Now that I'm back on this side of the world, here's the non-freaking out version.
- Separate one-way flight RO scheduled 14 Aug BUD-OTP (dep 17:00ish arr 22:00ish). That was delayed three times until it was ultimately cancelled around 1:30am 15 Aug.
- I had a hotel room overnight in OTP booked so I could connect to my return KL flight OTP-AMS-SLC departing 13:55 15 Aug. Obviously I couldn't use it as the scheduled RO night flight was cancelled. Tarom said nothing about reimbursement for the OTP hotel; only that they would reimburse us up to 70 euros for a hotel that night.
Tarom first said the original flight was cancelled because the aircraft (turboprop) was diverted back to OTP due to "fuel issues". Then during the third delay announcement, they said it was due to the aircraft "not being rated for the current weather conditions". Then when the flight was cancelled, they said it was due to "staffing". I have no idea what the real reason was.
The night flight on 14 Aug and the day flight on 15 Aug were both supposed to be on the turboprop. I guess they had so many passengers to reschedule, they flew up a 737 so that the passengers on both flights could get on board. IF they had used the turboprop, I would not have made the KL flight. As it was, I did get there with about an hour to spare. At least RO tagged my luggage from BUD all the way to SLC, so I didn't have to worry about that.
Tarom still didn't tell us any more information regarding putting in claims, other than "go to the office". Not particularily helpful when you're trying to make an international connection. I had just enough time to figure out what gate to go to without trying to find the Tarom office.
Would appreciate anyone with EU compensation experience to guide me as to whether I have a claim or not. I can't make heads or tails out of Tarom's compensation page.