u/drf_101

I just became aware of this and it makes me irrationally angry.

TL; DR: Delta paid me €300 in cash x 4 people (€1200) because our fight from CDG-SEA-PDX was delayed and we got to our final destination 3 hrs and 15 min later than scheduled. I filed a claim citing European Union regulations (Regulation EC No 261/2004) and they called me 3 weeks later and said it was approved.

We had a flight from CDG to SEA last month, connecting onward to PDX.

Our CDG–SEA flight was delayed about an hour because the plane needed a software update, then we spent another 30 minutes waiting for a gate after landing in Seattle. I was worried we’d miss our connection, but Delta had already automatically rebooked us onto the next SEA–PDX flight.

That replacement flight was also delayed because of the gate issues in Seattle. The aircraft still had to fly a leg to Boise and back before operating our flight.

Interestingly, both our originally booked SEA–PDX flight and the flight Delta rebooked us onto ended up landing late (within about 5 minutes of each other).

Long story short, we arrived at PDX (our final destination) about 3 hours and 15 minutes later than originally scheduled.

I filed a claim under the EU's Regulation EC No 261/2004 via Delta.com and attached screenshots of:

• Our original itinerary email
• Delta’s flight status page for CDG–SEA
• Delta’s flight status page for SEA–PDX

I noted that we arrived at our final destination 3 hours and 15 minutes late and requested compensation.

Exactly three weeks later, I got a phone call from Delta. The agent apologized for the delay and said they would be issuing €300 cash per person. There were four of us, so €1,200 total. They told me the payments needed to come as four separate EFT transfers, and I just needed to provide a unique email address for each passenger.

I emailed Delta back, and the EFT transfer requests came through within about 10 minutes. The money hit my bank account one business day later.

Just wanted to share because Delta made the process surprisingly easy.

Long story short our family was flying from Central Europe to Orly and we were very tired after long delay.

I was walking through taxi tunnel, past the guys trying to lure you into rides outside the official cab line. When I get to the end a guy in suit inside the tunnel walks next to me and says “four?” And I said yes and he asked me where I was going. I told him the name of the hotel and said right bank and near Bastille. He pointed to the taxi van at the front of the line. After I got to it he opened the back hatch I got my wits about me and said €45 flat rate? He said €110 for van or I get a small car.

Then I saw the guy in the reflective vest. I said no. The van guy yelled at me in French for wasting his time. The reflective vest guy took a minute to get me in queue but then directed me to an identical van in line. My wife said she saw the usher clock what has happened to us but I didn’t as I was trying to figure out how to get back in que without “cutting.”

I thought the scammer was the usher but when he walked to his own van that was what set off the red flag. The usher in the reflective vest happened to be away from the cab line at that moment when the cab driver snagged me, and my unfamiliarity with Orly meant I also got taken.

Just a reminder to ask questions before you hand over bags and be willing to walk away.

Any other thoughts are welcome.