Received an alert from United that my initial flight from Europe of 3 total connections is delayed by more than 3 hours. This results in a loss of the entire itinerary, and there are no options that will allow me to make it on the original scheduled day of arrival. App allows me to rebook on my own. Booking is for tomorrow. Should I just show up for the rescheduled initial flight and have United handle it all? I know EC261 compensation is guaranteed either way, but wanting United to cover hotel stay + meals in EWR so I can continue my journey the following day. Are these extra expenses usually paid out of pocket, and then claimed? As per recent news, are airlines now mandated to pay compensation immediately/day of travel and I no longer need to email CS?

Just find it weird that I haven't been automatically rebooked, and all the flights are still on my booking, even though the first one's delay makes it impossible to catch the remaining ones. Guessing it's because any re-route would include extensive layover times.

Route is LIS - EWR - XXX - XXX. (it's such a unique route that it would make me easily identifiable by an employee lol)

This is also an award booking. Does it change anything?