Art 4
You were refused boarding
Being bumped — usually because the airline oversold the flight — is one of the strongest claims there is. Overbooking is a commercial choice, and the Regulation gives the airline no extraordinary-circumstances defence to it.
Checked against its sources
The short answer
If you were bumped against your will from a flight you had a confirmed booking on and checked in for, compensation is due immediately, unless the airline had reasonable grounds such as health, safety, security or inadequate travel documents.
The one thing to know: The airline must ask for volunteers first. If nobody volunteers and you are bumped anyway, the fixed compensation is owed on the spot, plus a refund or re-route and care.
How it actually works
- Almost no defence
- Article 4(3) has no extraordinary-circumstances exception, and the Court has held that even a genuine disruption earlier on cannot justify bumping you from a later, rescheduled flight without paying (Finnair, C-22/11). The only exits are reasonable grounds: health, safety, security or inadequate travel documents Art 2(j).
- Volunteers first
- The airline must call for volunteers to give up seats in exchange for agreed benefits before bumping anyone involuntarily Art 4(1). If it skipped that step, note it.
- Not your fault
- This only applies where you had a confirmed booking and presented for check-in as instructed, or at least 45 minutes before departure if no time was given Art 3(2). Turning up late is different.
Doing it yourself costs nothing and keeps the full amount.
How much
Per passenger, by great-circle distance to your final destination. If the airline re-routes you and you arrive within the margin in the third column, it may halve the payment Art 7(2).
| Distance | EU261 | Halved if the re-route arrives within | UK261 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | 2 h: €125 | £220 (£110 halved) |
| 1,500–3,500 km, and intra-EU over 1,500 km | €400 | 3 h: €200 | £350 (£175 halved) |
| Over 3,500 km, not intra-EU | €600 | 4 h: €300 | £520 (£260 halved) |
Volunteer or bumped: not the same claim
| Right | You volunteered | You were bumped against your will |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed compensation (Art 7) | No: the benefits you agree instead | Yes, paid immediately Art 4(3) |
| Refund or re-route (Art 8) | Yes, on top of the benefits Art 4(1) | Yes |
| Meals, calls, hotel (Art 9) | Not guaranteed: negotiate it into the deal | Yes |
Compensation is paid in cash, by bank transfer or by cheque; vouchers only with your signed agreement Art 7(3). A voucher worth less than the cash figure is a bad trade unless you would fly the airline anyway.
When you are owed, and when you are not
You are owed
- You were refused for overbooking or any operational reason, such as a smaller aircraft (Finnair, C-22/11, 2012).
- The airline was rescheduling after a disruption and gave your seat to passengers from an earlier flight. Extraordinary circumstances earlier on do not excuse it (Finnair).
- You were refused on a connection because the airline's own delay on the first leg made it wrongly assume you would miss it (Rodríguez Cachafeiro, C-321/11, 2012).
- The flight is in scope: it left an EU, EEA or Swiss airport on any airline, or flew into the EU on an EU airline Art 3(1). UK261: left the UK on any airline, or flew into the UK on a UK or EU airline.
You are not
- You volunteered and accepted the airline's benefits Art 4(1).
- There were reasonable grounds: health, safety, security or inadequate travel documents Art 2(j).
- You missed the check-in or boarding deadline Art 3(2).
- You travelled free or on a non-public reduced fare, such as staff travel Art 3(3). Moved to a lower cabin instead? That is a downgrade, a different right.
Owed on top of the compensation
Bumped passengers are also owed the Article 8 choice — a refund within seven days, re-routing at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing later at their convenience — and Article 9 care while they wait: meals and refreshments, two calls or emails, and a hotel with transfers if an overnight stay becomes necessary Art 4(3), 8, 9. If the airline leaves you to fend for yourself, keep every receipt. Everything owed regardless of cause →
Stranded overnight
No hotel from the airline?
Book a reasonable room near the airport yourself and keep the receipt, then claim the cost back from the airline. You recover what was necessary, appropriate and reasonable: a mid-range hotel, not a suite (McDonagh, C-12/11).
- London Heathrow
- Paris CDG
- Frankfurt
- Amsterdam Schiphol
- Madrid Barajas
- Barcelona El Prat
- Munich
- Rome Fiumicino
- Dublin
Hotels nearest each airport, on Agoda. These are affiliate links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Disclosure.
A worked example
A couple are booked Amsterdam–Athens: 2,182 km, intra-EU and over 1,500 km, so the band is €400. The flight is oversold. At the gate the airline offers volunteers a €250 voucher and a seat the next morning. Nobody takes it, and the couple are bumped.
- Bumped against their will: €400 each, €800 in total, owed immediately and in money unless they sign for vouchers.
- The airline rebooks them on the next morning's flight, arriving 15 hours late: far outside the three-hour margin, so no halving. Had it found seats arriving within three hours, it could pay €200 each.
- Overnight, it owes them dinner, a hotel and transfers. Had they volunteered, they would have the €250 voucher each and the re-route, and no €400.
Under UK261 the same situation on London Heathrow–Athens (2,426 km) is £350 each, or £175 if re-routed within three hours.
What changes on 23 October 2027
Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 rewrites Article 4, but only from 23 October 2027. Until then the rules above apply. UK261 is not affected.
- Volunteers
- An agreed deal replaces your compensation only if you explicitly approve it on a durable medium, such as an email. Otherwise a volunteer is paid the full Article 7 amount within seven calendar days (new Art 4(2)).
- Payment deadline
- Bumped passengers must be compensated, and refunded if they choose a refund, within seven calendar days of the denied boarding. Refreshments must be given immediately (new Art 4(4)).
- Who is covered
- Passengers told in advance that they will be refused are covered even if they do not go to the gate (new Art 4(1)). Passengers with specific needs under Article 11 may not be bumped involuntarily (new Art 4(3)).
- Return legs
- An airline may not refuse you, or charge you, on the return because you skipped the outbound on the same ticket (new Art 4(5)).
- Amounts
- Unchanged (new Art 7(1)). The 50% cut for a re-route survives only in the long-haul band (new Art 7(2)).
What to do now
- Get it in writing at the gate — your boarding pass, the reason you were refused, and whether volunteers were asked for. Photograph the departure board. The full checklist →
- Write to the airline, quoting the article and the flight. Use the template →
- Give them 28 days, then escalate free to the national enforcement body. In the UK the next step is an ADR scheme, or the CAA if the airline has none, once eight weeks have passed.
- Check your time limit — it varies by country: six years in England, one year in Poland and Belgium, and unsettled in Italy. See yours →
Questions
You were refused boarding: am I owed compensation?
If you were bumped against your will from a flight you had a confirmed booking on and checked in for, compensation is due immediately, unless the airline had reasonable grounds such as health, safety, security or inadequate travel documents.
I volunteered to give up my seat. Can I still claim compensation?
No. Volunteers get the benefits they agree with the airline plus a refund or re-route (Art 4(1)), not the fixed compensation. Get the deal in writing, and ask for meals and a hotel to be part of it.
The airline says it was not overbooking but an aircraft change. Does that matter?
No. Denied boarding covers refusals for operational reasons too, not only overbooking (Finnair, C-22/11).
I was refused boarding on my connection because my first flight was late. Is that denied boarding?
It can be. Where the first flight's delay was the airline's doing and it gave your seat away expecting you to miss the connection, the Court treats that as denied boarding (Rodríguez Cachafeiro, C-321/11).
When must the airline pay?
Immediately, under Article 4(3): in cash, by bank transfer or by cheque. Travel vouchers count only if you sign to accept them (Art 7(3)).
How do I claim it?
Write to the airline first, quoting the article and flight, and allow 28 days. It is free and you keep the whole amount. Escalate to the national enforcement body if refused.