Claiming for delayed flight

[unifoxos]

A few weeks ago I was on a flight delayed 24 hours due to a fault on the a/c . I have to say that the BA service was excellent. By the sceduled time of take-off we had been bussed to a hotel (better than the one we had been using, and all-inclusive), and we were sitting having our dinner in one of the restaurants.

It seemed a shame to punish them for giving us an extra day's holiday in the Caribbean, but we were a bit annoyed that we missed our nice dinner in the premium seats we had shelled out for, so I put in a claim. BA forked out EUR 1200 after simply filling in a web form - first class service again.

It set me wondering - how many pax actually make a claim for a delayed flight when they are legally entitled to? Anybody from an airline admin dept. know?

[Capetonian]

I don't know as a percentage but I would suspect it's not even 50%. However it is increasing due to publicity and got some good coverage earlier this week on Martin Lewis' excellent Money Programme.
Have a look at the thread I started recently on SLF.
I would just add that this whole compensation thing has the potential to become a bit of a double-edged weapon.

[A Lutra Continua]

Two day delay in Paris a couple of months back, due to bad weather at destination. Apparently compo not given in those circumstances. They should be sending round truckloads of cash to make up for being forced to sit in that hellhole for two days. Got attacked by my sister for being an unromantic shithead when I grumped at her about being there.

[Capetonian]

WX is understandably considered as outwith the carrier's control and thus does not give rise to a valid claim. Strikes and industrial action by third parties are also excluded.
Technical delays and crew shortages are generally considered as claimable.
CDG is a shithole but there are worse places to be stuck. Lagos, Luanda, Ilha do Sal come to mind.

[500N]

"CDG is a shithole but there are worse places to be stuck. Lagos, Luanda, Ilha do Sal come to mind."

A day in Bombay, although BA did truck us to a hotel, was still pretty bad.