Flight cancellation

[paboncha]

I'm in Hartford, CT.
I'm from Brazil and my flight back home was cancelled and rebooked for three days later. The company, although rebooked it free of charges, is not paying for hotel, food or anything. I speak English relatively well, but it's hard to get information from the company. I called them two times before the rebooking was successful and when I asked them to speak slowly, they apparently got angry and hung up on me. I came to a hotel at my own expense and the company never asked me if a I needed any help. Am I entitled to any kind of compensation?
I really don't think it's fair doing that with anyone. And, in my opinion, it gets even worse considering that I'm a tourist.
Being a lawyer, I know that a Brazilian company would be in serious trouble if gave such a lame treatment to a consumer, but I don't know how American consumer protection system works. I'd be really thankful if somebody could help me.

 

[quincy]

I'm in Hartford, CT.
I'm from Brazil and my flight back home was cancelled and rebooked for three days later. The company, although rebooked it free of charges, is not paying for hotel, food or anything. I speak English relatively well, but it's hard to get information from the company. I called them two times before the rebooking was successful and when I asked them to speak slowly, they apparently got angry and hung up on me. I came to a hotel at my own expense and the company never asked me if a I needed any help. Am I entitled to any kind of compensation?
I really don't think it's fair doing that with anyone. And, in my opinion, it gets even worse considering that I'm a tourist.
Being a lawyer, I know that a Brazilian company would be in serious trouble if gave such a lame treatment to a consumer, but I don't know how American consumer protection system works. I'd be really thankful if somebody could help me.

Which airline? What was the reason given for the cancellation?

 

[Zigner]

I'm in Hartford, CT.
I'm from Brazil and my flight back home was cancelled and rebooked for three days later. The company, although rebooked it free of charges, is not paying for hotel, food or anything. I speak English relatively well, but it's hard to get information from the company. I called them two times before the rebooking was successful and when I asked them to speak slowly, they apparently got angry and hung up on me. I came to a hotel at my own expense and the company never asked me if a I needed any help. Am I entitled to any kind of compensation?
I really don't think it's fair doing that with anyone. And, in my opinion, it gets even worse considering that I'm a tourist.
Being a lawyer, I know that a Brazilian company would be in serious trouble if gave such a lame treatment to a consumer, but I don't know how American consumer protection system works. I'd be really thankful if somebody could help me.

What does your contract with the company that you purchased the ticket from have to say about this type of situation?

 

[Taxing Matters]

Am I entitled to any kind of compensation?

The answer to that under U.S. law is that your compensation depends on the contract of carriage that you have with the air carrier. For purely domestic flights, U.S. law does not require compensation to passengers other than in instances where the passenger is bumped from a flight due to overbooking. Flights delayed or cancelled for other reasons do not require any kind of compensation under U.S. law. For flights that start or end outside the U.S. compensation may be required as set out in Article 19 of the Montreal Convention, which is an international treaty that governs certain aspects of international air travel, including certain rights of passengers on international trips. Most nations, including the U.S. and Brazil, are parties to this treaty. Article 19 simply states:

The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, baggage or cargo. Nevertheless, the carrier shall not be liable for damage occasioned by delay if it proves that it and its servants and agents took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for it or them to take such measures.​

Under Article 33 of the treaty, it appears that you potentially could bring your compliant in court against the airline in one of several nations, including the country of your destination, if you cannot work it out with the airline. Thus, you may be able to bring the complaint in Brazil, which would almost certainly be a more convenient forum for you than the U.S.

You can read the text of the full treaty in English here: https://www.iata.org/policy/Documents/MC99_en.pdf

Unfortunately I was not able to easily find a Portuguese language version of the treaty for you.

So start with the contract of carriage. If you can point to provisions in it that require compensation, the airline should not give you any hassle about paying what its own contract says it will pay. If the contract does not discuss it, or limits the compensation to less than Article 19 would allow, then point out Article 19 and see where that gets you. As a last resort, you may need to sue the airline to get compensation, though at least it appears you can do that in Brazil.

 

[quincy]

The answer to that under U.S. law is that your compensation depends on the contract of carriage that you have with the air carrier.....

Although your post has a lot of really good information, TM, what I quoted above of your post is not necessarily true, which is one reason for the questions that previously were asked.

The cancellation might not have originated with the airlines but instead might have originated with the company through which paboncha booked his ticket (e.g., travel agency). If that is the case, the airlines is not where paboncho would look for compensation.