First, find out who cancelled. If the airline cancelled, it owes you a refund or another flight, and under the EU rules sometimes compensation. If the organiser cancelled a package holiday, it owes a full refund within 14 days. If you have to cancel, travel insurance may refund prepaid costs, but only for a reason its policy lists.
If the airline cancels
Under the EU rules you choose a refund within seven days, or another flight. Compensation of €250, €400 or €600 is also owed, unless you were told at least two weeks before (or, closer to the day, offered another flight within the times the rules set), or extraordinary circumstances caused it. The amounts by distance.
If you’d rather not claim the flight yourself
You can claim the refund and any compensation from the airline yourself, for free. For the compensation, a claims service can do it for you, and keeps a share of what it gets.
Its fee, from its payment policy: 35% of the compensation it gets, plus 10% when it has legal costs, charged only after it receives the compensation. Bank transfer fees are yours.
Run by Compensair Pte. Ltd., a company registered in Singapore. Their terms. Their page: Flight Cancellation Compensation.
We earn a fixed amount for each claim it processes after you follow this link, through Travelpayouts. It never changes what this page says, and we don’t give advice. Fee read on 26 Oct 2026.
If the organiser cancels a package
Under the EU Package Travel Directive, the organiser refunds everything you paid, without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days.
If you have to cancel
- Cancel what’s left, as soon as you knowPolicies usually expect you to limit your losses.
- Ask each airline, hotel and organiser for its refund, in writingYour insurer pays only what isn’t refunded.
- Gather the papersBookings, receipts, the refund answers, and proof of the reason (for example a doctor’s certificate).
- Claim from your travel insuranceIf the reason is one its cancellation section lists.
Read the policy wording before you buy: what’s covered, the limits, the excess and the exclusions.
The three insurers
We earn a commission if you buy after following these links. It never changes what this page says, and we don’t give advice. Who each insurer is.
Questions
Does the airline have to refund a cancelled flight?
Under the EU rules, yes: a refund within seven days, or another flight, your choice.
How quickly must a package holiday be refunded?
Without undue delay and within 14 days, under the EU Package Travel Directive.
Does travel insurance pay if I change my mind?
Usually not. Cancellation cover pays for the reasons its policy lists.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Articles 5, 7 and 8 (EUR-Lex)
- Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel, Article 12 (EUR-Lex)
- Your Europe: package travel
Rules checked against these sources on 24 Oct 2026.
Keep reading
Updated 2026-10-24.