Recently I had a flight delay from Milan to Miami of more than 3 hours that was not weather-related. Thanks to the info on this forum, I requested compensation from American Airlines a couple of days after I got back. I specifically requested cash compensation and cited the EU regulation. I knew I wasn't flying anytime again soon, so didn't want a voucher. I just used their online customer service request form. Two weeks later, I got a reply saying they were compensating me 300 EUR and will send me a check with the USD equivalent. Just wanted to get the news out there - you have to ask for it!
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8880 posts
Kathy, I am glad that you were able to accomplish this without too much difficulty. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by
California USA
4100 posts
Thanks for sharing and encouraging others.
Posted by
PA
2857 posts
Nice to hear this worked easily, and also that this was American quickly following the rule.
FWIW, my son and daughter in law each had their separate Norwegian flights to Rome horribly messed up (one cancelled, rerouted and delayed a full day, the other departure airport changed and delayed 2 hours, I went in to this in detail here earlier this year). They did ultimately get their 600 € each, which was clearly due, but it took forever and a lot of back and forth with Norwegian.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5540 posts
My experiences with EU 261 have been hit and miss. I've had an issue with a Virgin flight which they initially refused to pay out for however they eventually rolled over after some persistence on my behalf. I've had an immediate payout from BA after they cancelled a flight from Milan due to possible bad weather conditions that never actually materialised but I've also had a battle with BA over another weather related claim that they refused to pay out on despite the issue being insufficient de-icer which has already been agreed upon, by way of a stated case, that it is not a reason to refuse compensation. A claims company also refused to challenge them on that case as well so I gave up in the end as it was akin to banging my head on a brick wall.
If they can squirm out of it they'll try but I get the impression that if you refuse to accept their denial and persist a bit they'll eventually give in.
Posted by
Chicago
8164 posts
Same here I got 600 euros and opted for 600 euro voucher by filing EU261 claim. Mine took 5 months but there was no back and forth.
Filled out the form and submitted directly to the airline.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5456 posts
Before the issue of what was in the airline's control or not had been properly pinned down by caselaw or not the use of litigation intermediaries was of more use than it is today, where nearly all occurrences are clearly defined and there is much less wriggle room for airlines and they are much more responsive to the general public - even airlines based in the USA which were amongst the worst to deal with regarding 261/2004 claims.