TX-flyer asks
why do I have to pay for a cab ride when the flights were cancelled for mechanical problems?
Similar result in a different venue: I needed a home health nurse to be scheduled to explain my IV's in order to be released from the hospital in March. Insurance wouldn't pay for home care because I was ambulatory, but couldn't tell me where I could go to get the explanation! The discharge coordinator figured it would take him ~24 hours to get an answer...with me staying in the hospital.
Solution: I paid the $135 myself - despite having insurance
and Medicare - so I could be released that day. Was it worth it to avoid an additional day in the hospital? Of course. Should the insurance have paid it? Unfortunately, also "of course."
Unfortunately, some battles are worth fighting, others aren't. Life's like that sometimes.