Claim smarter
Ten tips that strengthen your claim
What you do at the airport often decides how strong your claim is later. These tips cost nothing and are sometimes worth hundreds of euros.
From the knowledge base
Step-by-step
Flight delayed, what now? What to do at the airport
From the first announcement to claiming at home: the step-by-step plan that strengthens your claim while you wait.
4 min read →
Your rights
Extraordinary circumstances: when may an airline really refuse?
Technical faults, storms or strikes: airlines call almost everything force majeure. The courts see it far more strictly.
5 min read →
Topical
Strike at the airport? These are your rights
In a strike everything depends on who is striking. The difference between airline staff and everyone else is worth hundreds of euros.
4 min read →
Quick tips
Ask at the gate for the reason in writing
The airline must be able to name the cause of the disruption. A written statement, or even a photo of the information screen, is gold as evidence later.
Keep everything: boarding pass, receipts, emails
Your boarding pass proves you were on the flight; receipts for food or a hotel can be reclaimed separately if the airline neglected its duty of care.
Demand care from 2 hours of waiting
Meals, drinks and communication are your right, not a favour. Airline offering nothing? Buy it yourself within reason and keep the receipt.
Sign nothing at the gate without reading it
A form for 'voluntarily' giving up your seat or a low settlement trades your legal rights for that moment's offer.
Look at your arrival time, not departure
The 3-hour threshold counts at your final destination, the moment the doors open. Time made up en route can make a claim just miss or just qualify.
Want cash? Refuse the voucher
A voucher is only allowed with your explicit consent. A cash refund within 7 days is your legal right after a cancellation.
Delay announced? Still arrive on time
Your rights only hold if you kept to the conditions: checked in on time and at the gate. Staying home because it is delayed anyway forfeits the claim.
Screenshot the boards and the app
Actual departure and arrival times vanish quickly from apps and screens. A few screenshots on the day make your file indisputable.
Old flights are worth money too
Depending on the country you can claim 1 to 6 years back. Dig through your inbox: last year's ruined summer holiday can still yield €600 per person.
Claim per person, children included
Every seat counts. A family of four on an intercontinental flight claims not €600 but €2,400. You add fellow travellers with one extra signature each.
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