Bumped from flight, but check is not in the mail
Qto Baltimore, wherewe stopped off to see Edgar Allan Poe’s grave. Mymomtoldme all about howevery year on Poe’s birthday a mysterious stranger leaves a bottle of liquor by the stone. Iwas 4.
Q: Have you traveled to a place that stood out so much that you felt compelled to incorporate it into yourwork?
A: Not in a literal sense, but the island I feature in “Miss Peregrine” is a composite of many places I’ve visited. I spentmy junior year of college in Ireland. While there, I fell in love with itswestern islands. There’s a lot of the Arans inmy fictional Cairnholm island.
Q: Where is the most romantic destination?
A: I don’t think where you are matters nearly as much as who you’re with. Many of the most romantic evenings ofmy life have been spent inmy own house withmy wife and a takeout pizza. That said, you could do a lotworse than the resort islands of Palawan in the southwestern Philippines. That place is beautiful. Q: What are your five favorite cities? A: My own, Los Angeles, has to top the list. There’s much to dislike aboutmy city, but its pleasures and charms are many, though occasionally subtle. Wellington, NewZealand, is a beautiful, bite-sized city with great culture, great coffee, and it’s right on the edge of aworld of adventure— the magnificent South Island ofNewZealand, quite possibly one ofmy favorite places on earth. Dublin is the first nonAmerican city I ever lived in, and it’ll always have a special place inmy heart. Amsterdam is marvelous, especially in the summer, and Portland, Ore.
Wewere returning from Rome to Vancouver via Toronto last year whenwewere bumped from our flight by Alitalia. Alitalia rerouted us through London, wherewe ran into a great deal of difficulty, including a missed flight. Eventually, we caught a flight to Vancouver the next day.
Alitalia owes us 600 euros, according to the European consumer-protection rules. But the airline has provided an almost perfect case study of an airline employing delay and stonewalling techniques as a means to avoid its regulatory and legal obligations, and towear down the complainants in the process.
There have been several emails exchanged among us, our travel agent and Alitalia. The airline doesn’t respond to the regulatory and legal-case information raised by us and our travel agent. We have filed a complaint with Canadian authorities, butwe alsowould appreciate your assistance in dealing with Alitalia on this issue. courtesy before taking it to the next level.
Whenan airlinewon’t budge, your final step is to take this issue to authorities. In addition to the CanadianTransportation Agency ( otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/air-travelcomplaintsI also might have considered contacting Italian regulators. (In the United States, youwould have been able to complain to theU.S. Department of Transportation.)
I contacted Alitalia on your behalf. It said that it also heard fromCanadian authorities about your case. It apologized for theway in which it handled your claim and paid you the 600 euros you’re owed. It also promised to address your case with customer-care agents “to ensurewe avoid similar mistakes in the future.”