So, I received a reply from one of Marjan Rintel's aide about my claim (they were actually quite fast to respond, but I left it pending for a few weeks because I'm busy)
There's a long tirade about why my delay is not compensated by EC/261. I will copy it below. I am still NOT 100% convinced that I wouldn't win if I took it all the way to MCOL/SCC, but not sure if I want to be bothered to be honest...
Flights at Schiphol Airport were regrettably disrupted due to air traffic flow restrictions caused by adverse weather. This was reported in the media:
https://www.schiphol.nl/en/messages/...due-to-weather
All flight plans are tracked by a central flow management unit (CFMU). The flight departs according to a slot which is a period of time within which take-off has to take place.
If a slot is missed as here, the airline must wait for the CFMU to assign a new one. The slot and any revisions are communicated to the aircraft operator as well as the air traffic control unit at the departure airport.
As the cause of the delay to your flight could not have been prevented by any reasonable measures at our disposal, the circumstances should be regarded as extraordinary under the terms of the EU261 legislation you refer to, which relieves the airline of its obligation to pay the compensation you seek.
They did pay my expense claim already, but truncated, and still without providing a breakdown to explain what they are paying for and what not so I'll need to calculate it all myself and reply.
However they said that claims for alcoholic beverages would not be honored, which I'm a bit surprised as it's a first for me.
I must decline expenses relating to alcoholic beverages as this is not within the rights of what would be permitted under EU regulations.
For info I had 3 alcoholic beverages on claim, which doesn't seem that unreasonable... 2 while waiting for my 4hr delayed airplane, alongside a sandwich (Lounge had been closed prematurely). And one at 1AM at the hotel, alongside my delivered pizza. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me at all...
They've always been paid for before so is this something new? KL been taken over by Calvinists? Or is it just because they're on separate receipts that is the problem?
I also received a commercial gesture of £60 for my troubles, which to be honest is more than I expected so I'm happy enough with that.