Is TravelStacks Legit? Here's Exactly How We Work

Is TravelStacks legit? Yes. TravelStacks is a registered California LLC, operated by Loren Castillo (Travel Stacks LLC). We file passenger rights claims through official regulatory channels: the US DOT consumer complaint system for US refund claims, national enforcement bodies for EU261 claims (UK CAA, national enforcement bodies in EU member states), and direct airline claim letters for Montreal Convention documented loss claims. We are not a law firm. We do not represent you in court. We are a claims platform: we handle the filing, documentation, and follow-up so you don't have to. We charge $19 flat for US DOT refund claims (charged after we file, not before) and 25% of recovered compensation for EU261 and UK261 claims on a no-win no-fee basis. If we don't recover, you don't pay for EU261 and UK261. Before you trust us with your booking details, you deserve to understand exactly how we operate. This post covers all of it. If you're ready to start, go directly to /claim.

TravelStacks charges $19 for US DOT filings after we file, not before. For EU261 and UK261, you pay only if we recover.

Travel Stacks LLC is a California limited liability company. It was founded by Loren Castillo, an engineer and entrepreneur based in California. TravelStacks (travelstacks.com) is the consumer-facing platform for the LLC. The platform was built specifically for passenger rights claims, with a focus on US DOT enforcement (where passengers are most underserved) and EU261 recovery (where the fixed compensation amounts are largest). TravelStacks is not affiliated with any airline, OTA (online travel agency), or credit card travel benefit program. We have no financial relationship with airlines that would create a conflict of interest in pursuing claims against them. We are paid by passengers only when we file or recover on their behalf.

The $19 flat fee covers US DOT refund claims: any claim invoking the 2024 DOT refund rule for a cancelled flight, a significant domestic delay (3+ hours), or a significant international delay (6+ hours). The fee is charged after we have reviewed your claim and confirmed it is eligible, and after we have filed the claim through the DOT consumer complaint system or directly with the airline citing the applicable DOT regulation. We use Stripe for payment processing. Stripe's security standards are described at stripe.com/docs/security. We do not store your full payment card number. The $19 fee is fixed regardless of the ticket price, so it works best for claims on tickets worth $100 or more (where the refund substantially exceeds the fee). For a $500 flight, the $19 fee represents a 96% recovery rate net of our cost.

The $19 fee is for the filing service, not a percentage of your refund. For a $500 ticket, you keep $481 of your refund.

EU261 and UK261 claims run on a 25% contingency model: we take 25% of what we recover, and if we recover nothing, you owe nothing. EU261 fixed compensation is EUR 250, EUR 400, or EUR 600 depending on flight distance and delay. On a EUR 600 claim, our fee is EUR 150 and you receive EUR 450. This compares favorably to competitors: AirHelp charges 35%, Bott and Co (UK) charges between 25% and 36%. We charge 25% at all levels. The no-win no-fee structure means we only take cases we believe are winnable. If your EU261 case involves a clear extraordinary circumstances defense (a genuine ATC strike that affected all carriers, for example), we will tell you upfront rather than take your claim and deliver nothing. We prefer honest case assessment over high claim intake volumes.

To file a claim on your behalf, we need: your name as it appears on the ticket, your booking reference or confirmation number, the flight number and date, the amount you paid, and documentation of the disruption (delay notification, cancellation email, or boarding pass showing the flight). We store this information in a secure database (PostgreSQL on Neon, hosted on AWS). We do not sell your data to airlines, OTAs, or marketing platforms. We use your contact information to communicate with you about your claim status and, if you consent, to notify you about future delays on your itineraries. We do not run credit checks or access financial accounts beyond what Stripe processes for the payment. For EU261 filings with national enforcement bodies, your name and booking reference are provided to the enforcement body and the airline as part of the formal claim process. This is required by the regulatory filing process.

We share your booking details only with the enforcement body and airline as required to file the claim. We do not sell your data.

After you submit, TravelStacks reviews your claim for eligibility within 1 business day. If eligible, we file immediately: DOT claims go through the DOT consumer complaint system; EU261 and UK261 claims go through a direct letter to the airline first, then to the national enforcement body if the airline does not respond. You receive email updates at each stage: claim filed, response received, settlement offered, or escalation initiated. For the full post-submission timeline, see what happens after you submit a flight claim and how long does a flight refund actually take with TravelStacks. For US DOT claims, typical resolution is 2 to 4 weeks. For EU261, typical resolution is 4 to 12 weeks for cooperative airlines and up to 6 months for escalated cases. For a calculator to estimate your claim value, see how much is my delayed flight worth.

If an airline does not respond to our initial filing within 30 days, or offers inadequate settlement, we escalate. For US DOT claims: escalation to the DOT Air Consumer Protection Division and, for patterns of violation, to the DOT Aviation Consumer Protection Advisory Committee. For EU261 claims: escalation to the national enforcement body in the departure country (UK CAA for UK departures, DGAC for French departures, etc.). For UK261: the UK CAA. Escalation typically adds 2 to 4 months to resolution time but increases recovery rates significantly. Airlines respond differently to regulator contact than to direct passenger claims. A DOT complaint with a specific rule citation gets a different response than a phone call to customer service.

AirHelp charges 35% on EU261 claims and up to 50% with legal fees for contested cases. AirHelp also charges a 'success fee' on top of its percentage in some markets. TravelStacks charges 25% flat on EU261 and UK261 with no additional legal fees passed through to the passenger. On a EUR 600 EU261 claim: AirHelp keeps EUR 210 (35%), TravelStacks keeps EUR 150 (25%). The difference is EUR 60 per claim. For US DOT claims, AirHelp charges a percentage of the refund (which can be $50 to $100 or more on a $300 ticket). TravelStacks charges $19 flat. The difference is structural: we built a lower-overhead claims platform without the marketing costs of a category-dominant brand, and we pass the savings to passengers. For further context on the US DOT rights framework, see our rights hub. To file your claim and see your estimated recovery, go to /claim.

TravelStacks is 10 percentage points cheaper than AirHelp on EU261. On a EUR 600 claim, you keep EUR 60 more.