United Airlines flight compensation (2026)

If your United Airlines flight was delayed 3+ hours, cancelled, or overbooked, you may be legally owed cash compensation under US DOT refund & denied-boarding rules. Here is what the law says, and how to claim it yourself without giving 35% to a claims company.

How much is a United Airlines claim worth?

US law has no delay-compensation statute, but you have two real entitlements:

• Automatic refund for a cancelled or significantly changed flight (3h+ domestic / 6h+ international) you decline — your fare back in cash, not a voucher (14 CFR Part 260).
• Denied boarding compensation if involuntarily bumped: up to $1,075 (200% of fare) or $2,150 (400% of fare), in cash (14 CFR Part 250).

The airline will say "extraordinary circumstances"

That is a defence the airline must PROVE, and it bears the burden. Technical faults, the airline's own staff strikes, and knock-on delays generally do NOT count. Make them show contemporaneous evidence.

How far back can I claim?

US: no federal (DOT) limitation; contract-of-carriage claims vary by state, typically 2–6 years.

What you get

Run the free checker below. If you're owed, a flat-fee pack gives you a demand letter with the exact citations, a regulator escalation letter, and a rebuttal playbook — you send it and keep 100%.