EU Cancelled Flight notification
 

I was on yesterday's CO Flight 61 BRU-EWR which was cancelled due to mechanical issues. I was rebooked today on flight 1951. Am I entitled to compensation under EU's rules for cancelled flights?

Also, I did not end up getting a hotel voucher from CO because they only had one person handling 200+ people, and I didn't feel like waiting after sitting on the tarmac for 4+ hours. Any chance of getting CO to pick up the hotel bill?

Yep you are entitled to Duty of Care for Hotels & Meal Vouchers and the EU Regulation covers you for canceled flights as well as a Type 3 flight I believe covering long distances.

Here is the text of the EU Regulation.

The relevant articles for you are articles 5 & 7

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...4R0261:EN:HTML

Today I received a letter from CO, with a $200 voucher. The letter acknowledged that the flight had a mechanical delay which required overnighting people in brussels. They claim the delay was out of their control.

The voucher says redeeming it releases them of further claims.

Seems that they are trying to wiggle out of their responsibility. What is the burden of proof for proving that a mx delay was out of their control?

The letter had no contact information on how to request more information.

Article 5.3 of the EU rules reads:

An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

That's obviously an open-ended out, since you will never be able to demonstrate that the delay was not out of CO's control.

Take the $200...if you want to pursue, you may want to file a notice with the EU, informing them that you believe CO's claim of the delay being out of their control is not accurate.

Here is the EU form you would fill out:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passen...t/index_en.htm

My flight from FRA to IAH was canceled last May for mechanical reasons. They couldn't get me a seat for two days (and then through EWR). I wrote a letter to Continental asking for compensation under the EU rules and was also sent a $200 travel voucher, an apology and a notice that if I used the voucher I was releasing Continental from further claims. I do feel that I was entitled to the EU compensation, but took the $200 and moved on. I'd like to see someone pursue this further and see of Continental will abide by the EU rules if pushed.