No US rule pays United passengers cash for a delay. US law gives an automatic refund after a cancellation or a significant change, 200 % of your fare up to $1,075 or 400 % up to $2,150 for involuntary bumping, and a $4,700 floor on domestic baggage liability. On an itinerary starting at an EU or UK airport, EU261 or UK261 applies and pays a fixed €250–€600 instead.
Which rules apply to your United flight
| The disrupted itinerary | What applies |
|---|---|
| Begins at an EU or EEA airport, or a UK airport | EU261 on an EU/EEA departure, UK261 on a UK departure — a fixed sum by distance band whoever operates the flight (Article 3(1)(a)). US refund and bumping rules still cover the ticket. |
| Begins at a US airport, or any airport outside the EU, EEA and UK | No EU261 or UK261. Article 3(1)(b) reaches an arriving flight only where a Community carrier (or, for the UK, a UK or Community carrier) operates it; United is licensed in the United States. US DOT rules, plus the Montreal Convention on an international trip. |
Amounts and band boundaries are in the EU261 and UK261 amounts table.
The United case that reaches across the Atlantic
United is the named party in Q, R and S v United Airlines Inc. (C-561/20, 7 April 2022), and it is the most valuable ruling on this page. The passengers held a single reservation made with a Community carrier for a connecting flight leaving an EU airport for a third country via another third-country airport, operated throughout by United. The delay of more than three hours happened on the second leg, entirely outside EU territory. The Court held that the passengers were still entitled to compensation, payable by the third-country operating carrier, and rejected the argument that applying the Regulation that way offends state sovereignty over airspace: the Regulation attaches to flights with a close connection to EU territory, which a departure from an EU airport supplies.
In plain terms: a Brussels–Newark–San Francisco trip on one booking, delayed on the domestic United leg inside the United States, can still be a claim against United under EU261. The delay is measured where you finally arrive — see connecting flights and the final destination.
Where a European United departure lands
Great-circle distance to your final destination on that booking sets the band, and every transatlantic route clears 3,500 km:
| Route | Great-circle | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon – Newark | 5,434 km | €600 |
| Dublin – Chicago O’Hare | 5,895 km | €600 |
| Frankfurt – Newark | 6,211 km | €600 |
| London Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare | 6,344 km | £520 under UK261 |
| Frankfurt – Washington Dulles | 6,550 km | €600 |
| Munich – Chicago O’Hare | 7,270 km | €600 |
| Munich – Denver | 8,387 km | €600 |
A European United departure is therefore a €600 or £520 claim, and on a through booking the band is set by the distance to the last airport on the ticket, not to the US gateway.
The leg that went wrong is not the leg that decides the claim. C-561/20 says so directly: the delay happened over the United States and the compensation was still owed, because the journey started at an EU airport on one booking. Do not let “that segment was domestic US” close the file.
The US rights, in one screen
The full detail is in US passenger rights; for a United ticket:
- Refunds (14 CFR part 260). A cancellation, or a change of 3 hours or more domestic and 6 hours or more international, entitles you to the fare, taxes and ancillary fees back if you decline the alternative. 14 CFR 260.2 defines “prompt” as 7 business days for a credit-card purchase and 20 calendar days otherwise, and 14 CFR 260.10 requires the original form of payment with no processing fee. Use the US DOT refund letter.
- Bumping (14 CFR 250.5). Involuntary denied boarding pays 200 % of the one-way fare capped at $1,075 for a 1–2 hour domestic or 1–4 hour international arrival delay, and 400 % capped at $2,150 beyond that. Volunteering at the gate gets you the offer you accepted and nothing else.
- Bags. 14 CFR 254.4 bars a carrier from limiting domestic liability below $4,700 per passenger; international bags fall under the Montreal Convention.
- Tarmac delays (14 CFR 259.4). You must get the chance to leave the aircraft before three hours domestic or four international, with food and water by two hours. No payment attaches.
What has United itself committed to?
We could not open United’s customer service plan on 6 September 2026 — two candidate pages on united.com timed out — so this page states none of its contents and publishes no claim URL. DOT keeps an airline customer service dashboard recording which carriers have promised meals, hotels and rebooking for delays and cancellations within their control; we could not open that either, so read United’s row there yourself before you argue with an agent. United is on neither CAA-approved UK ADR scheme’s member list (AviationADR and CEDR, read on 6 September 2026), which for a UK departure leaves CAA PACT, and PACT cannot make a binding decision.
What if United refuses the claim?
For a US departure, file with DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection at transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-consumer-complaint. DOT does not order compensation for a delay; it enforces the refund, bumping and baggage rules, and the complaint record is what moves a carrier. For an EU or UK departure, go to the enforcement body of the country you left — see where to complain.
The one enforcement pause you should know about
DOT is not enforcing the refund requirements in 14 CFR 260.6, 260.9 and 399.80(l) where a flight is simply renumbered and you are rebooked on the new number with no significant change or delay. The pause began on 5 December 2025 and was extended on 7 July 2026 for one further year while DOT reconsiders what counts as a cancelled flight. The core rule — cancellations, significant changes, delayed bags, services you paid for and did not get — is unaffected.
Rules in force today
This is the law that applies to a flight you take today. A revision of Regulation 261/2004 was adopted in July 2026 — the Parliament approved the conciliation text on 7 July 2026 and the Council gave final approval on 13 July 2026 — and it is not yet in force: it applies 12 months after it enters into force following publication in the Official Journal, and the final text sets the details. See what the 2026 EU261 reform changes.