How much does a family of four keep from a flight compensation claim?

By Richard Jasinski·Updated 4 November 2026

A family of four on a long-haul flight delayed more than four hours, where EU261 applies and the airline is at fault, is owed €2,400: €600 each. A percentage fee takes the same share however big the family; a fixed fee per passenger is the same €39 a head. This page works out what the family keeps at each of 19 claims companies' published fees.

How much does a family of four keep from a flight compensation claim?

On a €2,400 claim, FlightCompensations' fixed €39 a passenger (€156) leaves €2,244, though it does not mention VAT. Of the percentage fees with VAT included, FlyClaims (€1,920) leaves the most; before VAT, AviFly (€2,040), with VAT then added on top. These are the 19 claims companies that publish a percentage fee, with the one fixed fee shown apart.

How the amounts are worked out. Each company's lowest and highest standard success fee, as published on its own website (read 20 October 2026), taken from €2,400 of compensation for 4 passengers. Companies are grouped by how they treat VAT, because a fee plus VAT costs more than the same figure including VAT; inside each group they are ordered by what you keep. Where a company gives a range, both ends are shown. €2,400 is four passengers at €600, the EU261 amount for flights over 3,500 km; each passenger is owed their own compensation. No company paid to be on this page.

Fee includes VAT

  • FlyClaims: fee 20%, including VAT. You keep €1,920 of €2,400 out of court. In court: no extra fee for legal action: 'Your fee stays the same.'
  • FairPlane: fee 24% to 35%, including VAT. You keep €1,560 to €1,824 of €2,400 out of court. In court: no extra court fee: the maximum 35% includes court enforcement.
  • RefundMore: fee 30%, including VAT. You keep €1,680 of €2,400 out of court. In court: an extra court case fee of up to 15% in one place on its site and up to 30%, a maximum of 45% in all, in another.
  • Air Indemnité: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €1,560 of €2,400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT if it goes to court, described as 35% plus 15% for court handling.
  • AirHelp: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €1,560 of €2,400 out of court. In court: an additional legal action fee applies if it escalates through legal channels; no figure is published.
  • Flight-Delayed: fee 35%, VAT included unless stated otherwise. You keep €1,560 of €2,400 out of court. In court: 50% if the case has to go to court, described as 35% plus 15%.
  • Indemniflight: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €1,560 of €2,400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT if court proceedings are needed; it bears lawyers' fees and court costs.
  • SkyRefund: fee 35%, including VAT. You keep €1,560 of €2,400 out of court.
  • Skycop: fee 44%, including VAT. You keep €1,344 of €2,400 out of court. In court: 50% including VAT with legal proceedings on its standard price list (€300 on a €600 claim).

VAT is added on top of the fee

  • AviFly: fee 15%, plus VAT. You keep €2,040 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €360 fee. In court: 30% plus VAT if a lawsuit is needed, in place of the 15%, not on top of it.
  • Flightright: fee 20% to 30%, plus VAT. You keep €1,680 to €1,920 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the fee. In court: a surcharge of 14%, only if successful, when contract lawyers are needed; it pays court costs if the case is lost.
  • ClaimFlights: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €1,800 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €600 fee. In court: no extra fee: the flat 25% stays the same if it goes to court; it bears court and lawyer costs.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €1,800 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €600 fee. In court: a surcharge of 10% plus VAT if external lawyers are needed and the case succeeds.
  • Reclamador: fee 25%, plus VAT. You keep €1,800 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €600 fee. In court: a supplement of 15% plus VAT if it has to sue, to cover lawyers and administration.
  • AirClaim: fee 29%, plus VAT. You keep €1,704 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €696 fee. In court: an extra 12.32% plus VAT if legal proceedings are needed, on top of the 29% plus VAT, payable only if compensation is obtained.
  • Compensation2Go: fee 29%, plus VAT. You keep €1,704 of €2,400 out of court, before the VAT added on top of the €696 fee. In court: no extra court fee: lawyer and court costs are within the 34.5%.

Part of the range includes VAT

  • Refund Pilot: fee 25% to 29%, the higher rate includes VAT. You keep €1,704 to €1,800 of €2,400 out of court. In court: no court fee: the customer is paid whatever happens with the airline.

VAT not stated

  • AirCashBack: fee 25%, VAT not made clear. You keep €1,800 of €2,400 out of court; it does not make clear whether VAT comes on top. In court: a further 20% gross if the case goes to court: 45% gross in all.
  • AirAdvisor: fee 30%, VAT not stated. You keep €1,680 of €2,400 out of court; it does not make clear whether VAT comes on top.

A fixed fee, not a percentage

FlightCompensations: A fixed €39 per passenger, only when compensation is recovered, invoiced after the airline pays; VAT is not mentioned. On €2,400 that leaves you €2,244, as the fee is invoiced separately.

Sources (each company's fee page): Air Indemnité, AirAdvisor, AirCashBack, AirClaim, AirHelp, AviFly, ClaimFlights, Compensation2Go, FairPlane, Flight-Delayed, Flightright, FlyClaims, Indemniflight, MYFLYRIGHT, Reclamador, Refund Pilot, RefundMore, Skycop, SkyRefund, FlightCompensations.

A family of four's claim: the questions people ask

Is compensation paid per passenger?

Yes: each passenger, children with their own seat included, is owed their own amount, so a family of four on a long-haul delay is owed €2,400.

Is a fixed fee cheaper for a family?

On these figures, yes: FlightCompensations charges €39 per passenger, €156 for four, where a 20% fee is €480.

How much do I keep of €2,400 if I claim myself?

All €2,400: claiming from the airline yourself is free. In the UK or EU you can go on to the national enforcement body or an approved dispute scheme if it refuses.

Why are companies grouped by VAT?

A fee plus VAT costs more than the same figure including VAT: 25% plus VAT at a 19% rate is 29.75%, as ClaimFlights says for German residents.

Does the fee change if the case goes to court?

At several companies, yes; each line gives the court terms the company publishes, where it publishes them.

Is this per booking or per passenger?

Compensation under EU261 is per passenger, so the amounts here are for one passenger.

How current are these fees?

Each was read on 20 October 2026 from the company's own website. Fees change, so check the rate shown before you sign.

Did any company pay to be on this page?

No. The page carries every claims company in the table that publishes a percentage fee.

Built to answer the question in the main heading. What is shown: what each claims company published on its own website, read on 20 October 2026, from the Uncompromised Travel flight compensation table. Left out: companies whose websites would not open, a company whose activities were taken over by another, a company whose address opens another company's site, services that pass the claim to other companies and one company whose fee page is being re-read. Amounts are worked out on this page from each company's published fee; they are not quotes. How this site earns · How we work.

Richard Jasinski · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · first published 4 November 2026 · updated 4 November 2026