When a passenger does not use his or her ticket, the airline does not have to refund the full price, butis obliged to refund the fees and taxes that were not applied. This is a basic right recognized in most air transport regulations.
Qué dice la normativa
There is no single law governing unearned fees, but the general principle is clear:if a service is not provided, the taxes related to that service should not be collected. This follows from European legislation on commercial practices and the civil law of each country.
In Spain, for example, the consumer portal itself indicates that airport taxes can be claimed when the ticket is not used. In the UK, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) also supports this.
💡 Important:This right is not linked to Regulation 261/2004 on compensation for cancellation or delay. They are two completely different things. Here we are talking about the refund of amounts already paid but not consumed.
Why you are entitled to a refund
The reasoning is simple and is based on three legal pillars:
Principle of equivalence
Airport charges are levied to finance specific services: use of infrastructure, security, border control, boarding. If you did not board, these services were not provided. Therefore, charging them would be aunjust enrichmentby the airline.
2. Consumer legislation
European consumer protection regulations state that commercial practices may not be misleading or disproportionate. Retaining fees for services not rendered conflicts with these principles.
3. jurisprudencia
Several European courts have recognized the right of passengers to recover these amounts. Although there is no binding unified ruling across the EU, the judicial trend is clear:unearned fees are to be refunded.
What exactly you can claim
It is important to distinguish which items are claimable and which are not:
✅ YES you can claim:
- Airport taxes(use of infrastructure, security, boarding)
- Government taxes(APD in the UK, ecotax in France, etc.).
- Departure or transit feesat international airports
- Charges for services not rendered(as long as they are included in the fee breakdown)
❌ You can NOT claim:
- Tarifa base del billete(the price of the transport itself)
- Optional supplementssuch as baggage, seat selection or meals (unless they are compulsory fees)
- Fuel surchargesin some cases (depending on how they are categorized)
- Flexible or special fare ticketswhere the cancellation policy already provides for non-refundability
What documents do you need
To exercise your right effectively, you only need:
- Reservation number or PNR(6-digit alphanumeric code)
- Electronic ticket or purchase confirmation(airline or agency email)
- Passenger's nameas it appears on the ticket
- In some cases, theoriginal payment method(the airline refunds the money back to the same medium)
There is no need for a detailed breakdown of fees if you do not have it: airlines are legally obliged to keep these records and calculate the correct amount.
How to do it easily
You can make your own claim by writing to the airline, but the process is often slow and complicated. Each airline has its own forms, languages and requirements. Many do not even respond to the first request.
Instead of sending mailings for months,TaxBackAir.comautomates the process for you:
- Upload your ticket in 2 minutes
- We verify that your case is claimable
- We submitted the formal request to the airline.
- We follow up until we receive a response
- We will notify you if the airline applies fees that reduce the refund.
All for afixed cost of 2,99 €.. No commissions on recoveries, no fine print.
What limits exist
Although the law is clear, there are some practical limits you should be aware of:
Management fees
Some airlines apply internal fees for refund processing. These fees are not illegal (they are administrative costs), but they may reduce the net amount. If the fee exceeds the amount to be refunded, it does not pay to proceed. TaxBackAir.com warns you before proceeding.
Statute of limitations
The right to claim the fees is barred by the statute of limitations at the end of the3 or 5 yearsdepending on the country. In Spain it is 5 years, in other European countries 3. The sooner you claim, the better: the airline will have all the records available.
Agency or intermediary tickets
If you purchased through an online travel agency (eDreams, Kiwi, etc.), the process may be slower because the application must go through them. But the fee remains the same.
Special cases
Flights with stopover
If your ticket had connections and you only flew a portion of it, you can claim proportional fees for the legs not flown. For example: you flew Madrid-Paris but missed the Paris-New York connection. The fees for the second leg are claimable.
Round trip tickets
If you purchased a round-trip ticket but only flew one of the two legs, you can claim the fees for the unused portion. The fact that you used part of the ticket does not cancel your right to the other part.
Flight changes
If the airline offered you to change your flight and you accepted, the original ticket is no longer valid for fee claims. You could only claim if you did not use the new flight either.