Involuntary denied boarding pays €250, €400 or €600 under EU261 — £220, £350 or £520 under UK261 — with no minimum delay at all. On a US flight it pays 200% or 400% of your one-way fare, capped at $1,075 and $2,150 (14 CFR 250.5). Use the first letter for EU and UK flights, the second for US ones.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Customer Relations / Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Denied boarding compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I held a confirmed reservation on flight [Flight number] on [Flight date]
and presented for boarding on time. I was denied boarding against my
will. I did not volunteer to give up my seat and I did not accept any
benefit in exchange for it.
Under Articles 4 and 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, denied boarding
against a passenger's will entitles me to fixed compensation for the
[Distance band] band, which is [Currency] [Amount], payable immediately.
Article 7(3) requires payment in cash or by bank transfer; a voucher
applies only where the passenger agrees to one in writing, and I do not.
In addition, under Article 8 I require [a full refund / re-routing], at
the earliest opportunity, and under Article 9 the meals and the
accommodation appropriate to the wait.
Please pay [Currency] [Amount] within 14 days to: [Payment details].
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
For a US flight, denied boarding compensation is a percentage of the fare to your destination or first stopover, with a cash cap. The bands are set by how late the substitute flight got you there.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Customer Relations
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Involuntary denied boarding compensation, 14 CFR Part 250
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Confirmation number [Booking reference]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I held a confirmed reservation on flight [Flight number] on [Flight date]
and met every check-in and boarding cut-off. I was involuntarily denied
boarding because the flight was oversold.
The substitute transportation you arranged brought me to my destination
[1 to 2 hours late domestic / 1 to 4 hours late international / over 2 hours late domestic / over 4 hours late international].
Under 14 CFR 250.5 that fixes my compensation at [Percentage] % of the
fare to my destination or first stopover, subject to the cap in that
section. My one-way fare for that carriage was [One-way fare], so the sum
due is [Amount].
Under 14 CFR 250.5, a travel credit may be offered only where the
carrier tells the passenger the cash amount and the passenger may decline
the credit. I decline it and request payment by cheque or to my original
form of payment.
Please remit [Amount] within 14 days.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Check you were bumped, not rebooked. Denied boarding means you were at the gate on time and were refused a seat.
- For the EU or UK letter, take the amount and band from the amounts table.
- For the US letter, find the one-way fare to your destination or first stopover, then apply the percentage for your arrival band.
- Attach the boarding pass, the confirmed booking, and anything the airline handed you at the gate.
- Send it and keep proof. Under Part 250 the cash is due on the day of the flight, so say it is already overdue.
A gate voucher is an offer, not a settlement. In the EU and UK, Article 7(3) allows a voucher only with your signed agreement. In the US, 14 CFR 250.5 lets a carrier offer travel credit only if it tells you the cash sum and that you may refuse it. If you signed something at the gate under pressure, say so in the letter and ask the airline to justify the amount.
Does denied boarding only mean overbooking?
No. Article 4 covers boarding refused against your will where there were no reasonable grounds for it, which is wider than overselling. Missing documents, a genuine safety concern or arriving after the cut-off are reasonable grounds. A downgrade is a different claim — see the downgrade letter. For the other reasons a gate agent can turn you away, see denied boarding without overbooking.
Claiming against a specific airline
The letter above works against any carrier, but the airline pages add what is carrier-specific: the claims route, its home regulator, and how that airline has actually handled a bumping claim. See Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, British Airways, Jet2, Lufthansa and KLM for European carriers, or Pegasus, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Delta, United and American Airlines for the carriers most associated with bumping in the US and Gulf.
I volunteered at the gate — can I still claim?
Not the fixed sum. Volunteering is a negotiated deal: you take whatever the airline offered and you give up the Article 7 amount. You keep the right to a refund or re-routing and to care while you wait. If you felt you had no real choice, say that plainly and ask for the fixed amount instead.
Is there any minimum delay for the EU amount?
No. Unlike a delay claim, denied boarding pays from the moment you are refused, however quickly the airline gets you out. The only reduction is Article 7(2): the airline may halve the amount if the re-routing arrives within two, three or four hours of the original time, by distance band.
If the airline stalls, escalate to the regulator or ADR scheme; for a US flight the route is the DOT, described on the US passenger rights page.