In short: if a delay or cancellation means your flight will now leave the next day or later, UK261 and EU261 require the airline to provide hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel, free of charge – whatever caused the disruption, including bad weather or a strike. If the airline does not arrange it, book a reasonable hotel yourself, keep the receipts and claim the cost back. If you live near the airport, the airline may pay for your journey home and back instead. Any £220–£520 / €250–€600 compensation is a separate claim.
An overnight delay is the most stressful kind of disruption: it is late, everyone at the desk wants a room, and hotels near the airport fill up. Knowing exactly what the rules say helps.
The legal rule
Article 6(1)(ii) of Regulation 261/2004 (UK and EU versions) says that when the reasonably expected departure time is at least the day after the previously announced departure time, the airline must offer the assistance in Article 9(1)(b) and (c):
- hotel accommodation where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or where a stay additional to the one you planned becomes necessary; and
- transport between the airport and the place of accommodation (the hotel or other accommodation).
The same applies when your flight is cancelled and the replacement leaves the next day (Article 5(1)(b)), and when you are denied boarding (Article 4). You also keep the right to meals and refreshments and to two calls or e-mails (meal vouchers).
Bad weather? Strike? You still get the hotel
Airlines are exempt from paying compensation when they prove extraordinary circumstances. They are not exempt from care. In McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11), the Court of Justice ruled that a passenger stranded for a week by the 2010 volcanic ash closures was entitled to care throughout, and that the regulation sets no time or monetary limit on that duty. Where an airline fails to provide care, the passenger can recover the sums that were “necessary, appropriate and reasonable”.
So “the delay was caused by fog” is not a reason to refuse you a hotel.
How airlines usually handle it
The UK Civil Aviation Authority says the airline may book accommodation for you automatically, or ask you to book through its website or app. In practice you may see:
- a hotel voucher handed out at the desk with a coach transfer;
- a link in the airline’s app to choose from contracted hotels;
- a message telling you to book yourself and claim back the cost.
If you live near the departure airport, the CAA says the airline may instead reimburse your costs of travelling home and back. That can be the most comfortable option if you are delayed at the start of your trip.
If the airline does not provide a hotel
When the desk is closed, the queue is hours long, or staff say there are no rooms, you can arrange accommodation yourself and claim it back. Follow these rules:
- Ask first. Try the desk, the app and the airline’s phone line, and note what you were told and when. This shows the airline failed to provide care.
- Book something reasonable. The CAA warns that airlines are unlikely to consider luxury hotels reasonable. A standard room at an airport or city hotel of normal price is the safe choice. If only expensive rooms are left, screenshot the availability search.
- Keep every receipt: hotel invoice, taxi or bus receipts, and itemised receipts for meals. The CAA asks for itemised receipts or invoices.
- One room per party where sensible. A family sharing a room is easier to justify than separate rooms.
- Claim from the operating airline using its expenses or reimbursement form, separately from any compensation claim if the airline requires that.
| Easier to justify as reasonable | Likely to be disputed |
|---|---|
| Standard hotel room for the night(s) needed | Luxury hotels or suites |
| Taxi or shuttle between airport and hotel | Alcohol, minibar, spa |
| Reasonable meals and soft drinks | A hotel far from the airport with no reason given |
| Your two calls or messages | Extra nights you chose to stay |
Delayed abroad on the way home
If you are stuck abroad, the same rights apply as long as your flight is covered by UK261 or EU261. A flight departing an EU airport is covered by EU261 on any airline; a flight departing a non-European airport is covered only if it is operated by a UK or EU airline heading to the UK or EU. If you are delayed in, say, New York on a US airline flying to London, neither regulation applies and the airline’s own conditions of carriage decide what you get (see passenger rights outside Europe).
Extra costs caused by the delay – a missed day of a car hire, a kennel or an extra night of parking – are not care under the regulation. You may be able to claim them as “further compensation” (Article 12) under the Montreal Convention or national law, or from your travel insurance.
Overnight delay and compensation
An overnight delay almost always means arriving 3 hours or more late, so check whether compensation is owed too: £220 / £350 / £520 under UK261, €250 / €400 / €600 under EU261 (with a reduced £260 / €300 for flights over 3,500 km arriving 3–4 hours late). The question is the cause. Technical faults, crew shortages and the airline’s own staff strikes are generally within the airline’s control; severe weather, air traffic control restrictions and security risks often are not. See extraordinary circumstances and use our checker.
Remember that if a flight is delayed by 5 hours or more you may choose to abandon the trip and take a refund instead – but then care ends (flight delayed 5 hours).
Quick checklist for an overnight delay
- Photograph the departure board and save every notification.
- Ask the airline for a hotel and transfer, and note the answer.
- If you book yourself: reasonable hotel, keep receipts, screenshot prices.
- Keep meal receipts (itemised, no alcohol).
- Note the new departure time and the time the doors opened on arrival.
- Claim expenses and compensation from the operating airline.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 6, UK version – legislation.gov.uk
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 9 (Right to care), UK version – legislation.gov.uk
- Delays – UK Civil Aviation Authority
- Press release No 8/13, McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11) – Court of Justice of the European Union
- Air passenger rights – Your Europe, European Union
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 12 (Further compensation), UK version – legislation.gov.uk