Hello peeps,
After some advice from anybody with practical experience of fighting the airlines!
Had my US Airways flight cancelled twice a week ago. Should have travelled out on Sat morning at 1055hrs am from Brussels to the US, but the flight was eventually cancelled at 8pm after a sorry tale of a pilot going sick, followed by a mechanical fault on the aircraft. We were housed in a hotel overnight ready to take the same flight on the Sunday morning. I turned up on Sunday morning but this was also subsequently cancelled after the part required to sort out the mechanical fault had not arrived.
I was eventually rebooked onto an alternative airline and I got out to the States on Sunday. However, I incurred a wasted Saturday obviously as well as the cost of the hotel in the States that I had booked for Saturday evening. I could not cancel the hotel as their terms and conditions stated I had to cancel before 4pm, and the flight was not finally/officially cancelled until 8pm on Sat. At 8pm I called the hotel to cancel but was told it was too late.
The airline have offered me a free flight that I must use within a year, but have refused compensation for the hotel that I was charged for but could not use because of the airlines inability to get me to the States as booked.
So what should I do ? I would have preferred cash instead of the offer of a flight, and I would have liked a refund of my hotel costs, as well as the international telephone charges that I incurred trying to cancel the hotel.
Anyone out there with experience?