Our flight (#1) was delayed by 4 hours due to mechanical problems. We had a connecting flight, so they got us on another flight (#2) leaving in an hour. As soon as we got settled in at the new gate for flight #2, we got the message that it was delayed for mechanical problems. So we switched back to the original flight #1.
While waiting, I kept getting texts that the other flight (#2) was delayed even longer. Then I realized that I kept getting updates on flight #2, which we were no longer taking, and realized that our luggage was probably still going with #2, as the airline seemed to think that we were still on #2. So, I had to spend more time with the airline trying to get that straightened out and hoping that the luggage would end up at our destination. Then I spend time on the phone confirming our rental car and hotel to make sure they didn't cancel our reservations.
I booked the flight, hotel, and car through the airline. I had already priced everything, and the price was the same, so I did it to make one big reservation. When I called the airline to have them note the delays and hold our hotel and rental car reservations, they said they couldn't do it and I'd have to call the car and hotel directly. Wait, I booked through the airline but they couldn't help me out my reservations because of their delay?
We finally got to our connecting airport, deplaned, and found out that our connecting flight was also delayed, but at least it was only an hour. All in all, it turned out that we were delayed by a total of 5 hours and our plans for our first night of our trip had to be canceled. We were going to spend time with my grandma, who is dying. Oh, and yes, the luggage did make it to our destination, but arrived before we did, which makes no sense to me.
We were given an $100 travel voucher each, and that's it. That only breaks down to $20 per hour and our time was worth way more than that! Is that normal? Do people usually get more? Is it normal to reserve hotel and car through the airline but have them tell you that they can't help with problems due to their delays?
I would say you got a good deal with the vouchers and yes, typical if you book through a third party like that they are just a middle man for the sale, not afterwards.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Complain complain complain.
YES!!!
Airline customer service is for shit because federal law exempts airlines from complying with state consumer protection laws. That doesn't mean that we have to bend over and take it.
If you need some inspiration in fighting this, read this.
And vouchers like that aren't actually compensating you because you have to spend money to be able to use them.
A true "I'm sorry" would not generate profit for the company.
So true!! Plus, the vouchers must be used within one year. We only fly once every three or four years, so how are the vouchers a benefit to me? They know most people won't use them, so they are a hollow apology.
We were delayed last year due to mechanical problems on our way to Hawaii. They provided us with vouchers for flights (I think $500 each?) as well as lunch and a NICE hotel at the airport, which we took advantage of even though we were an hour from home (Hey, I was on lots of xanax by that point)
This last year we had another delay at Heathrow, and so far all we have been able to get out of United is $200 vouchers per person, and they bought us lunch.
Look for a passengers bill of rights for your airline online - that is where we found that we were owed compensation from United - and we did have to ask for it. Hawaiian just gave it to us - no request required. (Also, Hawaiian is a kick ass airline)
I had a flight completely cancelled and the new flight left the next day. We had to stand in line for 5 hours (no exaggeration) to get new tickets reissued for us for the next day.
We had to wait in line for 3 hours at Heathrow to get our new tickets. Lets just say that the natives were restless.
My flight was once delayed because of mechanical issues. Except is was delayed before it came in. So it came in (to Syracuse) over an hour late because it was late leaving Kentucky. But because there weren't any mechanical issues in Syracuse, the airline was all, "What? No, your flight wasn't delayed because of mechanical issues."
The flight was so late coming in, that it left over 90 minutes late and I missed my (night time) connection at JFK and had to sleep on the floor of the airport and try my damnedest to get the next flight out in the morning. I did, but my luggage didn't.
Because it "wasn't the airline's fault" I ended up with a $7 voucher to buy breakfast at JFK.
And thus concludes my story of why I don't fly Delta anymore. Or take the last flight out of any particular airport.
(Next time you can hear my story of how I ALMOST got bumped from a flight where I had booked 2 months in advance AND checked in 2 hours before because they overbooked - until I threw a fit because my husband was in a wedding and we had to make a connection.)
I am honestly surprised you got anything at all. I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and I can be pretty damn squeaky when I am pissed off, but no matter how much I complained or what I said to whom I wasn't able to get any more than a $100 voucher each for the problems my wife and I had coming from MA to CA a couple of years ago on United.
We were delayed eight hours due to mechanical issues in what can only be described as the tiniest, most boring airport in the entire world. As a result of this delay, we missed our connecting flight in CA. When we complained about this at our airport of origin, the airline promised us a hotel stay and tickets out of LAX first thing in the morning to our final destination. When we arrived in LAX it was the middle of the damn night and they had no record of a hotel reservation or a flight the following day. They had just never booked it. Even though the kiosk was about to close we got the employees to promise to call a hotel shuttle and book us a room. They had us wait outside and the shuttle NEVER CAME. The kiosk closed and everyone left and we were just left waiting. When we called the hotel they had no record of anything either. We slept on the floor at LAX all night only to find that our flight was still not booked. We waited on standby in the airport for another 6 hours and arrived at our destination almost 2 days in to a 5 day vacation. God I was so pissed. We complained in both phone and writing to every single person we could think of and the $100 vouchers were the best that was ever offered.
In case you can't tell, I really, really hate United. And flying. And airports. I should sue for pain and suffering.
I don't know what airline it is (and I think $100 is pretty good actually) but I have always had good luck twittering my complaints to Delta and getting an immediate reply.
Post by Norticprincess on Jun 25, 2012 7:32:38 GMT -5
I still haven't received a response from Frontier (that was Sept) over the giant mess they made of our entire trip. Have one worthless $50 travel voucher DH got when he asked for meal vouchers (there were four of us). They told us we were going to miss our connecting flight because our original flight was delayed due o weather (first flight out of the day, no other flights were delayed, it was a crew rest issue due to a weather delay the day before). Ok fine put us on the next flight so we actually get to destination. Go to layover airport, deplaned, then they boarded our original connection on to the plane we'd just deplaned. We got to sit in Denver for four hours until the next flight. Got to destination it took over an hour to get our bags, finally Lund them locked up in a cage, then had to find someone to unlock it. They made the original flight. The flight back was even more of a nightmare and ticks me off when I even think about it.
DH got stuck in Cleveland for 8 hours on the way to a conference last year, missing the entire first day, I was only 2hours later than him to the hotel, my flight left Dulles after work. United at least gave him food vouchers, enough miles to make up for it. He almost got his connecting flight, but they'd just shut the door (his original flight was delayed 2 hours) the gate agent in Harrisburg said he'd never make it, if the gate agent had made a phone call they'd probably held the plane, 7 people on his tiny plane needed to get on the flight for SFO. He now refuses to go out of Harrisburg for anything.
It matters what the cause of the delay was, too. If it was something within the airline's control, like a mechanical delay, then they are supposed to give you compensation. If it was weather, they don't have to give you anything at all and 99% of the time, won't.
Look for a passengers bill of rights for your airline online - that is where we found that we were owed compensation from United - and we did have to ask for it. Hawaiian just gave it to us - no request required. (Also, Hawaiian is a kick ass airline)
I would continue to try, but $100 for a 5 hour delay isn't that bad. It may seem like a huge delay to you, but it really is not. When shit breaks, they have to fix it or get a new plane, which with the ridiculous tight schedules they keep, is not as easy as you'd hope.
But twitter/social media is one of the most effective ways of getting someone to listen, especially if you have a lot of followers
DH got stuck in Cleveland for 8 hours on the way to a conference last year, missing the entire first day, I was only 2hours later than him to the hotel, my flight left Dulles after work. United at least gave him food vouchers, enough miles to make up for it. He almost got his connecting flight, but they'd just shut the door (his original flight was delayed 2 hours) the gate agent in Harrisburg said he'd never make it, if the gate agent had made a phone call they'd probably held the plane, 7 people on his tiny plane needed to get on the flight for SFO. He now refuses to go out of Harrisburg for anything.
Yeah, I had a connection at Dulles once where the plane left 10 minutes early. It was a situation where we were an hour late coming in and they had the people making tight connection deplane first. We RAN to another terminal and we had already missed the plane. If they had held it 5 minutes, we would have made it. We had to wait 4 hours for the next one the Boston instead. (And a flight to Providence was being canceled/delayed for like 8 hours due to mechanical problems, so those people were also trying to get on the Boston flight.)
She is getting $100 off the purchase of a future purchase of a plane ticket, provided she books that second flight very soon, buys it directly through the airline (and not through a discount site), and follows a number of other restrictions that are likely written in 4 point font on the voucher.
There is a HUGE difference between the two. Stop making it sound like they are the same thing when they are not.
How do people not see this?
Don't you think the airline has an obligation to give something of value for being at fault here? Perhaps if you fly a lot, the $100 voucher has value to you, but can you appreciate that it could be as worthless as a piece of wet kleenex to others who never fly?
I'd rather $50 in cash so I could get a decent dinner while I'm held up than a $100 coupon that I am likely not able to use.
She is getting $100 off the purchase of a future purchase of a plane ticket, provided she books that second flight very soon, buys it directly through the airline (and not through a discount site), and follows a number of other restrictions that are likely written in 4 point font on the voucher.
There is a HUGE difference between the two. Stop making it sound like they are the same thing when they are not.
How do people not see this?
Don't you think the airline has an obligation to give something of value for being at fault here? Perhaps if you fly a lot, the $100 voucher has value to you, but can you appreciate that it could be as worthless as a piece of wet kleenex to others who never fly?
I'd rather $50 in cash so I could get a decent dinner while I'm held up than a $100 coupon that I am likely not able to use.
Airlines never give cash to people as compensation. They either gave vouchers for food inside the airport, vouchers for a hotel (unless it is a weather delay) or money to use on a future flight. This doesn't seem odd to me. And the $100 to use towards a future flight seems fair, particularly for someone who I assume is not a frequent flier/status of the airline.
Airlines never give cash to people as compensation. They either gave vouchers for food inside the airport, vouchers for a hotel (unless it is a weather delay) or money to use on a future flight. This doesn't seem odd to me. And the $100 to use towards a future flight seems fair, particularly for someone who I assume is not a frequent flier/status of the airline.
I'm not saying it's "odd." Where did I say it was odd?
I'm saying it sucks.
Why do so many people think that we should just bend over and take it because that's just how companies are?
In my experience, you are lucky to get a $100 voucher, even though that's really not much of a reward (as ESF points out). I once had an 8 hour delay in which the airline (cough, United, cough) fully admitted was 100% their fault (failure to correctly schedule the flight crew) and I had to go up through several levels of management to get an $8 meal voucher so I could buy lunch at the airport. I didn't fly them again for about 5 years after in protest. But really, most airlines are terrible with customer service these days, so I rarely expect anything at all.
She is getting $100 off the purchase of a future purchase of a plane ticket, provided she books that second flight very soon, buys it directly through the airline (and not through a discount site), and follows a number of other restrictions that are likely written in 4 point font on the voucher.
There is a HUGE difference between the two. Stop making it sound like they are the same thing when they are not.
How do people not see this?
Don't you think the airline has an obligation to give something of value for being at fault here? Perhaps if you fly a lot, the $100 voucher has value to you, but can you appreciate that it could be as worthless as a piece of wet kleenex to others who never fly?
I'd rather $50 in cash so I could get a decent dinner while I'm held up than a $100 coupon that I am likely not able to use.
Airlines never give cash to people as compensation. They either gave vouchers for food inside the airport, vouchers for a hotel (unless it is a weather delay) or money to use on a future flight. This doesn't seem odd to me. And the $100 to use towards a future flight seems fair, particularly for someone who I assume is not a frequent flier/status of the airline.
Yes they do. They are legally required to in some circumstances.
airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm#overbooking DOT requires each airline to give all passengers who are bumped involuntarily a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn't. Those travelers who don't get to fly are frequently entitled to denied boarding compensation in the form of a check or cash. The amount depends on the price of their ticket and the length of the delay:
* If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
* If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to 200% of your one-way fare to your final destination that day, with a $650 maximum.
* If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your one-way fare, $1300 maximum).
* If your ticket does not show a fare (for example, a frequent-flyer award ticket or a ticket issued by a consolidator), your denied boarding compensation is based on the lowest cash, check or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service (e.g., coach, first class) on that flight.
* You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an "involuntary refund" for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.
* If you paid for optional services on your original flight (e.g., seat selection, checked baggage) and you did not receive those services on your substitute flight or were required to pay a second time, the airline that bumped you must refund those payments to you.
Incidentally, European airlines are actually required to give you cash for a wide variety of delays and cancellations, unlike here in the US where involuntary bumping is the only time they have to give you cash. If your delay is more than 4 hours and it's the airline's fault (i.e., not weather or ATC), they are required to give you I think $200 (or 200 euros, I forget which).
Post by basilosaurus on Jun 25, 2012 15:47:07 GMT -5
5 hours sucks, but it's really not the end of the world from an airline's POV. Add me to those who are surprised you're getting anything.
But, I have to wonder, how high strung are you? Between the "TSA is going to rape me" fear, and then being all out of sorts on a delay, where you only had to cancel dinner plans and actually got your luggage, it seems like this was a major production. I just can't imagine getting all that bent out about these things, and I freaking loathe TSA and their vulva touching ways.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Jun 25, 2012 17:56:43 GMT -5
Twice I've had a plane late because there were mechanical problems at the airport it was coming from. So much so that they had to get a new plane. So, on one trip, the plane didn't leave Los Angeles for Puerto Vallarta until after it was supposed to have taken off from Puerto Vallarta to go back to Los Angeles. We got a hotel voucher and something like $50 for food and it took about 2 hrs to get the ticket situation straightened out. Which in hindsight was remarkably quick because almost no one on the plane was just going to LA and everyone missed their connecting flight.