Claim It Yourself or Use a Firm? The Honest Math

No-win-no-fee claims firms are everywhere, and they're genuinely useful — for the right cases. But they take 25–35% of your payout, so on a €600 claim you could be handing over €150–€210 for work you might do yourself with one good letter. Here's the honest breakdown.

The cost, in plain numbers

The big firms charge a percentage of what they recover, no win no fee:

• AirHelp — around 35% (more if it goes to court)
• AirAdvisor — around 30%
• Compensair — around 25%, one of the lowest

On a €600 claim, that's €150–€210 off the top. On a simple, clear-cut delay, that's money you could keep.

When doing it yourself wins

DIY is the smart move when the claim is straightforward:

• The delay was clearly the airline's fault (technical, crew, operational)
• You arrived 3+ hours late and have your booking details
• The airline hasn't already refused on a disputed ground

For these, our claim-letter generator plus a bit of persistence usually gets you paid in full. You keep 100%.

When a firm genuinely earns its fee

Hand it over when the case is hard:

• The airline has already refused and won't reconsider
• The cause is disputed — they're claiming extraordinary circumstances you doubt
• The trip involves multiple legs or codeshares and it's unclear who's liable
• It needs to go to court

In these cases a firm absorbs the hassle, the legal complexity, and the litigation risk — and you pay only if they win. That's a fair trade for a claim you'd otherwise abandon.

Our honest position

We'd rather tell you when you can keep all your money than push you into a contract you don't need. If you do choose to use a firm through one of our links, we may earn a referral commission — and that never changes this advice or what our tools calculate. Start with the DIY-vs-firm tool to see which path fits your case.