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[ClosingADoor]

Why wasn't the later passenger bumped to economy? We got different levels of first class now?

In an overbooking situation (and due to mechanical failure in this case, so that at least can be excused) the passenger with more miles will probably get preferred treatment. Should have been sorted before this guy boarded however.

 

[Sulik2]

I won't be flying united again is the moral of this story. As a society we need to stop rewarding companies with terrible customer with our business when its possible to go somewhere else.

 

[GulAtiCa]

Oh United..

 

[adamsapple]

United's in-flight service:

 

[brerwolfe]

And to think that their CEO was awarded a Communicator of The Year a few weeks ago...

Despite what we think about the company and CEO, you have to acknowledge that his message came through loud and clear.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

downgrade the guy who was
1) not late
2) already seated

or downgrade the guy who was
1) late
2) not seated

the choice seems obvious to me.

 

[Tenck]

From the article, it does sound like the change to the smaller plane bumped him down. At least what I'm reading from it, he was a late comer when buying the ticket and once they realized they didn't have enough seats. Makes sense to knock down the most recent.

But United piss poor customer service and corporate policies again shine through once more. Incentivize the customer to move on their own will. Not threaten and have them have to ask for a refund of the difference. If they just comped his ride for their fuck up, no issue. Ask someone else too, we'll refund if a 1st class wants to move down to economy and give a free first class upgrade on their next flight. They have so much wiggle room.

He was on the fully functioning plane before the other high priority flier. He paid for his ticket and boarded the plane before the other person that replaced him.

You got it mixed up.

 

[brerwolfe]

Should have been sorted before this guy boarded however.

That's the key. He was on the plane, seated. This isn't a case of "He boarded the wrong flight," he's a paying customer that showed up on time and was in a seat corresponding to the boarding pass he was given.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

I stopped flying altogether years ago after TSA was put in place. I stopped flying United and American after my first and only flights with them. This was years ago, before TSA.

Terrible companies, should have never been bailed out.

 

[DudeWithNoName]

Something about this smells funky.

I was thinking the same thing. The timing of it, no video as well.

 

[jchap]

My United horror story: Was looking for an airline to fly home on for the holidays. Called up United customer service to get quotes (sometimes they can do better over the phone). The rep found me a great price on the tickets and booked them for me. Over the following months I received confirmation on my seats and flight dates. When I show up to the airport I go to check in and the electronic terminal tells me there is a problem and to see someone at the counter. They tell me that while they have my reservation, I paid too little for them to give me a boarding pass. Because it is now last minute they want to charge me the difference between what I paid and the last minute fare. I tell them to fuck off and end up fighting with at least 5 different people over the phone in their customer service department. I finally find someone which "let" me pay what the ticket should have cost when I originally booked. It was about 200 more than what I paid and had it been that price originally, I would have flown a different airline.

Never again.

 

[Machina]

AGAIN!?

 

[HStallion]

More like Divided airline then United.

Don't tread on good customer service

 

[maabus1999]

Involuntary bumping is 4x the fare of your ticket up to a max of 1350 dollars if you are delayed more than 2 hours...2x if less than 2. That's the law so for one United is wrong there. Shouldn't need to follow this law either if United had any sense. Also a case like the other guy in the fact he already boarded which may contradict the law also.

Edit: nevermind he excepted an economy seat. Still has case for a refund if he chooses.

 

[Squalor]

Who was the mysterious better customer?

A United pilot's mistress.

It boggles my mind how these United employees don't see how wrong what they're doing is. How about a little empathy for paying customers?

Not my mind. Their CEO is scum. Trickle-down douchery and incompetence.

 

[MisterR]

Reading the article made it slightly less shitty. The man is white, so he gets refunded the difference of his $1000 first class ticket down to $500. He also got $500 in credit to use for a flight on United (LOL). He plans to sue and has resources supposedly. It isn't as dramatic. It is interesting that he was the least qualified to be in first class.

Another interesting thing is he emailed for a full refund and said he would like $25,000 donated to a charity of his choice. He only got his 50% refund and the $500 credit to come back.

Nah, it's still pretty shitty even if he's white. They didn't even offer him a refund of his ticket difference until he complained. In the end he just got back the money they owed him for his ticket price difference and a shitty voucher.

 

[FreedomFighter]

I'm sticking to Virgin and Southwest for domestic flights. He'll, I'll even do Spirit 'nickel and dime you' Airlines before I fly United (I've been done with American).

 

[Squalor]

Nah, it's still pretty shitty even if he's white. They didn't even offer him a refund of his ticket difference until he complained. In the end he just got back the money they owed him for his ticket price difference and a shitty voucher.

Don't forget the not-concussion and not-bloody mouth they gave him.

He's rife with gifts. United is so generous.

 

[Squalor]

I'm sticking to Virgin and Southwest for domestic flights. He'll, I'll even do Spirit 'nickel and dime you' Airlines before I fly United (I've been done with American).

You know, if you aren't going far and can travel lightly, Spirit isn't even that bad. I have fit all of my clothes into one backpack for a week-long trip before, so I didn't need to pay for a carry-on bag. $70 total round trip. I wasn't mad.

The seats are small, so it's tough for taller, larger people, but aside from that, I haven't really had bad experiences with the airline. They generally run fifteen to twenty minutes late with boarding, but takeoff is usually on time.

 

[psynergylover]

downgrade the guy who was
1) not late
2) already seated

or downgrade the guy who was
1) late
2) not seated

the choice seems obvious to me.

Seriously.

 

[Squalor]

downgrade the guy who was
1) not late
2) already seated

or downgrade the guy who was
1) late
2) not seated

the choice seems obvious to me.

That's because you don't work for United.

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

United was upset that Spicer was stealing their thunder so they needed to win it back.

 

[pigeon interrupted]

I'm missing something with overbooking: shirley if pre-booked customers don't turn up it doesn't matter since they have already paid?

Isn't overbooking just an exercise to make even more money than capacity?

If nobody occupies the seat, United would be saving money on the missing weight and fuel consumption.

I haven't looked up overbooking. Instead, I have typed this post which has taken longer and will probably make me look stoopid.

 

[Audioboxer]

I'm missing something with overbooking: shirley if pre-booked customers don't turn up it doesn't matter since they have already paid?

Isn't overbooking just an exercise to make even more money than capacity?

If nobody occupies the seat, United would be saving money on the missing weight and fuel consumption.

I haven't looked up overbooking. Instead, I have typed this post which has taken longer and will probably make me look stoopid.

Profit margins on seats are either razor thin, or some tickets are even at a loss. An empty seat saving on fuel, which is neglible at best, doesn't out weigh hundreds of dollars "lost" per empty seat.

To curb this culture of overbooking we'd need to raise ticket prices so they "all" sell at a profit margin and it's not as big an issue if seats are empty.

Probably not going to happen in a price sensitive consumer industry, so the next best thing will be revisiting regulation on overbooking (how it's handled and carried out) and compensation amounts.

As for this topic

Apparently United had some mechanical troubles with the aircraft scheduled to make the flight. So the carrier swapped out that plane with a slightly smaller one with fewer first-class seats.

It should have been swapped like for like.

 

[greatestjediever]

I'm missing something with overbooking: shirley if pre-booked customers don't turn up it doesn't matter since they have already paid?

Isn't overbooking just an exercise to make even more money than capacity?

If nobody occupies the seat, United would be saving money on the missing weight and fuel consumption.

I haven't looked up overbooking. Instead, I have typed this post which has taken longer and will probably make me look stoopid.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

 

[pigeon interrupted]

Profit margins on seats are either razor thin, or some tickets are even at a loss. An empty seat saving on fuel, which is neglible at best, doesn't out weigh hundreds of dollars "lost" per empty seat.

To curb this culture of overbooking we'd need to raise ticket prices so they "all" sell at a profit margin and it's not as big an issue if seats are empty.

Probably not going to happen in a price sensitive consumer industry, so the next best thing will be revisiting regulation on overbooking (how it's handled and carried out) and compensation amounts.

Ahh. Thank you. I guess that the unlucky few pay the real price in these situations. The vast majority get cheap flights without inconvenience by winning this lottery.

Personally, I'd rather pay a bit more to have the security of not being in this lottery. I don't like to be bothered. Bah, humbug🙅🙅

 

[Audioboxer]

Ahh. Thank you. I guess that the unlucky few pay the real price in these situations. The vast majority get cheap flights without inconvenience by winning this lottery.

Personally, I'd rather have the security of not being in this lottery. I don't like to be bothered. Bah, humbug🙅🙅

"Only" 125k Delta customers were affected by bumping in 2016. The numbers are quite small. Most people cannot afford to pay 1st class everywhere so as you said most people travel "cheap" just fine.

The issue is when problems do arise how the airlines handle it and what compensation passengers can get. If this article is factual and UA swapped to a smaller plane then that is just stupid. Self-inflicted wound. Surely there was a better plane? Although I guess they'll say it would be hours of delays to wait for a like for like plane...

Made funnier by it being issues within 1st class. I assume economy was full, as usually what happens here is they bump you down to economy and compensate you.

 

[Tempy]

Threatening with being handcuffed away for not doing anything wrong? And people are okay with this?

 

[jmdajr]

Oh this is different

 

[Violence Jack]

Not looking forward to my flight home on Friday at all. Next time my company sends me out of town, it's going to be with another airline or they can get someone else.

 

[Alcotholic]

You'd think they would attempt to avoid anymore scandals for a bit.

 

[old manatee]

omfg United

 

[Temp_User]

United: "Sean Spicer is off his gum-chewing rocker if he thinks he can beat us in the negative PR game."

 

[pigeon interrupted]

"Only" 125k Delta customers were affected by bumping in 2016. The numbers are quite small. Most people cannot afford to pay 1st class everywhere so as you said most people travel "cheap" just fine.

The issue is when problems do arise how the airlines handle it and what compensation passengers can get.

I heard that one in every twenty thousand passengers gets bumped. It just really sucks if you are that one and an unwilling "volunteer".

It also sucks that they pay in vouchers. You'd think international airlines could do better than that.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up sneaking film references into my posts.

Spoiler

ye it doesn't make sense

 

[Squalor]

United: "Sean Spicer is off his gum-chewing rocker if he thinks he can beat us in the negative PR game."

United: "Hitler never used airplanes."

 

[DudeWithNoName]

Threatening with being handcuffed away for not doing anything wrong? And people are okay with this?

I'll save my Internet rage for now until this story is corroborated or video shows up. This reeks of some guy riding the wave of United hate for personal gain. If this did happen, there are witnesses.

 

[Sai-kun]

United: "Hitler never used airplanes."

I'm fucking rolling here

 

[otapnam]

I'm sticking to Virgin and Southwest for domestic flights. He'll, I'll even do Spirit 'nickel and dime you' Airlines before I fly United (I've been done with American).

Southwest is the best. Plenty of cheap flights. Free cancellations. Free checked bags.

My wife and I missed or connector once because we didn't notice the gate change. They put us on another flight for free easily. (Cost us a few hours but no $$)

 

[Audioboxer]

I heard that one in every twenty thousand passengers gets bumped. It just really sucks of you are that one and an unwilling "volunteer".

It also sucks that they pay in vouchers. You'd think international airlines could do better than that.


Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up sneaking film references into my posts.

Spoiler

ye it doesn't make sense

There's an info graphic here from a sample from Jan to March 2015

http://lifehacker.com/if-your-flight-is-overbooked-dont-volunteer-to-get-bum-1722036179

Per 10,000 it's between 7.5 and 15.1 passengers. That's only a few months of 2015, but it shows a sample of what it can be. That between South West, Delta and United Airlines. 3 others in Jet Blue, Hawaiin and Virgin were much lower.

You'll probably find cheaper airlines do it more and it's far more common on internal flights versus international. Internal flights tend to be heavily subsidised or ticket prices with the lowest profit margins. With international flights you'll have far fewer people pull out or cancel last minute too.

 

[Arttemis]

The threat they made is stupid, but if you need to use a smaller plane, it is logical not all people fit.


He was then placed in Economy, so he could still fly.

What?!? Someone "more important" than him made them change the seat to economy after already buying first class?!?

downgrade the guy who was
1) not late
2) already seated

or downgrade the guy who was
1) late
2) not seated

the choice seems obvious to me.

.

 

[pigeon interrupted]

There's an info graphic here from a sample from Jan to March 2015

http://lifehacker.com/if-your-flight-is-overbooked-dont-volunteer-to-get-bum-1722036179

Per 10,000 it's between 7.5 and 15.1 passengers. That's only a few months of 2015, but it shows a sample of what it can be. That between South West, Delta and United Airlines. 3 others in Jet Blue, Hawaiin and Virgin were much lower.

You'll probably find cheaper airlines do it more and it's far more common on internal flights versus international. Internal flights tend to be heavily subsidised or ticket prices with the lowest profit margins.

Wow. More common than I thought. And your source is better than the cockney random who phoned Nick Ferrari yesterday, heh. Looks like I will be flying Virgin more often.

 

[Audioboxer]

Wow. More common than I thought. And your source is better than the cockney random who phoned Nick Ferrari yesterday, heh. Looks like I will be flying Virgin more often.

If it's affordable then yeah, if you go for a "classier" airline apart from better service in cabin you'll most likely find things like overbooking are less common. The reputation of some airlines takes precedent over their ticket prices. Not everyone can afford that luxury as some Virgin prices can be quite high. I used to work for Virgin Media and got a discount across all Virgin services. Even with my staff discount on Virgin air I could still get cheaper flights online for travelling across the UK on other airlines... As I worked for VM it wasn't as good as what working for the Airline would be (might even be free travel if you work for the airline). It was still a good % and the fact is I still got cheaper flights from a bargain basement airline over a staff discount.

Welcome to the race to the bottom in a service industry where people prioritise price sensitivity at the top. It doesn't excuse airlines from some of the shit they pull, but yeah, in this case you're more likely to see overbooking travelling cheap.

 

[Larogue]

 

[xKilltheMx]

My United horror story: Was looking for an airline to fly home on for the holidays. Called up United customer service to get quotes (sometimes they can do better over the phone). The rep found me a great price on the tickets and booked them for me. Over the following months I received confirmation on my seats and flight dates. When I show up to the airport I go to check in and the electronic terminal tells me there is a problem and to see someone at the counter. They tell me that while they have my reservation, I paid too little for them to give me a boarding pass. Because it is now last minute they want to charge me the difference between what I paid and the last minute fare. I tell them to fuck off and end up fighting with at least 5 different people over the phone in their customer service department. I finally find someone which "let" me pay what the ticket should have cost when I originally booked. It was about 200 more than what I paid and had it been that price originally, I would have flown a different airline.

Never again.

Holy fuck WHAT
This story is fucking crazy. I would be livid.

 

[Beartruck]

Reading the article made it slightly less shitty. The man is white, so he gets refunded the difference of his $1000 first class ticket down to $500. He also got $500 in credit to use for a flight on United (LOL). He plans to sue and has resources supposedly. It isn't as dramatic. It is interesting that he was the least qualified to be in first class.

Another interesting thing is he emailed for a full refund and said he would like $25,000 donated to a charity of his choice. He only got his 50% refund and the $500 credit to come back.

They didn't even give him a full refund after delaying his flight and doing something AGAIN that received nationally bad press less than a week ago? Burn this fucking company to the ground.

 

[B-Dubs]

I feel like I'm living the same day over and over again

 

[Inceptional]

Con Air level customer service.

Even Con Air wouldn't kick thier passengers off the plane.

 

[Yankee Ruin X]

I bet these things happen all the time but it won't ever make the news normally and they get away with it because what are you going to do about it. However with all the news about their treatment of the doctor all these stories of Uniteds abysmal CS will actually make the news as more fuel to the fire and that's great that their shoddy business practices are being put under the spotlight and scrutinised.

 

[CTLance]

Man, I sure hope my stepmom doesn't fly United when she visits relatives in May. She doesn't take kindly to such bullshit.

Because, that's some bullshit.