How it works
- Check in ten secondsWhere from, where to, what happened. The calculator above tells you what the rules give you, honestly, including when it's a refund rather than cash.
- We claim it, from your inboxText us. We find the booking in your email, write to the airline as you with the rule that applies to your flight, and answer their first no, their second no, and their “extraordinary circumstances.”
- You get the moneyEvery offer the airline makes comes to you first; nothing is accepted without your yes. When they confirm in writing that money is coming, you hear from us with the amount.
Airlines say no to most people. We’re not most people.
The first answer from an airline is designed to make you stop. Most people do.
- The right rule for your flight. Your route, your distance, your delay, the regulation that applies. Not a form letter.
- “Extraordinary circumstances” is their favorite answer. Bad weather counts. A crew that didn’t show, a technical fault, a late inbound aircraft mostly don’t, and we say so.
- Vouchers are not money. We ask for cash, and keep asking.
- Every offer comes to you first. You decide. We never accept anything on your behalf.
- Nothing to download. You text us. We work from your own email, where the booking already is.
What a cancelled flight gets you
Two different things, and airlines count on you confusing them: a refund of what you paid, and compensation for the cancellation itself.
- A refund, anywhere, if you don't fly. The ticket's price back, in cash, to the way you paid. In the US it's automatic for a cancelled or significantly changed flight you don't take (a few business days by card). A voucher is only yours if you choose it.
- Compensation on top, on covered flights. Leaving Europe or the UK on any airline, or arriving there on their airlines: €250 to €600 per passenger if the airline told you less than 14 days before, and the replacement flight didn't get you there close to the original time.
- A new flight instead, if you want one. You can take rerouting rather than the refund. On covered flights the compensation still applies.
- Meals, hotel, transport while you wait. If the cancellation leaves you stuck, those are on the airline. Keep every receipt.
The first email from an airline usually offers the smallest of these. We ask for all of the ones that apply.
Doing it yourself vs. with Refund Agent
| Yourself | With Refund Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing what you’re owed | Reading the regulation | Thirty seconds, above |
| Filing | A form that times out, a PDF, a reference number | We write to the airline, as you |
| Their first no | Most people stop here | We answer it |
| Vouchers | Taken, because it’s something | Declined. Cash is what the rule says |
| Your time | Weeks of evenings | A few texts |
Questions about cancelled flights
The airline offered a voucher. Do I have to take it?
No. If you didn't fly, you're owed cash back the way you paid. A voucher is a choice, and often a bad one: it expires, it has blackout dates, and it's worth nothing if you don't fly them again. We decline it and ask for the refund.
What if they rebooked me?
If you took the new flight, the refund question is closed, but compensation may not be: on covered flights a short-notice cancellation pays €250 to €600 unless the new flight was within the rule's time windows. The calculator above says if yours is covered.
I booked through a travel site, not the airline.
The refund comes from whoever took your money, usually the travel site, and the compensation from the airline that cancelled. Two threads; we run both from your inbox.
How long does a refund take?
In the US the rule says seven business days for card payments, twenty days for other ways. In practice airlines drag. We follow up on a schedule until the money is confirmed.
Can I get the refund and the compensation?
On covered flights, yes: the refund is your money back, the compensation is for the disruption. They're separate, and airlines often pay one hoping you'll forget the other.
What about flights inside the US?
No US law pays cash for a delay. What you do get: if the airline cancels your flight or changes it a lot and you don't take the new one, it owes you a full cash refund automatically, not a voucher. And airlines pay more than they advertise (miles, vouchers, sometimes cash, hotel and meals when the delay was theirs) when someone asks properly and keeps asking. That's what we do.
What does it cost?
Checking is free, and so is the first look at your booking. Before we do anything that costs money, we tell you the price by text and you say yes or no.
More on flights
- Flight delay compensation calculatorDelayed 3+ hours, cancelled on short notice or bumped? Check in 30 seconds what the airline owes you, up to €600 per passenger. Then Refund Agent claims it for you, from your own inbox.
- Flight delay compensation: what you're owed, by flightFlight delay compensation explained: the fixed amounts Europe and the UK pay by distance, which flights count, what the US gives instead, and how Refund Agent claims it for you.
Check the flight. We’ll go get it.
Thirty seconds above, then a text. We write to the airline from your inbox and don’t take the first no.
Check my flight