You sprinted through the terminal. You still missed the connection. The question passengers ask most: does EU261 cover this? Often, yes, but only when your flights were booked together on a single reservation.
Single booking vs. separate tickets
EU261 treats a multi-leg journey on one booking as a single trip to your final destination. A delay on the first leg that causes you to arrive more than three hours late at the end can trigger the same compensation as a direct delay.
- Same booking reference on all legs → generally covered
- Separate tickets with different airlines → usually not covered for the connection itself
- First flight on EU carrier causing missed EU onward flight on same booking → covered
What the airline must do after a missed connection
The carrier responsible for the delay must re-route you to your destination as quickly as possible. While you wait, you are entitled to meals, communication, and accommodation if an overnight delay is unavoidable.
Documentation checklist
- Boarding pass for every leg of the journey
- Actual arrival time at your final stop (not just the connecting airport)
- Screenshots of delay notifications
- Any re-routing confirmation from the airline
Pro tip: The three-hour clock runs to your final destination, not the airport where you missed the connection.
Let us map your itinerary
Missed-connection cases live or die on the details. Compensall reads multi-leg boarding passes, maps your route, and flags whether you qualify, backed by our assistant and human support.
