Claim flight compensation yourself or use a service — an honest comparison

You can claim EU 261 compensation in two ways. Either you do it yourself — free, you handle the work and keep the full amount. Or you hand the case to a claims service such as AirHelp or Flightright, which pursues the claim for you in exchange for a share of the payout, usually 25–35 percent plus VAT. This page sets the two routes against each other plainly: what each one costs, how much time it takes and what risk you carry. No sales talk — the aim is for you to be able to make the "claim yourself or hire a lawyer" decision on real numbers.

The short answer first: if the claim is simple and recent, it is usually worth pursuing yourself. If it is complex, old or already rejected — or if you simply lack the time and energy — a service can be worth its share. The rest of the page shows why.

Advertising transparency: Kravflyg is an independent information site. We earn a commission if you sign up with AirHelp through a link on this page, but that does not affect what we write — we explicitly recommend the free route too, and we do so first. Read more on the page about how we are funded.

Contents

• The route of claiming yourself: what it costs and requires
• The route of using a service: how it works
• What the service actually charges — the numbers
• "Is it a scam?" — what the worry is really about
• Side by side: a comparison table
• Who should do what

The route of claiming yourself is free and entirely doable — you do the work and keep the full amount

The route of claiming yourself: what it costs and requires

Claiming compensation yourself costs nothing. If the claim succeeds you keep the full amount — the whole €250, €400 or €600 (roughly SEK 2,800, 4,500 or 6,800). What it costs instead is your time and a certain amount of patience.

In practice it works like this. You fill in the airline's own EU 261 form with your booking number, flight number and date. You describe the disruption factually and refer to EU Regulation 261/2004. Then you wait for a reply — and this is where the part that wears people down begins. Airlines often say no first. A traveller on Reddit describes it: "I got rejected several times, even after I sent the information." Another reports that it "took over 2.5 months … and many emails, including references to EU legislation."

If you get a no, the case is still not over. You ask for the exact cause in writing, push back, and if the rejection does not hold you turn to ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden — the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) , which reviews the dispute at no cost to you. That route is free and entirely viable — it only requires that you have the stamina to pursue it. A step-by-step walkthrough is on the page about claiming flight compensation yourself.

In short: the do-it-yourself route costs nothing in money but demands time, order in your paperwork, and not giving up at the first no.

The route of using a service: how it works

A claims service — AirHelp, Flightright, Compensair and the like, what the community itself calls passenger rights organisations — does the work above for you. You provide the flight details, the service assesses the claim, contacts the airline, handles the correspondence, deals with rejections and, if needed, pursues the case further to a supervisory authority or court. Read more in claim flight compensation yourself .

The model is called no win no fee — no compensation, no charge. If the claim succeeds, the service takes its share before the rest is paid out to you. If it does not succeed, you pay nothing. That means you risk none of your own money — the risk shifts to the service. That is the model's real value, especially if your claim is uncertain or the airline has already dug in.

The value is concrete in certain situations. If your case is hard to judge — several legs, a missed connection, a disputed cause — a service has routine in exactly that kind of case. If the airline has already said no and you are sick of the email, the service takes over that whole part. A user on r/sweden puts it pragmatically: "Save your time, energy and effort and hire Flightright or a similar agent straight away. They do take a good 30 percent, but either way it is better than nothing."

What the service actually charges — the numbers

Here is the point we are not going to wrap up: the service is not free, and the fee is not small.

The share is usually between 25 and 35 percent of the payout, often plus VAT. That figure is not a guess. Flightright publicly states on its site 29.75 percent including VAT as its base commission — and adds a possible surcharge if the case has to be pursued by a lawyer. AirHelp works on a similar model with a commission in the same range, and a possibly higher share if the case goes to legal proceedings. The exact percentage can change, so always check the current fee with the service before you sign up. Read more in our review of AirHelp .

What that means in money:

The figures are rounded and illustrative — the exact fee depends on the service's current percentage and whether VAT is added. But the order of magnitude is honest: on a €600 claim, the difference between claiming yourself and using a service is roughly SEK 2,000. That is the price of skipping the work. Whether that price is reasonable or not depends entirely on how hard your particular claim is to pursue.

"Is it a scam?" — what the worry is really about

It is the most common question about this whole area, and it deserves a straight answer. On the Flashback forum a user writes: "Is this a scam? Should I give them my IBAN? It sounds too good to be true." On Reddit there are harder words — "They are a fraud", and a thread shouting in capitals: "THEY TAKE 25 PERCENT OF YOUR MONEY EVEN IF THEY DID NOTHING."

Two things need to be kept apart here.

The established services are not scams. AirHelp and Flightright are registered companies that pursue real claims and pay out real money — one traveller describes how AirHelp's payout "was over 1,700 dollars after fees" and calls it super easy. The money does not vanish into thin air.

But the angry voices point at something real — it is just not fraud. What they describe is two things. One is the feeling that the fee is undeserved: the service sent a form, the airline paid almost immediately, and 30 percent was struck off anyway. The other is cases that drag on. Both are valid objections — but they are about value for money, not about money being stolen.

The real risk, then, is not that you get cheated. It is that you pay 25–35 percent for a claim you could just as easily have pursued yourself in an hour. That is exactly the risk this page exists to help you avoid. A service asking for your IBAN is in itself normal — that is where the compensation is to be paid. The judgement to make is not "is this a fraud" but "is my particular claim worth a third in fees". A deeper review of an individual service is in our review of AirHelp.

Side by side: a comparison

Who should do what

There is no answer that fits everyone. Here are the clear cases.

Claim yourself if your claim is uncomplicated and recent: a clear delay of over three hours or a cancelled flight, an airline without an obvious objection, and you have your booking confirmation and boarding pass saved. Then the work is often an hour or two, and you keep every krona. Starting yourself also costs nothing — if the airline unexpectedly says no and your stamina runs out, you can still hand the case over then. First work out what the claim is worth and then follow the guide to claiming yourself.

Consider a service if the case is hard or wearing: several legs and a missed connection, a disputed cause the airline calls extraordinary, a claim that is a couple of years old, or an airline that has already said no and stopped replying. Equally valid: you simply do not have the time or energy, and receiving 70 percent without hassle is better than 100 percent that never materialises. In those situations the no-win-no-fee model is reasonable — you risk none of your own money. If you want to go that route, you can hand your case to AirHelp {rel="nofollow sponsored noopener"} or read our review of AirHelp first.

The honest final verdict: for most simple, recent claims, the do-it-yourself route is both free and entirely doable — start there. The service exists for the cases where the time, the hassle or a stubborn airline makes a third in fees worth paying.

This is not legal advice

This page is based on published and institutional sources — expert review is still pending. Fee figures can change; always check the current commission with each service. For advice on your individual case, turn to ARN (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) or Transportstyrelsen, the supervisory authority for air passenger rights in Sweden.

A claims service handles the claim for 25–35 percent of the payout — you only pay if the claim succeeds

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth using a claims service instead of claiming yourself?

It depends on the case. If the claim is simple and recent — a clear delay, a cooperative airline — you keep the full amount by pursuing it yourself, and the work is often an hour or two. If the case is complex, old or already rejected, or if you lack the time and energy, a service can be worth its share: you only pay if the claim succeeds, and you skip the correspondence.

How much does a claims service charge in fees?

The share is usually between 25 and 35 percent of the payout, often plus VAT. Flightright publicly states 29.75 percent including VAT as its base commission, with a possible surcharge if the case has to be pursued by a lawyer. AirHelp works on a similar model. On a €400 compensation, a commission of roughly 30 percent means you receive about €280 — the rest is the service's fee.

Are claims services a scam?

The established services are not scams — they are legal companies that pursue claims for a commission. What people often experience as a rip-off is something else: the fee feeling undeserved when the airline simply sent a form, or a case dragging on. The real risk is not that the money disappears, but that you pay 25–35 percent for a claim you could just as easily have pursued yourself in an hour.

What does no win no fee mean?

No win no fee — no compensation, no charge — means the service only charges if it actually gets money out for you. If the claim succeeds, the service takes its share before the rest is paid out to you. If it does not succeed, you pay nothing. The model shifts the financial risk from you to the service, which is its real value — but it is not free, since the share is taken out of a won amount.

Can I claim compensation myself if the airline has already said no?

Yes. A rejection from the airline is not final. You can ask for the exact cause in writing, push back with EU 261/2004 and then turn to ARN (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes), which reviews the dispute at no cost. It is precisely at that point — when the airline has already said no and you are tired of the correspondence — that many people instead hand the case to a service. Both routes are open.

Sources and further reading

• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
• ARN — Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) — reviews disputes at no cost to the consumer
• Transportstyrelsen — Passenger rights (the supervisory authority in Sweden)
• Konsumentverket (the Swedish Consumer Agency) — cancelled and delayed flights
• Flightright states its commission publicly on flightright.se; AirHelp states its fee terms on airhelp.com

If you want to pursue the claim on your own, see the guide to claiming flight compensation yourself and work out what the claim is worth. If you are considering a service, read our review of AirHelp.

Last reviewed: 17 May 2026.