If your flight out of Europe lands more than three hours late, you can still claim up to €600 from the airline. That's the bottom line after EU lawmakers finally sided with member states to keep the current threshold in the bloc's revamped passenger rights rulebook, closing a debate that has dragged on for more than ten years.
The European Commission had wanted to raise the compensation trigger from three hours to four, a move airlines lobbied hard for on the grounds that they needed more breathing room to stay competitive. Member states, for their part, pushed to cap payouts at €500 instead of the current maximum of €600. In the end, neither change survived: the status quo holds, and passengers keep the 2004-era scheme that pays between €250 and €600 depending on flight distance.
The other big sticking point was cabin baggage fees. Under the agreement, airlines can still charge for larger carry-on bags, but they must allow a small bag for free and fold cabin bag fees into the basic advertised ticket price — with optional discounts for travellers who travel light. The aim is transparency: those add-on charges have infuriated consumer groups across Europe, and the political temperature spiked in 2024 when Spain's Consumer Rights Ministry hit budget carriers with €179 million in fines over the practice. The airlines are appealing.
A few quieter wins for passengers made it into the deal too. Families keep the right to have a child seated next to an accompanying adult at no extra cost, airlines must offer more support when connections are missed, and carriers can no longer force you to download their app just to show a boarding pass — a rule with a specific target, after Ryanair made its app mandatory in November.
Why does this matter for anyone booking a trip? Because these rules shape the real cost and stress of flying to, from and within Europe. The compensation regime is one of the strongest in the world: a three-hour delay on a long-haul flight out of the EU can still mean €600 back, and now it stays that way rather than becoming harder to claim. Meanwhile, the baggage rules should make fare comparisons more honest — the headline price will have to reflect what a cabin bag actually costs, rather than springing it on you at checkout. And if you're the parent dreading a seat-allocation scramble, that protection is now locked in.
The deal is a rare moment where consumers came out ahead of the airline lobby, at least on paper. Enforcement is the next question — how quickly carriers update their pricing displays, and whether the Spanish-style fines spread elsewhere. But for now, the message to travellers is simple: the rights you had are the rights you keep, and they got a little easier to see through.
