Knowing What You're Owed
Eli 23.1 had a relatively simple trip to Bogota (one month for field research) scheduled today.Bus to London. Fly to Paris. Non-stop to Bogota.
It was, by far, the least complicated itinerary he's ever had when traveling.
So, of course, his flight to Paris was delayed 3+ hours and he missed his connecting flight. There's not another flight until tomorrow.
In the U.S., you'd get a voucher for the shittiest hotel imaginable, if you were lucky.
In the EU, because the flight delay didn't satisfy the legal definition of "extraordinary circumstances" (he downloaded the law and the airline's policy and read through it), he was entitled to 600 euros, hotel, and four meals.
He got in line and went through half an hour of denial theater by the airline, even after telling them he had the airline's own policy on his phone and had read through it.
Finally, they relented.
I couldn't understand why they did the song and dance until he told me what happened when he turned away from the counter. The people in line thanked him because they knew exactly what to say to get 600 euros+hotel+meals instead of just a hotel.
The airline was trying to make him give up so everyone else would, too.
That half an hour of wasting time is going to cost the airline 10,000+ euros because everyone behind him paid attention.
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