EU Compensation for EZE-AMS-JFK
 

Hoping to crowd source some intel here. We flew EZE-AMS-JFK on a Delta Award ticket. Upon arriving at AMS, our Delta flight to JFK was cancelled due to a crew issue. We were rebooked on IcelandAir from AMS-KEF-JFK.

Does anyone have a case or some other supporting proof that the EU regulations protect the affected leg since it was EU departing? Just curious if someone here has encountered this before.

Was it one journey EZE-AMS-JFK? Or, was it two separate trips?

If one continuous back to back trip, then no compensation. You're not starting or ending in the EU.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-cont...%3A62020CJ0451
Airhelp Ltd. vs. Austrian Airlines earlier this year held that an itinerary connecting in the EU even if operated by an EU carrier is not covered by EU261.

Well, that's helpful! Thanks!

You could complain to DL - they will likely give you some goodwill miles.

If EZE-AMS was on KL, as I suspect it was, Delta will often push the customer to go deal with KL when seeking a goodwill gesture for a service failure limited to the DL-operated flight on a KL+DL itinerary.

The above-mentioned court case is with regard to the particular circumstance when simultaneously meeting both of the following necessary conditions on a given ticketed itinerary:

A) the place of departure of the first flight and place of arrival of the second flight are in a non-EC country; and
B) only the place of arrival of the first flight and the place of departure of the second flight are in the territory of an EC country.

I’m shocked DL would sell a EZE-JFK award via AMS as a single ticket. That’s one heck of a detour!

That’s the Flyertalk special routing.

Yeah quite the roundabout trip.

But, yes you should go for EU261 comp since your AMS-JFK flight was canceled.
What was the ultimate impact/delay in your arrival to JFK?

It's worth a shot but the OP will get denied by DL and KL. Outside EU to outside EU flights, even connecting in the EU on an EU carrier, are not covered by EU261 for some crazy reason.

To me a cancelled flight such as AMS-JFK is clearly an EU261 bonafide request for compensation. But that's not what EU261 law allows for. If the OP originates in a non-covered EU261 airport (e.g. EZE), then all of EU261 is out the window.

The only way OP can claim EU261 in this scenario is if AMS-JFK was booked on a separate ticket, which it sounds like it wasn't.

-RM

Apologies if that went right over my head and I’m not picking up on something. But is it truly possible to book this as a single ticket EZE-JFK via AMS with SkyMiles?

I thought DL had strict routing rules and if flying to JFK from EZE via Europe isn’t one I’d be shocked.

It was approximately 350k skymiles for EZE-ATL-JFK in Delta One.

It was 170k skymiles for Business/Delta One via AMS. It was a no-brainer! Lol

I once flew EZE-GRU-FRA-SFO as a UA award ticket, same miles (I think 40K... the good old days) as EZE-IAD-SFO would have been. Thank god it was in business class. A very long day but we were comfortable.

It's not often I learn something new on FT, but boy did I not learn not just one, but two things in this thread today!

Tickets connecting from Non-EU to Non-EU destinations on a EU airline are not covered under EC261 (Big deal for people doing a logical routing like JFK-AMS/CDG-DEL) .

Delta allows a single ticket routing from South America to North America, via Amsterdam!

Such tickets used to be covered by EC 261/2004 for most of its implemented history. Then some court decided to change that long standing practice. Talk about doing a favor for the airlines.