Documents and receipts to keep after a flight disruption

The EU air passenger regulation requires, among other things, that you have a confirmed booking on the flight and, except for a cancelled flight, that you checked in on time. The booking confirmation shows the booking, and the boarding pass shows that you checked in. Together they are the core of every compensation claim.

The booking reference, the short code in the confirmation, is the key to the whole journey in the airline's system. If you still have it, the booking, check-in and any rebookings can be retrieved afterwards. Digital boarding passes in the airline's app, on the other hand, can disappear once the journey is over, so take a screenshot while the pass is still visible.

Text messages, emails and app notifications from the airline are often the clearest evidence, because they show the sender, the time and what was communicated. Do not delete anything until the claim is fully closed.

Add a photo of the departure board showing your flight number, the status and the time. If you are told something verbally at the gate, ask for the cause in writing, or note yourself who said what and when. A short timeline written the same day carries more weight than a memory several weeks later.

For delays, your right to compensation is assessed by how late you reached your final destination, not how late the aircraft took off. According to the case law of the EU Court of Justice, a delay of three hours or more at the final destination can give a right to compensation, provided the other conditions are met.

The Court has also ruled exactly what arrival means: the actual arrival time is the moment at least one of the aircraft's doors is opened and passengers are allowed to leave the aircraft (Case C-452/13, Germanwings). So it is not touchdown or the moment the aircraft reaches its parking position that counts. That is the position under today's rules. For flights from 23 October 2027, the moment the aircraft reaches its parking position and the parking brakes are engaged counts instead, under Regulation (EU) 2026/2202.

In borderline cases, a few minutes can decide the whole claim. Actual flight times are normally kept in flight databases and by the airline, but they often show when the aircraft landed or reached its parking position, that is before the doors opened. Your own note or screenshot from the arrival therefore strengthens your claim if the times are disputed.

When the airline does not offer the care it must under Article 9, you can normally pay yourself and claim the money back (judgment of the EU Court of Justice in Case C-12/11, McDonagh). Your receipts are then your evidence. The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) urges you to keep all receipts, and Konsumenternas.se also advises you to photograph all documents, receipts, boarding passes and confirmations.

A bank statement can show that you paid for something, but the receipt shows what you paid for, and that is what shows the cost was necessary.

Take a screenshot as soon as something happens: app notifications and digital boarding passes can disappear, and the airline's app does not always show old disruptions afterwards. Photograph paper receipts the same day, as text on thermal paper can fade.

Keep everything in one place, for example an album on your phone or a cloud folder named after the travel date. Finally, write a short timeline of what happened and when. It saves you a lot of searching if the claim drags on.