🇪🇺 EU overview / other countries
Air passenger rights · United Kingdom

Flight delayed or cancelled?
You may be owed £220–£520.

After Brexit the EU rules became UK law as “UK261” — same thresholds, but amounts in pounds and the UK Civil Aviation Authority in charge. It covers any flight departing a UK airport, or arriving in the UK on a UK or EU/EEA airline. Check your eligibility, then follow the steps.

DIRECT ANSWER

A 3-hour-plus arrival delay, a cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding (overbooking) entitle you to a flat £220, £350 or £520 depending on distance — regardless of ticket price. Unless “extraordinary circumstances” apply (extreme weather, air-traffic-control strike, security). Meals and accommodation are owed either way.

Reviewed by the FFCheck editors · June 2026

What happened?

01 / 02

Is the airline claiming extraordinary circumstances (weather, ATC strike)?

02 / 02

How much can you claim?

Per passenger · Art. 7
£220
per passenger · Art. 7(1)(a)
e.g. London · Paris · Berlin
Most common
£350
per passenger · Art. 7(1)(b)
e.g. Madrid · Rome · Athens
£520
per passenger · Art. 7(1)(c)
e.g. New York · Dubai · Bangkok
Family of 4 on a delayed flight to Spain: £1,400 owed. To the US: £2,080. The generated PDF is a flat £19 — rivals take 25–35% of your payout.
What you actually get

A sample letter — the kind that gets paid out.

claim-letter.pdf
To: <Airline> Attn: Customer Service / Compensation (Reg. 261/2004) Re: Compensation claim under UK261 — flight XX1234 on 14-03-2026 Dear Sir or Madam, I hereby formally submit a claim for compensation under UK261. Flight details: Flight number: XX1234 Date: 14-03-2026 Route: Amsterdam (AMS) -> Madrid (MAD) Passengers: 2 Compensation owed: £350 per passenger x 2 = £700. Per Art. 7(1)(b) (intra-EU flight, 1500-3500 km). Under Art. 7 and the Court of Justice ruling in Sturgeon (C-402/07 & C-432/07, 19 Nov 2009), a 3-hour-plus arrival delay entitles me to this compensation. If you refuse citing "extraordinary circumstances" (Art. 5(3)), I request reasoned written evidence per Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07). Technical faults, staffing and operational decisions do not qualify under settled case law. I request payment within fourteen (14) days of receipt. Failing that, I reserve the right to: (1) complain to the national enforcement body; (2) refer the dispute to the competent consumer mediation body; (3) bring proceedings before the competent court, claiming statutory interest and costs. Kind regards, [Your name]

Your real letter is auto-filled with your details from the form; legal articles and case law are included by default. Reading it and writing your own is completely free.

Done for you

Flight delayed or cancelled? Claim £220–£520

Everything above is free to read and do yourself. Want it auto-filled with your flight and ready to send? Generate the PDF.

Generate my claim PDF — £19free to read · £19 to auto-generate

You flew the flight. They take ~30%.

AirHelp, Flightright, EUclaim and Compensair all start “free”, then keep 25–35% of what they recover. Our PDF is a flat £19 — the rest is yours.

ServiceTheir cutYou keep (£350)Family (£1,400)
FFCheck You win£19 flat£331£1,381
AirHelp35% commission£228£910
Flightright30% commission£245£980
EUclaim27% commission£256£1,022
Compensair25% commission£263£1,050

Competitor rates are their own published fees on the date of this page; we update on changes. Shown for a £350 claim and a £1,400 family-of-4 claim. · 06/2026

Your data

If the service is “free”, you’re the product.

Commission services need a signed mandate, ID copy, boarding pass, full booking and bank details — their real product is the data. We only need what it takes to write your letter.

● What we collect

Your name (on the letter), email (PDF delivery), flight details, and a Stripe payment token — we never see your card. No marketing list, no data sale, ever.

● What they collect

A signed legal mandate, ID/passport copy, boarding pass + booking PNR, email, phone, sometimes home address and bank IBAN (they receive your payout).

AI vs ours

Why a generic ChatGPT letter gets ignored.

A generic prompt gives you “Dear airline, please pay €400.” A real claim letter cites the regulation and the ECJ case law, and pre-empts the “extraordinary circumstances” excuse — refined over hundreds of real claims.

● What ChatGPT typically writes
  • “Under EU regulations, I am entitled to compensation”
  • “I look forward to your prompt response”
  • “Please refund my €400”
  • No specific citations, no case law, no deadline, no escalation.
● What our letter cites
  • EU 261/2004 Art. 5 & 7 — exact articles and tiers
  • Sturgeon (C-402/07 & C-432/07) — 3-hour delay = cancellation
  • Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07) — tech faults ≠ “extraordinary”
  • 14-day demand → enforcement body → disputes board → court, with statutory interest.

How it works

  1. Tell us what happened

    Flight number, route, what went wrong. Two minutes — most people finish in under three.

  2. Complete checkout

    Card, Apple Pay or local methods. Stripe-secured. The PDF arrives the moment you pay.

  3. Send it to your airline

    Attach the PDF or paste it into a fresh email. A formal letter gets an EC261 case file opened — an email doesn’t.

Learn before you claim

Everything we cite — free to read.

Plain-language explainers, step-by-step protocols, landmark ECJ case law and head-to-head comparisons with the commission services. Everything in our letters, at no charge.

Explainers9
EC261, the Sturgeon ruling, a PIR, a codeshare — plain-language concepts with the exact legal reference.
Your rights6
Article-by-article: Art. 4 denied boarding, Art. 5 cancellation, Art. 7 compensation, Art. 8 reimbursement, Art. 9 care.
What now?8
Step-by-step protocols: flight delayed, baggage lost, denied at the gate, missed connection, cancelled under 14 days.
Who to contact5
Which body handles your complaint — your national enforcement body, consumer disputes board and the EU Consumer Centre.
Compare6
FFCheck vs AirHelp, Flightright, EUclaim, Compensair — what you actually keep after their commission.
Case law7
Landmark ECJ rulings: Sturgeon, Wallentin-Hermann, Folkerts, Nelson, Van der Lans, McDonagh, Krüsemann.
Amounts6
How much: by distance (€250/€400/€600), baggage (~€1,500 Montreal), train (25–100%), package tour (% reduction).
Did it work? · community-measured

The official answer is above. This is what actually happened.

Anonymous outcome reports from people who sent a claim — reviewed by us before they count. Stats unlock at 5 approved reports and always show their sample size.

📊 Published data · EU-wide 07/2026

Independent published figures, so you never stare at an empty box — our own community numbers grow next to them. Sources below.

Direct claims first rejected or contested by airlines≈50–70%
Airline payout rate once a claim reaches court≈98%
Typical wait when the airline cooperates3–12 wk
Typical wait when it goes to court4–18 mo
Eligible passengers who never claim at all≈45%
Sources

Every rate here is the AIRLINE's payout rate — the share of claims that end in the airline paying. It is never a FFCheck sales number.

🇪🇺 All of Europe
Community saysCollecting
Most common outcome—
Airline payout rate—
Average payout—
Average waiting time—

0 reports so far — be the first. Sixty seconds, fully anonymous.

✍️ Report your outcome (anonymous, 60 seconds)

Published anonymously after human review. We store no name, no email, no IP with your report.

How to claim in the UK

  1. 1. Complain to the airline

    Write to the airline directly (email or letter), citing UK Regulation 261/2004 (UK261). Keep proof — boarding pass, booking, screenshots.

  2. 2. Use the airline’s ADR scheme or the CAA

    If the airline refuses or doesn’t reply within 8 weeks, escalate to its approved ADR scheme — AviationADR or CEDR (free, and binding on the airline). If the airline isn’t in an ADR scheme, complain to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA, Passenger Advice and Complaints Team).

  3. 3. Court (last resort)

    You have 6 years to claim in England, Wales & Northern Ireland (5 years in Scotland) — among the most generous limits anywhere. To enforce payment you can use the small claims court.

Your rights, no matter what

Even with extraordinary circumstances, beyond a certain wait the airline must provide: meals and drinks, two means of communication, and accommodation + transfers if you need to stay overnight. This right to care is separate from compensation.

FAQ

How much for which flight?

£220 up to 1,500 km; £350 for flights over 1,500 km within the UK/EU and all flights 1,500–3,500 km; £520 beyond 3,500 km.

How long must the delay be?

From 3 hours at the final destination. This 3-hour threshold still applies in 2026.

What about weather or strikes?

“Extraordinary circumstances” (extreme weather, ATC strike, security) remove the flat compensation but not the care. A strike by the airline’s own staff usually doesn’t count.

How long do I have to claim?

Six years in England, Wales & Northern Ireland; five years in Scotland (Dawson v Thomson Airways, 2014) — far longer than most countries. Still, claim early and keep your proof.

Do I need a paid claim company?

No. Complaining to the airline, using AviationADR/CEDR and the CAA are all free. Claim firms take 25–40%; you can do it all yourself.

Official sources

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