Denied boarding by Air India due to overbooking, 22+ hour delay, no hotel during 16h layover, rude staff and financial losses - what are our chances of compensation?
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Sorry for the long text, there is a tl:dr at the end. And yes, I used ChatGPT to put the whole ordeal into words.
My wife and I recently, mid April, had an absolutely horrible experience with Air India on our return trip from Colombo to Frankfurt and I wanted to share it publicly because honestly I still cannot believe how badly this was handled.
Original route:
Colombo → Delhi (AI 282)
Delhi → Frankfurt
We were supposed to arrive in Frankfurt on Saturday at 7:35 PM German time.
We had:
confirmed tickets
completed check-in
boarding passes for BOTH flights already issued
Then at Colombo airport we suddenly got told that the Delhi–Frankfurt flight had been overbooked and that we were being denied boarding.
Important:
We were NEVER asked if we would volunteer to give up our seats
We NEVER agreed to being bumped off the flight
So this was purely involuntary denied boarding because Air India oversold the flight.
What made the whole thing even worse was how Air India handled the situation afterwards.
We spent around 5 hours at the airport trying to get help. During this time, Air India staff repeatedly tried to push us onto reroutings through Middle Eastern airspace which at the time we personally considered unsafe due to the geopolitical situation and European aviation safety warnings. We refused those options.
Eventually we were sent to a hotel around 10:45 AM, only to be informed about 90 minutes later that they had found another routing:
Colombo → Mumbai
16 hour layover in Mumbai
Mumbai → Frankfurt
This rerouting caused us to arrive in Frankfurt at 5:55 PM on Monday instead of Saturday evening. So overall the delay was more than 22 hours.
Because of this:
we lost our prepaid train tickets
we had to buy new tickets for €156
both of us had to take a day of unpaid leave because we couldn’t return to work on Monday as planned
Now comes the really unacceptable part.
In Colombo we were explicitly told that accommodation in Mumbai would be arranged because of the 16 hour layover.
That never happened.
At the transfer desk in Mumbai, the first Air India employee we encountered was openly rude and hostile. Instead of helping us, he basically tried to get rid of us by offering a tiny food voucher worth around 1000 INR total for two people and asking us if we wanted “KFC or Indian food.”
When we asked about the promised hotel, he claimed there were no rooms available. I literally checked Booking.com in front of him and rooms at the airport hotel were still available. When I pointed this out, he became aggressive and said I could book it myself but Air India would not pay.
After I asked twice to speak to a manager, he simply refused to communicate with us any further.
We then spent HOURS wandering through the international transfer terminal trying to find any Air India help desk — except there basically wasn’t one. We had to approach random boarding gates just to find Air India staff.
Some later staff members actually did try to help us and I appreciate their efforts. But by then apparently all accommodation was genuinely booked.
At this point my wife and I had been awake for nearly 24 hours.
Finally around 2 AM, some Air India staff arranged temporary access to the Adani Lounge so we could at least sit down properly, shower and rest a little before the next flight.
Even then, when boarding the Frankfurt flight, I asked whether after everything that happened they could at least upgrade us into one of the remaining premium economy seats so we could rest properly.
Answer? Only if we paid an additional 68,000 INR.
No gesture of goodwill. No empathy. Nothing.
After arriving in Frankfurt we went to the Air India counter hoping they would at least document the situation or guarantee reimbursement for the replacement train tickets.
The employee there basically told us there was nothing he could do and showed zero willingness to help after everything we had already gone through.
In the end we:
lost time
lost money
lost sleep
were denied boarding against our will
received almost no proper care during a 16 hour layover
and got treated more like a problem than customers
We are now pursuing compensation under EU261 and the Montreal Convention.
Honestly, I’ve flown with many airlines before, including budget carriers, but I have never experienced such a complete lack of customer care and accountability.
Has anyone here successfully claimed compensation from Air India for denied boarding or delays like this?
TL;DR
Air India denied my wife and me boarding on our Delhi → Frankfurt flight because they overbooked it
We already had confirmed tickets, checked in, and boarding passes
We were bumped involuntarily and delayed by over 22 hours
Air India promised hotel accommodation during a 16h layover in Mumbai but never provided it
Staff in Mumbai were rude, dismissive and refused to help properly
We spent almost 24 hours without sleep before finally getting temporary lounge access at 2 AM
We lost prepaid train tickets and had to take unpaid leave from work because we arrived a day late
Even after arrival in Frankfurt, Air India staff refused meaningful assistance
Now pursuing compensation under EU261 and the Montreal Convention
Worst airline experience we’ve ever had