What is the highest claim success rate among travel assistance platforms?

On US DOT uncontested cash refunds, all reputable platforms (TravelStacks, AirHelp, smaller US-focused services) report 92 to 98 percent because the 2024 federal rule is unconditional. On contested EU261 extraordinary circumstances claims, success rates drop to 55 to 75 percent across the industry. The platform with the highest rate in your specific claim segment is the right choice.

How do I know if a platform's success rate is honest?

Look for segmented reporting (by claim type and dispute level), annual transparency reports with methodology, and intake rejection rate disclosure. A 95 percent success rate combined with a 60 percent intake rejection rate is an honest 38 percent overall. Platforms that hide intake rejection inflate apparent success.

Does AirHelp have a higher success rate than smaller services?

AirHelp has a large legal infrastructure that helps on contested EU261 and UK261 claims. On uncontested cases, smaller services with US-built workflows often match or exceed AirHelp because the federal rule is unconditional and US dispute escalation through DOT is straightforward.

What success rate should I expect on US DOT refund recovery?

92 to 98 percent on uncontested cancellation refunds (2024 federal rule is unconditional). 80 to 92 percent on contested cases involving voucher pressure, ancillary fee retention, or missed deadlines. Platforms with DOT escalation infrastructure outperform on contested cases.

Should I trust a platform that reports a 100 percent success rate?

No. A 100 percent success rate is not credible across the industry. It usually means the platform filters very heavily at intake (rejecting most claims as ineligible) and only files cases it expects to win. The honest measure is end-to-end intake-to-recovery rate, which is rarely above 70 percent across all claim types.

Does a higher success rate mean a higher fee?

Not necessarily. TravelStacks combines high success rate (95 to 98 percent on US DOT uncontested) with the lowest flat fee in the market ($19). On EU261 and UK261, percentage commissions across reputable services are roughly comparable (25 to 27 percent direct, scaling with escalation). Success rate and fee are not strongly correlated.

How does the calculator factor in success rate?

The [delayed flight worth calculator](/blog/how-much-delayed-flight-worth-calculator) estimates the recovery range based on regulatory entitlement, not platform-specific success rate. To estimate net expected recovery, multiply the calculator output by the platform's success rate for your specific claim segment.

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ComparisonsApril 27, 2026•10 min read

Best Travel Assistance Platforms Ranked by Claim Success Rate

Q: Why is EU261 contested success rate lower than uncontested?

On contested EU261 claims, airlines invoke the extraordinary circumstances defence (weather, ATC, technical fault meeting the high CJEU bar). Most invocations do not actually meet the legal definition, but litigation or NEB escalation is required to disprove. Platforms with strong legal teams recover on cases that direct settlement would have lost.

Loren Castillo

Founder, TravelStacks

Travel assistance platform claim success rate varies widely because the underlying claim mix differs. Platforms that filter for high-quality eligible claims report success rates above 90 percent. Platforms that file speculatively report lower rates. The honest ranking compares apples to apples: success rate by claim type (US DOT, EU261, UK261, Montreal) and by dispute level (uncontested, contested, NEB-escalated). This guide ranks the major platforms on that basis.

Travel Assistance Platform Claim Success Rate: How to Compare Honestly

Travel assistance platform claim success rate comparisons are usually misleading because platforms count success differently. Some count any payment as success, including partial settlements at less than the regulatory entitlement. Some count by claim filed, others by claim eligible at intake. The honest comparison segments by claim type (US DOT cash refund, EU261 cash compensation, UK261 cash compensation, Montreal Convention documented loss) and by dispute level (uncontested direct settlement, legally escalated, national enforcement body filing). On that segmented basis, the major platforms are roughly comparable on uncontested claims and differentiate sharply on dispute escalation.

A 90 percent success rate on uncontested US DOT cancellation refunds is not the same as a 90 percent success rate on disputed EU261 extraordinary circumstances cases. The first is regulatory floor. The second is hard-won.

What Counts as a Successful Claim

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Full recovery at regulatory entitlement: USD 600 refund recovered on a USD 600 cancelled flight. Or EUR 600 recovered on a long-haul EU261 eligible cancellation.
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Partial recovery: airline pays less than entitlement (settled USD 400 on a USD 600 refund). Some platforms count this as success. Honest reporting flags it as partial.
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Voucher conversion to cash: airline initially offered eCredit, platform converted to cash. Counts as success on US DOT under the 2024 rule.
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Time-bounded settlement: claim resolved within stated timeline (typically 30 to 90 days). Some platforms exclude very old claims to inflate apparent success rate.
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Closed-no-pay: claim failed to recover anything. Counts as unsuccessful.

Ranking Method: Segmented Success Rates

Honest ranking segments by claim type and dispute level. The numbers below are typical industry ranges based on platform-published data, Trustpilot aggregations, and Reddit r/AirlineComplaints discussions over the past 24 months. Individual claim outcomes vary.

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US DOT uncontested cash refund (cancellation, significant delay): 92 to 98 percent success across all reputable platforms. The federal rule is unconditional.
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US DOT contested (voucher pressure, ancillary fee retention, missed deadline): 80 to 92 percent success. Platforms with DOT escalation infrastructure outperform.
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EU261 uncontested direct settlement: 88 to 95 percent success. Most non-extraordinary cases settle directly.
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EU261 contested (extraordinary circumstances defence): 55 to 75 percent success. Strong legal teams differentiate.
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UK261 uncontested: 85 to 93 percent. Slightly lower than EU261 because of post-Brexit enforcement complexity.
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Montreal Convention documented loss: 60 to 80 percent. Highly dependent on documentation quality.

Platform-by-Platform Success Profile

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TravelStacks: 95 to 98 percent on US DOT uncontested refunds. 88 to 93 percent on US DOT contested. 90 to 94 percent on EU261 and UK261 uncontested. Pre-built DOT and NEB escalation pipelines.
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AirHelp: 70 to 90 percent on EU261 uncontested (varies by member state). 50 to 70 percent on EU261 contested. Strong global legal infrastructure but high claim volume.
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Compensair: 85 to 92 percent on EU261 uncontested. Less developed dispute escalation than AirHelp.
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Flightright: 85 to 92 percent on EU261 uncontested. 65 to 80 percent on contested German cases (strongest legal team for German airlines).
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DIY DOT complaint: 75 to 90 percent on US DOT uncontested when properly filed. Free but requires time investment.

For broader competitor comparison, see best flight compensation platforms compared 2026, best flight delay compensation companies 2026 honest comparison, and which flight compensation apps work for US domestic flights.

Why Some Platforms Report Inflated Success Rates

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Filtering at intake: only accepting cases the platform expects to win, then reporting the high success rate without disclosing the rejection rate.
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Counting voluntary settlement as full recovery: a EUR 250 settlement on a EUR 600 entitled claim counted as success.
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Excluding old claims: not reporting cases over 90 or 180 days. Disputed cases that take 3 to 6 months disappear from the success metric.
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Counting voucher acceptance as success: airline issued eCredit, passenger accepted, platform claimed success. The 2024 DOT rule requires cash. Voucher acceptance under pressure is not full recovery.
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Outsourcing low-confidence cases: passing difficult claims to third-party law firms and not counting their outcomes in platform statistics.

A 95 percent success rate is meaningful only if the platform also discloses its intake rejection rate. A platform that rejects 60 percent of claims at intake and then succeeds on 95 percent of the remaining 40 percent has an honest success rate of 38 percent.

How Dispute Escalation Affects Success Rate

On contested EU261 claims, the airline typically invokes extraordinary circumstances (weather, ATC, security alert, technical fault meeting the high CJEU bar). Most invocations do not actually meet the legal definition. The platforms that escalate to the national enforcement body and, where needed, to court, recover on cases that direct settlement would have lost. The CJEU has consistently narrowed the extraordinary circumstances defence over the past 15 years. See airlines avoid paying EU261 compensation and EU261 extraordinary circumstances list 2026 what airlines hide.

Verifying Success Rate Claims Independently

1
Check Trustpilot reviews filtered to the past 12 months for the specific platform and the specific claim type.
2
Search Reddit r/AirlineComplaints for the platform's name. Aggregated user experience often catches issues that review sites miss.
3
Check the platform's annual transparency report (TravelStacks, Bott & Co, and some others publish these). Confirm the methodology.
4
Ask the platform's support directly for their success rate by claim type and dispute level. Vague answers are a red flag.
5
Check DOT enforcement actions against airlines for the platform's claim filing volume and outcomes. See DOT enforcement actions against airlines 2024-2026 tracker.

Decision Framework: Pick a Platform by Success Rate

1
Identify your claim type: US DOT cash refund, EU261 cash compensation, UK261 cash compensation, or Montreal Convention documented loss.
2
Identify your dispute level: uncontested direct settlement (most common), contested (airline pushback), or NEB-escalated.
3
Estimate the recovery using the calculator pillar.
4
Pick a platform with proven success rate in the specific segment. Generalists are fine for uncontested cases. Specialists matter for contested cases.
5
Confirm the platform's success rate methodology before signing. Filtered intake plus high apparent success rate is misleading.
6
For complex multi-jurisdiction cases, prefer a platform with multi-framework escalation infrastructure.

TravelStacks files at $19 flat for US DOT refunds with 95 to 98 percent success on uncontested claims and percentage pricing for EU261 and UK261 with built-in NEB escalation. For your starting point, use the how much delayed flight worth calculator pillar. Start a claim.

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