EU261 Care And Assistance – Free Flight Delay Expenses Letter

If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to care and assistance from the airline while you wait.

These rights are set out under Article 9 of EU261, and include food and drink, hotel accommodation when necessary, transport between the airport and your accommodation, and two telephone calls or other communications.

Your right to care and assistance applies regardless of what caused your flight delay or cancellation, including when the airline is not responsible for the disruption.

When your right to care and assistance begins depends on the length of your delay and the distance of your flight.

If the airline doesn’t provide the care and assistance you’re entitled to and you have to pay reasonable expenses yourself, you can ask the airline to reimburse you.

You can use our free flight delay expenses template letter below to help you claim these costs back.

Download Our Free Care And Assistance Expenses Template Letter

If you’ve paid for food, accommodation, transport or other reasonable expenses because of a flight delay and the airline didn’t provide the care and assistance you were entitled to, download our free template letter to be reimbursed for these expenses from the airline.

Just add your flight details and the expenses you’re claiming in the spaces provided and send the completed letter to the airline with copies of your receipts.

---

Download your care and assistance expenses letter here

---

When Am I Entitled To Care And Assistance During A Flight Delay?

Your airline’s responsibility to provide care and assistance begins after a delay of two, three or four hours, depending on the distance of your flight.

Airline passengers are entitled to care and assistance when their flight is delayed by:

• At least 2 hours for flights of 1,500km or less
• At least 3 hours for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km
• At least 4 hours for flights over 3,500km.

What Is Care And Assistance During Flight Delays?

If you are delayed at the airport, your airline has a responsibility to look after you while you wait. Under EU261, this is known as your right to “care and assistance”.

Once your delay reaches the relevant time limit, the airline should provide:

• Food and drink: The airline should provide vouchers that you can use to buy a reasonable amount of food and refreshments at the airport while you wait
• Hotel accommodation: If your delay or cancellation means you need to stay overnight, the airline should arrange and pay for suitable hotel accommodation
• Transport to and from your hotel: The airline should arrange transport between the airport and your hotel
• Communication: You’re entitled to two telephone calls, emails or other communications.

What Should I Do If The Airline Doesn’t Provide Care And Assistance?

If the airline doesn’t provide the care and assistance you’re entitled to, you may need to make your own arrangements and claim your reasonable expenses back afterwards.

Speak to the airline first where possible and ask what assistance it will provide. If you need to pay for something yourself, keep the cost reasonable and make sure to retain your receipts.

You should also keep any emails, text messages or other information you receive from the airline about the disruption, as these can help provide evidence of your delay and what happened to your flight when you claim for your expenses.

What Care And Assistance Expenses Can I Claim Back From The Airline?

You may be able to claim reasonable expenses you had to pay because the airline didn’t provide the care and assistance you were entitled to.

Depending on what happened, this could include:

• Food and non-alcoholic refreshments
• Hotel accommodation when an overnight stay was necessary
• Transport between the airport and your accommodation
• Reasonable communication costs.

You should only spend what is reasonably necessary while you wait. Your right to care and assistance doesn’t give you an unlimited budget, and the airline may refuse to reimburse expenses it considers unnecessary or excessive.

Do I Need To Keep Receipts For Care And Assistance Expenses?

Yes. If you’ve had to pay for care and assistance expenses yourself because the airline didn’t provide them, keep your receipts as evidence of the costs when you ask the airline to reimburse you.

You should also keep hotel booking confirmations, transport receipts and any other documents relating to the expenses you’re claiming.

When you submit your expenses claim, we recommend sending copies of your receipts and keeping the originals for your own records.

Can I Claim For Expenses If Extraordinary Circumstances Caused My Flight Delay?

Yes. Your right to care and assistance applies even when extraordinary circumstances caused your flight delay or cancellation.

An airline may not have to pay flight compensation when extraordinary circumstances caused the disruption, but it must still provide the care and assistance you are entitled to during the delay or cancellation.

Where Do I Send My Care And Assistance Expenses Letter?

Most airlines make it fairly straightforward to submit a claim for care and assistance expenses, with many providing an online form on their website.

If you’d prefer to send our template letter by post, check the airline’s website for the relevant address. You can usually find this on its contact, complaints, or customer service pages.

We recommend keeping a copy of your letter and any receipts or documents you send with it. If you’re posting your claim, you may also want to use a tracked postal service so you have a record of delivery.

Can I Claim Flight Compensation As Well As My Expenses?

Yes. Getting your care and assistance expenses reimbursed doesn’t prevent you from claiming flight compensation as well.

They are two separate passenger rights. Your expenses claim allows you to recover reasonable costs you had to pay because the airline didn’t provide the care and assistance you were entitled to.

Your right to claim compensation for your delay or cancellation is separate from your right to claim for your expenses. The easiest way to check if you are eligible to claim is to add your flight details into our free flight compensation calculator and we’ll give you an instant decision on whether you can claim and how much compensation you could be entitled to.