Do airlines have to compensate passengers for postponed flights?

Recently, I found out this isn't true.

I was in Armidale, NSW, with my family when I received a text saying our Qantas flight back to Sydney had been postponed until the next morning.

I rang one of the two phone numbers provided and spoke to a woman in an overseas call centre. After I'd answered a large number of "security questions", she told me to go to Armidale Airport and pick up an accommodation voucher. I said I'd rather call and have them email the voucher. She gave me a number for Qantas in Armidale, but it had been disconnected.

I phoned the other number, and asked if I was through to Qantas in Armidale. The operator assured me that I was, but his accent was suspiciously similar to the call-centre worker's.

After we had gone through all the security questions again, he asked where I was.

I said I was in Armidale, like him.

He then admitted that he was not, in fact, in Armidale.

He told me to go to the airport for my accommodation voucher. I asked him to put me through to Qantas in Armidale, but the line rang out.

I went to Armidale Airport where, with some difficulty, I managed to find a Qantas staff member. The airline employee told me I wasn't eligible for an accommodation voucher, because my flight had been postponed due to forces outside of the control of Qantas: that is, bad weather. He told me that I should have bought travel insurance.

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It seems that an airline only has to offer compensation if you're unable to continue travelling because your flight is significantly delayed due to engineering issues, IT system outages, delayed delivery of baggage, late cleaning or loading of catering to the aircraft, crew or staffing issues, offloading due to overbooking, or any other circumstance that that airline can reasonably control.

In these cases, Qantas offers a $200 accommodation voucher per room booked, and $50 or $30 meal voucher per person depending on whether departure is delayed by more or less than 12 hours.

A passenger isn't entitled to anything if the delay is due to weather events, air traffic control issues, third-party industrial action, security issues, or any other unusual or unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances beyond the control of the airline.

While I was trying to claim my vouchers, I was repeatedly told that Qantas doesn't control the weather - but I knew that already.

So I paid for a room at Rydges Armidale, where the lovely manager upgraded my family to a suite, and I sat in the restaurant and sulked.

But this story has a happy ending.

Using the customer-care form on qantas.com, I complained about being misled by the call centre and, after I'd sent only two progressively deranged emails, Qantas offered me $200 compensation.

It was less than I'd spent on accommodation and meals, but more than I was entitled to. So, thank you, Qantas.