Should you build your own AirHelp?
Pursue passenger compensation for delayed, canceled, or overbooked flights
A useful personal organizer is buildable, but AirHelp is more than the visible intake form. A local app can assess EC261 and UK261 eligibility, organize evidence, draft letters, and track deadlines. It cannot responsibly reproduce AirHelp's managed airline correspondence, cross-jurisdictional legal judgment, funded court action, and professional accountability in one sitting. This is a credible personal substitute for straightforward self-service claims, not a full replacement.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build me a local flight-compensation claim organizer to replace AirHelp for self-service claims. Requirements:
- Node 22 + Express + better-sqlite3, server-rendered pages on localhost, no frontend
framework; all data in one SQLite file plus a local uploads folder.
- Model passengers, bookings, multi-segment journeys, disruptions (delay, cancellation,
denied boarding, missed connection), claims, evidence files, and deadlines.
- Deterministic EC261 and UK261 eligibility rules in one versioned rules module: given
the journey facts, output eligible / not eligible / needs manual review, the
compensation band (250/400/600 EUR distance tiers), and the article relied on.
Show which facts triggered which rule branch.
- Compute great-circle distance from airport coordinates and timezone-safe arrival
delay from user-entered flight details; no commercial flight-data API.
- Attach evidence (tickets, emails, receipts) as local files on a chronological
claim timeline.
- Generate editable draft letters to the airline and the national enforcement body
from templates; never send anything automatically.
- Track stages (preparing, submitted, escalated to authority or ADR, resolved) with
due dates, exported as an ICS file for my calendar.
- Export a whole claim as JSON and Markdown so nothing is trapped in the app.
- Say plainly in the UI and README: decision support, not legal advice; verify
current rules and limitation periods yourself.
- Out of scope: automatic submission, airline negotiation, lawyer engagement, court
filing, accounts, sync. The staff, legal funding, and accountability are the part
you cannot build.
- README: setup, where data lives, backup by copying the SQLite file and uploads.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running.
What would building your own look like?
Assess EC261 and UK261 eligibility, organize journey facts and evidence, estimate compensation, generate draft letters, and track submission and escalation deadlines locally.
What you will need
- Node.js 22
- modern browser
- SQLite
- user-entered flight, passenger, and evidence data
- current official passenger-rights sources
People pay AirHelp to transfer the work, uncertainty, follow-up, and legal escalation to a specialist on a no-win, no-fee basis. A local tool can organize a straightforward self-service claim, but it does not negotiate with the airline, fund litigation, or take professional responsibility for a contested case.
xAirHelp staff handling airline correspondence and negotiation
xcase-specific legal judgment across jurisdictions
xlawyer access and funded legal action under a no-win, no-fee model
xcommercial flight, weather, and disruption data used to validate claims
xprofessional support and accountability when a claim becomes contested
How much does AirHelp cost?
No public price. Check the official site.
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on AirHelp’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| no win, no fee | custom | - | $0 upfront; AirHelp keeps 35% of successfully recovered flight compensation |
| airhelp+ single trip protection | custom | - | 1 trip, including outbound, return, and any connecting flights |
| airhelp+ lite | - | $2.88/user≈ $2.88 | 1 year of membership; the official fee list does not publish a numeric trip allowance |
| airhelp+ smart / protect 3 trips | - | $3.84/user≈ $3.84 | 3 registered trips/year; €100 disruption payout, €200 missed-connection payout, and €100 baggage payout |
| airhelp+ pro / protect 9 trips | - | $9.61/user≈ $9.61 | 9 registered trips/year; €100 disruption payout, €200 missed-connection payout, and €100 baggage payout |
| airhelp+ usa comfort | - | $15/user≈ $15 | 6 registered trips/year; $200 fast disruption payout plus eligible compensation claims |
| airhelp+ usa pro | - | $20.83/user≈ $20.83 | 9 registered trips/year; $200 fast disruption payout plus eligible compensation claims |
Free tierEligibility and information checks cost $0; an unsuccessful compensation claim costs $0; there is no free AirHelp+ membership.
Billing termssuccess-fee claim service, one-time single-trip protection, or annual AirHelp+ membership; no monthly AirHelp+ plan
Additional costsSuccessful claims lose 35%; legal action adds another 15% (up to 50% total, used in about 3% of cases). Goodwill claims cost $29.99 unless recovery is below $30 or 3,000 loyalty points. Membership benefits may require registration at least 48 hours before departure; bank/FX fees can reduce payouts.
verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy AirHelp?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (weekend to multi-day). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild AirHelp?
Kinda. The core of AirHelp is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: AirHelp staff handling airline correspondence and negotiation, case-specific legal judgment across jurisdictions. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does AirHelp cost?
AirHelp’s pricing is usage-based or varies by plan · No Win, No Fee is a success-fee model with no fixed monthly price (fee shown as 35% in the worked example); USA AirHelp+ memberships are listed at $179.99/yr (Comfort) and $249.99/yr (Pro)..
What do I lose by replacing AirHelp?
Honestly: AirHelp staff handling airline correspondence and negotiation; case-specific legal judgment across jurisdictions; lawyer access and funded legal action under a no-win, no-fee model; commercial flight, weather, and disruption data used to validate claims; professional support and accountability when a claim becomes contested. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to AirHelp?
Yes: ClaimSolo (Open-source, local-first personal workspace for assessing, documenting, and tracking EC261 and UK261 flight claims.). Using prior art is also vibecoding; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.