A refusal is not the end of the claim. In the UK an approved ADR scheme gives a decision that binds the airline, within 12 months of its final response. In the EU the national enforcement body of the country where it happened takes the complaint. In the US it is the DOT. All three are free.
What to do, in order
- Reply to the refusal in writing and ask for the specific reason and confirmation that this is the airline’s final response.
- Wait no more than eight weeks. Silence is a refusal in practice, and most schemes accept a complaint after that.
- File with the right body — find yours here — attaching your letter, their reply and your evidence.
- Open a card chargeback in parallel if what you are owed is a refund rather than compensation.
- Keep small claims in reserve. It is the only route that ends in an enforceable judgment.
1. Get a written, final answer first
Every route below asks for it, and a vague refusal is easier to overturn than a specific one. Ask the airline to state the exact cause of the disruption — the get the reason in writing letter is built for exactly that request. If the answer is a technical fault or something described as “operational”, check it against extraordinary circumstances before you accept it — most technical faults do not excuse payment, and the burden of proof sits with the airline.
2. Escalate to the right body
EU flights. Complain to the national enforcement body of the EU country where the disruption happened, usually the departure country. Every member state has to designate one, and the European Commission publishes the current list. The body checks whether the airline is applying the regulation properly; in several countries it can also decide the individual case.
UK flights. If the airline belongs to an approved ADR scheme — the CAA names AviationADR and CEDR — file there. The CAA states that you must submit the complaint within 12 months of receiving a final response from the airline, or 12 months from your last written contact where there was no response, and that once you accept the adjudicator’s decision the airline is required to follow it. You can reject the decision and go to court instead. If the airline is in no scheme, the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team takes the complaint, but PACT cannot make a binding decision — it reviews and advocates.
US flights. File with the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection office. DOT reviews complaints and uses them for enforcement rather than awarding you money directly, so run a card dispute alongside it where a refund is owed.
3. Backstops that work
Card chargeback or Section 75. Strong for a refund you paid for and did not receive, weak for EU261 compensation, which is a statutory sum rather than a service you bought. The wording is in the chargeback and Section 75 letter.
Small claims. For compensation the airline simply will not pay, a small-claims action is cheap, needs no lawyer, and produces something the airline has to answer. Attach your letters, the article you rely on, and proof of the actual arrival time. In England and Wales, Money Claim Online is the route that gets you there.
Claiming against a specific airline
Each airline has its own home regulator and its own record of how it responds to a complaint once you escalate. See Air France, Vueling, Iberia, TAP Air Portugal, Aer Lingus, Eurowings and Swiss, or Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Transavia, Finnair, Norwegian, SAS and Turkish Airlines, for the claims address and regulator behind each one.
Mind the clocks, because they are different lengths. Compensation claims run in years — six in England and Wales under section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980, five in Scotland under section 6 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 — but UK ADR closes 12 months after the airline’s final response, and Montreal baggage claims close after 7 days for damage and 21 days for delay, with two years to sue. A slow airline can run the shortest clock down while it replies to you.
What if the airline never replies at all?
Treat continued silence as a refusal. Send one chaser that sets a date, keep the proof of sending, and after about eight weeks take the file to the enforcement body or ADR scheme. Schemes generally accept a complaint where the airline has failed to respond, and the CAA counts the 12 months from your last written contact in that case.
Does escalating cost anything?
No. National enforcement bodies, the CAA’s ADR schemes for passengers and the DOT complaint process are free to use. That is the whole arithmetic behind doing it yourself rather than paying an agency: the paid route uses the same free bodies you can use.
Which country’s body do I complain to?
The one where the disruption happened — normally the country of the departure airport, not the airline’s home country or your own. For a flight into the EU from outside it, ask the body in the arrival country. The where to complain tool matches your route to the right body. Check what you are owed first in the amounts table, so the complaint carries a figure.
The airline offered part of it, not all
That is not a refusal. Respond with the partial settlement letter, which takes the part payment without prejudice and claims the balance in the same terms as this page.