MYFLYRIGHT or a Lawyer: Which way is better?

Sep 14 2026 MFR travel team

Let's say your flight was delayed by 4 hours or you get rejected upon your request of compensation by the airline within 2 weeks of its filing. The airline might also respond vaguely regarding some "exceptional circumstances" or present information which will lead to more questions being asked.

At this point, you will be at a cross road between choosing between an expensive law firm, or allow us do the claim process on behalf of you.

In a flight delay or flight cancellation compensation claim where the case is considered to be normal, hiring a law firm generally not make a lot of sense. A law firm may act and can pursue the compensation claim for you. However, with legal representation, there will be higher level of involvement on your part and at the same time there'll be different levels of financial risk.

Instead at MYFLYRIGHT, we're specializing on air passenger rights. Send us all information of what have happened and we take into consideration, analyze your claim and decide ourselves whether to fight. If we have a good confidence on pursuing a compensation you case we then will proceed, from filing to making it litigious and challenging if needed. But even if the case itself is not valid for compensation, that does not mean your additional expenses are not.

That includes dealing with the airline and, where necessary, moving the case into legal enforcement.

Why hire a lawyer for a standard flight claim?

Sometimes, it makes sense.

However, if you are in a slightly more complex situation with significant additional damages, contract disputes, package travel, travel insurance or any legal issue well outside the scope of Air Passenger Rights legislation, it might be advisable to get your own lawyer to handle things for you.

But most passenger claims don't start there.

Imagine you flew from Barcelona to Berlin and arrived more than three hours late. The airline rejects your claim and says the disruption was outside its control.

The main questions are usually fairly specific. Does EU261 apply? How long was the arrival delay? What caused the disruption? Can the airline rely on extraordinary circumstances?

These are exactly the kinds of questions we deal with.

Instead of asking you to find a lawyer who understands air passenger rights law, compare legal fees and manage the case yourself, we handle that process for you from start to finish.

We specialize in passenger claims

A general lawyer may work across many areas of law. We don't.

At MYFLYRIGHT, our work is centered around passenger rights and travel-related claims. That means we regularly deal with questions such as:

• whether a disrupted flight falls under the relevant passenger rights rules
• which airline is responsible for the claim
• whether a delay is long enough to qualify
• whether an airline's explanation actually amounts to extraordinary circumstances
• whether further legal enforcement is appropriate

For you, the process starts with providing us with information about the flight and the disruption, together with the relevant documents.

We then assess the claim.

If we believe compensation can be pursued, we take over the communication and enforcement process. If legal action becomes necessary, we also involve lawyers rather than leaving you to organize that yourself.

So using MYFLYRIGHT doesn't mean legal action is off the table. It means you don't have to manage it yourself.

We take on the risk of pursuing the claim

It is one of the key differences between our service, and pursuing legal action with your own lawyer:

When working with a private lawyer you can never fully predict the legal or court fees you will receive given that cost models can differ from country, lawyer and depending on the value of the claim, the level of your insurance cover, and the type of proceedings that will take place.

For a claim worth 250 €, 400 € or 600 €, you may have valid doubts over whether it is appropriate for you to take the unknown risks involved regarding your costs.

When pursuing a typical claim using our claim-enforcement service, we work on a success fee basis.

Our regular service fee is 25% plus VAT when we successfully recover your compensation. If we need to involve external lawyers, an additional 10% plus VAT applies.

If enforcement isn't successful, you aren't left paying the lawyer and court costs associated with the case under our model.

For many passengers, that makes the decision considerably easier.

Yes, we keep part of the compensation when we win the case. In return, we take over the work and the financial risk of pursuing it.

For someone who would otherwise give up after an airline rejection, that's often the more practical option.

“Couldn't I just claim directly with the airline?”

You can.

In straightforward situations and cases where an airline's accepted responsibility quickly you can often claim full compensation for yourself - no lawyer needed.

But those aren't usually the cases where passengers come looking for help.

What happens if your claim's been rejected, they stopped responding, or you just can't understand the explanation?

You may be told that the disruption was caused by:

weather, air traffic control, technical problems, operational difficulties or some other event outside the airline's responsibility.

At that point, the issue is no longer simply filling out a form. You need to know whether the explanation actually removes the airline's obligation to pay.

That's where we come in.

We don't treat every airline rejection as the final answer

Under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, if airlines can demonstrate they were faced with 'extraordinary circumstances' and the delays and cancellations couldn't have been avoided if reasonable measures were taken, then they are absolved of the obligation to compensate passengers.

That's all very well, in theory, but doesn't mean every situation described as 'extraordinary' actually counts.

For example, European case law has made clear that ordinary unexpected technical problems aren't automatically extraordinary circumstances simply because the airline didn't foresee them. They are responsible for taking care of their aircraft, therefore the responsibility is entirely on them, not on something else.

That distinction matters.

And it does make a difference. When we're reviewing a claim we're not accepting an airline's 'no' at face value, but delving into the justification behind it, and checking that the circumstances truly support it.

We know rejecting emails can often are unpleasant.

But those are not always final.

Your compensation could be worth up to 600 €

Under the current European air passenger rights framework, qualifying passengers may be entitled to:

For a delay, you may be entitled to compensation if you reach your final destination three hours or later than scheduled.

Your flight can also be cancelled. It might mean that you have a right to compensation, however, you might not have a right to compensation because factors, like: whether you were given warning beforehand or not; reason why it was cancelled, and also what alternative arrangement of alternative travelling were available

That's why we don't decide eligibility from one detail alone.

A cancelled flight doesn't automatically mean 600 €. A three-hour delay doesn't automatically mean compensation either.

We look at the journey as a whole.

MYFLYRIGHT vs a lawyer: what changes for you?

The legal rules don't change depending on who handles your case.

The difference is what you have to do.

For most passengers, the practical difference is simple: with us, you don't have to become an expert in passenger-rights law just to enforce your own claim.

What happens when the airline refuses to pay?

This is often where people stop. Submitting an initial claim isn't particularly difficult. Challenging a rejection can be.

Perhaps the airline insists that the weather was responsible. Perhaps it refers to air traffic control. Perhaps it gives a technical explanation. Maybe it simply maintains that no compensation is due.

You can continue arguing the case yourself.

Or you can hand it to us.

We adopt a claim, fight the airlines for you, and take on further court proceedings if the matter needs an extra legal push.

You don't have to decide after every email whether you should reply, escalate, find a lawyer or give up.

That's our job. We do it for you instead.

We can take the legal route without making you manage it

There's a common misconception that using a claims specialist means avoiding court or settling for less serious enforcement.

That's not how our process works.

If a valid claim can't be resolved directly with the airline and legal enforcement is justified, we can involve external lawyers and pursue the case further.

The important difference is that we coordinate that process. You don't suddenly receive an airline rejection and have to start searching for a lawyer from scratch.

You already have us handling the case.

Keep your documents. We'll need them.

Even when we handle the claim, the documents you keep can make a difference.

Hold on to your:

• booking confirmation
• boarding pass
• cancellation or delay notice
• re-routing information
• airline emails and any messages explaining what happened

Keep your receipts as well.

Compensation and reimbursement aren't necessarily the same thing. Depending on the disruption, you may also have rights relating to meals, accommodation, transport, reimbursement or re-routing.

If somebody at the airport tells you why the flight was delayed, make a note of it too.

A small detail that seems irrelevant while you're standing at the gate may become reason you receive compensation later.

Want the money sooner? We also offer an immediate-payment option

Some eligible claims can also qualify for our immediate-payment service.

Instead of waiting for the full enforcement process to finish, you transfer the qualifying claim to us and receive an earlier payment once the required documents and conditions have been satisfied.

Our current service fee for this option on delayed and cancelled flight claims is 35% plus VAT.

It costs more than our standard claim-enforcement service.

But that's because you're choosing something different: speed and certainty rather than waiting for the airline dispute to finish.

If your priority is to maximize the eventual payout, the standard model may make more sense.

If you'd rather receive money sooner and let us take over the claim completely, the immediate-payment option may suit you better.

So, MYFLYRIGHT or a lawyer?

For most standard European flight delay and flight cancellation compensation claims, we believe MYFLYRIGHT is the more practical choice.

Can a lawyer get your compensation claim? Of course.

However why get one when you don't need to compare lawyer fees nor to manage the whole legal process, when using a ready system for getting the compensation on your behalf.

• With us, you send us your flight details and documents.
• We assess the claim.
• We deal with the airline.
• We pursue the compensation.
• We involve external lawyers if the case requires it.

And under our standard model, we take on the lawyer and court-cost risk associated with unsuccessful enforcement.

You may have spent enough time already dealing with a disrupted flight.

You don't need to spend even more of it fighting for compensation alone.

Check your flight with MYFLYRIGHT and find out whether we can pursue your compensation for you.

About the author

Elena Velikova, Senior Claim Specialist, has four years of experience in air passenger rights and travel-related claims. Through her work with MYFLYRIGHT, she was involved in helping passengers understand and pursue compensation following delayed and cancelled flights. Her experience provides practical insight into how passenger claims develop after an airline rejection and when specialist enforcement can help travellers pursue the compensation they may be entitled to.