Flight delayed? If you don’t ask, you won’t get

Twiddling your thumbs waiting for a delayed flight? And probably nursing a gnawing feeling in your stomach? A coffee and a wrap would soothe the hangry beast, but aren’t airlines supposed to offer meal vouchers when your flight is delayed? The reality is far from straightforward. Whether you get fed depends largely on where you are in the world, the cause of the delay and, sometimes, whether you think to ask.

Are airlines obliged to offer meal vouchers for delayed flights?

There is no universal global rule - it depends on where the delay happens. In Australia, airlines are not legally required to provide meal vouchers during delays. Under its Compensation and Refunds Policy, Qantas will issue a refreshment voucher for flights delayed for two or more hours, but this applies only to cancellations that are within Qantas’ control. Extreme weather or a work-to-rule by air traffic controllers rules that out. For longer delays, if it’s an “at home airport”, there’s no further meal voucher from Qantas.

For delayed flights departing from the EU or the UK the rules are set under EU Regulation 261/2004 which requires airlines to provide meal vouchers or refreshments depending on the distance and the length of the delay. Meal vouchers must be provided if the delay is two hours in the case of a short-haul flight, three hours for a medium-haul flight and four hours for a long-haul flight.

However, if the delay is due to circumstances beyond the airline’s control, including extreme weather or events such as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the airline is absolved from any form of financial compensation for passengers. Despite that caveat, Lufthansa says: “You are entitled to receive a meal voucher if your flight is delayed for two hours or more, if it is cancelled, or if you are denied boarding.” No ifs or buts. In the US, as in Australia, airlines are not obliged to offer meal vouchers for delayed flights. Assistance is typically offered when the airline caused the delay, not when it was due to weather or air traffic control.

Don’t wait, ask

Airline agents might have some discretion when a delay allows the issuing of meal vouchers, and while some airlines will make an announcement, don’t count on it. Don’t ask and you might not get. If your flight has been delayed for a couple of hours, approach the staff at the gate and make a polite request.

What about travel insurance?

You might be able to make a claim against your travel insurance policy for a delayed-flight meal, but you’d need to document your claim scrupulously, with images of the flight departure board, screenshots of FlightRadar24, your boarding pass and receipts for the meal. Also, the delay would need to be at least three hours, and the claim within reason. Go hard on the Sydney Rock Oysters at Luke’s Bistro & Bar in Sydney’s Qantas domestic terminal and your claim would probably fail the pub test. Make it a Macca’s cheeseburger with a side order of fries and a hot apple pie and you’ve a decent chance. However, unless you opted for a “no excess” policy, chances are your excess would be more than the cost of the meal.

How much is a meal voucher worth?

This also depends on location. A typical Qantas meal voucher has a value of about $30. In the USA, meal vouchers are generally in the range $US10 to $US15 ($15-$21), and good luck buying anything more than a Hershey bar and a Coke given the inflated prices food outlets charge in most US airports. Upper echelon flyers with status credits might get a more generous meal voucher, but unless it happens in the EU or UK where the rules are tougher, a budget carrier is unlikely to offer meal vouchers for delayed flights no matter how long. Meal vouchers are a goodwill gesture, and budget carriers place a low value on goodwill. You’re only flying with them because they offer the cheapest prices.

Claim reimbursement of meal expenses?

One tactic some travellers swear by is buying their own meals when flights are delayed. The cost is then reclaimed from the airline. Sounds weird, but it can work according to some claims on social media channels such as Reddit. The claim needs to be fully substantiated, and the delay needs to be at least three hours, and good luck with that. The time you’ll probably spend submitting your claim to the airline, writing a follow-up when there’s no response, hanging on the phone to the airline’s customer relations number and venting your frustration to friends and family could be better spent cooking a casserole.

Meal vouchers for delayed flights are less about passenger rights than geography and airline goodwill. In Europe and the UK, the rules are clear and airlines must feed you once delays reach certain thresholds. In Australia and the United States, you’re largely at the mercy of the airline’s policies and the discretion of staff at the gate. Ask politely and you might score a voucher, stay silent and you might not. Either way, when flights grind to a halt the safest strategy is to pack patience and perhaps a snack, because the system isn’t designed to keep stranded passengers well fed.