SAS compensation amount: EUR 250, 400 or 600
SAS compensation under EC261 is usually EUR 250, EUR 400 or EUR 600 for each eligible passenger. The band follows great-circle distance to the final destination on the protected booking, not the fare, cabin or number of sectors. On some rerouted journeys over 3,500 km, SAS may reduce EUR 600 to EUR 300 when arrival is no more than four hours late. The operator, coverage, event and cause must qualify before any amount is due.
Free eligibility check
Check your case in the form
Enter your route, date and type of disruption. We will check whether your case qualifies for a claim under EU 261/2004 or UK261.
What happened to your flight?
Claim up to €600 for a delayed or cancelled flight.
Choose the situation that applies to your flight:
Use the original ticket to define the journey. Calculating from a replacement route or adding every connection can put the claim in the wrong band.
EC261 amount table
| Protected distance and route | Standard amount per passenger | Reduction threshold for qualifying rerouting |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | EUR 250 | Arrival no more than 2 hours late can permit EUR 125 |
| Intra-EU/EEA over 1,500 km | EUR 400 | Arrival no more than 3 hours late can permit EUR 200 |
| Other journey from 1,500 km to 3,500 km | EUR 400 | Arrival no more than 3 hours late can permit EUR 200 |
| Other journey over 3,500 km | EUR 600 | Arrival no more than 4 hours late can permit EUR 300 |
The 50 percent rule appears in Article 7(2) and is tied to rerouting that keeps arrival within the stated limit. It is not a general discount for prompt payment, a four-hour cap on all long-haul delay cases, or permission to halve compensation whenever a passenger accepted a replacement.
Measure the correct endpoints
For a direct flight, use departure and destination airports. For one booking containing connections, use the first point of departure and the final destination affected by the disruption. The Court of Justice has held that connecting distance is not calculated by adding the mileage of each flown leg for this purpose.
Consider Glasgow-Copenhagen-Rome on one reservation. If the first delay causes a missed connection and Rome is reached late, measure Glasgow to Rome. Do not add Glasgow-Copenhagen and Copenhagen-Rome. If Copenhagen was an intentional stopover dividing the trip, or the second flight was separately ticketed, the outcome can differ.
Use airport coordinates and a great-circle method. City-centre distance, road distance and scheduled flight duration are unsuitable. Preserve the calculation source when the result sits close to 1,500 or 3,500 km.
Route examples without guessing the band
A short domestic or neighbouring-country SAS journey will often fall within EUR 250, but the exact airports still matter. A longer journey entirely within the EU/EEA can receive EUR 400 even above 3,500 km because the intra-European category is capped at that amount.
An SAS-operated trip from Scandinavia to the United States or Asia may exceed 3,500 km and support EUR 600 when the event qualifies. A passenger connecting from a regional airport on the same protected ticket may measure from that first origin to the intercontinental destination. The SAS long-haul guide explains direction, operator and the EUR 300 rerouting scenario.
Do not assume every ticket with a North American destination is covered. A partner may operate a codeshare sector, and an independent feeder ticket may not combine with the long flight. Confirm the company named beside "operated by" on the disrupted service.
The amount is individual
EC261 compensation belongs to each qualifying passenger rather than to the reservation. If two adults and two fare-paying children meet the conditions, the starting calculation is four statutory amounts. A parent can present a child's claim, while an adult acting for another adult may need authority.
Ticket price does not reduce the payment. A EUR 70 fare can still support EUR 250, and an expensive Business ticket does not increase EUR 600. Taxes, paid seats and baggage fees are not part of the fixed amount; they can create separate refund questions if SAS did not provide the purchased service.
Publicly available EuroBonus award travel can fall within EC261 even though points funded the fare. Free or specially reduced tickets unavailable directly or indirectly to the public need separate analysis. The EuroBonus disruption guide distinguishes statutory money from returned points and taxes.
Delay, cancellation and denied boarding
For delay, arrival at the protected destination must normally reach three hours. For cancellation, notice timing and replacement schedule matter. Involuntary denied boarding can trigger the distance amount without requiring a three-hour delay when the passenger had a confirmed booking, presented on time and held valid travel documents.
Volunteering is different. SAS may seek passengers willing to surrender seats for agreed benefits. Read the voucher, payment and rerouting terms. A volunteer cannot assume the statutory denied-boarding amount will be added unless the agreement says so.
The SAS delayed-flight overview and overbooking guide apply the amount table to each event.
Cause can eliminate the fixed amount
Even a perfectly calculated distance does not establish liability. SAS can avoid compensation for delay or cancellation if it proves extraordinary circumstances and shows that reasonable measures could not prevent the disruption. Weather, air traffic control, airport restrictions and security events require flight-specific evidence.
Ordinary aircraft defects or internal operational problems generally do not meet that test. Denied boarding caused by commercial overbooking is normally not an extraordinary-circumstances case, although reasonable health, safety, security or documentation grounds can justify refusal.
Refund, rerouting and care use different rules. A passenger may be entitled to a ticket refund or hotel costs even when no EUR 250-600 payment is due.
Avoid currency and deduction errors
EC261 states amounts in euros. Payment into a non-euro account should not become an unexplained deduction. Check the exchange rate, bank fees and whether SAS calculated each passenger. Do not accept loyalty credit as compulsory settlement of a monetary claim.
UK261 uses sterling amounts, while Canadian APPR has Canadian-dollar categories and different triggers. A journey can engage more than one framework, but the passenger cannot recover twice for the same inconvenience. Identify the governing event before mixing tables.
What to submit
Give SAS the full ticketed itinerary, operating carrier, original schedule, actual final arrival, disruption type, notice date where relevant, and explanation received. Show the great-circle endpoints and request the amount for each named passenger.
Keep ticket repayment, care receipts, baggage and ancillary fees in separate sections. Save the claim text and case reference so a partial payment can be checked against the original calculation.
Figures and law were checked on 26 August 2026. The July 2026 EU reform has been adopted but is not yet applicable; current EC261 bands remain the operative rules today.
FAQ
Is SAS compensation a percentage of the ticket price?
No. The fixed payment follows distance and legal eligibility, so a discounted fare and a costly fare can receive the same amount.
Do I add the distance of every connecting flight?
Normally no. Measure the protected journey to the final destination rather than summing each sector's mileage.
Can SAS always reduce EUR 600 to EUR 300?
No. The reduction is tied to qualifying rerouting and an arrival no more than four hours late on the relevant long journey.
Does every person on one booking receive a payment?
Each eligible passenger has an individual claim. Check ticket status and authority, particularly for infants and adults represented by someone else.
Can an EuroBonus ticket receive compensation?
Publicly available award travel can qualify. Points funding does not automatically remove EC261, although the award refund remains a separate calculation.