Hi, Yesterday was hell.

I arrived at Manchester Airport England for flight to Panama via EWR only to find the airport closed due to snow.

My Flight CO21 was late departing at around 2pm instead of 9am. It arrived in Newark at the same time as my flight to PTY was leaving ..however due to delays in boarding the flight

I got the flight but had to run from inspection carrying my shoes belt laptop in hand as I had no time to put them on after inspection.

On arrival in PTY no luggage .... will not get that until tomorrow

All of this could have been avoided if the ground staff at MAN had let me switch flights to the CO101 departing at 11.30am ...But the Concierge in the lounge told me no way cos they had to try and locate my luggage.

I explained to them that if I didnt get to PTY that night I would have 3 very distressed Russian girls who were coming to panama to sail a yacht with me waiting in Panama the following morning as they were due to arrive there at 10.25 am and my next flight would not get me there till 12.25.
None of this mattered I was told that even though there were seats on flight CO101 they would not do it.

The last time I got delayed on a CO flight (this was inside the USA) CO sent me an apology and credited my account with miles ..very nice...

Do you think I will get anything this time..?

Upgrades ...hahaha..not had one for over 6 months now..

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

I was in Panama...Thank you for the cute Russian Girls =)

They are smart too..all lawyers from moscow ....we are sailing to Las Perlas Islands for 4 days....

You're due the same as all other elites for delayed baggage - $50/day up to 5 days for the purchase of incidentals and such. Why you were traveling or who you were meeting is irrelevant.

Also, did you ask about getting on the earlier flight while checking in or only after? If you knew the airport was closed for snow when you got there asking about moving up to the earlier flight then would be a good thing. That way they can tag your bags as being standby for the earlier flight before sending them through to screening. That would likely have worked much better for you.

Hi sbm12 ..When I was checking in they had no idea when or if the airport would open and both flights were doubtful

so i checked in for the earlier flight....but by the time the second flight was due to arrive in the airport was open the earlier incoming flight was diverted ts another airport. As soon as I realised the later flght would go first i requested the switch...

How do I make a claim for the $50 a day..do I have to buy items and send them receipts?

Thanks

You should probably ask Mother Nature for compensation as that would be properly directing the issue back to the responsible party.

Last time I had such a claim I made it by calling the baggage services folks on the 800 number after filing the claim at the airport. It was a flat-rate reimbursement; I didn't have to keep receipts.