Flight Rights Calculator

EU Regulation 261/2004 is one of the best consumer laws almost nobody knows. It gives air passengers a flat compensation claim for delays, cancellations, and denied boarding, regardless of the ticket price. The catch: airlines rarely hand the money over voluntarily, and the rules are full of exceptions. The flight rights calculator translates the regulation into a clear answer to the one question that matters - how much am I owed?

The amount depends on flight distance. Up to 1,500 kilometres it is 250 euros; for intra-European flights above that and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres, 400 euros; and above 3,500 kilometres, 600 euros. The calculator assigns your flight to the right distance band so you do not have to measure across a world map yourself.

For delays, the decisive threshold is three hours at the destination. That is not an invention of the regulation but the result of the European Court of Justice's Sturgeon ruling: arrive three hours or more late and you are compensated as if the flight were cancelled. The calculator works with the actual arrival time, not departure, because that is exactly what decides the claim.

There are limits, and the tool does not hide them. Under extraordinary circumstances - severe weather, an air traffic control strike, political instability - the compensation claim falls away because the airline is not at fault. A technical defect on the aircraft, by contrast, usually does not count as extraordinary under case law. The calculator explains this distinction so you can tell a fair rejection from an unfair one.

Beyond money there are care rights: from certain waiting times the airline must provide meals, communication, and if needed a hotel and transfer - on top of the compensation, not instead of it. And the claim does not expire instantly: in Germany you can usually still claim for flights from the past few years. Lost, delayed, or damaged baggage falls under separate rules of the Montreal Convention.

If you are owed money, the calculator helps with the next step: a factual complaint letter to the airline, and if needed the route via the arbitration body for public passenger transport (söp) or the Federal Office of Justice. Everything runs in your browser and your flight data is not stored. Whether you assert the claim yourself or bring in an agency or a lawyer is your call - the tool is not legal advice, it just prepares you well.