Thanks everyone for the excellent information and advice.
Just on this..
Originally Posted by
QueenOfCoach
Just last week, a German friend of mine who lives in DUS (Düsseldorf) had tickets from DUS to ATL. He got to DUS, sat on the aircraft for four hours in DUS, then they got everyone off the plane. There was a mechanical problem that could not be fixed that day.
He was rebooked for the same flight the next day.
All he got for his trouble was a taxi voucher to get back to his apartment in DUS. No other compensation, no miles, nothing.
Edited to add: The airline was Delta code sharing with Air France.
My understanding is that as the airline was departing the EU and as the delay was for 24 hours, your friend was entitled to receive accommodation, meals, transportation costs as necessary and two phone calls.
Regarding my son's car seat, I had intended on wrapping it in cling film in order to keep it clean and dry and also to stop the straps dangling. On the other hand, I could take it on board and have my son sit in it during the flight as was suggested. I'm honestly not sure whether he's be more comfortable sitting / sleeping in the car seat or in the actual aeroplane seat. Oh, thinking about it, would a car seat fit in the overhead locker on a 757? Maybe we could take the car seat on board and just place it in the overhead locker if preferred.
Thinking of the 757, I had noticed it's a smaller aircraft than the 747 which we normally fly on when we fly long haul to Asia. 747s are 3-4-3 seating, whereas 757s appear to be 3-3 seating only. Does this mean that 757s are tiny?