The family of Zeroes (or less) decided to go check out family overseas. We booked on two different itineraries, as I am not sure I can return, but we had matching flights on the outbound (IAD > FRA > BGO)

Our 6:15pm Dulles departure was announced as having a 5 minute delay when we checked in at the airport yesterday (3/21), implying it was due to incoming aircraft. (Notably, they did not spell that out, but those two things were shown on the same screen.) In fact, I didn’t get an actual delay notice till after we had kicked off from the gate (much later). So this is how the story goes:

1. We got to the gate in my useful, timely fashion, meaning boarding should have started. It hadn’t, and the crowds were big, sweaty and unhappy.
2. 15 minutes after our departure should have happened (6:35), they announced on the speaker that a technical issue had been fixed. Sounded great until I realized I had absolutely zero record of this, and so became ore of a reason for concern.
3. 5 minutes after that (~6:40), the speaker said we should be boarding soon.
4. 10 minutes after that, the speaker announced they were still working on some (previously totally fixed) technical issues, and that we would get another update in thirty minutes.
5. I’m thinking, “oh boy.,” and head to the nearest watering hole, expecting a long night. Immediately as we sat down, I received a text saying we were boarding. 🤷‍♂️
6. We were in fact boarding, and it happened in record time, meaning we pushed off at about 1 hour later than scheduled departure.
7. Except, then the noise, started, and it was worse that I’ve ever heard in a plane. It was a high pitched mechanical noise, but nothing like the usual motorized wrench operation. The plane vibrated too.
8. In the end, we had liftoff two hours late.
9. We landed in Frankfurt with a theoretical possibility of making our flight. However, since we were traveling on US passports, we were thrown into the line intended for preschoolers with bullying tendencies. It took about an hour to the next gate.

Of course this meant we we missed our connection (9:25am), IRROPS were not proactive, and not particularly helpful, so are now waiting for an 8:35pm flight to BGO.

European consumer protection rules are pretty strong, so it looks like a €600 compensation per ticket. Anybody have advice for how to file?