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Are passengers using points or a free or reduced fare covered by EU disruption rules?

An award ticket is not excluded merely because you used points. The regulation treats public loyalty or commercial-program tickets differently from genuinely free or nonpublic reduced-fare travel. For infants, examine the actual reservation and travel entitlement rather than assuming every child has the same claim as an adult.

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What this answer depends on

  • Flights and passengers within Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. Check departure, destination, operating carrier and the specific conditions below; the airline name alone does not establish coverage.
  • Article 3 excludes genuinely free travel and reduced fares not available directly or indirectly to the public, but expressly includes qualifying frequent-flyer and other commercial-program tickets.
  • Commission guidance distinguishes a zero-fare ticket with charges from necessarily free travel; the label alone is not decisive.
  • The guidance identifies free infant travel without a seat, reservation or boarding entitlement as a different eligibility situation from a ticketed passenger.

Important exceptions

  • This page does not assign a cash value to points or decide every employee-travel arrangement. Infant and promotional fares can have different documentation. A charge described as a tax or administration fee does not, by itself, settle the entire eligibility analysis.

What to do next

  1. Keep the ticket and fare conditions showing how the travel was obtained. For an award, preserve the program booking rather than describing it only as a “free flight.”

  2. For a reduced staff or companion fare, determine whether that fare was available to the public. Do not assume the amount paid alone determines coverage.

  3. For a child or infant, collect the actual ticket, reservation, seat entitlement and charges. Ask the airline to identify the specific eligibility reason for any refusal.

  4. After establishing passenger eligibility, assess the flight’s scope and disruption conditions separately. A qualifying fare does not by itself establish a compensable cancellation or delay.

  5. Have the award or fare confirmation, public availability terms, ticket number, passenger reservation, seat entitlement where relevant and the airline’s written eligibility decision.

More booking questions

Are points tickets automatically excluded?

No. The regulation expressly includes qualifying loyalty and commercial-program tickets.

Checked againstRegulation (EC) No 261/20042024 Interpretative Guidelines on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Does every lap infant receive the same payment as an adult?

Do not assume that. Establish the infant’s actual fare and reservation circumstances first.

Checked againstRegulation (EC) No 261/20042024 Interpretative Guidelines on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

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