Wizz Air missed connection compensation.
You have missed connection flight due to delay, can you get compensation? The short answer is no, you can’t get compensation for this missed flight. That’s because Wizz Air is a budget airline that doesn’t sell connecting flights. The only way you can buy a “connecting flight” from Wizz Air is to book two or more flights separately, and that’s called a self transfer. In this case, if you don’t make it for your next flight, it’s your responsibility. However, you may be entitled to compensation for the first flight, for this one flight.
If there’s a long delay or last minute cancellation, you may still be eligible to flight delay or cancellation compensation. It doesn’t matter where are you from, the price of your ticket, and whether you have a travel insurance or not — mostly none of that matters. That’s just the laws in the European Union, and Wizz Air has to follow these laws (more on this below).
You can claim it yourself, or you can hand it over to professionals.
1. Wizz Air Missed Connection
1.1 What Happens if You Miss Wizz Air Flight?
One of your flights is late, and you miss the following flight.
What exactly happens in these situations?
Wizz Air doesn’t sell connecting flights. If you have two or more consecutive Wizz Air flights, you have booked them separately. It’s not an airline-protected transfer, and Wizz Air doesn’t have to provide you with a new flight in the event of a missed connection. If you have booked two or more flights with Wizz Air, and you miss your connection, you will have to deal with the consequences yourself. You will need to book another flight.
Travel insurance that covers trip interruption and changes may pay some or all of these costs. Contact your insurer to learn more about the policy you have.
Wizz Air won’t pay you missed connection compensation.
1.2 Wizz Air Missed Connection Compensation
Can you get Wizz Air’s missed connection compensation?
No. You can’t. First and foremost, because it isn’t a “proper” connecting flight.
Wizz Air doesn’t sell connecting flights. If you have booked two or more consecutive flights with Wizz Air, you booked them separately. It’s called a self-transfer. Unlike with airline-protected transfers, when you book two or more consecutive flights on a single ticket, self-transfer is not protected by the airline. This means, that you aren’t entitled to a new flight to your destination, a free hotel stay while waiting for that new flight, and missed connection compensation, in case you miss your connection due to flight delay or cancellation. According to the European Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, you can only receive these services if you have booked an airline-protected connecting flight (two or more consecutive flights purchased in a single booking).
But there is one but: here we are talking about connections.
You can’t get anything for a missed connection, because, according to the above-mentioned regulation and airline policies it isn’t a proper connection. But you may be entitled to care and sometimes also to compensation for this one bad flight.
You will be entitled to the right to receive care from Wizz Air, if your flight is cancelled last-minute, delayed for 3 or more hours, or you have been denied boarding because of overbooking. If any of this has happened, and it’s due to the airline’s fault, you will also be entitled to compensation from Wizz Air (more on this below).
Read more: Wizz Air — Ryanair Self Transfer Flight: Who Is Going to Pay Compensation?
2. Connecting Flights
As we have already mentioned, Wizz Air doesn’t offer connecting flights.
But there are many airlines (mostly traditional airlines) that do.
2.1 What Is a Connecting Flight?
A connecting flight is two or more subsequent flights.
To put it simply, having a connecting flight means you have to change planes. You are not flying directly from one place to another, but you also stop somewhere in between. Sometimes there is more than one stopover. A wait at the airport between the flights is called a layover.
There are two types of connecting flights:
- airline-protected transfers,
- self-transfer flights.
2.2 Airline-Protected Transfer
How to find out if you have an airline-protected transfer?
If you have booked a connecting flight from the airline and you have one booking reference number for the entire trip (two or more flights on your itinerary), it’s an airline-protected transfer. You may also have booked it from a travel agency, but if you have only one booking reference, this most likely is an airline-protected connecting flight.
You can double-check it on the website of your airline. Search for your booking and see if by entering this one reservation reference you can see all of your flights in one place.
2.3 Self-Transfer
You have two or more consecutive flights one after another.
Is it a self-transfer or an airline-protected transfer?
- If you have booked these flights separately, it’s a self-transfer.
- If you have two or more reservation numbers, it’s a self-transfer.
- If you paid for these flights separately, it’s definitely a self-transfer.
Sometimes it might be hard to distinguish the two — self-transfer and airline transfer. For example, kiwi.com allows you to buy several flights as a single booking. But if you look at the tickets and reservations, you’ll see that each one of them has its own reservation number or so-called booking reference. This means it is a self-transfer.
In most cases, you don’t have to guess — flight search sites specify if it’s a self-transfer, or a traditional connecting flight.
3. Missed Connection
What is a missed connection?
A missed connection means that you have missed your connecting flight. It can happen due to a number of reasons, some of the most popular of which are delays or last-minute cancellations of the previous flight. Whenever your flight is late or cancelled, you can easily miss your next flight. Especially if the connection time is very short — 45 to 90 minutes.
It’s good to know that, if you have an airline-protected flight, in most cases you are protected by your airline. If arriving late to your destination isn’t a big problem, sometimes it can also be beneficial for you to have a delay, because you may also receive a flight compensation of up to 600 euros per person.
3.1 Airline-Protected Transfer
Airline-protected transfer is the easiest and safest option for you.
If you have an airline-protected transfer, you’re protected and you may also be entitled to compensation if something goes wrong. Here are a few examples of situations when you are protected:
- If your flight is cancelled, and you miss your next flight because of this.
- If your flight is delayed, and you miss your next flight because of this.
- If you are denied boarding due to overbooking, and you miss your flight because of this.
In all these situations you are protected.
You are given a new flight, and sometimes you are also entitled to flight compensation from the airline. Get in touch with the airline’s representatives at the airport if your flight is delayed or cancelled, and you have missed your connection because of that.
What about a refund or compensation? You can’t get a refund for a missed flight, but you may get missed connection compensation for your whole journey if the flight falls under the EU Regulation 261/2004. Just don’t forget to file a claim for compensation!
Or file a claim online, with a flight compensation company.
Connecting flight example: Paris, Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) – Cancun, Cancun International airport (CUN), with a stopover in London, Heathrow Airport (LHR). Booked with a traditional airline (KLM, Air France, British Airways, etc.), under one booking reference number.
3.2 Self-Transfer
Self-transfer is when you have booked several flights separately.
What happens if you miss your connecting flight due to a delay?
If any of these flights is 3+ hours late, cancelled or you are denied boarding, then you might be entitled to flight compensation for that particular flight. But the airline/airlines won’t be responsible for your journey as a whole or for any missed flights, trains or buses.
For instance, you have a flight with Wizz Air to Larnaca. Let’s call it “flight 1”. Then there is a 3-hour layover at the airport and the next flight with Wizz Air to Athens. Let’s call it “flight 2”. If you miss flight 2 due to flight 1 being delayed or cancelled, the airline isn’t responsible for it. Even though, both of these flights are with Wizz Air. Why? Because Wizz Air doesn’t sell connecting flights.
If you have a flight with Wizz Air (or any other budget airline), and then after a few hours there’s another flight, this time with a traditional airline (KLM, Air France, etc.), and you miss your second flight because of the delay of the first flight, neither of the airlines will be responsible for your journey as a whole or for any as a result missed flights.
However, in this case, it’s important to look at flights one by one.
As already mentioned, if any of these flights is 3+ hours late, cancelled last-minute or you are denied boarding due to overbooking, then you might be entitled to flight compensation for that particular flight. If your Wizz Air flight is delayed for 3 or more hours, you may get compensation from Wizz Air. If it’s a last-minute cancellation, you will get a new flight or refund from Wizz Air, and sometimes also — compensation.
Because that is the law in the European Union.
You can’t get Wizz Air missed connection compensation for the whole journey, but you can get flight delay or flight cancellation compensation for that particular disrupted flight. So it’s important to look at flights one by one.
4. Flight Compensation in the EU/UK Explained
You aren’t entitled to compensation for a missed connection with Wizz Air.
However, you may be entitled to other forms of compensation.
4.1 Wizz Air Flight Delay Compensation
Wizz Air is a European airline, and when flying with Wizz Air, you are protected under EU law. If your Wizz Air flight is delayed for 3+ hours, you are entitled to receive care from the airline. If your Wizz Air flight is delayed due to the fault of the airline, you are also eligible for compensation of up to €600.
Conditions for receiving compensation:
- It’s a 3+ hour flight delay;
- The delay is due to the fault of Wizz Air;
- The flight is to/from Europe.
Learn more: Wizz Air Flight Delay Compensation
4.2 Wizz Air Flight Cancellation Compensation
What if your Wizz Air flight is cancelled?
Will you be provided with a new flight ticket free of charge? Can you get a full refund if you don’t wish to travel anymore? Are you entitled to EU flight cancellation compensation in your particular situation? Flight cancellation compensation rules in the EU are very specific.
If it happens 7 – 14 days before the scheduled time of departure:
- You choose a new flight offered by your airline, which departs not more than 2 hours before the original departure time and you reach your destination less than 4 hours after the original arrival time. In this situation, you are not entitled to flight cancellation compensation.
- In other situations, you are entitled to compensation.
If it happens less than 7 days before the scheduled time of departure:
- You choose a new flight offered by your airline, which departs not more than 1 hour before the original departure time and you reach your destination less than 2 hours after the original arrival time. In this situation, you are not entitled to flight cancellation compensation.
- In other situations, you are entitled to compensation.
Conditions for receiving compensation:
- It’s a last-minute flight cancellation (less than 14 days before departure);
- Cancellation is due to the fault of Wizz Air;
- The flight is to/from Europe.
Learn more: Wizz Air Flight Cancellation Compensation
4.3 Wizz Air Denied Boarding Compensation
Any boarding denial due to overbooking is the airline’s fault.
Whenever that happens to you, you are entitled to compensation. Why is it even happening? How can you be denied boarding if you have a confirmed ticket?
Airlines often sell more plane tickets than there are seats on the plane. Traditional airlines do that, and also low-cost airlines like Wizz Air do that. They do so because they know that some people won’t show up for their flight. This way airlines can make a bit more money. However, there are situations when everyone shows up for their flight, and someone gets denied boarding. Every time it happens, airlines operating in the EU and the UK are obliged to pay compensation.
Conditions for receiving compensation:
- You aren’t voluntarily giving up your seat on the plane;
- The airline has overbooked the flight;
- The flight is to/from Europe.
Learn more: Wizz Air Flight Overbooking Compensation
4.4 Right to Care
In the EU and the UK, you have the right to receive care.
Passenger rights in the EU are protected under the EU Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. In Wizz Air’s case, the regulations apply to most of its flights to and from the EU, and, since Brexit, the UK. If your flight is delayed for 3+ hours, Wizz Air must provide you with a free meal and refreshments, two free phone calls, e-mails or faxes. In case of an overnight delay, Wizz Air must offer you a free hotel stay and a free transfer to the hotel and back to the airport.
Mostly you receive it in the form of coupons.
If the cause of delay or cancellation is something beyond the airline’s control, you still have the right to receive care from Wizz Air. When it comes to receiving care from the airline, it doesn’t matter what is the cause of the flight delay or cancellation.
You also have a right to receive care if you have been denied boarding.
Learn more: Right to Care (from Wizz Air)
By Europe and EU here on this page we mean all EU Member States, the United Kingdom (UK), Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte, Saint Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.
Featured photo by Alexandr Podvalny from Pexels