A late first flight can leave you at a gate where your connection has already departed. What happens next depends on one detail, which is whether both flights were booked together. Below are the steps to get rebooked quickly, and what airlines may owe you in the US, the EU, and the UK. Separate tickets get a step of their own.
What to Do, Step by Step
1. Check whether your flights share one booking
Open your booking confirmation before you speak to anyone. The answer decides who has to help you.
- One booking: If the first flight’s delay caused the miss, the airline at fault normally has to get you to your final destination. A single ticket can include two different airlines.
- Separate bookings: Each ticket is its own contract. The second airline does not have to rebook you or refund you.
- Warning signs: Some booking sites show separate tickets together, so the trip looks like one journey. Wording such as “self-transfer” or “separate tickets” means you have no connection protection.
Most steps below apply to a single booking. Step 6 covers separate tickets.
2. Contact the airline right away, in more than one way
Lines at the service desk can be long, so it helps to start in several places at once.
- App or website: Many airlines let you choose a new flight in the app. Some airlines spot a broken connection before the first flight lands and rebook you automatically.
- Phone, chat, or social media: These channels can reach an agent while you wait in line. A phone number for another country sometimes has a shorter wait.
- Gate or service desk: Speak to staff as soon as you reach the connecting airport. If your layover was shorter than the airport’s minimum connection time, ask the gate agent for help before your flight leaves.
Start with the cause. Tell the agent that your first flight landed late, then ask for the next flight to your final destination.
3. Ask what the airline will provide while you wait
On a single ticket, the airline normally rebooks you on its next flight at no extra charge. Ask about the following items as well.
- Other airlines: Some airlines rebook you on a partner or a competitor, and others use only their own flights. The US Department of Transportation customer service dashboard shows which large US airlines promise free rebooking on another airline.
- Meals: The same dashboard lists meal vouchers when a delay or cancellation within the airline’s control leaves you waiting three hours or more.
- Hotel and transport: Most large US airlines promise a hotel and ground transport when their own delay forces an overnight stay.
- EU assistance: Under EU rules, the airline must offer refreshments, food, and two phone calls or emails. A hotel and transport to it apply if you are rebooked for the next day.
Weather and air traffic control delays may bring less help in the US, because the dashboard promises apply to delays the airline controls. Rebooking on a single ticket usually still happens in those cases.
4. Decide whether to accept the new flight or ask for a refund
Check the new arrival time before you agree to anything.
- Declining a poor option: If the new flight arrives much later than planned, or has no suitable seat, you may be able to decline it. You can then ask for a refund of the unused part of the ticket.
- US refund rule: Airlines had to follow the Department of Transportation automatic refund rule from October 28, 2024. A passenger who declines an alternative after a cancellation or significant change can get a cash refund to the original form of payment. A significant change means more than three hours on a domestic flight and more than six hours on an international flight.
- Travel credits: An airline can offer a credit or voucher. You may say no and ask for your money back.
- Your own replacement ticket: Ask the airline before you buy one. An airline may move you to another carrier yet refuse to repay a ticket you bought alone. Keep all receipts anyway.
Whether a missed connection counts as a significant change depends on how the airline changed your trip. Ask the agent which rule applies to your case.
5. Keep records and claim compensation where the law allows it
In the US, help beyond a refund mostly depends on the airline’s own promises. The EU and the UK set fixed payments for some delays.
- EU coverage: According to the EU’s Your Europe site, the rules cover flights within the EU on any airline. They also cover flights leaving the EU on any airline, and flights arriving in the EU on an EU airline.
- Conditions: You need one reservation, EU rules covering the trip, and a delay that extraordinary circumstances did not cause. You must also reach your final destination three hours or more late.
- Amounts: The payment is €250 for trips of 1,500 km or less. Longer trips within the EU, and trips of 1,500 to 3,500 km, pay €400. On routes over 3,500 km that leave or enter the EU, a delay of four hours or more pays €600. A delay of three to four hours pays €300.
- No payment: The EU site says no compensation applies if slow security checks or a late arrival at the gate caused the miss. Airlines must also prove any claim of extraordinary circumstances, such as weather or air traffic control decisions.
- UK: The UK Civil Aviation Authority applies a similar three-hour rule under UK261. Payments run from £220 to £520, based on the distance between the first and last airport on your booking.
- Records: Save boarding passes, the booking confirmation, and receipts for food, hotels, and transport. Write down the time you reached your final destination.
Claims go to the airline first. If the airline does not reply within two months, you can contact the national enforcement body in the country where the problem happened. Rules differ by country and change over time, so confirm the details with the airline or the official body before you file.
The EU is also changing these rules. Law firm Burges Salmon reports that Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 was published on 2 October 2026 and mostly applies from 23 October 2027. Other sources give an earlier date, so check the date before relying on it. The three-hour threshold and the payment amounts stay the same. A new article on connecting flights makes the airline that ran the disrupted flight responsible for rerouting and help until your final destination.
6. If you booked separate tickets, expect to handle most of it yourself
Separate tickets put the cost of a missed connection on you. A few steps may still help.
- Contact the airline you missed: Ask whether it can put you on a later flight, perhaps for a fee or a partial refund. Some airlines treat a missed flight as a no-show and cancel the seat, so an early call helps.
- Claim the first delay: If the airline caused the first delay and EU rules cover that flight alone, you may still be able to claim for it.
- Check insurance: Some travel insurance policies cover missed connections. Cover for long stays and remote work varies, so travel insurance for digital nomads deserves a close read.
- Compare new flights: If you must buy a new ticket, compare routes with flight search tools built for flexible dates and multi-city trips.
Two Common Mistakes
- Spending first and asking later: A replacement ticket bought before you talk to the airline may cost you a seat the airline would have provided. Under EU rules, an airline should repay reasonable meal and hotel costs when it offered no help, and receipts are needed to claim them. The EU site also says passengers should make themselves known to the airline so they do not end up arranging everything alone.
- Arriving at the connecting gate late: Under EU rules, no compensation is due if you reach the gate after boarding closes. Check the gate and the boarding time as soon as you land.
How to Lower the Chance of Missing the Next One
- Book one ticket: A single ticket keeps one airline responsible for the whole trip. With separate tickets, leave plenty of time between flights.
- Check the layover: On a single ticket, the airline has already confirmed that the layover meets the airport’s minimum connection time. Separate tickets leave that judgment to you.
- Consider a stopover: Some airlines offer stopover programs that let you stay a night or more in a connecting city. A planned stay removes the time pressure of a tight connection.
- Plan for bags: On separate tickets you collect your bags and check them in again, which takes extra time.
Plan Your Next Route
A missed connection is easier to handle when you know whether you hold one ticket or two, and when you ask for help early. Before your next trip with a stop along the way, check the ticket type and the layover length. When you are ready to plan it, search your next route on FlyBibe and compare your options.