Airline Rejected Your Flight Compensation Claim? Common Reasons and What to Do
Airline said no to your delay or cancellation claim? Here are the most common rejection reasons and which ones are actually worth challenging.
A rejected compensation claim isn't necessarily the end of the road. Airlines reject a large share of valid claims on first submission, sometimes correctly, but often on grounds that don't hold up when pushed.
"Extraordinary circumstances"
The most common rejection reason, and the most frequently overused. Weather, air traffic control restrictions, security incidents, and strikes by airport or ATC staff (not the airline's own staff) can genuinely qualify. But airlines sometimes stretch this label to cover technical faults, crew shortages, and rostering problems that are legally the airline's own operational responsibility and don't qualify at all.
"Delay was under 3 hours"
Compensation is based on your actual arrival time at the final destination, measured from when the aircraft doors open, not the scheduled or announced landing time. Airlines sometimes calculate from an earlier point in the process. If your own tracking of the actual delay differs from what the airline states, it's worth checking independently.
"You were rebooked, so no compensation is owed"
Being rebooked onto a later flight doesn't cancel your right to compensation if the disruption still meets the delay/cancellation threshold. Compensation and rebooking are separate obligations under the law, an airline has to do both when required, not one instead of the other.
"Claim submitted too late"
You have 6 years to bring a claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 5 years in Scotland. Some airlines wrongly cite the much shorter deadlines that apply to baggage claims under the Montreal Convention, which don't apply to delay or cancellation compensation.
What to do after a rejection
Ask the airline for their specific stated reason in writing, don't accept a generic template reply. If the reason doesn't hold up, escalate to the relevant Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme, or take it to the small claims court as a last resort.
How to claim
Klaimly checks whether a rejection actually holds up before deciding how to escalate, and handles the full claim end to end for a flat 5% fee, only if we win. No VAT, no minimum fee, and nothing to pay unless your claim succeeds.