Wizz Air cancelled your flight: refund, WIZZ credit and compensation

Wizz Air cancelled: what to save before choosing

This article covers cancellation initiated by the carrier. If you cancel a flight that is operating, fare rules and purchased services apply, potentially with cancellation charges. That is different from mandatory refund or rerouting after the airline cancels. Save the original message before changing the booking.

1. Save the cancellation message, its receipt date and time, the booking and original schedule.
2. Capture the offered options, amount and terms before confirming: another flight, a monetary refund or WIZZ credit.
3. Copy the carrier’s full legal name from the confirmation and check which passengers and segments the choice affects.
4. If you are already at the airport, request rerouting and necessary care from Wizz staff or its representative; record what was offered.

The main flight cancellation guide explains the general rights and compensation limits. For a Wizz booking, the credit’s origin, original payment method and access to an intermediary booking also matter.

Replacement flight or refund: the practical booking workflow

Start with the cancellation notice and your booking on Wizz’s official website, using the Wizz Help Centre for cancelled flights. First compare any replacement with the original departure and arrival, airports and complete purchased journey. Do not confirm until it is clear whether you are changing all passengers or only part of the booking.

For a covered cancellation, Article 8 of EU261 and Article 13 of Serbian law provide three choices and refund within 7 days. With a partly used ticket, portions that no longer serve the journey’s purpose and a necessary return to the first departure point also need checking. Fixed compensation does not have the same universal payment deadline.

WIZZ credit, a money refund and additional compensation

Money returned to a card or another appropriate payment method is different from credit for future Wizz services. Credit may have an expiry date and other terms. A statutory refund cannot be forced into a voucher or credit: the passenger’s agreement matters. However, credit already accepted, credit used to pay originally and promotional credit may have different origins and refund rules.

For assessment, prepare the credit amount and origin, original payment method and the offer terms you accepted. The April 2024 reference edition of WIZZ Account terms does not verify today’s terms: the applicable law, rules and offer governing your choice must be checked for the specific transaction. Conversion of every credit into money cannot be promised in advance. If payment was partly by card and partly by credit, show both portions.

Accepting refund or credit for the ticket price does not by itself answer the separate fixed-compensation question. Check whether you also accepted a settlement or waiver of other claims. Read refund versus compensation and keep the full confirmation text, not only the account balance.

An agency ticket: obtaining the booking and notices

When you buy through another website, the contact in the Wizz booking may belong to the intermediary, so you may not see the same options in your account. Ask the agent for the Wizz booking reference, original confirmation, the contact that received cancellation messages and the forwarded offers with receipt dates. An agency order number alone is insufficient if it does not identify the purchased flight.

• If the agent already requested refund, obtain confirmation of what was requested, for which passengers and to which payment method the money will return.
• If the agent accepted a new flight or credit, obtain the choice confirmation and terms; do not then make an inconsistent selection without checking.
• Keep both the time the carrier’s booking contact was notified and when the notice reached you. Under EU261 the carrier must prove whether and when it informed you; sending to an intermediary is not by itself a complete answer.
• For assessment, send confirmations and correspondence without your WIZZ password or the agency’s credentials.

Ticket repayment through an intermediary and a statutory claim against the operating carrier address different issues. The European Commission’s guidelines are relevant to EU notice rules involving intermediaries; we do not automatically treat them as binding Serbian case law.

The Wizz name is not enough: check the operating legal entity

Copy the full name of the legal entity due to operate the flight from the booking, then separately check the state of its operating licence. It is not necessarily the company processing the card payment or the intermediary selling the ticket. Wizz’s official company information helps check the legal name and identity; that list does not verify the state or validity of the operating licence. Do not infer EU status from the aircraft colour, website language, departure airport or brand alone.

The table follows Article 3 of EU261 and Article 8 of Serbian law. The EU exception concerns benefits or compensation and assistance already received in the third country, so disclose all benefits already provided. The same expense or award is not recovered twice. UK and EU regimes are distinct: a relevant UK licence or route also calls for assessment of the appropriate UK basis, which is not presented here as EU261. A complex connection requires the entire itinerary.

Whether additional compensation is due

After legal coverage, check notice timing, the offered replacement’s departure and arrival and the cancellation cause. The following Article 5 table applies to EU261. Cancellation less than 14 days ahead is not an automatic promise of payment, and not every cancellation must cause a 3-hour delay before compensation can be assessed.

Article 10 of Serbian law has its own notice and rerouting exceptions. For arrival it uses wording equivalent to “within” 4 or 2 hours, while the EU text says “less than”. In a national-only case, an exact timing or notice-period boundary requires checking the domestic wording and interpretation; the EU table is not imported automatically. Refund and care remain separate questions even when an exception removes fixed compensation.

Wizz may be exempt from fixed compensation if it proves extraordinary circumstances and that cancellation could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures. A general reference to weather, operational reasons or a technical problem is insufficient for you to determine the outcome by itself. Request the connection between the stated event and your flight. The extraordinary circumstances guide gives more detail, subject to the EU/national distinction.

Possible compensation for a Wizz cancellation

Where entitlement exists, a low Wizz fare does not reduce the fixed amount. EU261 and Serbian law use the following bands; this compensation is not the ticket refund or a hotel allowance.

In the relevant band, offered rerouting arriving no more than 2, 3 or 4 hours later may reduce compensation by 50%. This is checked after establishing entitlement. Under Serbian Article 12, payment is in the dinar equivalent at the NBS middle rate on the payment date, or when the judgment becomes final if litigated. Entitlement is assessed per passenger; a shared expense is not multiplied by the passenger count.

Illustrations for flights to and from Serbia

• Dortmund–Belgrade, notice 4 days ahead. EU261 applies because departure is in the EU, even if the specific Wizz entity has no EU licence. If rerouting arrives 5 hours late, the offered-replacement exception is not met; the cause and other conditions still need checking.
• Belgrade–Dortmund, notice 4 days ahead. An EU-licensed Wizz entity may provide an EU261 basis for arrival in the EU, subject to its statutory exception. Without an EU licence, arrival alone does not establish that basis. Either way, departure from Serbia has national cancellation protection.
• Belgrade–London, the passenger accepted WIZZ credit. The credit label alone does not show whether only the ticket was repaid or other claims were settled. Check the operating entity, national and any UK basis, credit origin and accepted terms; assume neither EU261 nor automatic cash conversion of every credit.

Meals, hotel and receipts while awaiting rerouting

For a covered cancellation, while awaiting appropriate rerouting, request meals and refreshments proportionate to the wait and two calls or messages. If an overnight stay is necessary, request a hotel and transport between airport and accommodation. An extraordinary circumstance excluding fixed compensation does not by itself exclude that assistance. Choosing refund or later travel for your convenience changes the ongoing care obligation; care is not unlimited.

If Wizz does not provide necessary assistance, keep itemised receipts, the time and reason for each expense and your earlier request for help. Reasonable necessary expenses are different from every purchase during a trip. If buying another flight, document why suitable rerouting was unavailable or the offer was inadequate. With separately purchased tickets, the second ticket is not automatically part of the same booking: see separate tickets and missed connections.

If Wizz offers rerouting to another airport serving the same town, city or region, EU261 Article 8(3) and Serbian Article 13(3) provide for transport to the originally booked airport or another nearby destination agreed with the passenger. Keep the offer, agreement and a reasonable receipt. This is not a promise to refund every taxi fare and does not automatically cover any distant substitute airport.

How to submit a Wizz claim and track the reply

In the official claim channel, identify the operating legal entity, booking reference, flight number, date, route, notice timing and offered replacement. Separate fixed compensation, an unresolved refund and necessary expenses supported by receipts. Include any previous case reference and disclose money already returned or credit already granted. The guide to submitting an airline claim outlines the contents.

According to Wizz’s claim-submission guidance, choose the appropriate form category carefully. After submission, retain the unique claim ID and use it in correspondence; status is tracked under “Your Claims” in the WIZZ Account. Wizz states a 30-day processing target, which is neither a payment guarantee nor a replacement for the statutory 90/60-day procedure. If more than 30 days have passed since the last email, check spam and reply in the original thread. Duplicate requests are merged and do not speed up processing.

1. Preserve the receipt. A form copy without submission confirmation is different from confirmation of carrier receipt. Save the text, attachments, submission time and reference number. If the form fails, record the error and find another official-site contact or one in the cancellation notice.
2. For the Serbian procedure: 90 days. Article 97 requires a carrier complaint within 90 days of the operated or scheduled flight. This is not a universal court-claim deadline.
3. Complete documents and 60 days. If the carrier does not answer or satisfy the claim within 60 days of complete documentation, you may report a breach to the Directorate where it has jurisdiction. For an EU departure, check that state’s competent authority in the European Commission’s directory.
4. A regulatory report is not automatic recovery. The Directorate does not pay passenger compensation or replace a court in enforcing an individual civil claim. Further proceedings and court deadlines must be checked separately.

The Directorate’s Complaints page and legal framework explain the procedure and jurisdiction. If Wizz invokes extraordinary circumstances, request a specific explanation; if it is silent, preserve the documentation-completion timeline. These are different problems, and the claim should not be restarted from scratch each time.

Documents for assessment and LetKasni’s local support

If no boarding pass was issued because of cancellation, do not discard the case for that reason alone. Prepare the evidence you have and identify what is missing; the flight compensation documents guide helps fill the gaps.

Common questions about a Wizz cancellation