The essentials

  • Booking referenceSix characters, usually on the confirmation email. One per booking, even for a group.
  • Flight number and dateIncluding the operating carrier, which may differ from the airline you booked with.
  • Scheduled arrivalFrom your original itinerary at the time of booking, not a later reissued ticket.
  • Actual arrivalGate arrival time at the final destination. Screenshot the airline's status page if you can.
  • Boarding passOr the booking confirmation plus passport name, to prove you were a confirmed passenger.

Supporting documents

  • The airline's own delay or cancellation notice — including the timestamp. This is the most persuasive evidence of what the airline knew and when.
  • Airport arrivals board photograph — if you can capture it at the gate.
  • Connection details — both boarding passes where the journey involved a transfer.
  • Denied boarding notice — if you were refused a seat, ask for the written notice the airline is required to provide.

Expense receipts

Care obligations run alongside compensation. If the airline did not provide assistance, reasonable costs are normally recoverable.

  • Meals and refreshments during the wait.
  • Hotel accommodation and airport transfers for an unplanned overnight stay.
  • Two calls or messages, if you paid for them.
  • Replacement transport you arranged yourself, where the airline failed to reroute you.

Keep it proportionate

A modest meal and a mid-range airport hotel are usually recoverable. A lavish dinner or a luxury suite is likely to be challenged, and disputing the excess can delay the whole claim.

How to organise it

  1. One folder, one claim. Name files clearly: BA123-2026-10-14-boardingpass.pdf.
  2. Convert to PDF where possible. Screenshots as single images are sometimes rejected as incomplete.
  3. Keep originals. Send copies, not the only version of a boarding pass.
  4. Write a one-page summary of dates, times and amounts. Claims teams work through hundreds of files; make yours easy.

If you have none of this

It is still worth claiming. The airline holds its own operational records, including the delay code and the reason, and is required to explain a refusal. Start with the booking reference if you can recover it from your email or bank statement, and describe the flight precisely.

Where you genuinely cannot reconstruct the details, the airline may still be able to trace the booking from your name and travel date.

Next

Once you have the documents, follow the claim process or go straight to the claim letter builder. If you are not yet sure a claim applies, run the free rights check first.

Official sources

  • Your Europe — air passenger rights. europa.eu
  • UK CAA — passenger guidance. caa.co.uk