What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

A global IT outage affecting 8.5 million computers caused widespread travel disruption, with many hundreds of flights cancelled.

What are your rights if your journey was disrupted and can you get your money back?

The CrowdStrike outage, caused by a software update, saw airlines and their passengers among the worst affected.

When flights are delayed or cancelled, airlines have a duty to look after you.

That includes providing meals and accommodation, if necessary, and getting you to your destination. The airline should organise putting you on an alternative flight, at no extra cost.

Any additional losses - such as unused accommodation - might require a claim to a credit card provider, if that was the payment option used.

After that, a claim may need to go to your travel insurance provider. But there is no standard definition of what is and is not covered.

While 94% of policies have travel abandonment as standard, only 30% include wider travel disruption as standard, plus 27% which have it as an add-on if you pay for it, according to analysts Defaqto.

"The recent events again highlight the importance of ensuring you have brought your travel insurance in advance of your trip as well as taking the time to understand the cover you are purchasing and making sure it is right for your circumstances," says Anna-Marie Duthie, consultant at Defaqto.

However, customers are not entitled to additional financial compensation for delays caused by the IT outage because these are extraordinary circumstances beyond the airlines' control.

Of course, flights are delayed for all kinds of reasons, not just IT outages.

If your flight is covered by UK law, your airline must let you choose between either getting a refund or being booked on to an alternative flight. That's regardless of how far in advance the cancellation was made.

You can get your money back for any part of the ticket you have not used.

So, if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.

If you still want to travel, your airline must find you an alternative flight.

If another airline is flying to your destination significantly sooner, or there are other suitable modes of transport available, then you have a right to be booked onto that alternative transport instead.

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If you are stuck abroad or at the airport because of a flight cancellation, airlines must also provide you with other assistance.

This includes:

• a reasonable amount of food and drink (often in the form of vouchers)
• a way for you to communicate (often by refunding the cost of calls)
• free accommodation, if you have to stay overnight to fly the next day
• transport to and from the accommodation

If your airline is unable to arrange assistance, you have the right to organise this yourself and claim back the cost later.

In this case, the Civil Aviation Authority advises people to keep receipts and not spend more than necessary.

• Civil Aviation Authority: Delays and cancellations

You are entitled to the same assistance as for a cancellation if your flight is delayed by more than two hours.

You may also be able to claim compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.

The amount is based on how far you are flying.

If you are delayed by more than five hours and no longer want to travel, you can get a full refund.

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If you booked a package holiday with a company that is an ABTA member and your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a suitable alternative flight or a full refund.

• ABTA: What are your rights?

Disruption caused by things like strikes by airport or air traffic control staff, bad weather or other "extraordinary circumstances" does not entitle you to extra compensation.

However, in other circumstances - when it is considered to be the airline's fault - you have a number of rights under UK law.

These apply as long as you are flying from a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline.

What you are entitled to depends on what caused the cancellation and how much notice you are given.

If your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks' notice, you may be able to claim compensation based on the timings of the alternative flight you are offered.

The amount you are entitled to also depends on how far you were travelling:

• for flights under 1,500km, such as Glasgow to Amsterdam, you can claim up to £220 per person
• for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km, such as East Midlands to Marrakesh, you can claim up to £350 per person
• for flights over 3,500km, such as London to New York, you can claim up to £520 per person

Airlines will not refund you for loss of earnings.

They are only responsible for covering direct costs, such as hotel rooms, meals and alternative flights. They are not obliged to cover consequential losses.

Travel insurance policies will not usually cover loss of earnings either.

If you think you're going to be late back at work because of flight delays, you have a responsibility to contact your employer to let them know you won't be back as planned, legal experts say.

You should agree with your employer how to deal with the absence - for example, by using more annual leave or time banked in lieu. Taking unpaid leave could also be an option.

Employers have no legal obligation to pay employees who are absent in this situation, experts say, unless it is stated in their contract.

Have you been personally affected by the disruption to flights? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

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