Delay, missed departure and abandonment are three separate benefits

This is written to be used rather than admired. Each section below is a decision about travel disruption benefits, and each one has a default.

Delay is the smallest benefit

Departure delay typically pays a modest fixed amount once the delay exceeds a stated threshold, commonly around twelve hours, with further amounts at intervals. It requires written confirmation from the carrier of the length of and reason for the delay. The sums are small because the loss is inconvenience rather than expense, and meals and hotels during a delay are often the carrier's responsibility.

People routinely expect this clause to cover far more than it does.

Missed departure is about catching up

Missed departure covers additional travel and accommodation costs to reach your destination after failing to arrive in time for a booked connection. It usually requires the cause to be listed: vehicle breakdown, public transport failure, or an accident on the route.

The useful part is this: leaving inadequate time is excluded, and policies define minimum connection times. Evidence of the cause, such as a breakdown report or an operator confirmation, is normally required.

Abandonment is the largest

Where a delay exceeds a stated period, often around twenty-four hours, policies commonly allow you to abandon the trip and claim under the cancellation section. That converts a small delay benefit into recovery of the irrecoverable trip cost, which is a much larger sum. You generally cannot claim both, and abandoning is a decision that must be made before travelling.

Knowing this threshold exists before standing in an airport is genuinely useful.

Whose responsibility is it first

Several regions have statutory passenger rights requiring carriers to provide care and sometimes compensation for delays and cancellations within their control. Insurers usually expect those rights to be pursued first and pay only the balance. These rights differ substantially between jurisdictions and by where the flight departs from or arrives at.

Check the rules that apply to your specific route rather than assuming a general standard.

What is excluded

Delays caused by an airline withdrawing a route, by an operator ceasing trading, or by an event you knew about before booking are frequently excluded. Delay to a connecting flight booked separately is often treated as a separate journey with no protection. Checking in late or being denied boarding for your own reasons is excluded across the market.

Where it helps most, a single booking reference for the whole journey materially improves your position, which is a booking decision rather than an insurance one.

Documentation at the time

Get written confirmation of the delay length and cause from the carrier before leaving the airport. Keep all receipts for expenses, and note the times of every announcement.

Photograph departure boards showing the delay, which is contemporaneous evidence that costs nothing. Almost every disruption claim that fails does so on evidence rather than on cover.

The takeaway

Get the delay confirmed in writing at the airport. Every one of these clauses runs on that document.

The version you keep doing is the version that works.