Cancelled Ryanair Flight? Here’s Exactly What to Do

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Budget airlines are really good when you want to travel on a budget and simply just save money. But they can also test your patients at the best of times, or at least I felt that when I recently experienced a cancelled Ryanair flight.

I had just had an amazing day with my friend where we both decided to do a day trip to Rome, Italy. It was purely for a food tour with SecretFoodTours and the World Wonder – Colosseum. The day was pretty fantastic to be honest with you, well other than the logistics of getting home. We had boarded the plane and was sitting nicely ready to go home with Ryanair plane at Rome airport (CIA). Heck, I was more excited about getting into my bed after a long day walking around in heat in Rome.

We was first told that the flight would be slightly delayed (they didn’t originally give us a reason but I was like cool. Then the further announcement came where we was told that there was a leak on the runway and that we would have to wait an hour. We sat on that plane for three hours. Three whole hours before we was given the bad news that we had a cancelled Ryanair flight!

This post does come off as a bit out of my usual nice fluffy travel guides that I write for you and more of a rant but for me this was just not it. I’ve had cancelled flights before, but this one was something else.

Despite it all we did what we could and made the most of the chaos that was about to unfold. Ryanair eventually booked us into a hotel but we didn’t get there until 3am, and was only able to sleep for 2 hours and be picked up at 6:30, with an 8:30 flight home. We also got food vouchers that they handed out to us but the airport was closed, so not very helpful right?

Anyways I thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance on what to do if you do ever experience a cancelled Ryanair flight and show you what you are entitled to if it ever happens to you.

Related Post: Rome in a Day: Secret Food Tour, A World Wonder & More

Ryanair Cancelled Flight What am I Entitled To?

This is a good question if you have a “Ryanair cancelled flight what am I entitled to?” is the reason why you are here.

First things first if you ever experience a cancelled Ryanair flight, I want to first say sorry because it is soo frustrating. The good news is that you have rights under the EU Regulation 261/2004 (EU261). This applies to all flights departing from any EU airport, which covers every Ryanair route in Europe.

What You Are Owed if You Exprience a Cancelled Ryanair Flight?

If you are unfortunate enough to experience a cancelled Ryanair flight then you are entitled to the following while you wait.

•   Meals and refreshments in line with your waiting time.
•   Hotel accommodation if you’re delayed overnight
•   Transport between the airport and hotel

In my case we were provided hotel with pickup arranged. They also sent us an email for food vouchers, which sounds great in theory. However, we expected to leave around ten ish at night and by thar time we wouldn’t have been able use the vouchers, as all the shops were closed so not useful for. Either way, if this does happen to you, keep the vouchers and document that you couldn’t use them you can claim those expenses back.

Reroute or Refund

With a cancelled Ryanair flight they can offer you either:

•   A replacement flight to your destination as soon as possible
•   A full refund if you decide not to travel

We didn’t have a choice so took the reroute which left around 8:30am in the morning the next day! Not ideal given that it was a day trip but we was pretty limited with our options. Be sure to have a read of the Ryanair cancellation policy too, which can be located via here.

Ryanair should also send you emails with all your details.

1. Financial Compensation For Delayed Ryanair Flight

This is the where it might be the most important to you. With a delayed or cancelled Ryanair flight you can potentially get financial compensation for delayed Ryanair flights. And after all the chaos you would have experienced you will just want to be fully compensated.

You can apply for financial compensation under EU261. I would advise that you this under the airline you flew with regardless it it’s with Ryanair or any other airline.

The compensation that you get is solely based on the distance between your departure and arrival airports. Here is what it is below:

•   €250 (around £215) for flights of 1,500km or less
•   €400 (around £345) for intra-EU flights over 1,500km, or other flights between 1,500-3,500km
•   €600 (around £518) for non-EU flights over 3,500km 

For me because I was flying from Rome to London which is just over 1,400km, so that should roughly be around €250 per passenger.

Important: this compensation is separate from your ticket refund. If Ryanair cancels your flight, you can claim both the ticket refund and the EU261 fixed compensation. 

How to Actually Claim When You Have a Cancelled Ryanair Flight

• Step 1: Document Everything at the Airport – Take photos/screenshot of the departure board showing the cancellation. Screenshot any texts or emails from Ryanair. Keep all hotel and food receipts and that is even if they gave you food vouchers.
• Step 2: File Directly With Ryanair – I mentioned this earlier but Ryanair does urge passengers to submit claims directly rather than going through third-party platforms/claims companies. I think its just becomes more complicated when other parties are involved and third-party can also deduct over 40% of a €250 claim in fees, which when you think about it will be meaningless by the time you have got the money. To make a claim go to the Ryanair Help Centre and submit an EU261 claim form. You’ll need the following:

1. Your booking reference (6-character code),
2. Your full name of what you applied
3. Your flight number
4. And supporting documents like boarding passes and booking confirmation.

• Step 3: Don’t Accept a Voucher as Compensation – The EU261 always requires monetary compensation so please don’t accept anything else. Ryanair cannot substitute cash with vouchers for future travel, even if they offer them first, you should always push for the cash amount regardless of what they say.
• Step 4: If They Say No, Go back again – Ryanair nearly always denies every initial EU261 claim that is made, I mean wouldn’t you? This is usually their default response, not an assessment of your own individual case. Don’t give up.
• Step 5: You Have to Have A Bit of Tenacity – When going through the process it can a bit of pain I get it but it’s worth it if you can get some money back. If Ryanair do come back and say no, you can escalate for free to your country’s National Enforcement Body (NEB) or for UK nationals through Civil Aviation Authority Online Complaint Portal.

Ryanair has a track record of paying claims once formal escalation is filed.

What EU261 Doesn’t Cover & Where Travel Insurance Comes In

EU261 is really good to protect us as passangers with these budget airlines. However, there are some gaps. It won’t cover you if:

•   Your trip costs (tours, hotels, experiences) are lost because of the cancellation
•   The delay is under 3 hours
•   You’re flying on a non-EU airline from outside the EU

This is where travel insurance fills the gap. I travel with Amex, Barclays and SafetyWing. They all cover trip interruption, additional accommodation costs, and expenses that EU261 won’t necessary cover. If I’d had non-refundable plans the following day in London, insurance would have been the only thing protecting that money.

Quick Checklist: Cancelled Ryanair Flight

•   Screenshot the cancellation notification immediately
•   Keep all receipts (food, transport, hotel)
•   Choose reroute or refund don’t let them decide for you
•   File your EU261 claim directly on Ryanair’s website
•   Reject vouchers - push for cash compensation
•   If denied, escalate to your National Enforcement Body, it’s free

Final Views – The Honest Truth About Experiencing a Canceled Ryanair Flight

Ryanair cancels a lot of flights. In 2024 alone, they cancelled almost 3,000 flights! That is a lot of flights right? And that number doesn’t include the delays, which I am sure if you are reading this you have also experienced too. Flying with budget airlines comes with a few trade-offs, and disruptions are one of them, which you can’t help but you can certainly protect yourself by knowing your rights.

Knowing your rights changes everything. Instead of feeling helpless at 3 a.m. in a Rome hotel lobby, with a long queue, you can be the person calmly filing your claim while everyone else panics. (And if you’re lucky, you’ll have good company to laugh about it with too.)

Let me know how it goes and happy to answer any questions below in the comments section or DM via Instagram.

If this was helpful you should defo subscribe to the blog. I share tips and guides to help you travel better around the world.

Speak soon,

MBV xx