Jet2 delay compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

How much compensation can you get from Jet2?

Under UK law (known as UK261), compensation depends on the distance of your flight and how late you arrived at your final destination. Most Jet2 holiday routes fall into the middle band. The amount is per passenger, so everyone on the booking can claim.

Lateness is measured by when you arrive at your destination, not when you take off. A flight that leaves 3½ hours late but lands 2 hours 50 minutes late doesn't qualify.

Is your Jet2 flight covered?

• Flights departing a UK airport are covered, whichever airline you fly with.
• Flights arriving at a UK airport are covered when the airline is licensed in the UK or the EU, which includes Jet2.
• Flights departing an EU airport are also covered by the EU's version of the rules (EU261). Compensation for those is set in euros: €250, €400 or €600.

When Jet2 doesn't have to pay

Jet2 doesn't owe compensation if the delay was caused by "extraordinary circumstances" that it couldn't have avoided. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, these mainly include:

• weather that makes it unsafe to fly
• strikes by people who don't work for the airline, such as air traffic control, airport staff or Border Force
• security risks, terrorism, sabotage, or political unrest
• a hidden manufacturing defect that grounds a whole fleet

Technical problems with the aircraft are not extraordinary circumstances. This was decided in a case against Jet2 itself: in Jet2 v Huzar, the Court of Appeal ruled that technical problems, including the early failure of an aircraft component, are not extraordinary.

If Jet2 rejects your claim as extraordinary, ask it to explain what happened and what it did to try to avoid the delay. It is up to the airline to show that the circumstances really were extraordinary.

How to claim from Jet2, step by step

1. Gather your details: booking reference, flight number, date, and roughly what time you actually arrived.
2. Claim directly with Jet2. Start from Jet2's delays and cancellations page, which explains how to make a claim.
3. Claim for every passenger on the booking, and include receipts for any meals, transport or hotels you paid for during the delay.
4. Put it in writing and keep copies of everything you send and receive, with dates.

You don't need a claims company. If you claim directly, you keep 100% of the compensation instead of losing a share in fees.

If Jet2 rejects your claim or doesn't reply

Unlike Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways, Jet2 is not signed up to either of the alternative dispute resolution schemes approved by the Civil Aviation Authority. That means there's no free scheme whose decision Jet2 has to follow. Your options are:

• The CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT). If Jet2 rejects your claim, or hasn't replied within 8 weeks, you can ask PACT to review it. PACT will advise whether it can take your complaint up with Jet2, but it can't make a binding decision.
• Court. If Jet2 still won't pay, you can make a claim through the county court. This is a bigger step with fees, so for larger or more complicated claims consider getting independent advice first.

Because there's no binding scheme, a clear, well-evidenced claim at the first stage matters even more with Jet2.

Meals, hotels and expenses during the delay

Separately from compensation, Jet2 has to look after you while you wait (known as the "right to care"). This applies from 2 hours for flights under 1,500km and 3 hours for flights of 1,500km to 3,500km. It covers:

• food and drink in proportion to the wait
• two phone calls or emails
• hotel accommodation and transport to it, if you're delayed overnight

If Jet2 didn't provide these and you paid yourself, keep your receipts and claim the reasonable costs back. You're entitled to care even when the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances.