How to Claim What You're Owed, and the Mistakes That Cost People Money

Knowing your rights is only half the job. The other half is claiming, and this is where airlines hope you will give up. Here is how to claim properly, and the mistakes that quietly cost people the money they are owed.

Compensation is not automatic

No airline pays compensation simply because a flight went wrong. You have to ask for it. Most airlines have a claim form or a customer relations route, and using their own process keeps things moving. Be specific about exactly what you are claiming, whether that is the fixed compensation, your out-of-pocket expenses, or both, and note that you may need to submit those as two separate claims.

Step one: claim from the airline

Send your claim directly to the airline first, with everything attached: your booking reference, the flight details, all passenger names, and itemised receipts for anything you are reclaiming. The clearer and better-evidenced your claim, the harder it is to brush aside. Keep copies of everything you send.

Step two: escalate if they reject it or go quiet

If the airline rejects your claim, or simply does not give a proper answer within eight weeks, you do not stop there. You escalate, free of charge, to one of two places. If the airline belongs to an approved dispute scheme, you take it to that body, either AviationADR or CEDR, whose decision is binding on the airline and usually arrives within three months. If the airline is not in a scheme, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can take up your case, though it cannot force a binding decision.

The claims-company trap

You will see adverts from firms offering to claim for you. They can work, but they typically take twenty-five to thirty-five per cent of your payout plus VAT, so on a £350 claim that is over £100 gone. You can do exactly the same thing yourself for nothing, and some airlines will not even deal with certain third-party services, so going direct is often faster too.

What not to do

A few habits sink otherwise valid claims. Do not throw away receipts or boarding passes. Do not accept a voucher when you were entitled to cash, unless you genuinely prefer it. Do not let the early deadlines pass, especially for baggage. And do not accept "extraordinary circumstances" just because the airline says so, they must explain why, and they are not always right.

How MAJ helps

The claim itself is winnable, but it is fiddly and the airlines lean on people giving up. At MAJ Travel Concierge we help you capture the right evidence from the moment things go wrong, lodge the claim properly, and escalate it if it is wrongly rejected, so you are not doing battle alone. Members have this built in, and our Disruption Advisory is there for non-members.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Your exact rights depend on the airline and the circumstances, and the CAA is the place to confirm them.