You were denied boarding. Here is what the airline owes you

Updated 13 October 2026

You were at the airport on time, with a confirmed booking, and the airline would not let you on. Now it refuses to pay compensation. If you were denied boarding against your will, compensation is due straight away, and extraordinary circumstances generally do not help the airline.

What the refusal usually means

• "You were late for the gate." The airline says you did not show up in time.
• "A smaller aircraft." The airline says an aircraft change or an operational problem is not overbooking.
• "Your connection was missed anyway." The airline gave away your seat on the next flight because it expected your first flight to be late.
• "You volunteered." The airline says you gave up your seat of your own free will.

What the law says

Article 4 of Regulation 261/2004 deals with denied boarding:

• Volunteers first. When the airline expects to deny boarding, it must first ask for volunteers to give up their seats in return for benefits agreed with them.
• Against your will. If you are then denied boarding against your will, the airline must compensate you immediately under Article 7: €250, €400 or €600, depending on distance.
• On top of that: a refund or rerouting (Article 8), and care while you wait, such as meals, a hotel and transport (Article 9).

The regulation applies only if you had a confirmed reservation and presented yourself for check-in on time. That means by the time the airline gave you or, if no time was given, no later than 45 minutes before the published departure (Article 3(2)).

Unlike delays and cancellations, the denied boarding rules have no exemption for extraordinary circumstances in the case of overbooking. The airline can refuse boarding for reasonable grounds such as health, safety, security or inadequate travel documents, but overbooking is not one of them.

What the EU Court says

• Not only overbooking. Refusals for operational reasons also count as denied boarding (Finnair v Lassooy C-22/11).
• Seat given away on the connection. If the airline gives away your seat on the connecting flight because it expects the first leg to be late, that is denied boarding (Rodríguez Cachafeiro C-321/11).

What the boards have said

• Overbooking, two airlines blaming each other. Norway's Transportklagenemnda ruled on 27 Nov 2023 on an overbooked Transavia flight from Oslo to the Algarve, sold by KLM. The passengers won €400 each, a full refund of the new tickets, and their meal and hotel costs. It is the operating airline that is liable.
• Documents. In plenary decision D/1013/35/2024, Finland's KRIL dealt with a passenger refused boarding in New York because she had left her residence-permit card at home. Her valid Schengen visa was enough to enter Finland. She won €600 plus €3,625 in damages. The airline must check what documents allow entry.

"You were late for the gate"

Check-in time and gate time are different things. Ask when you checked in and when the gate closed, and compare with your own records. If you checked in on time and reached the gate before it closed, the airline has to explain the refusal.

What evidence to keep and ask for

• your boarding pass and booking confirmation
• proof of when you checked in, such as the app, an email or a bag tag receipt
• from the airline: the reason code, the gate closing time, and whether it asked for volunteers

If you are handed a form, read it before you sign. Signing that you volunteered is not the same as being denied boarding.

Step by step

1. Reply to the airline in writing. Say that you checked in on time and were denied boarding against your will, so compensation under Article 4 is due immediately. Ask for the evidence above.
2. Wait for the answer. Typical waiting periods before you can escalate: about 4 weeks in Sweden and Norway, 6 weeks in Denmark.
3. Go to the board for the country where the disruption happened. Finland: KRIL, after KKV or ECC Finland; EU261 cases can be filed in English. Sweden: ARN, 150 kr. Denmark: Trafikstyrelsen with MitID. Norway: Transportklagenemnda via www.reiselivsforum.no, Norwegian or English. See the Nordic complaint boards.

Deadlines differ by country. See EU261 time limits in the Nordics.

When it is worth it, and when it is not

Usually worth it: overbooking, an aircraft change, a seat given away on your connection, or a documents refusal where your documents were in fact enough.

Harder: you checked in late, accepted a volunteer deal, or the airline shows a reasonable ground such as safety.

Appeal My Flight writes the reply to the airline and the board complaint for €29 per booking. You send it yourself and keep the payout. We cannot promise an outcome.

FAQ

I gave up my seat for a voucher. Can I still claim?

Usually not the Article 7 amount. As a volunteer you get what you agreed with the airline, plus a refund or rerouting.

The airline put me on a flight a few hours later. Do I still get compensation?

Yes. Rerouting does not replace the compensation, though it may be halved if you arrived within 2, 3 or 4 hours of the original time, depending on distance (Article 7(2)).

The airline offered a voucher instead of cash. Do I have to take it?

No. A voucher replaces money only with your signed agreement. See voucher instead of compensation.

Got the airline's reply? Paste it into the rejection checker and see what EU court rulings say about their excuse.