances. It is payable in cash rather than a voucher on request, and it is on top of your ticket's value.
Denied boarding against your will on an EU261-covered flight pays the same fixed compensation bands - €250, €400, or €600 by distance - plus the duty of care while you wait for the replacement flight.
Baggage runs under its own rules on both sides of the Atlantic: US DOT rules refund your checked bag fee when the bag is significantly delayed (not delivered within 12 hours domestic, 15 to 30 hours international) and cap domestic liability at $4,700; most international trips fall under the Montreal Convention instead, capped at about 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, roughly $2,000. The full walkthrough is on the checked bag page.
They are separate claims. EU261 compensation is something you claim from the airline in writing after the disruption. The DOT refund is an obligation the airline owes once you decline to travel on a canceled or significantly changed flight - it should not require a claim form at all, just a clear request.
Say it by name. For the EU: "I am claiming compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 for flight [number] on [date], which arrived more than 3 hours late. Please confirm the amount and the payment method. I am not accepting a voucher." For the US: "I am declining the rebooking and requesting a full refund to my original form of payment under the DOT automatic refund rule."
Claiming direct with the words above is free and usually enough. If you want the claim off your plate, AirHelp files the EU261 or UK261 claim and deals with the airline for you, for a cut of the payout only if the claim wins. There is no US equivalent for them to chase: the DOT refund is yours to request directly, and no US law pays delay compensation.
The claim checker above is AirHelp's own form - flight details you enter in it go to AirHelp, not TripHero. AirHelp pays TripHero a commission if you use them. Our advice is never influenced by who pays us.
European Union, Air passenger rights (Regulation 261/2004) (compensation bands and distance thresholds, 14-day notice rule, duty of care, 5-hour reimbursement, scope) · U.S. DOT, What Airline Passengers Need to Know About DOT's Automatic Refund Rule (significant change thresholds, refund timing, bag fee refund windows) · U.S. DOT Airline Customer Service Dashboard (controllable-disruption care commitments) · U.S. DOT denied boarding compensation, 14 CFR Part 250 (200 and 400 percent caps as listed on Know Your Rights) · U.S. DOT domestic baggage liability, 14 CFR Part 254; Montreal Convention Art. 22 (1,519 SDR).
General guidance, not legal advice. Currency figures are set by the regulations named above; facts reviewed August 2026. Found an error? Tell us and we will fix it.