If you are denied boarding against your will because the flight is overbooked, EU 261/2004 gives you a right to fixed compensation — €250, €400 or €600 (about SEK 2,800, 4,500 or 6,800) depending on the flight distance. The question of an overbooked flight and compensation has a straight answer: overbooking is the airline's own commercial decision — it deliberately sells more seats than the aircraft holds, to hedge against no-shows. That means overbooking in principle never counts as an extraordinary circumstance — so the airline can rarely avoid paying. This is one of the strongest situations a passenger can be in, and at the same time one where most people mix up their rights.
Compensation is not a refund — and with overbooking you need to know the difference
This is overbooking's most common misunderstanding, and it shows up word for word in forum threads: "Denied boarding — am I entitled to a refund?" Whoever asks it almost always means something other than what the words say. With denied boarding you have two separate rights, and they are not the same thing.
| Compensation | Refund | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A fixed flat-rate amount for the disruption itself | The ticket price back |
| Amount | €250 / €400 / €600 by flight distance | What you paid for the ticket |
| When it applies | With involuntary denied boarding | When you choose not to travel at all |
| Legal basis | EU 261/2004 Articles 4 and 7 | EU 261/2004 Article 8 |
| Can you get both? | Yes — compensation plus a refund if you drop the trip | — |
Whoever asks for a "refund" usually wants the compensation — that is the one that puts money in your hand on top of the ticket price. And you can be entitled to both at once: if you are denied boarding and decide not to travel at all, the airline must both pay back the ticket and add the statutory compensation on top. If you instead choose to be re-routed, you still get the compensation, but not the refund — you are travelling, after all.
What the law says about denied boarding
The rules are set out in Article 4 of EU Regulation 261/2004. When an airline foresees that it has to deny passengers boarding, it must first ask for volunteers who give up their seats in exchange for a benefit. If that is not enough, the airline may deny the remaining passengers against their will — and that triggers the fixed compensation in Article 7.
The condition is that you had a confirmed booking, presented yourself for check-in on time, and were not refused for reasons relating to you — such as invalid travel documents or security. If those conditions are met, it makes no difference why the plane was overbooked. The airline cannot wave the claim away by saying there were a lot of bookings or a glitchy reservation system. The overbooking is the airline's own decision.
Voluntary and involuntary denied boarding — two different tracks
This is the distinction that decides how much you actually get, and airlines are not always clear about it at the gate.
Involuntary denied boarding is when you say no to standing aside but are still not let on the plane. You then have a right to the statutory compensation — €250, €400 or €600 — and, on top of that, the right to choose between re-routing to the final destination or a full refund. You also have a right to care during the wait: meals, drinks and, if needed, a hotel night.
Voluntary denied boarding is when you yourself accept giving up your seat in exchange for a benefit — typically a voucher, cash or a seat on a later flight. The terms of the deal you and the airline strike then apply, not the law's fixed amounts. The airline is happy to offer a voucher that sounds generous at the gate, but a voucher is not cash and can be well below what an involuntary refusal would have given you.
What it means for you: do not tick the box, do not sign and do not say yes to any voucher until you know what an involuntary refusal is worth. Ask the airline to confirm in writing that you were denied boarding against your will. A Reddit thread about Lufthansa captures the logic plainly: the airline "should put forward evidence showing you were actually a volunteer, otherwise you're entitled to compensation". If you did not explicitly say yes, you are involuntary — and then the fixed compensation applies.
The amounts — €250, €400 and €600
Compensation for denied boarding follows the same ladder as a cancelled flight and a long delay.
| Flight distance | Compensation | Roughly in SEK |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | ≈ SEK 2,800 |
| Within the EU over 1,500 km, or 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | ≈ SEK 4,500 |
| Over 3,500 km (outside the EU) | €600 | ≈ SEK 6,800 |
EUR is the unit the law specifies; the SEK figures are approximate and vary with the exchange rate. If you were re-routed and reached the final destination with limited delay, the airline may in some cases halve the amount — but only if the arrival delay was kept within the limits Article 7 sets. To see exactly what your distance gives, you can calculate your flight compensation. Read more in your rights when a flight is cancelled .
Standby tickets: a limit you need to know about
An edge case that forum threads raise but most pages skip over: standby tickets are not covered. The right to compensation for denied boarding requires a confirmed seat reservation. If you travel standby you have, by definition, no guaranteed seat — you wait in line subject to space. If there was no room, that is not denied boarding in the legal sense, and the flat-rate compensation does not apply. A Reddit thread about Ryanair sums it up: "standby tickets are not eligible for compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004." The same applies if you were refused because you checked in too late or lacked valid travel documents — then it is not the overbooking that is the cause.
How to take your claim forward
The steps are the same as for other EU 261 claims. Gather your booking confirmation, boarding pass and everything in writing you received at the gate. Ask for a written confirmation that you were denied boarding against your will — that is the single most important document. Then send a written claim to the airline and refer to Articles 4 and 7 of EU 261/2004.
If the airline says no or drags things out, the next step is ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden — the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes), which settles the dispute at no cost to you. The whole route — from the first claim through ARN and onward — we cover on the page about claiming flight compensation yourself. If you want to compare overbooking with the other types of disruption, we have separate walkthroughs of flight delay compensation and cancelled flight compensation, and an overview of your passenger rights under EU 261.
This is not legal advice
This page is based on published and institutional sources — expert review has not yet been carried out. For advice on your individual case, turn to ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden — the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) or Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency), which is the supervisory authority for air passenger rights in Sweden.
Frequently asked questions
Denied boarding — am I entitled to a refund?
You are probably entitled to more than that. If you are denied boarding against your will, you have two separate rights: compensation (a fixed amount of €250–600 for the disruption) and, on top of that, a choice between re-routing and a refund of the ticket if you no longer want to travel. Many people ask about a refund but actually mean the compensation — that is the one that puts money in your hand on top of the ticket price.
How much compensation does an overbooked flight give?
The amount is set by flight distance: €250 (about SEK 2,800) up to 1,500 km, €400 (about SEK 4,500) for flights within the EU over 1,500 km and others between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and €600 (about SEK 6,800) for longer flights outside the EU. EUR is the legal unit; the SEK figures are approximate and move with the exchange rate. Read more in the rules for delay compensation .
Can the airline avoid paying because the flight was overbooked?
Almost never. Overbooking is a commercial decision by the airline itself — it deliberately sells more seats than the aircraft holds. It therefore counts in principle not as an extraordinary circumstance outside the airline's control, and the airline can rarely invoke force majeure to avoid compensation for denied boarding.
Do I get compensation if I voluntarily gave up my seat?
No, not the statutory compensation of €250–600. If you voluntarily agree to stand aside in exchange for an agreed benefit — a voucher, cash, re-routing — the terms of that deal apply instead. The law's fixed compensation applies to anyone denied boarding against their will. Do not accept anything until you know what an involuntary refusal would have given you.
Does the compensation apply if I travelled on a standby ticket?
No. Standby tickets are not covered by the EU 261/2004 rules on denied boarding. The right to compensation requires a confirmed seat reservation. Anyone travelling standby has, by definition, no guaranteed seat and therefore cannot claim the flat-rate compensation if there was no room.
Sources and further reading
- EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 , in particular Article 4 (denied boarding), Article 7 (compensation) and Article 8 (re-routing and refund)
- Transportstyrelsen — Passenger rights (the Swedish Transport Agency, supervisory authority in Sweden)
- Konsumentverket — Air passenger: your rights (the Swedish Consumer Agency)
- ARN — Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) — settles disputes at no cost to the consumer
Last reviewed: 17 May 2026.
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