Originally Posted by sethb (Post 23294779)

Was there a reason given for the delay?

There could be any number of reasons for who got which hotel; it might depend on exact time of request (they fill the cheaper hotel first), status, or even just which agent you talk to. You might have gotten a better hotel had you asked (especially if you took many fewer rooms than you were passengers).

Originally Posted by SomeGuy (Post 23301286)

Friday night, 8/1, was a mess at LGA.

Originally Posted by SusanDK (Post 23301331)

Sounds like there were issues at JFK as well. My in-laws arrived at JFK from Europe an hour late. They would have missed their connection to ORD which turned out to be cancelled, as was the later flight to ORD that evening, so they were stranded in NY for a night.

Looks like there were more cancellations related to ORD than JFK that evening so I assume it was weather-related?

Originally Posted by BigAppleCoder (Post 22209128)

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.

Originally Posted by pleasantsn (Post 23413015)

Can anyone report receiving this compensation from DL on a DL operated flight? I just got back from AMS after a 22 hour delay on DL 152 (rescheduled as DL 9860). DL is operating carrier, although my ticket was sold by AF on 027 stock.
I spoke with a Supervisor at SEA and she tried to tell me that EU law does not apply to DL flights. I call BS!

Originally Posted by ChocolateMonster (Post 23416913)

Hi all.
At check-in on the kiosk for our SEA-ATL flight, we were told they wanted volunteers to be bumped and were asked to bid for our compensation. We put in $300.
When we got up to the gate, the GA was announcing they are overbooked by 15 seats and are offering $500 for volunteers. We went up and took 4 seats off their load, but were then told we are only receiving $300 since that is what we bid.
When I called Delta later they claimed it is at the airport's discretion and they can do nothing.
Is this standard procedure or should I keep calling?
(not even getting into our new flight being delayed past midnight and our bags not arriving till the day after)

Originally Posted by ChocolateMonster (Post 23416913)

Hi all.
At check-in on the kiosk for our SEA-ATL flight, we were told they wanted volunteers to be bumped and were asked to bid for our compensation. We put in $300.
When we got up to the gate, the GA was announcing they are overbooked by 15 seats and are offering $500 for volunteers. We went up and took 4 seats off their load, but were then told we are only receiving $300 since that is what we bid.

Originally Posted by genotonda (Post 23453008)

Looking for clarification. There are no US laws that require compensation for delayed/cancelled flights as there are in EU, correct?

Long story short: Yesterday, In-laws flying FSD-MSP-CDG. To arrive in CDG Sunday morning.

FSD-MSP gets cancelled due to mechanical. They drive 4 hours to MSP so they can catch flight Sunday morning (Next avail flight out of MSP that they can make). They have to stay in hotel last night to make MSP-RDU?-CDG flight this morning that will get them to CDG Monday morning.

Any monetary comp owed? Or would this be more of the "Add a few miles to your FF account" type of comp?

Thank You.