Claiming flight compensation is a file, not a performance. The airline needs the booking reference, the flight number, the scheduled arrival, and the real one. You can send that yourself and keep every euro, or you can hand the argument to a company that keeps a share if it wins. Both are legitimate. They are not the same price.
Do it yourself when the case is obvious
A three-hour arrival delay, a cancellation the night before, a denied boarding you did not volunteer for: if you can say which of those it was, the airline's web form is enough to start. Attach the boarding pass and a line that states the rule you are using, EC 261/2004 or the UK equivalent described by the CAA.
Ask for a specific sum, not "whatever I'm owed." Use the distance band: €250, €400, or €600, or the pound figures if the UK rules apply. Say you want it by bank transfer. Give them a reasonable date to answer, then diarise it.
Deadlines are national, not European. Depending on where you claim, you may have something like two, three, or six years. There is no honest single number. Look it up for the country of the airline or the court before you treat an old boarding pass as urgent or as worthless. Sooner is still better. Staff leave. Records get dull.
What the file should contain
- Passenger names, as on the ticket.
- Booking reference and ticket numbers.
- Flight number, date, and the scheduled arrival at the final destination.
- The arrival you actually got, or the cancellation notice and when it arrived.
- Boarding passes.
- Receipts, only if you are also claiming meals or a hotel they refused.
Do not send a novel. One page plus the passes is a claim. Forty screenshots of a group chat is a chore the airline will not read.
When a company earns the fee
On a won claim, before any court uplift:
| Airline pays | Typical fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| €250 | €87.50 | €162.50 |
| €400 | €140 | €260 |
| €600 | €210 | €390 |
That arithmetic is the whole decision. If you enjoy a form and the airline is known to pay, keep the 35%. If you have four passengers, a codeshare, a denial, and no appetite for month four of the thread, 35% of money you would otherwise abandon is a wage for the work. Hand the claim to AirHelp with the booking reference. You can still walk away if their eligibility check says the weather wins.
AirHelp also sells a yearly plan, AirHelp+, for people who want the fee waived on later trips. It has to be bought before the disruption. It is not a reason to join on the day your flight is already late.
Which article matches the day you had
- Arrival three hours late: flight delay compensation.
- The flight never left, or was pulled the day before: cancelled flight compensation.
- They sold your seat twice: overbooked flight compensation.
- The second flight left without you: missed connection compensation.
Questions before you send anything
Will claiming stop me flying that airline again?
No. It is a statutory payment, not a feud. Use your name as it is on the ticket so the file matches.
The airline offered a voucher for half the sum. Take it?
Only if you will spend it and you prefer speed to the full amount in a bank account. A voucher is not cash, and some of them expire.
Can I claim for a child?
Yes, if the child had their own seat. Infants on a lap are often outside the compensation, though the care rules still matter for the adults travelling with them.