RyanairRyanair refund: when you get your money back, how to ask, and how long it takes
A Ryanair refund returns the ticket money. Ryanair owes it when it cancels your flight, or delays it by 5 hours or more, and you choose reimbursement. If you cancel yourself, the fare is non-refundable and only the government taxes on the ticket can come back, for a £20 fee.
#When does Ryanair have to refund you?
7 days is the UK261 limit for reimbursing your ticket when Ryanair cancels your flight, or delays it by 5 hours or more, and you choose the money over re-routing. Ryanair’s terms set the refund at the fare plus the taxes, fees and charges you paid for that flight.
Source: UK261 art. 8(1) and art. 6(1) — legislation.gov.uk; Ryanair terms and conditions, art. 10.2 — ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
Ryanair’s terms say “a flight delay of over 5 hours”; UK261 article 6(1) says 5 hours or more, so on a flight from a UK airport a delay of exactly 5 hours qualifies under the Regulation.
UK airport a delay of exactly 5 hours qualifies under the Regulation.A refund and compensation are separate amounts. Compensation is £220, £350 or £520 by distance under article 7(1), owed only if Ryanair cancels with less than 14 days' notice or you arrive 3 hours or more late, and not where Ryanair proves extraordinary circumstances. On notice, the burden of proof sits with the airline.
If either applies, check the amount on the Ryanair page and claim it from Ryanair directly, free.
AirHelp (third-party claim service)- Write to the airline and keep the reference
- Refused, or no answer in 8 weeks: its ADR scheme or the CAA, free
- You keep all of the compensation
Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee- They deal with the airline for you
- AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.
Keep the cancellation email: its date decides the notice window.
#How do you request a Ryanair refund, and how long does it take?
24 hours to your Ryanair Wallet, then within 5 working days to your card: that is Ryanair’s published timing for a disrupted flight booked on ryanair.com. UK261 article 8 sets 7 days for reimbursement. The money moves from the Wallet to your card only when you click transfer.
Source: Ryanair Help Centre, refund payment times — help.ryanair.com; UK261 art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
Situation | What you get | How long |
|---|---|---|
Ryanair cancels, or delays over 5 hours | Fare plus taxes, fees and charges paid (Ryanair terms) | Wallet within 24 hours; card within 5 working days of your transfer |
UK261 art. 8: cancellation, or delay of 5 hours or more | Reimbursement of the ticket | Within seven days |
You do not travel | Government taxes only, minus a £20 fee | Apply within one month of the flight date |
The cancellation email offers three options: “Request a refund”, re-routing, or a free change on the same route. To get the money, click the refund link in that email, or open My Bookings on ryanair.com. A booking made through a travel agent must first complete Ryanair’s customer verification form, and Ryanair says such refunds “may take longer”. Ryanair refunds only to the original form of payment.
On Ryanair’s timing, a refund requested on a Monday reaches the Wallet by Tuesday and, transferred that Tuesday, your card by the following Tuesday.
Click transfer the day the Wallet shows the credit, and note the date.
#Can you get a refund if you cancel a Ryanair flight yourself?
Not the fare. Article 10.1 of Ryanair’s terms makes all amounts you pay for its flights non-refundable except where clauses 4.2, 10.2, 10.3 or 10.4 apply, and each fare, from Regular to Flexi Plus, carries the same exception. The only money that can come back is the government taxes, covered below.
Source: Ryanair terms and conditions, arts. 10.1, 10.3, 13.1 and 13.3 — ryanair.com; Ryanair Help Centre — help.ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
There is no 14-day cooling-off period either. Part 3 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not apply to contracts for passenger transport services (reg 27(2)(c)), so a flight bought online carries no 14-day right to cancel under them.
Source: S.I. 2013/3134, reg 27(2)(c) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
Illness does not change this. Ryanair’s Help Centre says: “We do not offer refunds or travel credit to passengers who are unable to travel due to illness.” Ryanair Travel Credit exists only for bereavement: an immediate family member who is not travelling dies within 10 days before your flight, and you claim before the flight with the death certificate.
Changing the flight is the alternative: up to 2.5 hours before the earlier of the original and new departure, for £45 online or £60 through an agent or at the airport, per passenger per one-way flight, plus any fare difference. A cheaper new flight brings no refund of the difference; Flexi Plus waives the fee, not the fare difference.
Price the change before you leave the ticket unused; the guide to cancelling a flight sets Ryanair against other airlines.
#How do you get taxes back on an unused Ryanair flight?
1 month from the flight date is the deadline to apply for the government taxes on a ticket you did not use, and Ryanair charges a £20 fee per passenger to process it. Apply in writing; Ryanair’s terms add: “We cannot refund any other monies paid.”
Source: Ryanair terms and conditions, art. 4.2.1 and table of fees — ryanair.com; Ryanair Help Centre — help.ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
The month runs from the date of the flight you did not take, not the booking date: for a flight on 12 March, apply by 12 April, through the myRyanair request form for government tax. Ryanair says its higher ticket prices generally include government taxes and its lower ones do not, and that any taxes are shown in the price break-down.
The fee can exceed the refund. Take HMRC’s reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty, for “the lowest class of travel available on the plane for seat pitches less than 1.016 metres (40 inches)”: £8 on a domestic flight and £15 on a Band A flight (0 to 2,000 miles), from 1 April 2026. Both are below the £20 fee, so a ticket whose break-down shows only reduced-rate APD costs more to reclaim than it returns.
APD falls due when the aircraft first takes off on the passenger’s flight and is paid by the operator (Finance Act 1994 s.28), so none falls due for a passenger who does not fly; getting the charge back still depends on Ryanair’s terms.
Source: HMRC, Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty — gov.uk; Finance Act 1994, s.28(1), (2), (5) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
Open the price break-down in your booking, add up the government taxes and apply only if they exceed £20.
#Refund, voucher or travel credit: what do you have to accept?
You do not have to take a voucher when Ryanair cancels. UK261 article 8(1) pays the refund by the means in article 7(3): cash, electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques, or travel vouchers only “with the signed agreement of the passenger”.
Source: UK261 art. 7(3), art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk; Ryanair Help Centre — help.ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
Ryanair’s page adds a step article 7(3) does not list: a disruption refund lands in the Ryanair Wallet first and reaches your original payment method only when you click transfer.
Ryanair Travel Credit does not come into it: Ryanair’s terms create it only for bereavement, claimed before the flight.
If a voucher or credit is offered instead of your money, decline it in writing and ask for reimbursement under article 8(1). Choose “Request a refund” in the cancellation email, not the free change, and keep the confirmation. The voucher and refund guide covers vouchers offered after any airline cancellation.
#What if Ryanair refuses or delays your refund?
8 weeks without an answer to your written complaint lets you take it to AviationADR, which the CAA lists as Ryanair’s ADR scheme. File within 12 months of Ryanair’s final response; the incident must fall within 6 years (5 if you live in Scotland). ADR is free, and most cases are decided within 3 months.
AviationADR, which the 
CAA lists as 
Scotland). ADR is free, and most cases are decided within 3 months.Source: CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR conditions and airline member list — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Write to Ryanair first, citing UK261 article 8 and the 7-day limit, with your booking reference and the date you asked. The guide to what to do when an airline refuses lists the steps.
Paid by credit card? Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you a like claim against the card company for a breach of contract by the supplier. It does not apply to a single item with a cash price of £100 or less, or more than £30,000; the test is the price the supplier attached to that item, not the amount on the card. The Section 75 and chargeback guide covers the claim.
Source: Consumer Credit Act 1974, s.75(1) and (3)(b) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-20.
Not your situation? A flight leaving an EU airport falls under EU261, one leaving Canada under APPR, and a US route under US DOT rules. For a flight leaving the UK, see UK261. Unsure? Find which law covers your flight.
EU airport falls under 
Canada under 
US route under General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the CAA or a consumer-rights adviser.
#Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 — legislation.gov.uk.
- Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, reg 27 — legislation.gov.uk.
- Finance Act 1994, s.28 — legislation.gov.uk.
- HMRC, Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty — gov.uk.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, s.75 — legislation.gov.uk.
- Ryanair UK terms and conditions — ryanair.com.
- Ryanair Help Centre, refund payment times — help.ryanair.com.
- Ryanair Help Centre, government tax refund — help.ryanair.com.
- Ryanair Help Centre, travel and illness — help.ryanair.com.
- CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution — caa.co.uk.