Airline compensation. Advice please.

[carlosthejack...]

We were caught up in the Spanish ATC's strike in December last year, leading to our flight being cancelled and us being "stuck" in Fuerteventura for 5 extra days. I say stuck, the villa we rent was unoccupied until the following Wednesday, which is when the airline had rescheduled our flight and the owner of the villa was more than happy for us to stay there (at a pro-rata nightly cost naturally) until then.

We also had to rebook our car hire to cover the extra period of time we were staying, being 40km away from the airport in Corralejo. Being direct with the car hire firm, it was at a premium rate too, rather than the discounted internet rate we got pre-booking through a broker.

Added to that, we had 4 nights and five days worth of food and booze (we were technically still on holiday at that point no?) to pay for as well, we could hardly survive on fresh air and sunshine.

Plus the lost earnings from work for us both added up to quite a lot too. We've since applied for, and got, special leave for the extra time we were away, but the airline don't know this.

All told, including the "£100 per person per night" compo that air travellers apparently are entitled to in the event of cancellations, we billed the airline for a total of £2090 (accommodation, car hire, subsistence and lost wages), and supplied copies of all the relevant invoices, receipts and hire agreements.

The airline have sent us a cheque for £211.11. Which, we think, is the cost of the accommodation and subsistence only. No car hire, no lost earnings and no "£100 per person per night" which was being quoted on the BBC by that rat-faced travel "expert" at the time.

Now, we had a great extra 5 days, the weather was cracking, the booze was cheap, the food was great and we didn't lose out on any leave time with work 'cos we got it back. I'm happy to get anything back at all, as I've read on some sites that airlines don't have to pay you squat if the cancellation is due to circumstances beyond their control (which I don't believe it was, the ATC's went back to work at 3pm, we weren't due to fly until 9pm. Yes, we'd have been massively delayed, but it wouldn't have been a big deal), but I still don't know whether to call it quits or push for more? It's not like we need the money.

We like the airline and fly with them regularly.

Opinions please?
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[kentpunkster]

This all depends on how much time e-mailing/phoning/writing letters you are prepared to waste. In my experience never accept the first offer. The airline are just testing the water. I had a flight cancelled at the same time and got back all my money, plus hotel fees and airport parking.

[Ichy]

[Drew]