Compensation and refunds

Ticket

If your journey did not go according to plan, we apologise for the inconvenience. We will refund the costs of your ticket in the following cases:

• Your flight was cancelled
• Your journey could not be completed because a flight was delayed for more than 5 hours
• The conditions of your ticket allow a refund
• In case of hospitalisation or death
• In case of a visa denial

Please note: If you purchased your ticket from a travel agent, you should contact your travel agent. For tickets bought from an airline other than KLM, please contact that airline.

If you request a refund, your booking will be cancelled. Handling your refund request might take up to 4 weeks. The refund will be made in the same currency and via the same form of payment as used for the purchase of your ticket.

Apply for a refund 

Request compensation
You can contact Customer Care to request compensation in the following cases:

• Your flight was overbooked

• To request compensation for certain additional costs besides your ticket

Download the PDF brochure "Assistance and compensation"(PDF, 176KB)
Contact Customer Care 

Seats

If you have reserved a seat in the Economy Comfort zone, a seat with extra legroom, or a seat in a row of 2, we will refund the costs in the following cases:

• Your flight has been cancelled.
• The type of aircraft or the seat layout for your flight was changed.
• You missed your intercontinental KLM flight following an earlier flight operated by KLM or another SkyTeam airline.
• The seat for which you paid was defective.
• You did not use the seat because you bought an upgrade to Business Class.

Read the Terms and Conditions for Economy Comfort seats 
Read the Terms and Conditions for preferred seats (seats with extra legroom and seats in a row of 2)

Apply for a refund

Second seat for passengers of size

If you have reserved a second adjacent seat for a passenger of size, you can apply for the refund of the costs of the second adjacent seat if:

• Upon departure, a second adjacent seat was available in the same travel class on your flight.
• The type of aircraft or the seat layout for your flight was changed.
• Your seat or the extra seat for which you paid was defective.

To apply for a refund, please contact your travel agent, or contact us by telephone.

Pre-purchased extra baggage

You are entitled to a refund of the pre-purchased extra baggage (with or without a discount) in the following cases:

• You were re-booked onto a flight not operated by KLM.
• Your baggage is lost (not just delayed).

Read the Terms and Conditions for pre-purchased extra baggage 

Apply for a refund

Upgrades to Business Class

If you have purchased an upgrade to Business Class, you are entitled to a refund in the following cases:

• Your flight was cancelled.
• There was a change in the type of aircraft or the seat layout of your flight.
• You missed your intercontinental KLM flight following an earlier flight operated by KLM or another SkyTeam airline
• You were assigned a seat in Economy Class.

Read the Terms and Conditions for an upgrade to Business Class 

Apply for a refund

If you purchased your upgrade at the airport or on board, please contact us.

A la carte meal

If you have ordered an à la carte meal, but you were served a regular meal instead, we will refund the costs in the following cases:

• Your flight was cancelled or you were rebooked to another flight.
• The à la carte meal you ordered was not available on your flight.
• You bought an upgrade to Business class.

Read the terms and conditions of à la carte meals
Apply for a refund of an à la carte meal

Refund flight disruption

In case your journey with KLM was affected by a major disruption of our flight schedules, such as extreme weather conditions, a natural disaster or social unrest, you may request a refund if:

• Your flight was cancelled by KLM or your flight was delayed for more than 5 hours and you did not travel
• Your ticket number starts with ‘074’
• You booked your ticket via KLM.com, a KLM ticket office or KLM Telephone Reservations. If you booked via a travel agent, please request a refund via that agent.

Requesting a refund is possible until 1 year after the original travel date.

Apply for a refund