Yeah I had one delayed for 8 hours then ultimately canceled with no flights out until the next day due to weather and got nothing because it wasn't the airline's fault. Luckily the hotel within walking distance had rooms available.
got comped for a similar situation a month ago. Even got the option to choose a later departure time so I could get a decent nights sleep in instead of sleeping for four hours and rushing back through TSA. Also comped my uber.
You just have to ask the person by your gate if you get any compensation and from my experience it worked out.
Unless it’s headed to Europe. Then the European laws step in. Not the same airliner, but my kid was headed to Europe but due to a storm, the flight was delayed every 2 hours a few times and eventually cancelled… since they were going to Europe, it was required the airline pay for their hotel, food, and travel back and forth. If it was within the country here, they would’ve been shit out of luck
EC261 only applies to non-EU airlines when departing from the EU. If you started from the US then it would have needed to be an EU airline for their rules to be relevant.
It worked for my daughter, no idea about the law or rule but just know based on my kids experience recently. And it was only because she was flying to the EU.. I get not all their rules work but because she was going there, they paid for the hotel here and stuff. And no not the US. It was Air Canada. If they were traveling within Canada and it was cancelled due to weather, then it wouldn’t have happened. But because she was going to Europe, they paid for her hotel and stuff. Happened in March 2026.
honestly it’s possible. any delay at a major airport can cause mass disruptions across the country. regardless of if you’re going anywhere near that city
The trick is you ask them for the can of soda and they will give you the can and then the cup of ice on the side. I fly a lot for work and it works every time.
First person gets to swallow it, then when they poop it out, it gets rinsed off for the next person. Same peanut works for several passengers, more if they give laxatives.
we stopped flying united airlines in 2011 because they made my wife and i split a can of soda with two strangers and we all had to sip from the same damn can —Ken M
A hundred years ago, Frontier used to give everyone a warm orange muffin while boarding. Since Denver was the hub, I got two, warm orange muffins again. Those were really the days.
I remember they came to collect the can once and I said I I put it in my bag to take with me cause I had a long trip from the airport and they said it was regulation that they had to take it back and they took the unopened can back. I don’t think they were being cheap. I think they actually had to do it because they seemed like they were reasonable flight attendant and I don’t think they would’ve given me a hard time if they didn’t have to.
I've always wondered if the flight attendants would say no if you asked for the full can. The last flights I've taken had all drinks included in economy (yes, even alcohol) so technically it's easier for them, instead of you asking for refills?
Not necessarily. Airlines do anything they can to not cancel a flight. If the flight is cancelled, they will have to make accommodations to get you to your destination. If a delay is overnight, 95% of the time you’ll be eligible for a hotel room
“ladies and gentlemen we are offering a $500 credit and a first class upgrade to the first volunteer willing to become unruly in order for us to refuse to provide hotel compensation to the rest of you”
It's not even "runway" it's maintenance on the aircraft itself, and airliners need near constant maintenance. Even if they can't find some mechanical excuse they can say something in the cabin needed work, because they always do.
This move is to protect metrics. Controllable Cancels are a pretty big deal for some carriers and they will go to absurd lengths to prevent them. Cancelling this and creating an extra section also can complicate things on the backend with passengers and crew.
Back when I worked for a Delta Connections Carrier we were not allowed to cancel a flight for anything other than weather and even then they’d force us to hold onto the flight for days. Delta was really big on days without a controllable cancellation or even any cancellation and called them “Brand Days.” We had multiple flights that we delayed out 7 days and operated empty just to protect these “Brand Days.”
One time we had a plane that had to do an unscheduled engine change in one of our “out stations” where we only had contract maintenance. Delta was our contract maintenance, but their mechanics were somehow always busy so we had to fly in our own mechanics from another city every single day to do this engine change. Since our mechanics didn’t have SIDA badges for this station, they needed an escort from Delta, but Delta could only escort them in 15 minute intervals. It took us 5 days to change the engine in 15 minute intervals after it took a day and a half to get an engine there in the first play.
We were down to the wire and on taxi out the other engine started running too hot, so we had to return to gate. After 7 days, we just didn’t have the resources to waste on a revenue flight that no one was flying on. When I called Atlanta ROC to tell them we were having to cancel a 7 day delayed empty flight, I was verbally lambasted for being bad at my job for ruining a “Brand Day.”
So incredibly happy I don’t work under that brand anymore.
Well holy shit this is a level of incompetent I wish I didn't know existed. Jesus Christ I'm so sorry you had to deal with that and so happy you are out and don't have to anymore.
We had an international flight a couple of years ago on Delta. About 2 hours before we were going to head to the airport, I got a text that our flight had been cancelled. The text said they couldn’t find an alternative for us, but they “could refund our fare for airline credit.” Nevermind that we had a paid for hotel and plans in and around Rome.
I was able to get tickets on another airline and I spent months fighting Delta trying to get our money back not as Delta airlines credit.
I was recently stranded overnight and the airline said they didn’t have to comp hotels because the overnight delay was not their fault, but a combination of weather and regulations (crew legally could not fly long enough to reach our destination, no replacement crew available in the remote place we got diverted to). They said to sleep in the airport if we couldn’t afford a hotel 😃
I'm a former AA employee. If the delay is caused by AA (crew called in sick, mechanical issue, etc) then you will still be given a hotel. If you want to cancel your trip then you'll also be refunded. If the delay was caused by weather or ATC, you wouldn't be given a hotel anyway.
This has nothing to do with paying for hotels and everything to do with operational recovery, because the airplane and crew are needed in Miami in the morning.
This is still way better than a cancellation, especially during a holiday when the next flight with room might not be for a few days.
edit: the company policy was that if it was delayed over 90 minutes into the next calendar day because of something within the airline's control, they will issue hotels).
Yep. Had a 10:10pm flight on American delayed by weather at DFW until 9:20AM the next morning and they basically told me to go fuck myself because it was weather and not crew or mechanical. Had to go out of pocket for a hotel room. Got a $50 flight credit for e-mailing customer service.
Out of curiosity, what would be the policy if it were something like extended extreme weather? Like a snowstorm bad enough that they could be 95% certain they wouldn't be able to take off until at least the next morning?
During hurricane season it happens where a city won't have any flights for 3-4 days. You can either cancel for a refund, or wait it out until something opens up.
Sometimes there will be long delays on a single flight (like OP's situation). This happens because cancelling a flight really is a last resort. The company still wants that flight to operate, and it's probably needed in Miami in the morning.
AA (and I imagine other airlines) only cancel when it's 100% clear that they won't be able to operate. The airline's dispatch office is the department that decides whether a flight will cancel.
Okay, thanks for the explanation! I really don't fly often and have been lucky so far with timing on the rare chance I do, so my personal experience is super limited.
That sounds super stressful for the logistics people trying to make things actually work. I've heard that a lot of airlines operate on a just-in-time model rather than a just-in-case, and coming from a "two is one and one is none" job environment, that would make me so anxious!
weather delays aren’t the airlines responsibility. the airlines are only required to reimburse when they delay/cancellation was within the airlines control.
Airlines will do everything they can to not cancel a flight because doing so hurts their metrics and those aren't seats they can get back. Currently AA has cancelled dozens of flights over the last couple of days due to the ongoing situation with the cargo plane crash @ MIA airport Sunday afternoon. Over 400 flights to and from MIA have been delayed and over 100 flights have been cancelled, Every hotel in Miami is booked and hundreds of people are currently sleeping @ MIA intl overnight. Pretty much all airlines have delayed their flights to Tuesday in the hope things will be smoother
It’s delayed when its the same flight number and destination. That’s why they distinguish between “delays” and “significant delays” when it comes to compensation you’re entitled to.
American Airlines is horrible. Ive never flown with them since I saw them tell a pregnant lady with a toddlerhat they wont comp her a hotel and that the best they could do was put her on a 7 am flight at chicago o hare when it was already past 11 pm and all the food was closed. Its fucking inhumane. American is a joke.... book with them is FAFO
I witnessed one of their flight attendants put their hand in a passengers face for asking a simple question nicely about when we were taking off. Over 10 years after, I flew them again thinking things changed. Nope. Another flight attendant started laughing at a passenger asking for water. Walked to baggage claim, got our bags, and said I’ll never fly them again.
This is giving me flashbacks to when American Airlines left me stranded in the Dominican Republic for over two days by repeatedly delaying and cancelling my flights over and over. Absolutely horrible experience and I vowed to NEVER fly with AA again in my entire life. With my entire chest, FUCK AMERICAN AIRLINES
Former captain here (for a different airline). Sometimes things break and we're not sure if we can fix it or not. Maybe you're at an outstation and contract maintenance is trying to get a part. Maybe we're trying to fly a part in or a mechanic. Maybe a crew timed out and we're trying to deadhead someone else in. So you take a delay and hope the problem can be fixed, even if you're not sure.
But yeah, I've also seen airlines delay delay delay so they don't have to pay for things.
This is still considered a delay, its delayed overnight. And depending on the reason why its been delayed overnight would mean if your offered hotel.
Due to what happened at the airport in Miami most of these flights delay or cancellation are considered something out of the Airlines fault and in that case your not given a hotel.
Keep an eye on the flight and yeah maybe Brightline might be a better option all things considered.
It depends on the type of delay. There are many times that delays become overnights due to curfew or staffing restrictions. The plane still needs to get to the next stop and so do the people, so instead of trying to rebook people on full flights the next day and getting stuck with an extra plane, they will fly it out the next day with the passengers. If the delay was due to maintenance or a crew issue (if crew issue is not related to weather), you should have hotel covered. If it is weather, airport issues, or something that is not viewed as in the airlines control, it will not be comped.
Airlines don't have to comp passengers when the delay is outside of the airlines control. In this case it would fall under extraordinary circumstance due to the plane crash, and the FAA shutting down MIA. This is the same rule the airlines followed so they didn't have to cover hotels, and meals for passangers after 9/11.
Also isn't it like 4 hours drive? That's totally a flying distance, especially if flying intercontinental, 4 hours drive home after 12 hours flight is not fun
No, this means the flight isn’t cancelled, all the passengers have seats on the flight but it won’t depart until tomorrow. Doesn’t change the options. You can ask if you can get reimbursed if there’s a different flight option
Only if it was caused by an issue they could control (aka mechanical issue).
I going to guess you are not at a crew base and no way to get a crew there until the morning. Everything they have are pilots who are timed out and no flight they could scramble something for.
If the flight cancels those seats are just gone, so you have to hope they have other seats available on different flights for you in a reasonable time. Also, the plane still has to be moved to MIA so might as well make seats available. And yes, airlines do everything they can to not cancel. Better completion statistics allows them to get better contracts from large customers.
You can always call customer service, a three hour mechanical delay made us miss our connecting flight. The gate attendant said that they wouldn’t comp the hotel stay, but talking with a rep after the fact got it refunded.
Allegiant has done the same thing to me. After three taxi then deplane, our flight was “rescheduled” to 11:00am the next day. Since it wasn’t canceled they paid $200 per itinerary and nothing for transportation or lodging. Had it been canceled they would have paid $200 per traveler (four of us). We had to rent a car and find a hotel on our own (racing the rest of the passengers). It was one of the biggest dick moves I’ve experienced by an airline.
I had a flight delayed 16 hours and ended up in a hotel room. The delay was a mechanical issue. I ended up needed a second hotel the next day as I missed a connecting flight!
American just lost my luggage today for the first time ever, they’re really slacking. I even checked it in at the gate and somehow it didn’t follow me home
This is when it benefits you to have a credit card with trip delay reimbursement. I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and certain expenses are covered when a trip is delayed by x amount of hours or overnight. I helped us with a hotel and meal reimbursement, as well as Lyft rides, for two trips this year. The trip will have to been booked under that card to be eligible.
They once offered my family a hotel room when ours was delayed but my mom was worried we'd miss it so we slept in the airport for some reason. Times were similar to this. I was young so may have been confused.
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u/Internal_Use8954 6h ago
I’ve had flights delayed till the next morning and got a comped hotel room.