How to Fill Out and Submit the British Airways EU261 Claim Form

The British Airways EU261 claim form lives inside the airline’s online complaints portal at britishairways.com. You open a new claim, enter your booking reference and the lead passenger’s surname to pull up the flight, describe what went wrong, upload boarding passes and any receipts, and give the bank details you want to be paid into. British Airways estimates the form takes 10 to 15 minutes if your paperwork is ready.¹

Gather Your Documents First

The portal session can time out, and starting again from a blank screen is a waste of an evening. Pull everything together before you open the form.

Booking reference. The six-character alphanumeric code from your confirmation email. British Airways uses it to locate the whole itinerary.²
Flight number and date for the disrupted flight.
Passenger names exactly as they appear on the booking. Everyone on the reservation goes into one claim.
Boarding passes. Digital or scanned copies showing you checked in.
Expense receipts for meals, drinks, or hotel costs you paid out of pocket while stranded. Itemized receipts hold up better than card statements. The airline reimburses reasonable costs but often pushes back on things like car hire or rail fares to another airport.
Bank details. IBAN and SWIFT/BIC for an international transfer, or a UK sort code and account number if that is where you want the money. Confirm the currency your account accepts.

Filling Out the Form Step by Step

From the British Airways “Complaints and Claims” page, click “Start a new complaint or claim.” That takes you into the customer portal.¹ Check the heading before you begin: the flight-disruption claim form is separate from the general feedback form and the baggage claim portal, and they are not interchangeable.

The first screen asks for the booking reference and the lead passenger’s surname so the system can locate the reservation. Once the flight comes up, you confirm the passenger names and the affected flight number.

A dropdown asks you to pick the type of disruption: delay, cancellation, or denied boarding. Under that, a free-text box lets you describe what happened. Keep it factual and short. Include the actual arrival time at your final destination if you know it, because that number is what determines whether you crossed the three-hour threshold that unlocks compensation.

The next section is for duty-of-care expenses. Enter the total you spent on meals and accommodation and upload the receipts. The upload tool accepts PDFs and JPEGs, so photograph or scan any paper receipts first. Blurry images where the amount or date is not legible get kicked back for manual review, which adds weeks.

The final section is your bank details. Type the IBAN and SWIFT/BIC carefully. One wrong digit and the payment bounces, restarting the wait. Confirm the currency matches your account before moving on.

Review everything on the summary screen, complete the CAPTCHA, and submit. The confirmation screen shows a claim reference number. Screenshot it or write it down straight away, because you need it to check the status later. An automated confirmation email should land within minutes.

What Happens After You Submit

British Airways says the Customer Relations team will look at the claim “as soon as possible.” Straightforward delay claims with clear facts tend to be resolved within a few weeks. Anything more complicated, such as disputed extraordinary circumstances, missing documents, or a multi-leg itinerary, can take substantially longer. If the team needs more information, they will email the address on the booking, so keep an eye on that inbox.

You can log back into the portal using your claim reference number to see the status. Once the claim is approved, payment goes to the account you supplied. If it is rejected, the response should say why, and that reason shapes what you do next.

Who Actually Qualifies

Before you spend time on the form, check that your situation is one the regulation covers. Two overlapping laws are in play. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 covers flights departing any EU airport, plus flights arriving in the EU on an EU-based carrier.³ UK261 covers flights departing UK airports and flights arriving in the UK on a UK-licensed carrier such as British Airways. Which one applies affects whether you are paid in pounds or euros, but the eligibility tests are almost the same.

You qualify for compensation in three situations: your flight arrived at its final destination three or more hours late; your flight was cancelled and you were not told at least 14 days before departure; or you were involuntarily bumped from an overbooked flight. Connecting flights count as long as everything was on a single booking, so a missed connection that puts you more than three hours late at your final destination is treated like a single delayed flight.

The airline does not owe compensation when the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances. The regulation names severe weather, air traffic control restrictions, political instability, and security risks as examples.³ Strikes by air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, or border staff also count. Technical faults and mechanical breakdowns do not: the Court of Justice of the European Union has held these to be inherent to running an airline.⁴ Strikes by the airline’s own staff are also not extraordinary.

How Much You Should Receive

Compensation is a fixed amount per passenger set by flight distance, not by ticket price. Under UK261:⁵

Up to 1,500 km: £220 per person.
1,500 km to 3,500 km: £350 per person.
Over 3,500 km, arriving three to four hours late: £260 per person.
Over 3,500 km, arriving more than four hours late: £520 per person.

For flights covered by the EU version, the equivalent tiers are €250, €400, and €600.³ British Airways lists both currencies on its own compensation page.⁶ If the airline re-routed you and you still arrived only slightly late (within two hours on short flights, three on medium, four on long-haul), the payout can be halved.

Compensation is separate from the duty-of-care expenses you claim on the same form, and from your right to a refund if the delay hits five hours.⁷ You can pursue both on the same claim.

If British Airways Rejects or Ignores Your Claim

Rejections are more common than passengers expect, and sometimes the airline simply does not respond. There are three escalation routes, and the order matters.

CEDR Aviation Adjudication

British Airways is a member of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution aviation scheme, which is approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.⁸ You can submit a case to CEDR once eight weeks have passed since you first complained to the airline, or after you have received a final response letter.⁹ The process is free for passengers. One application per booking reference; every passenger on the booking has to be included in the same case. You upload the flight details, your correspondence with the airline, receipts, and what you are asking for. An independent adjudicator reads both sides and issues a written decision, typically within 90 days of receiving the complete file. If you accept the decision, it is binding on the airline. If you do not, you can still go to court.

The CAA Passenger Advice and Complaints Team

Because British Airways is in the CEDR scheme, the CAA’s own complaints team (PACT) will not usually take on your case, as PACT focuses on airlines that do not belong to an approved ADR body.¹⁰ It is still worth contacting if you believe the airline is systematically misapplying the regulation, or if CEDR has closed your case without resolution. PACT can be reached at passenger.complaints@caa.co.uk or 0330 022 1916.

Small Claims Court

If CEDR rules against you or the airline ignores the outcome, you can file through Money Claim Online, the UK small claims portal. Compensation amounts fall well within the small claims limit, so a solicitor is not required. The court expects you to have gone through the airline’s complaints process and ADR first, so keep records of every message.

How Long You Have to File

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, you have six years from the date of the disrupted flight to bring a claim. In Scotland, five years. Those limits cover both the airline’s portal and any later court action. There is no need to file within days, but starting sooner makes it easier to keep receipts, emails, and boarding passes together while the facts are fresh.

1
British Airways. Complaints and Claims
2
British Airways. Feedback and Claims Portal
3
EUR-Lex. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council
4
European Commission. Air Passenger Rights – European Case Law
5
UK Civil Aviation Authority. Delays
6
British Airways. Flight Cancellation Compensation
7
Your Europe. Air Passenger Rights
8
UK Civil Aviation Authority. Alternative Dispute Resolution
9
CEDR. Make a Complaint
10
UK Civil Aviation Authority. How the CAA Can Help