Airlines deliberately sell more seats than the aircraft has. Usually enough people fail to turn up and nobody notices. When everybody does turn up, the airline needs volunteers, and if none appear it picks someone.
If it picks you, the rules are unusually generous, and there is a negotiating window most passengers never realise is open.
The short answer
Denied boarding against your will, on a flight leaving the EU or UK, or arriving on an EU or UK carrier, with a confirmed booking and on-time check-in, gets you:
- Compensation immediately, at €250, €400 or €600, or £220, £350 or £520
- Your choice of a full refund or re-routing
- Meals, communications, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight
The important difference from a delay claim is that there is no three hour wait. The entitlement exists the moment you are refused.
Extraordinary circumstances is not a defence here either. Overbooking is a commercial decision the airline made on purpose. Weather cannot cause it.
Volunteering is where the real money is
Before bumping anyone, the airline has to ask for volunteers. That is a negotiation, and it is the one moment in commercial aviation where a passenger holds the cards.
Volunteers are not capped at the statutory amount. You negotiate. If nobody steps forward the offer goes up, because the alternative is paying statutory compensation plus re-routing costs plus possibly a hotel.
A few things worth doing. Do not take the first offer, which is rarely the ceiling. Ask which flight you would be moved to and when it lands, because a €400 voucher for an eleven hour wait is a bad trade. Ask for cash rather than vouchers, since vouchers expire, carry restrictions and are worth less than face value, and many airlines will pay cash if pressed. Get the extras written down: lounge access, meals, hotel, and a confirmed seat rather than standby. Then make sure the re-booking is actually confirmed before you give up your seat.
The trap is that volunteering means giving up your statutory compensation. That is the deal. So only volunteer if the offer clearly beats €250 to €600 plus re-routing, and treat that as the number you are negotiating against.
If you are bumped involuntarily
You are owed compensation immediately, at the gate. Not after a claim form, not in 28 days.
If they bumped you anyway, the compensation checker will tell you what that is worth for your route and draft the letter to send.
- Ask for written confirmation of denied boarding. Airlines must give passengers a written notice of their rights, so ask for it explicitly.
- Ask why. If they say the flight was overbooked, note it. If they claim an operational reason, get that in writing too.
- Do not accept a voucher as settlement. A voucher is not compensation, and taking one may be treated as agreeing to less than you are owed.
- Take the refund or the re-routing, whichever you prefer. It is your choice.
- Photograph everything: boarding pass, gate display, any notice they hand you. And if your bag went missing in the rebooking, that is a separate claim with its own short deadlines.
When they can refuse you and owe nothing
Compensation does not apply if the refusal was reasonably grounded in arriving after the check-in deadline, missing or invalid travel documents, health or safety concerns, being drunk or abusive, or failing to meet the conditions of the fare you booked.
Documents are the most common genuine disqualifier and the one people get wrong most often. Plenty of countries want six months of passport validity beyond your return date, and airlines are fined for carrying passengers who will be refused entry, so they check carefully and they do refuse.
Downgrades work differently
If they move you to a lower class than you paid for, you get part of the ticket price back on a fixed scale.
| Flight distance | Refund |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | 30% of the ticket |
| 1,500 to 3,500 km | 50% |
| Over 3,500 km | 75% |
That is a percentage of what you paid for that flight, not compensation on top of it. Upgrading you the other way is free, and they cannot charge you for it.
The mistakes that cost people money
Accepting a voucher at the gate is the expensive one. Cash compensation is a legal entitlement. A voucher is a discount on future business with the airline that just bumped you.
After that: volunteering without confirming the replacement flight, when “we’ll get you on the next one” is not a booking. Leaving without written confirmation, which lets the airline later describe it as a missed flight. Assuming a cheap ticket means less money, when compensation is set by distance. And forgetting to claim the meals and hotel, which are owed regardless.
Frequently asked questions
Can they bump me after I have boarded? Yes, and it still counts as denied boarding. Being physically on the aircraft does not change the entitlement.
How do they choose who gets bumped? Usually the last to check in, the cheapest fare class, or passengers without loyalty status. There is no legal ranking, but they must ask for volunteers first.
Does it apply to codeshares? The operating carrier is responsible, not whoever sold you the ticket.
What if I miss a connection because of it? On a single booking, compensation is based on when you reached your final destination, so a knock-on delay usually strengthens the claim.
Sources: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Articles 4 and 10, UK261 as retained in UK law, and Your Europe, air passenger rights.
Researched from primary sources and checked August 2026. General information, not legal advice.
