ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261

Can I claim without a boarding pass?

Yes. Nothing in Regulation 261/2004 conditions the Art. 7 right on producing a boarding pass. Art. 3(2) requires a confirmed reservation and presenting for check in on time, which a booking reference and the airline's own passenger record evidence. A boarding pass is useful proof, not a precondition.

REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V5 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026

What Art. 3(2) actually requires

The passenger must have a confirmed reservation and present for check in as stipulated and at the time indicated in advance and in writing, or, if no time is indicated, not later than 45 minutes before the published departure time.

Nothing in that wording requires the passenger to retain a document afterwards. The airline's departure control system records who checked in and who boarded.

Evidence that does the same job

The booking confirmation email, with the reference and the passenger names.
The card statement showing the fare payment.
The airline's own app history or check in email.
A bag tag receipt, if a bag was checked.

When it does become difficult

A claim on a very old flight where the reservation was made through a third party and no confirmation survives is a genuinely evidential problem, because the airline is not obliged to search indefinitely. That is an argument about proof rather than about entitlement.

SOURCES

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 3(2) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 7 · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026

What Art. 3(2) actually requires

Evidence that does the same job

When it does become difficult

SOURCES

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