Paul DiFeterici’s recent Alitalia flight from Miami to Rome was delayed by seven hours. “We were given a paper with information to contact Alitalia customer relations for compensation,” he says. He tried calling and writing to the airline, but no luck.
COMPENSATION
As Joyce Dunne was checking out of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando recently, a cast member slipped her some bad news: Her Honda minivan had been damaged by the parking valet.
“I am writing to describe the most horrible hotel stay I have ever endured in any hotel in my life,” the note began.
What does your airline owe you when your flight is delayed?
Timothy Delaney was on his way to his mother-in-law’s funeral in Addis Ababa when he encountered an unexpected delay: His Emirates flight from London to Dubai was canceled after a de-icer accidentally rammed his jet.
Jerry McClure and his wife were looking forward to a seven-day western Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Ryndam late last year, when disaster struck. McClure’s wife fell and broke her neck less than a month before they were scheduled to fly to Tampa to board the ship.
Remember the Carnival Splendor, the ship that was marooned 200 miles south of San Diego for several days last year after a fire knocked out its power? Robert and Beverly Howell won’t ever forget it, because they were on the ship.
This column is usually called, “Is this enough compensation?” because frankly, the travel industry often doesn’t have a clue about customer service.
Ted Oehlerking’s flight from Bremen, German, to Seattle, via Amsterdam was canceled all the way down the line. Although his airline, KLM, put him on the next available flight and upgraded him, it didn’t offer him any financial compensation for the delays.
Close calls are the narrative glue of aviation journalism. Where would we be without stories of near-misses, mechanical failures and emergency landings?
When the power went out in Jeri Kellerman’s hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express in Poulsbo, Wash., she and her husband spent the night in pitch black and freezing cold.
This is what Laura Buckner looked like after her second night at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Rio will have to wait for HaiYing Soong and her family. Their planned eight-day trip to Brazil didn’t happen last month after their connecting flight on US Airways from Charlotte was canceled. But has the airline done enough to compensate her for the trouble?
The problem with proposed rulemakings is that they often run on forever, and the journalists who are supposed to review them and report back gloss over the really important material.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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