I think its COMPLETELY fair to ask and expect this - seeing as how a 7 hour delay causes an average person to be more than exhausted. Is it unreasonable for a passenger to expect compensation in the form of a far more comfortable seat in hopes that they can make up some rest that they are losing due to Delta's negligence? I think not.


No, I would say the least they should expect is $300. 7 hours of my time is worth at least that based on an average educated office employee's salary. If Delta cant get their planes together and properly maintain them, then there needs to be a consequence, just as they would charge me $250+fare difference if I were to change my international flight by even 3 hours of a difference due to my own negligence.

I don't think it is limited to foreign carriers originating from the EU. I had a similar experience as the OP, but MSP>LHR. I wrote to ask for compensation, and this was part of the response I received:

In the end, they put me on the same flight the next day in first class (I was originally, too), plus paid for said expenses and even threw in 25K miles for my trouble. More than fair - was happy with the experience.

If I may ask, which carrier has international F between MSP and LHR?

Meant biz, was DL.

UPDATE
 

Update: I was never upgraded on the ATL-CDG flight, and it too was late by about 40mins. I made my connection from CDG to DUB, but my bag did not. I finally made into the office in Dublin at almost 4pm, and then I had to go straight to a company dinner in the same clothes I had been in since I left CHS the previous day. I know I could have purchased something and asked for re-imbursement, but time was an issue and I couldn’t stop anywhere due to being so late. My bag showed up at my hotel a little after 11pm. Remember, this is all due to a MX issue on the CHS-ATL flight, causing this delay. I checked this morning and I had been given a $200 Delta voucher. I kind of feel slighted, are my expectations too high here?

I've been upgraded to J TATL from stations on both sides of the Atlantic, without asking, on a couple of occasions due to MX re-route.

It can be done.

It's called providing customer service & pro-active service recovery.

Cheers,

SDF_Traveler

I think so.

Ask for it? Sure. Expect? No. Not saying it doesn't happen, but you're not really entitled to anything beyond what's in the CoC. You may not think it's fair, but it is what you agreed to when you bought the ticket. At the end of the day, you have bought passage from point A to point B and you have very little recourse as far as schedules/delays go. Anything DL offers above and beyond hotel/meal vouchers and rebooking on another carrier is a gesture of goodwill. You can turn your nose up at it if you want, or negotiate, but you're not really entitled to anything more.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I kinda disagree. If the carrier can charge different prices and premiums for certain routes and times, then when I pay for that specific route and time, I have a reasonable expectation that I'm going to get what I paid for. Either way, I think it may just depend on who you ask for the upgrade and their mood at the time of the request. Thanks for everyones help and advice though.

Compensation for Delayed Flight
 

I was originally booked on a flight from ATL yesterday at 8:45 PM which was delayed multiple times until it finally left at 1:30 AM. I am a Skymiles base Member. What is a reasonable compensation to ask for the delayed flight? I eventually just rented a car and drove.

Why was the flight delayed?

I was on a delayed flight DL 0027 on 2/12/2011, was supposed to leave at 4:00pm (I think) but it finally left after midnight. We actually boarded once, tried to take off and returned to the gate.

At the end of the flight the FAs handed out $100 voucher booklets, but it never showed up in my SM account. I eventually had to call them to ask about it and they said that I had 2 $50 e-certs on file.

My flight was an international flight, DTW-HKG.

Hope this helps

flight delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical to LHR. all pax received $100 vouchers, medallions received $200.

I wouldn't expect to get your car rental reimbursed...

Similar situation, although mine was eventually cancelled. They just refunded the return portion of the ticket, I didn't bother to ask for anything more, but might have gotten some goodwill miles if I had.

Interesting that they didnt offer comp in line with the EU regulations.