Please note: The following section covers Refund Pilot’s service fees for its flight compensation product. To learn more about service fees charged on refunds for fares of cancelled flights, please refer to a different page.
Upon acceptance of an application submitted through our compensation calculator, we will immediately pay our direct payment to the desired account. The amount of the direct payment will be shown in advance in the compensation calculator before users can submit their applications. It is determined by us according to the calculation of the amount of the compensation claims in accordance with Article 7 (1) of the Flight Compensation Regulation. This means it is largely determined by the length of the flight on which the disruption occurred for which a direct payment is requested.
The Flight Compensation Regulation itself stipulates that passengers are entitled to flat-rate compensation payments in the following amounts, depending on the itinerary, in the event of significant flight delays and cancellations:
Amount of lump-sum compensatory payments under art. 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
These and all following values can be claimed per person: Each passenger affected by a flight irregularity is entitled to this value individually as long as the relevant conditions are met. This is why our payout amounts for flight compensation are understood as per capita amounts even where it is not explicitly mentioned.
When passengers use our service for a direct payment, they assign their claims with their nominal values to us through their application and our acceptance. In return, they receive our payment directly. This corresponds to the nominal value of a claim to flight compensation minus our service fee, which, depending on how long ago the flight disruption happened, amounts to 25% to 29% of the nominal amount of the claim. We charge this rate because we have to cover the expenses for enforcing the claim against the air carrier and bear the risk that the passenger’s claim may ultimately prove to be unenforceable after all (e.g. due to losing in court or due to the airline’s insolvency).
Amount paid by Refund Pilots for flights older and younger than 90 days
Our fee is slightly higher percentage-wise for short-haul flights and slightly lower percentage-wise for long-haul flights. This is caused by the fact that our effort of enforcement remains relatively constant which means that our expenses are therefore in lower proportion to the enforceable claim‘s value when it comes to longer flights. In effect, we pay passengers the following amounts after subtraction our commission. As you can see, the deduction is slightly lower on flights longer ago than on more recent flights. For each distance, the top amount of the range is awarded for flights older than 90 days at the time of application for our service, whereas the bottom amount is awarded for flight irregularities suffered in the last 90 days. We will explain the reason for this differentiation in a moment.
The difference in the amounts paid for flights that took place longer ago and more recent ones is caused by the fact that the commission we charge is subject to VAT which must be paid to the revenue office. However, this does not apply to claims for flights that took place more than 90 days ago, because corresponding outstanding claims are considered to be so-called “non-perfoming loans” if they have not been paid for that long. No VAT applies to them anymore.
Unlike other air passenger platforms, we do not retain the amount saved in such cases, but add it to our direct payment so that it benefits you. The following example with a VAT rate of 19% illustrates what an increase in the payout amount this means for our customers:
Amount paid out and Refund Pilot’s service fee in the example of a medium-haul flight
To provide another overview of the specific figures in different cases: Our commission rates and the amounts paid out per person are as follows, depending on the length and age of the flights in question.
- for short-haul flights that took place less than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €60.92 plus VAT (A total of €100 or rather 29% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €177.50 (or 71% of the nominal value of the claim)
- for short-haul flights that took place more than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €62.50 (or 25% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €187.50 (or 75% of the nominal value of the claim)
- for medium-haul flights that took place less than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €97.48 plus VAT (A total of €116 or rather 29% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €284.00 (or 71% of the nominal value of the claim)
- for medium-haul flights that took place more than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €126.05 (or 25% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €300.00 (or 75% of the nominal value of the claim)
- for long-haul flights that took place less than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €146.22 plus VAT (A total of €174 or rather 29% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €426.00 (or 71% of the nominal value of the claim)
- for long-haul flights that took place more than 90 days ago:
- Our service fee: €150.00 (or 25% of the nominal value of the claim)
- Amount paid out: €450.00 (or 75% of the nominal value of the claim)
Other than the explained commission, there are no hidden incidental costs or additional fees for using our service. Even a reclaim of our payout will only take place in cases of fraud, in which false information is entered in our online form and, for example, a previous settlement of the claim in question is denied or remains unmentioned despite us having inquired about them. Those who truthfully fill in our online form before submitting an application may keep their payout in any case – regardless of whether we are successful in our dispute with the air carrier.
You can use our compensation calculator to check quickly and free of charge whether we can make you an offer under the described conditions with respect to your flight irregularity.