A: Norwegian Airlines should have kept its promise. But legally, it didn’t have to. Here’s why: The drone incident is considered an “extraordinary” circumstance, which is beyond the airline’s control. It wasn’t required to get you from Paris to London.

Further complicating the issue: The Fort Lauderdale representative made a verbal promise, not a written one. And as I’ve always said, talk is cheap. There’s no way to prove that Norwegian said it would pay for your train tickets.

The next time someone from an airline offers you something off-menu, get it in writing. If they refuse to put it on paper, at least get the full name and number of the helpful representative. That way, you can reference the conversation when pleading your case.

I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the Norwegian Airlines customer service representatives on my consumer advocacy site. A quick, polite note to one of them might have helped.

I think it’s interesting that Norwegian reimbursed your friends, but not you, for the same itinerary change. It should have refunded you for the tickets, too, as it had promised — and for consistency’s sake. Making a U-turn was bad form.

I contacted Norwegian on your behalf. It re-examined your claim and decided to refund you $1,137, the cost of your train tickets to London.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of “How to Be the World’s Smartest Traveler.” You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.