Originally Posted by
jsloan
MCT is purely a planning tool; delay times will not be compared to the MCT for purposes of compensation or the like. I would expect that any delay that caused you to miss your connecting flight would fall under the purview of EU.261, provided it wasn't truly extraordinary. .
EU261 requires that UA provide a hotel, meals, and local transport regardless of the reason of the delay. The "extraordinary" clause is about whether they owe you cash as well. If they don't give you vouchers you can be reimbursed later, though obviously less hassle if you get a voucher on the spot.
Note that EU261 doesn't necessarily kick in if your inbound flight is on time and you miss your connection because you get held up at customs, and possibly neither will your travel insurance depending on what it covers.