No sooner have you booked your trip and packed your suitcase then you suddenly hear at the airport that your “flight is delayed” or “cancelled.” For many travellers, this is not only frustrating but also costly. Every flight delay means wasted time and unnecessary stress.
What many travellers don't know: Under UK air passenger rights law (UK261), significant delays, last-minute cancellations, denied boarding, or missed connecting flights can entitle you to compensation of up to £520 per person. The final compensation amount depends on the flight distance and varies between:
£220 for short-haul flights up to 1,500 km
£350 for medium-haul flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km
£520 for long-haul flights over 3,500 km
But what is the best way to claim this compensation? As an alternative to instructing Flightright, travellers have several options: you can contact the airline directly yourself, involve an arbitration body, use another service, or instruct a law firm.
In this article, we present various options and show you the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Flightright Alternative 1: Claim Flight Compensation Yourself
The most obvious alternative to using a passenger rights portal for many affected travellers is to submit the claim directly to the airline. Many airlines provide special online forms for this purpose. Alternatively, you can write your own letter of claim or use a free template letter and contact the airline directly.
It's important that you prepare all documents the airline needs to process your case. These include:
Booking confirmation and flight number
Boarding pass or check-in confirmation
Scheduled and actual departure and arrival times
Communications from the airline
Receipts for additional expenses
Information about the cause of the flight delay or cancellation
Then demand the specific compensation amount from the airline and set a reasonable payment deadline. Keep the letter and all communications with the airline.
Advantages:
If your case is successful, you receive the full compensation amount you are entitled to, without any additional costs
You retain complete control over the communication
Disadvantages:
Communication with the airline can be lengthy, as many respond slowly or not at all to consumer enquiries regarding payment
You must assess your own entitlement and prove that you are owed compensation (flight details, proof of delay, etc.)
If the airline rejects your claim, you must decide yourself how to proceed. Besides an alternative dispute resolution body, you could also involve a passenger rights portal such as Flightright. Alternatively, legal action remains possible, though with the associated cost risk
The process can drag on for months (or years) without any payment at the end
If the airline only offers a partial payment, you must assess yourself whether the amount offered is appropriate or whether you are actually entitled to higher compensation
Suitable for: Independent enforcement can make sense if your case appears clear-cut, you have all documents, and you are prepared to handle correspondence, deadlines, and potential enquiries yourself.
However, with complex flight connections, contradictory statements from the airline, or approaching limitation periods, professional support can be helpful.
Flightright Alternative 2: Flight Compensation Through Arbitration Boards
Another free alternative is to go through an arbitration body. In the UK, the relevant bodies are Aviation ADR and CEDR, which are approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). These independent, government-recognised consumer arbitration services mediate disputes with participating airlines. You can approach them if you have previously contacted the airline directly without success and your case is not already before a court.
How arbitration proceedings work:
To submit a case, you must have already unsuccessfully contacted the airline directly and either received a refusal or waited the relevant time without receiving a response
Importantly: there must be no parallel proceedings. Your case must not already be pending in court or in another arbitration procedure
Applications are submitted online, by email, or by post. You will typically receive an acknowledgement of receipt with a case number within weeks
The arbitration body reviews the case and attempts to reach an agreement with the airline, either early through "immediate acknowledgement"/adjudication
If the adjudicator’s determination is in your favour, you have 14 days (Aviation ADR) or 30 days (CERD) to choose to accept it
If the proceedings end without agreement or a deterrmination, you can then take legal action
For passengers, the procedure is generally free – the participating airline bears the costs
At the end, there is a determination from the adjudicator
Advantages:
The procedure is completely free for you, and you bear no financial risk (only in cases of abusive applications can a fee of around £25 apply)
Neutral, legally reviewed assessment of your case
Court action may be avoidable
Disadvantages:
You must first assert your compensation claim yourself with the airline, which can take considerable time and effort
The adjudicator may decide against your entitlement, or you may not agree with the determination . In this case, the dispute is not automatically resolved, you can then decide yourself whether and how to pursue your claim further, for example through further negotiations or court enforcement
Which arbitration body is responsible depends on whether the respective airline is affiliated to a specific ADR provider
The process requires initiative: you must submit documents, observe deadlines, and answer enquiries if necessary
Adjudication does not always result in payment
Suitable for: An alternative dispute resolution body is particularly interesting if you have already submitted your claim yourself and the airline is not paying, but you initially do not want costly legal or court enforcement.
Flightright Alternative 3: Claim Flight Compensation Through Another Air Passenger Rights Portal
If you want simple and professional help, you can also turn to another passenger rights portal for a compensation payment, for example Refundmore.com. This has been a specialised portal since 2013 that handles the enforcement of compensation claims under UK261/EU Regulation 261/2004. For this, the portal charges a commission of around 25-30% plus VAT (potentially plus 15% legal surcharge), but only if enforcement is successful. If the case remains unsuccessful, no cost risk arises according to the provider.
How it works:
On the website, you can use the free compensation calculator to quickly and easily check whether you have a claim for compensation
If you are entitled to compensation, simply fill out the online form and Refundmore takes over the case
From now on, Refundmore also handles all communication with the airline to enforce your rights and, if necessary, also in court
The commission only becomes due upon successful payment of your compensation by the airline and is in the range of around 25-30% plus VAT (potentially plus 15% legal surcharge) of the compensation amount
Advantages:
The portal offers straightforward case intake that takes place completely digitally
You bear no cost risk, as they work on the principle "No win, no fee"
Over 10 years of market experience in handling passenger rights cases
Refundmore has a 95% success rate in court
No personal effort on your part for negotiations
Disadvantages:
The success commission reduces the payout
You give up part of the control over the enforcement strategy
Processing can take different amounts of time depending on the airline's response
Suitable for: Travellers seeking a risk-free, fully delegated solution and who are comfortable with market-standard commission rates.
Flightright Alternative 4: Sue for Flight Compensation Through a Lawyer
Another option is to instruct a law firm specialising in travel or passenger rights.
The firm can legally review the claim, demand payment from the airline out of court, and file a lawsuit if necessary. This can be particularly sensible if the facts are complicated or if further claims besides the standard compensation payment should be reviewed.
This can include, for example, additional costs for replacement transport, unused hotel bookings, meals, transport costs, or other concrete damages.
How it works:
If successful, the legal costs can fundamentally be borne by the losing airline. Whether and to what extent costs are actually covered depends partly on the type of remuneration, behaviour of the parties and the judge’s decision. When billing according to standard legal fee regulations, the losing party may have to reimburse statutory legal costs. With different remuneration agreements, such as hourly rates, costs may arise for you beyond this.
In case of failure, besides your own costs, court costs and reimbursable legal costs of the opposing party may come to you. Whether legal expenses insurance covers these costs depends on your individual insurance coverage.
Advantages:
In case of success, you receive the compensation paid by the airline. Whether legal costs still apply to you depends on the agreed remuneration, behaviour of the parties and the judge’s decision. In a settlement, the actually paid amount may also be below the originally claimed compensation amount
Personal, individual care by a qualified solicitor or barrister
Disadvantages:
Often higher costs arise for you (if no legal expenses insurance exists). For an individual claim of £220 or £350, out-of-court representation may cost around £100. For a £520 claim, it can be approximately £150-170
If court proceedings occur, additional legal and court costs arise. If you also lose the case, you may bear the reimbursable costs of the opposing party. The entire cost risk may therefore be even higher than the claimed flight compensation
Not every firm specialises in passenger rights, so finding the right firm requires some research
The process is often less automated and digital than with specialised portals
Suitable for: Travellers with legal expenses insurance or a clear-cut case who value the full payout amount and can accept or have covered a certain cost risk.
Why Flightright Is Still Worth It
Even if you can assert your compensation yourself or choose another path, Flightright offers one main advantage: you do not have to deal with the airline, legal objections, or possible court enforcement yourself.
The entitlement check takes place online. Afterwards, Flightright takes over communication with the airline and chooses a suitable enforcement strategy. Flightright has been supporting air travellers since 2010 and has already helped more than twelve million passengers enforce claims totalling over £615 million.
Flightright works on a success-dependent model. Typically, the success commission is usually 20 to 30 percent plus VAT. If external solicitors or barristers must be involved, an additional legal surcharge of 14 percent plus VAT may apply (if lawyers need to be involved in the case). The exact remuneration is displayed in the compensation calculator before instruction.
The Most Important Advantages of Flightright:
Free entitlement check and case intake take place exclusively digitally
Fees only apply in case of success, so there is no cost risk for you
All communication with the airline is handled exclusively by Flightright
If necessary, Flightright also goes to court to enforce your case
Transparent information about the payout amount before instruction
99% success rate in court and enforcement of numerous groundbreaking judgments
International reach with teams in several European countries, also effective against international airlines and complex cases
Whichever path you choose: the important thing is that you assert your claim. If you want to save time, effort, and risk, check your entitlement now for free with Flightright. In just a few minutes you will know whether and to what extent you might be entitled to compensation.
