A complete claim is generally handled faster and is harder to dispute. Here are the documents to send us after a delayed or cancelled flight or denied boarding, and why each one matters. Missing one? It is often not a problem: in many cases, we can start from your booking reference.
✓ Content checked by the VolClaim editorial team · Last updated: 19 October 2026 · Sources: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (Articles 7 and 9)
To get started, a few details about your flight are enough: no documents or bank details are requested during the eligibility check. If your claim is eligible, here is what we need to put it together.
This is proof that you had a confirmed booking on the flight. It contains the booking reference (often 6 characters), the flight number, the date and the route: these are the references the airline uses to find your file.
Compensation is owed to each passenger, children included. Give us each person's first name and surname as they appear on the booking, so that the claim covers everyone.
Messages, texts and emails from the airline announcing the delay or cancellation, screenshots of the airport display screens, the actual arrival time noted at your destination. These items establish the nature and duration of the disruption, and help us to challenge any refusal.
They show that you presented yourself for boarding. They are useful but not always essential: in the case of a cancellation, for example, you may never have received one. The booking confirmation is often enough.
Emails, the reply to a claim already made, the reason given for the delay, a voucher offer: send us everything. These exchanges show what the airline said and when, and are useful if the claim goes as far as the mediator.
Meals, drinks, hotel, taxi or transport: if the airline did not look after you while you waited, Article 9 of the regulation allows you to claim reimbursement. Without a receipt, it is harder to obtain.
Many passengers no longer have it, or never had one in the case of a cancellation. This is generally not an obstacle: the booking confirmation or e-ticket is usually enough to prove that you were due to travel on the flight.
With your booking reference, the flight details and the passengers' names, we can in many cases put the claim together and verify the disruption. If the airline requires proof that you presented yourself for boarding, we will tell you which other items may, depending on the case, serve instead (check-in email, baggage tag, purchase made at the airport…).
No screenshot of the delay or receipt? Send us what you have: we will tell you whether it is enough for your situation.
You do not have to write a claim or chase the airline: we use your documents to do everything for you, with no upfront costs.
We check your eligibility, the amount owed to each passenger and any missing documents.
We write the claim, send it through the airline's official channel, chase it up and challenge refusals that seem unjustified to us.
If the airline refuses or does not reply, your documents are used for the referral to the Médiateur Tourisme et Voyage, mandatory before going to court since 7 February 2026.
The airline pays the compensation to VolClaim, which transfers it to you, minus its 25% commission incl. VAT, which is only due if successful. If court action becomes necessary, our total fee is capped at 50% incl. VAT. It covers all procedural costs (court fees, lawyer, judicial officer), which we advance and bear. If the proceedings fail, you pay nothing. Procedural costs awarded against the airline (legal costs, Article 700 of the French Code of Civil Procedure) are retained by us.
You do not have to give them at the start. If your claim succeeds, you send them to us securely: we receive the compensation from the airline and transfer it to you, with no upfront costs at all.
Be wary of any request for bank details, fees or identity documents from someone you did not contact yourself. If in doubt, see our guide to checking the right claims channel.
No, not always. The booking confirmation or e-ticket is generally enough to prove that you were due to travel on the flight, and in many cases we can start from your booking reference. If the airline asks for proof that you presented yourself for boarding, we will tell you which other items may, depending on the case, serve instead.
Send us the airline's messages, texts and emails, your screenshots of the airport display screens and the actual arrival time if you noted it. These items make it possible to check that the arrival delay reached at least 3 hours. If you have none of these, let us know: it is not necessarily a problem.
Yes. If the airline did not look after you while you waited, receipts allow you to claim reimbursement of reasonable meal, hotel and transport costs under Article 9 of the regulation. Without proof, reimbursement is harder to obtain.
Not at the start: no bank details are requested during the eligibility check. If your claim succeeds, you send them to us securely: we receive the compensation and transfer it to you, minus our 25% commission incl. VAT, which is only due if successful (capped at 50% incl. VAT in total if court action becomes necessary). Be wary of any request for bank details or fees from someone you did not contact yourself.
Free check in a few minutes, no upfront costs: 25% incl. VAT only if successful.
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