AirHelp review: claim compensation for delayed and cancelled flights

What AirHelp does for you

AirHelp is a flight compensation service. Its terms name the operator as AirHelp Germany GmbH, registered in Berlin (Local Court of Charlottenburg, HRB 196015 B) and, according to AirHelp, licensed under German law as a debt collection service. It is a member of the Association of Passenger Rights Advocates (APRA).

It handles claims for delayed and cancelled flights, denied boarding and overbooking, missed connections and strike-related disruptions. It checks whether your flight qualifies, then deals with the airline for you: paperwork, negotiation and, if the airline refuses, legal action. Normally you sign an assignment agreement that transfers the claim to AirHelp; where the law requires it, a power of attorney is used instead.

How much compensation you can claim

AirHelp's international site lists compensation by route length, per passenger:

The US site shows the same tiers in dollars: up to $270, $430 and $650. Each person travelling with you can be added to the claim and may be eligible for the same amount. These are maximums; eligibility depends on the route, the airline and the cause of the disruption.

Time limits vary by country, but AirHelp says that in most cases you can claim up to three years after the disruption. The boarding pass and booking confirmation are the essential documents.

AirHelp pricing and fees

There are two ways to pay.

No win, no fee. Nothing is owed if the claim fails. If it succeeds:

• Service fee: 35% of the compensation, VAT included.
• Legal action fee: an extra 15%, only if the claim had to go to court. AirHelp says this happens in about 3 of every 100 cases.

AirHelp's fee sheet gives an example: on a €600 award you receive €390 in a standard case and €300 when legal action was needed. AirHelp covers court and lawyer costs itself, so a lost court case costs you nothing.

AirHelp+ membership. Members keep 100% of compensation AirHelp claims for them. On the US site the plans are 6 trips for $179.99 a year or 9 trips for $249.99 a year, with a $200 payout for qualifying disruptions and lounge access during long delays. The membership must be active before the disruption, so it does not help with a flight that has already gone wrong.

Who AirHelp is for

• Travellers whose flight was delayed or cancelled and who do not want to handle the airline's forms and refusals.
• Anyone already rejected by an airline: AirHelp can take the case to court at its own cost.
• Groups and families, since fellow passengers can be added to one claim.
• Frequent flyers who may prefer AirHelp+ and keep the full payout.

If the airline pays promptly when you claim directly, that route costs nothing, whereas AirHelp keeps 35%. Its value is the legal follow-through. You must be an adult who can sign binding agreements; claiming for others needs their power of attorney, and for children the guardians' signatures.

Good to know before you start

• Withdrawal: EU, EEA and UK consumers can withdraw within 14 days of the service starting. Later, ending the agreement may mean paying fees or legal expenses.
• Payout: compensation is transferred after fees, by the method you selected; no interest is paid for the time AirHelp holds it.
• Timing: AirHelp says most claims are resolved within months; court cases take longer.
• Law: German law governs the terms, with your country's mandatory consumer rules still applying.
• Rules differ by region: compensation rules are strongest for EU and UK flights; the eligibility check tells you if your flight qualifies.