How to claim flight compensation yourself, for free

Claiming flight compensation yourself is mostly a matter of knowing the four sentences that matter and being willing to send one follow-up email. This guide walks the whole process end to end: working out whether you have a claim at all, gathering the evidence that actually decides it, what to write, what the airline is likely to write back, and where to go if it says no. None of it costs anything.

Step 1: check whether the flight is covered

Before anything else, establish whether UK261 or EU261 applies. Broadly, you are covered if the flight departed from a UK or EU airport, whoever the airline was, or if it arrived in the UK or EU on a UK or EU airline. A flight from, say, Bangkok to Manchester on a non-UK, non-EU carrier is generally outside both regimes. The overlap between the two is explained in UK261 vs EU261.

Then check the trigger. Compensation is due when:

• you arrived at your final destination three or more hours late, or
• your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice and the replacement was not close enough in time to the original, or
• you were denied boarding involuntarily despite a valid booking.

The three-hour figure is measured at arrival, not departure. A flight that pushed back four hours late but made up time in the air and landed two hours and fifty minutes late does not qualify. That single detail decides a large share of claims.

Step 2: gather the evidence before you write

You need surprisingly little, but you need the right things. Booking reference and e-ticket, boarding passes if you have them, the flight number and date, and above all some record of the actual arrival time. A photograph of the arrivals board, a screenshot of the airline app showing the landing time, or a flight-tracking record all work. Note down what the airline said the cause was, in writing if possible - a gate announcement blaming "a technical issue" is worth writing down at the time, because that wording matters later. Keep receipts for anything you had to buy while waiting. Proving your claim goes through this in detail, including how to reconstruct evidence for an older flight.

Step 3: write to the airline

Use the airline's own claim form if it has one - search the airline name plus "EU261 claim" or "flight compensation form". It routes your claim to the right team and creates a reference number. If there is no form, email customer relations. Either way, keep it short and specific. A workable structure:

1. The flight. Airline, flight number, date, route, booking reference, passenger names.
2. What happened. Scheduled arrival time, actual arrival time, and the delay in hours and minutes. One or two sentences.
3. The legal basis. Name the regulation and the amount. For example: "This flight is covered by UK261. The distance band puts compensation at £350 per passenger under Article 7."
4. What you want. The compensation figure, multiplied by the number of passengers on the booking, plus any care costs you paid yourself, itemised with receipts attached.
5. A deadline. Ask for a substantive response within 28 days and say you will refer the matter to the airline's ADR provider if you do not receive one.

Do not pad it. There is no persuasion involved - the amounts are fixed by law, so the only questions are whether the flight qualifies and whether the airline has a defence. Claim for every passenger on the booking: compensation is per person, including children on a paid ticket. Infants on a free lap fare generally are not entitled.

Step 4: expect the extraordinary circumstances reply

The most common refusal is that the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances. Sometimes that is true - severe weather, air traffic control restrictions, security incidents, a bird strike. Often it is not. Under settled case law, routine technical faults, the airline's own staff going on strike, and crew sickness are not extraordinary, because they are inherent in running an airline. If your refusal letter cites one of those, reply and say so. See extraordinary circumstances explained for the cases to name.

Airlines also sometimes offer vouchers, air miles or a goodwill gesture instead of cash. You are entitled to cash compensation and you do not have to accept a substitute. If you do accept a voucher, you may be treated as having settled, so decline politely and repeat the request in money.

Step 5: escalate, for free

If the airline refuses or has not resolved things within eight weeks, take it to the airline's approved alternative dispute resolution body. In the UK that is usually AviationADR or CEDR, depending on the carrier. If the airline is not signed up to any scheme, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can look at it, though its view is not binding. ADR decisions are binding on the airline if you accept them, and they cost you nothing.

A small claim in the county court is the last resort and is more accessible than it sounds for a fixed-sum claim like this. The limitation period is six years in England and Wales and five in Scotland. The full ladder, with what each rung actually does, is in the escalation ladder.

Do not forget the costs you already paid

Compensation is separate from the airline's duty of care. If you waited long enough to be owed meals, or the disruption ran overnight and you paid for your own hotel and transfers, those costs are reimbursable on receipts - and they are owed even when no compensation is due, including in genuinely extraordinary circumstances. See duty of care. Claim both in the same message rather than opening two cases.

Why not use a claims company?

Because the amount is fixed by law, a claims firm wins exactly what you would win, then keeps a cut - typically 25% to 50%. On a £520 claim for a family of four that can be more than £1,000 of your money. There are narrow situations where a firm or a solicitor genuinely earns it, and the honest maths sets them out. For a straightforward delay with a clear arrival time, the DIY route is a form, an email and a follow-up.