VOLA GUIDES · UPDATED 2026-08-01
Most valid claims that fail don't fail on the law — they fail on process. These five mistakes are all avoidable, and every one of them comes straight from how the regulation and the airlines actually work.
Article 7(3) requires your signed agreement for compensation in anything other than money. A voucher accepted in the queue — often worth less than the cash entitlement, with an expiry date — can be argued as settlement. Take the care the airline owes you (meals, hotel); decline the voucher.
Compensation turns on the arrival delay at your final destination — measured when the doors open, not the runway (C-452/13), and at the end of the whole journey if you missed a connection (C-11/11). Passengers who guess "around three hours" hand the airline an easy dispute. Flight data settles it.
"Operational reasons", "technical issues", "the crew was out of hours" — none of these are extraordinary circumstances. Courts have rejected technical faults (C-549/07) and the airline's own strikes (C-28/20), and Article 5(3) makes the airline prove its excuse, not you. Silence about the reason works in your favour, not theirs.
Several major airlines only process claims through their own web forms and quietly ignore emails and paper. The right letter in the wrong channel costs weeks and looks, from your side, like refusal. Check the airline's actual claims route before sending.
One letter, no deadline, no escalation is how most claims end. Give a 14-day deadline; on silence, complain to the national enforcement body of your departure country — it's free, and airlines answer regulators. Only claims that are never chased are truly worthless.
Check your flight — free
Two minutes, real flight data, no account, no bank details. If you’re owed money, the finished letter is €29 flat — you keep 100%.
Check my flight →Not necessarily. If you didn't sign an agreement accepting it in place of Article 7 compensation, you can argue the cash entitlement stands. It becomes a harder argument, which is why declining is the safer default.
The measured moment is doors-open at your final destination. Independent flight data and your own evidence (photos, messages) matter — borderline cases are exactly where precise records decide the money.
The free check uses real flight data (mistake 2), the letter pre-rebuts the likely excuse with case law (3), the claim page shows the airline's actual claims channel (4), and deadline tracking plus free escalation prep handle (5). Mistake 1 is yours to dodge at the airport — now you know.
vola is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Compensation is decided by the airline, national enforcement bodies or the courts under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 and its UK equivalent.