File EU 261/2004 · 05

The flight cancelled the night before

A €42 ticket, a flight scrapped at nine in the evening, and €400 of compensation that has nothing to do with what you paid. This is the most counter-intuitive right in Europe, and it is written down in black and white.

Item no. 1

8.57 p.m., the night before

Your flight leaves Porto tomorrow at 7.20 a.m. and you have to be in Kraków by Wednesday evening. A flight inside the Union, roughly 2,400 km, a ticket you paid €42 for five months ago. Your bag is packed.

At 8.57 p.m., an email arrives.

Email received8.57 p.m.

Subject: important information about your journey, booking 4R7T2B.

We are writing to inform you that your 7.20 a.m. flight tomorrow has been cancelled. The cancellation follows a technical problem identified during maintenance of the aircraft.

We have moved you to the following day's flight at 6.50 a.m. As a gesture of goodwill, a €60 voucher valid for twelve months on our website is available in your account. One click activates it.

Thank you for your understanding.

This message is sent from an address that does not accept replies.

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File EU 261/2004

The items in this file

Every item has its own page. The situation is played here; what you keep, what you send and what you re-read live next door.

The sheet to printThe reflexes to keep, each with its official text Official redressThe real steps, with the links to the bodies The written walkthroughThe whole situation item by item, answers included The rights, one by oneEvery right taught on this site, with its source The next situationThe flight delayed by 4 hours