Started flying DL again in late Feb this year. Since then, I've been stranded overnight *4* times due to DL (maintenance, flight crews pulled, short maintenance then weather delay - that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the maintenance)

Anyway...after the 4th time, I called Delta and got past the 1st level rep and ended up with a $300 voucher and 5,000 miles (although reading up here in other threads I should have asked for more miles!)

If it wasn't for the int'l flights (MAN or MEX) I'd go back to SW.

I fly to Prague a couple times a year on DL, I've been delayed in Prague on the return by mechanical problems a couple of times. Last time I received 20,000 miles compensation.

This summer I had 2 Czech friends visit me with KLM tickets . They had a mechanical delay that ended up canceling the first segment before they left Prague. A short note to KLM and they each ended up with 600 Euro.

Should I book on KLM in case I'm ever delayed again ?

For ex-Europe flights, EU 261/2004 compensation can apply. You may have been able to ask about it when DL gave yout he 20k miles. It just depends on the situation.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...pensation.html

How is it that my 1 hour flight from lga to mht gets "involuntary rerouted"? Read: "cancelled" the day before? When I asked Delta res why I Was told it was due to Crew rest!! How does an airline not plan for crew rest and make the decision the day before. My new routing includes a connection thru Reagan and 4 extra hours of travel! Delta crew scheduling....where are you?? Very frustrated.

Delta is very good at denying compensation under EU 261/2004.because they know its not an easy game to drag them to court for those based in US.
Once I was delayed 6 hrs from CDG in a DL operated flight due to mechanical. I wrote them twice and both times i got a different answer why they were denying me my claim.

KLM and other EU based airlines are easier to pursue regarding EU 261/2004 because there are agencies who pursue the claim on your behalf for a percentage of the payback.

Successful compensation claim on delayed CDG-LHR-EWR flight
 

Just wanted to tell about my successful compensation claim under the EU delayed traveler compensation rules. As I searched for information on this, I noticed that were many companies advertising that they handle compensation claims, but there is always some charge for them to do that. I wanted to illustrate what I did to file my own complaint so that others could follow.

Background...

I had Delta-issued ticket for my trip to Paris. My outbound leg was JFK-CDG on Delta and my return was CDG-LHR-EWR with Air France on the CDG-LHR leg and Virgin Atlantic on the LHR-EWR leg. I had a two-hour window in LHR to connect from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3.

My Air France flight was delayed in departing CDG by around 55 minutes (the captain stated on the PA that the delay in the aircraft arriving CDG was due to issues with the Jetway at the departure airport). Subsequently, we arrived almost an hour late to the gate. I knew it would be difficult to make the connecting flight unless the bus and security lines were running perfectly. Unfortunately, the bus to terminal 3 was slow and the expedited security lane was the expedited in name only (chaotic scene - another story itself). I finally got through with 15 minutes left prior to departure.

The Virgin Atlantic agent at the transfer desk already knew that I had been delayed and had booked me on their next flight out (to JFK). Unfortunately, that was the next morning and so I asked her if there was any way I could leave London that night so I could make my Monday morning meetings with my client in New York. She was very friendly, helpful, and tried her best to find me a flight out that night but eventually told me there was no other options to NYC that night. She then said that Air France would have hotel and meal vouchers for me back at the Terminal 4 Ticket Office and that they were staying open for me.

So I went back to the Ticket Desk where I found Air France had issued vouchers for hotel, hotel shuttle and dinner/breakfast. There was no mention of any other compensation. By that time I was I was hungry, tired and dejected so I took the voucher and went to the hotel for sleep and then caught the flight back home the next day.

I had to reschedule my meetings for the next day and wound up losing a day of billing. So, I figured that I had nothing to lose in researching the rules on compensation. I did a search on EU flight delay compensation and found rule 261/2004. The ruling did not mention anything about delays on a missed connection. However, I found the Feb 2013 court ruling that clarified the rules and confirmed that I was eligible for 600 EUR in additional compensation as I was delayed in arrival at my destination by more than 5 hours and that my destination was greater that 3500 KM away.

Complaint Process...

My searches on the EU rule stated that the compensation was the responsibility of the operating carrier, so I filed the initial complaint with Air France. Their customer service page is located (as of Jan 23, 2014) at:

http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/local/...eclamation.htm

Under the section "Other Claims" is information required to submit a claim (including a physical address to send the complaint via mail) there is also a link which pressing upon brings up a new window with the complaint form to fill in.

I filled out the form with the requested information (my details, flight details, reason for complaint, etc). I also attached supporting documentation in the form of 2 PDF documents. The first document contains the scan of the signed letter I wrote stating the facts of the matter and my assertion I was due 600 EUD per EU Rule 261/2004 and that they could send me a check in the USD equivalent. The second document contained 2 pages with the first being the scan of my itinerary, the Air France Boarding pass and the Virgin Atlantic boarding pass, and the second page being a scan of the Air France voucher for hotel, transportation and meals I received during my delay at LHR (thankfully, I took a picture of it). NOTE - Make sure the PDF documents don't exceed 3 MB in total size).

Once I double-checked everything I pressed the submit button and waited for their reply. I fully expected that I would have to submit the forms by mail, but 16 days later I received an email reply from an AF/KLM customer care representative at Delta stating that they reviewed my claim for compensation and found that it was indeed covered under European Union Regulation (EC) 261/2004. The representative stated that they would be issuing a check for the USD equivalent (roughly $823) and I should be receiving it shortly (accounting for processing and postal transit times).

Hopefully, this information is useful to others.

Excellent information, although I hope never to need it! Thanks for posting this.

I was flying CLT-ATL-DEN today (49mn connection). I am DM and had purchased first class tickets. CLT-ATL got delayed by 1h30mn, and ATL-DEN got delayed by 35mn. I tweeted @DeltaAssist to check on my status and I was informed that one of the Porsche will be waiting for me so I could make my connection. Once I landed in ATL (6pm EST), the delta app was showing 'boarding' status with departure at 6.10pm EST). Once I unboarded the plane, I was surprised that no Porsche was waiting for me (I understand that they cannot guarantee the Porsche, but I was specifically told it would be there). So I rushed to the gate and see that the plane was still there. But the gate door was closed with no agent around. I checked with an agent at the gate next to the ATL-DEN one, and they said they could not help. 5mn late, that agent came to me and opened me the door. But once in the aircraft, I was told that my seat had been given away, so I had to sit at the end of the plane, middle seat. I had not eaten since lunch time and were refused to get dinner or get a free snack box (just got 3 packs of biscoff, hooray). How come they have not saved the first class seat for me considering that I had PAID for it. What compensation am I entitled to? At least the fare difference between coach and first, right?

So last Thursday I experienced a mechanical delay which was going to cause a misconnect in DTW. The full story is here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22275292-post34.html

I contacted DL online using the comments/complaints section on their site and got 5k miles for my trouble. I feel like I need more than 5k miles to serve as my pacifier though, especially since it was a weekend trip to explore Brown as a prospective student -- Would it be reasonable to expect more from DL, or am I just killing myself over nothing?

What was the cause of the CLT>ATL delay? Weather, crew, mechanical? You'll definitely get the fare difference back, at the very least, as you paid for it, made it to the plane, and didn't get what you paid for.

Getting compensation because "my Porsche wasn't there to escort me" is a tough case to make, but you should definitely mention the fact they specifically mentioned it and didn't follow through, emphasizing the confusion it caused.

It should be, yes. But what is the fare difference for one segment?

There is no compensation whatever if the the poster's "purchased first class tickets" were coded G, A, P, Z, D, or I class. The discussion of compensation can start only after he confirms that he was in F or J.

If DL sells me something they advertise as a First Class Ticket, and then don't fly me in First Class, there will be compensation.

So we will all be pleased when you get the downgrade from an A fare, get no compensation, take the airline to court, and save all the rest of us the time and expense of doing so ourselves.

There is little question in my mind that many courts will agree that it is consumer fraud but that is the way that the DL fare rules read right now and the way that they are applied. :rolleyes:

Either do something about it or get over it and work around it. There are plenty of threads around here on the subject.