Air Canada canceled her flight and promised to cover her hotel. Then it didn’t.

When Deborah Anbinder’s flight from Athens to Montreal made a dramatic U-turn on the runway and headed back to the gate, she expected the airline to take care of her.

It didn’t. 

“They told us the flight was canceled,” she recalls. “We were on our own to find accommodations and then submit the receipts to Air Canada for reimbursement.”

Air Canada did reimburse her. Sort of. But she’s still out hundreds of dollars for a pricey hotel stay and other expenses.

In today’s edition of Is this enough compensation, we’re asking that eternal question: When the airline breaks the contract, how much should it pay to fix it?

A long night in Athens

Anbinder and her companions found themselves in a city overflowing with tourists after Air Canada canceled her flight. The gate agents offered no vouchers and no guidance, only telling her to find her own place to stay and promising a reimbursement.

“Every hotel that we contacted said they had no rooms available,” Anbinder said. “When we finally found a hotel in Athens, there were two rooms available. I booked the least expensive one.”

By the way, getting into Athens for just one night is a real hassle. You have to take the Metro or Uber into the city, which can take hours. None of the airport hotels had any rooms.

The entire experience left her with a $3,017 bill (we’ll break it down in a second). Anbinder didn’t just want her bed paid for; she wanted the airline to follow its own rules and international law. She filed a claim for hotel costs, transportation and other related expenses, as well as the 600-euro-per-person compensation required under EC 261, the European regulation that protects passengers when flights are scrubbed.

Air Canada, however, began a game of “choose your own adventure” with its excuses. First, it blamed a strike. Then it claimed the flight was merely delayed, not canceled. Finally, it settled on the “extraordinary circumstance” of weather. (An “extraordinary circumstance” means Air Canada isn’t responsible for any compensation under European law.)

“They keep changing the reasons for my denial,” Anbinder told my advocacy team. She even pointed to the airline’s own website, which listed the reason for the disruption as “aircraft damaged.”

After months of back-and-forth and a little nudge from my team, Air Canada sent Anbinder a check for $877. Now, we have to decide if that’s a fair deal or not.

Is this enough compensation?

Yes, it is: There’s a pragmatic argument that Anbinder should take the $877 and run. In the world of airline advocacy, getting a three-digit check without a court order is often considered a win.

Air Canada’s position on this case is firm. 

“Obligations are limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances,” an Air Canada representative wrote. 

Under EU 261, airlines don’t have to pay the 600-euro cash penalty if they can prove the delay was outside their control. If Air Canada can make the weather excuse stick, it technically doesn’t owe the statutory compensation.

And Air Canada insisted the weather—not a mechanical problem—was to blame for the flight cancellation. 

One more thing: EU rules require airlines to cover “reasonable” expenses. Anbinder’s hotel bill was high because it was peak season and she booked at the last minute. Air Canada likely looked at the rate and decided it wasn’t reasonable, even though Anbinder had no other choice. 

No, it isn’t: Air Canada’s behavior was a textbook case of customer service avoidance. The airline told passengers to find their own rooms and promised reimbursement. It didn’t mention it would later nitpick the price.

Anbinder acted in good faith in a desperate situation. 

“The whole plane was looking for a hotel room at the same time,” she recalls. 

She wasn’t looking for luxurious accommodations—just a roof over her head. For the airline to leave her stranded and then refuse to pay the full bill is a violation of the duty of care owed to passengers under both Canadian and European law.

There is also the matter of the shifting excuses. If the airline’s own flight status page said the plane was damaged, the weather excuse looks like a convenient way to dodge a payout. Damage to an aircraft is generally considered within the carrier’s control unless a bird or a meteor is involved.

OK, let’s break down that $3,017 bill. Not only did she have to pay for a hotel, but she missed a prepaid night in Phoenix and had to pay her pet sitter for an extra day. These are real costs caused by Air Canada’s failure to fly its plane on time. A check for $877 doesn’t even cover her basic hotel expenses, let alone the required compensation for the cancellation itself.

Split the difference?

This is a classic “split the difference” move designed to make a persistent consumer go away.

Anbinder can still take this to the Greek National Enforcement Board or the Canadian Transportation Agency. But she might be waiting a long time for those last few hundred euros.

The lesson here is clear: If an airline tells you to find your own hotel, get it in writing that it will cover the full cost regardless of the rate. And if it agrees to pay for your pet sitter and a lost hotel night in Phoenix, you definitely need to get that in writing. 

Otherwise, you might find yourself sleeping in a room the airline refuses to pay for.