Airlines overbook coach, but rarely overbook business and first class. The airline may sell more tickets than seats, but it’s the passengers in back who usually risk being kicked off the flight. And this actually makes sense.
- If passengers no show as expected, it’s easier to move passengers up to a higher cabin than a lower cabin.
- Statistically it’s easier to predict no shows in the larger coach cabin.
- If a business class passenger no shows, there are usually coach passengers on a wait list to upgrade.
Yesterday I wrote about United Airlines cancelling a flight because business class passengers wouldn’t give up their Polaris sets and moving to middles in the back quickly enough. That was on a Los Angeles to London flight on Sunday.
In that case, crew rest seats were broken and the airline needed the lie flat seats for contractually and regulatorily-required rest during the more than 10 hour flight.
Sometimes an airline winds up with more business class passengers than they can accommodate because, for instance,
- A seat is broken and can’t be fixed quickly enough
- Heavy headwinds will slow down the plane and there are weight and balance issues
- Very important passengers – like royal family members travel on an airline like Thai or Etihad – decide they want to take the flight
A United Airlines flight from Chicago to London, though, had the only thing happen which might require 13 business class passengers to get busted down from business class to coach.
Post by @ms_escalonaView on Threads
The airline swapped the planned aircraft for the flight with another one that had fewer business class seats, so they wound up with more business class passengers than seats. The interesting thing about an aircraft swap is that, while an airline has to refund the difference in fare paid between business and coach, they aren’t actually required to cover additional compensation.
In fact, when they refuse transportation to a passenger on an overbooked flight due to an aircraft swap, the passenger either gets sent on another flight or refunded… but no additional compensation is legally required.
Here United threatens that they need the volunteers “or no one boards the plane” because once passengers are accepted for boarding, they cannot be removed involuntarily.
(HT: Michelle)
Could use a little more context here, clearly Michelle indicated that United was seeking “volunteers”, which implies some sort of bidding process. If the bidding went as high as $ 15,000 cash and the flight was performed, I’d call that a success. It’s hard to know until we get more context on this one.
And when refunding the difference in fares airlines play games by refunding the difference against the most expensive coach fare possible that does not exceed the cost of the paid J ticket.
Airlines need to develop better compensation packages for downgrades or be willing to rebook customers on a paid J ticket on a different carrier (including non partners) if they cannot transport their own customers in the cabin they paid.
Exactly what did United offer? If they were offering a couple of grand in cash and 100K miles they should have gotten enough volunteers.
Under the UK’s version of EU 261/2004, relating to downgrades, each of the downgraded passengers is entitled to a refund of 75% of the fare paid. See: https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/downgrading/
And if the flight was delayed more than four hours waiting for takers, everyone on the flight was entitled to compensation.
The bidding should have started from there.
Equipment changes happen all the time. No cat fight? No assault against airline employee? No bare feet on armrest? Nobody acting like entitled narcissistic children?This is not newsworthy.
Remember when United was “the friendly skies?” LOL!
@TexasTJ I must have missed the part where passengers were offered $15K compensation. Was that in a different article?
Another awful post. Without knowing what, if anything, UA offered is key here.
I wouldn’t voluntarily downgrade without some compensation above and beyond the fare difference. I wouldn’t expect a reasonable person to, either. But if they offer $5k in vouchers, there would likely be takers. Why should someone take the downgrade due to an operational issue, solely out of the goodness of their hearts?
$2k + 75k would not enough for me to accept a downgrade to a middle E- seat on a 10hr flight (particularly nighttime TATL where I want to sleep).
Putting me in business on the next flight out + compensation would do the trick (or even routing through another hub). But UA ground staff is often inflexible or maybe is not empowered to find creative solutions.
Many biz travelers fly on company-paid tix – they need to be well-rested and won’t downgrade. Ditto for paid C who may have paid anywhere from $2-5k for the seat.
O’Hare and United is the combination I was screwed on around ten years ago. I have kept away from both since. United has a major hub at O’Hare, in fact it is their home hub. From looking at SeatGuru, UA has three configurations of the 767-300. If that was the airplane swapped out for another one the had less business seats, it makes sense. Those staying in business get lie flat seats. Those downgraded to coach get a cabin that has many more coach seats and the extra seats are at the front of the coach section. In fact, unless a lot more passengers were added in addition to the number on the original aircraft, each business traveler downgraded should have been able to have an empty seat next to them. That would partially make up for the narrow coach seats. Some may have been able to get plus seats.
This is United what do you expect
I prefer Delya or AA
Sounds like the downgraded passengers did nothing wrong and the fault was with UA for failing to raise compensation fast enough to entice them to accept Economy.
Gary, I read your first paragraph:
“Yesterday I wrote about United Airlines cancelling a flight because business class passengers wouldn’t give up their Polaris sets and moving to middles in the back quickly enough. That was on a Los Angeles to London flight on Sunday.”
. . . and I followed your link. United didn’t cancel that flight. There was a mechanical problem on that flight and UA offered compensation such that they got enough volunteers so that the flight could continue.
Your summary today is wrong concerning what you previously wrote about the first flight, and there is crucial information missing from your story about this flight.
I appreciate and value your information and advice, but this article appears to be rushed.
“but no additional compensation is legally required”
Isn’t that not the case here? The flight was operating to the UK, therefore EU261/UK261 would come into play. Particularly as an aircraft swap would be considered operational and almost certainly eligible for compensation under EU261/UK261.
If a passenger is involuntarily denied boarding, logic says that they’d reach their destination 3hrs late (perhaps not actually the case here given ORD-LHR frequency). This would trigger additional delay compensation alongside still getting them to their destination.
At least United are communicating with their passengers. Delta once bumped me from my original (delayed) flight to another flight (involved a rerouting from original itinerary) and downgraded me in the process. Only found out when I got to the seat – no-one thought to mention it before that which I felt was very underhanded. I would expect anyone in that situation to be unhappy. Delta eventually handed me back $600 credit six months later (which was not fair compensation imo).
This article doesn’t even make sense. The airline can simply change your ticket and boot you back to coach, and your alternatives are take that reassignment, wait for a later flight with business availability, or take a refund and buy a ticket on another airline or not travel at all.
If they delayed the flight while looking for volunteers, that means United was trying to offer enough compensation to get 13 people to move back to coach and be happy about it, which I would consider GOOD service by an airline that can contractually just boot you and refund you the difference to some obscene day-of-purchase coach fare.
@Boraxo – I’m presuming that the passengers would also get proportional refunds because otherwise you’re right that it just wouldn’t be worth it.
@Gary, so United did an equipment change that led to fewer business class seats before the plane boarded and then tried to find volunteers to downgrade? This is SOP. If they started boarding the plane and you had 13 people trying to fight over the same seat assignment in business class you’d have a mess. How on earth is this news or journalism or interesting at all? Like why are you sharing this? It must be a really slow news day…
United Airlines has become a second rate airlines with all these recent happenings. I never fly United anymore because they have become so unreliable with there customer service and business practices. A great deal of bad news coming from them
I would never fly United. It started when the airline caused Dr. David Said to be manhandled, love see teeth and be humiliated. Now they want business class passengers to switch to coach on a 10 hour international flight? Nope. Here’s hoping United is investigated by the regulatory agencies
For me the right compensation would be Global Services status for this year and next. That’s what it would take.
Well UAL at IAD make ORD look like a good option. In fact IAD makes any city look like a good alternative.
The moral of the story is this. If LHR was not your final destination, you should have flown LH, AF, KL or any other. UK is no longer EU. So the flight is not subject to EU 261 rules.
It’s not true a passenger downgraded is only entitled to fare difference… eu/uk 261 would apply and they would be entitled to 75% refund of the fare or if they waited more then 4 hours for an alternative flight £520/€600.
It’s not volunteering if you’re effectively threatened that if you don’t do it the entire plane will be denied boarding. Plus if they deny the entire plane boarding they would risk owing 300 people compensation, plus re-accommodation costs.
@LLLL – US carriers departing the US are not covered by UK261
We booked a trip through AA, flight from ORD>LHR was on BA. We booked business class, paid cash. At the last minute they did an equipment swap and downgraded us to “premium economy”. We were offered nothing, just a “take it or leave it” shrug. To make matters worse, we’d paid BA to select our business class seats, over $300US. No offer to refund us. And my “premium economy” seat was broken, no recline and the IFE was broken. They also ran out of the only meal I could eat (allergy), so no food.
It took over two months of getting the runaround by AA and BA, but after filing with DoT and the UK equivalent, we finally got refunded over $2500 and 12K points by AA and got the $300 refunded by BA. Just have to be persistent.
This would have been a day spoiler for sure. I would have waited until they started offering whatever, then just booked another flight. But I realize that lots of pax don’t have that luxury, they have to arrive when they’re scheduled. This is just an ‘unlucky’ situation and frankly, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.
So many people here defending the big corporation airline. Always wonder is it bots or people really have been brain washed into always sympathizing with the poor big corporation.
The equipment change is not the passengers problem. Instead of holding people hostage, the airlines should have already figured out what they could do to mitigate the issue. Its unacceptable to delay people for what is clearly their fault. too bad we do not have laws to provide just compensation.
@ Gary
EU 261 covers to Or from EU.
@Alan Z – UK261 applies to/from UK only if a UK carrier. For a US carrier it applies only departing UK.
A few years ago I was flying IAD-GVA scheduled on a UA 767, a/c went MX and they moved the flight to a 757, coach was fairly empty but biz was full so needless to say there were a lot of biz passengers without a seat. They offered me $2000, a hotel, a bunch of food vouchers and a non-stop flight the next day to my actual final destination (Paris), I was on an award ticket so I just took it, and I was rebooked in full fare J on both the outbound and return so I earned a ton of miles and PQPs on an award ticket. I ended up pretty happy but also was not in a rush to get there.
Polaris LAXLON. Or coach.
Flight attendants MUST CONTRACTUALLY HAVE LIE FLAT SEATS? False.
Try to pay attention next time Teacher is talking. Flight Attendants who can’t sleep in Coach/Economy deserve the same sympathy as PEOPLE IN POLARIS SEATS WHO DON’T WANT TO BE THERE EITHER.
UK law is irrelevant. This flight originated in LA, and that’s where the issue took place.
Actually, their United contract does call for lie flat seats on a 10+ hour flight, when crew cabins aren’t available.
@A.S. Cobb: I’m normally of the “police use of force is almost always unreasonable” perspective, but Dao had it coming. He had no right to be there and he gave the police no other option. (Obviously since then we’ve figured out just deboard the plane instead.)
United settled for the optics, not the liability.
Perhaps United should try taking better care of their equipment. Also, why 13 seats. I’ve never seen 26 flight attendants on a plane at once. Half rest while the other half work. Also, I pay the highway robbery biz class seat because I have lymphatic drainage issues and chronic back issues. If I sat in coach cramped for ten plus I’d be swollen for days. So shame on UNITED sloppy all around. I try never to fly with them, they’ve become trash and their lounges are mediocre at best. BA/AA OR DELTA to LHR, often the better options.
Just another reason why I refuse to fly United. They use to be great. Their business class offering are at the very best mediocre. They refuse to staff their planes with enough staff. Their flight attendants run around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to make it all happen. Their planes are old and their staff has had it. I would HATE to work for United. It’s a totally different world and experience flying foreign national airlines. I don’t mind paying more to get great service. Also, whoever oversold business class should be terminated. What a horrible experience to put your paying customers through and your employees.
Remember in grade school English where you learned a story has a beginning, a middle, and an end? Those were simpler times..
UA refused to implement an A380, which easily would have accommodated everyone. Choosey passengers choose an A380 on another transatlantic airline. I do feel sorry for wage slaves who are forced by corporate to book UA.
Quit making the airlines look bad. Plane changes happen. The article doesn’t say what happened to the 13 passengers. UNITED offered compensation if downgraded, booking inbusiness on another flight. United did their best to accommodate. Deal with it.
As an FYI, earlier this year my 1K wife received a last-minute upgrade on a San Francisco to Hawaii award ticket when a passenger was going to misconnect. When that passenger showed up, they gave her a 500 dollar voucher to move back to coach. She was the thrilled, as she didn’t really want the first class seat anyway, as she had a full exit row in coach to herself. I suspect United also offered generous compensation in the situation
We don’t want you in Europe anyway ! Stay in you shxthxle of a country ,yanks!
Stay Home and support your local businesses. They need your help. I know some people have to travel for work but anything else just drive or explore your hometown. Air Travel is not worth it these days.
So many misconceptions.
1) EU/UK261 (they’re virtually identical as the UK basically copy pasted EU261 after Brexidiotic) applies to EEC /UK/CH carriers on all flights, but only applies on flights departing the jurisdiction on foreign flag carriers. Thus, it doesn’t apply in these situations.
2) The LAX issue was multifold. First, it was both a regulatory and contractual issue about the crew rests. Second, they’d already boarded the flight. That was the biggest issue – they basically threatened to fully deboard the flight then deny boarding or force downgrade passengers in the gate area, because they don’t do individuals on the airplane since Dao. That would have caused a massive delay.
Apparently, the offer that got the 13 people to accept was $2000 in travel credit and 75K miles. On paper, that is a pretty decent economic trade off. I would have not accepted it for such a long flight, especially if PE and/or E+ windows were all taken and only uncomfortable seats were remaining. I’d have taken the comp plus a rebooking on AA/BA/VS out of LAX though.
The problem resides with lawmakers. They are at fault for NOT protecting the citizens in vulnerable situations. They paid their fares, the company must fly them.
If there is no shows, the passengers loose their money (seats are going empty) and the airline looses nothing. . If they paid their tickets the airline must fly them. It’s a contract, period!!!
Why can’t the incoming crew notify the airline about equipment problems?
@jns to take this further, I only see 2 models of 763er for UA on aerolopa. They have 16 less J on the replacement. The replacement could seat 2 moved J pax travelling together in the extra pair of middle seats in PE. That leaves basically 6 rows of 2-3-2 coach at the back (no one would have been assigned rows 45 through 50 on the original 763er) for the remaining 11 customers. Do you want both (all three) AB, DEF, or KL? Bribe me enough and give me an AB pair, I’d be OK.
I gave up on United years ago and have never regretted it.
Sure sounds like very Shady/ Un-Ethical deals done by airline companies
If the crew rest deck goes tech fault at the last minute, would you rather they cancelled the flight or ask for volunteers? (I want crew awake for safety especially when landing)
If they ask for volunteers there will be a price point where some passengers see a benefit in “selling their flexibility”.
I don’t see anything wrong here at all….
Of course this can happen, but they should get compensation. If somebody volunteered, then they should get more than the difference between the ticket they paid and one in economy class. I guess if nobody volunteered then they would have to do this because paying for a cancelled flight would be more expensive.
I was on this flight from Chicago to London. The plane used was a different configuration, therefore only 29 Business seats instead of 45. They asked for 16 volunteers to either go Economy or fly Business the following day. They were offered an additional 1500$ initially, this did raise to 2500$ when they still needed 3 to 4 more volunteers. United did threaten that the flight would be cancelled if 16 didnt come forward. Eventually the flight went at 11.50pm, 2 hours 20 mins late.
Clearly some have not read the article. It specifically states that the airline ONLY offers the difference in fare between business class and coach. Nothing more was offered. I’d be pissed. Airlines need to be held accountable.
@Gary thanks for correcting me on the UK261 point. I honestly hadn’t realised this was the case where inbound to UK/EU doesn’t apply to non-UK/EU carriers. Has this always been the case or is it one of the recent/Brexit changes?
F United, F American and F Delta. I would never fly these cattle movers.
I would not volunteer to move. I have bad arthritis and cannot sit scrunched up in economy so I always book business class for the extra comfort. I’ve got a 10 hour flight from London to Vancouver coming up shortly in business class.
Business class is business class for a bloody good reason.
Either the passenger has paid in some cases more than twice the price of coach or have flown (and more often than not remained brand hostage) so many damn times that their tier status and/or points balance has afforded them the privilege of flying up front.
If there is no mortal danger or any other aeronautical catastrophe likely to befall the aircraft or its staff (lets not forget they are all staff and paid by the airline from the proceeds of our ticket fare) then the airline should (not has to) make good on what has been forfeited by that business or higher paying passenger.
It may not be routine in North America, but in the Southern skies, recompense above and beyond the difference in fare or even refund is not only commonplace, its downright expected.
Ordinarily if asked to give up my bus class seat, and I have a few times to accommodate some shortcoming(s) by the airline, without fail, it has always been worth my while. In one case many years back as a Qantas gold member, after giving up my first class seat from Sydney to Dubai, I was rewarded with a tier status upgrade to platinum.
Im sorry for those of you unfortunate mob in the US have to suffer AA or United (shudder), but I would be inclined to 1. Push your weight around a bit and 2. Not be quite so loyal. For eg, join a half decent program such as Air NZ, Qantas, BA, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore just to name a few.
Believe it or not by being brand loyal such as you might be and not constantly switching (lets not forget price shopping actually has its advantages (excuse the AA pun) can (and often will) provide you with a far richer experience. Who knows you may even hear another language other than English or Hispanic for a change.
Oh and by the way, Amex (shudder even more), and even the airlines themselves, will now likely offer you the opportunity to buy your way into the lounge!
Thats why i never dly with US airlines anymore for long distance or International flight. I prefer with airlines from Asia or middle east.
@Christine Attwood, the aircraft that flew had many more seats in economy (which I always label a coach) did it not? Were you able to see how the downgraded passengers were seated? Specifically were they seated so they had an empty seat next to them if they wanted it? Did all of the volunteers get the same $2500 and was it in flight credit or some form of cash (cash is better because it doesn’t expire and doesn’t require additional travel) including money back on the credit card used? I understand you might not have answers to these questions but they would be useful to know to consider how United handled the situation. Thank you.
I just read the same thing on a different travel blog. Well, not exactly the same thing. The other one said it was 3 seats needed for crew in biz (because the crew rest area was out of commission) and 3 passengers accepted $2,500 and 75K miles to move to economy. And the flight to LHR was not canceled. Quite a difference in “facts.”
Another reason not to fly united, they keep giving us reasons why not to fly with them…
I’m sorry, I think punishing passengers in coach with a delay or cancellation is a disgrace. Why didn’t the airline fix the flight attendant rest area before boarding.
I can’t afford business or first class, so it is not an issue for me, but in addition to not fixing the original problem, overbooking in business is just being greedy and then you further insult you patrons but pulling a stunt like this.
I know this all sounds like mumbo jumbo and all mixed up, but one problem brgets another, brgets another.
This is why I have boycotted flying United for 20 years. This may occur on other airlines, but I have never experienced it and United customer service is one of the worst. I also will not fly any of their affiliates.for the same reason, especially ANA. Horrible experience there.
My husband and I paid full fare for business class 6 months in advance round trip from DFW to Kazakhstan on Qatar. On the way back to the US we had our boarding passes and had just gotten to the airport in Almaty when we were told that we were going to be bumped to coach but that we would be refunded the difference, we threw a fit, made no difference, finally were given a flight the next day after a day layover in Doha. Although the Qatar website says that they would compensate us at the US approved rate for this they refuse to do it. Again, we paid full fare, not points, for these seat, months in advance and were never given a good explanation as to why we were not able to use our tickets. We had flown Qatar as had heard such great things about them… we were not impressed!
It’s also disingenuous to say that they give you a fare difference because the fair difference isn’t between the premium cabin and the economy cabin on the day your ticket was purchased, it’s the difference between what the premium cabin ticket cost on the day you bought your ticket versus what they’re jacking up the economy cabin ticket to be on the date you fly. Yet another dirty trick they shouldn’t be allowed to get by with, but God knows The regulators will continue to get down on their knees for the airlines.
Aside from money there is the issue of space. It appeared to be a long distance flight with business class amenities. Would you want to be squished in between people on a long flight? What if they expected to get some work done? The fact passengers were just expected to be handed money to make the problem go away is appalling. People schedule those seats for a reason! It’s not for others to judge if they believe the reason is valid.
The issue here is not around safety, as rationale people understand this is the highest priority, and all regulations (and even Flight Attendant contract provisions) need to be adhered to. The issue is the heavy-handed way the United gate agent handled the problem. It underscores why United is still not up to Delta standards from a service standpoint. Look, most United employees I interact with as a 1K are wonderful and truly are trying to deliver great service. But United seems to have more inconsistency as it relates to professionalism, with the employees who are customer facing. It’s a culture and training variable.
Happened to me on Qatar not because of any change in aircraft but because they had overbooked business class (I was traveling on a work trip fully paid ticket).
I decided to go with economy instead of the next flight because I wanted to get back stateside (DOH-JFK). Got nothing but fare difference and a measly $250 in compensation after multiple follow-ups with their customer care team. People who don’t want to travel American carriers because of this United issue think again, because you have no rights with these middle eastern mercenary carriers.
With regard to the crew rest seats being broke, why not offer the FA’s say a $500 bonus, plus paid time off to have to endure sitting in a coach seat for a couple hours, the same coach seat that the paying passengers sit in for the entire trip, rather than inconveniencing thos revenue passengers in business class?
Issues like this. Problems with overbearing TSA agents. Etc. Travel is expensive. Stressful. Onerous. And worse than taking a POS bus populated with cretins that have severe OPD. These issues and more are why fewer people are traveling.
I was on a United flight from Newark to Dublin and was bumped from my 1st class seat to coach at the gate. United stated that they needed 3 pilots for the 6 hour flight and said it was an FAA reg. I’ve been a commercial pilot for 25 years so I know they were full of it. It was a fresh crew and under 10 hours of flight time. The co-pilot changed his tune, and stated they were flying the back side of the clock. Pilots fly domestic over night all week long with 2 pilots. He then said it was a weather issue. I pulled up Dublins weather and it was perfect. United is the new Spirit airline. Funny thing is that I was on the exact same plane, LAX to Newark before the Dublin leg with 2 pilots and that flight time was longer. My wife kept her seat and no flight crew ever used my seat.
I’m not sure you all read the full article.
2 different flights are referenced.
LAX-LHR needed volunteers because the crew rest area was out of service. FAA regulations require they get adequate rest or flight will CX.
ORD-LHR was an aircraft change due to a mechanical issue. New plane had fewer business seats. I’m glad they held out for more money.
UA could have just as easily cx the flight and based on the PR nightmare caused by upsetting those business class types who are appalled by even the thought of sitting in couch I think they would have been better off canceling and rebooting.
Some of you seriously sound like you would be very upset if the biz class restroom was out of service. I can imagine the comments “to not even offer me a refund or miles while I was forced to walk to the coach restroom past all those cramped bodies, wretched, writhing, yearning to be free. I will never fly this carrier again”
The bigger question is why is economy or economy plus not acceptable for crew but is for paying passengers
Here’s the rub folks, US airlines suck. Do not fly w. any of American carriers.period.
@zeppo, an innovative solution that will never see the light of day. Those of us who sit in coach on long flights know you can sleep in them. It is not easy but it is possible. We also have had days that have stretched into more than 12 hours of work in which we were supposed to be attentive the whole time. No need to be attentive at lunch or break times but not being attentive during a solo car commute is asking for trouble. Another problem with your solution is that the money would have to be offered to the whole cabin crew, not just a few who were willing to rest in coach seats. Junior flight attendants would probably be willing to take even less money but the senior flight attendants, who are more likely to be on long flights, would probably be less inclined, especially when they would probably be taxed on the money and Uncle Sam would take at least one third.
Why not just have a lottery and draw names?
So years ago, our cruise finished in Miami and we were scheduled to fly United to LA in their business class. The service desk in Miami refused to issue two business class tickets which had been fully paid for in Australia , stating that only one was available. Being foreigners in their eyes they clearly knew that we were ‘ expendable’ suckers who would not have the time to make a fuss or seek compensation. Their Australian offices could even not care less and so lost future bookings. pathetic!
@Roger they won’t miss you.
Perhaps they should have just canceled the flight. Would they have made everyone happy?
Gary don’t you get tired of writing a rag, just to piss people off?
We live in a very spoiled, entitled society. We take air travel for granted. They think nothing of putting 400 people and their luggage on a plane that now weighs 660,000 pounds, get that 666,000 lbs going 180 mph and climb up seven miles. Then fly thousands of miles and arrive on-time. Take a minute and think about all that has to happen to do this safely. Spoiled.
Maybe I am missing something but the passengers who booked and paid for a business class seat did that for a reason. If they wanted to fly economy, they would have booked it that way. I travel single and pay a single supplement to have a room to myself. When I do this and am assigned a roommate, this is not what I paid for and the trip is ruined despite what kind of refund a traveler receives. The company wins and the traveler loses, period
@Ed : A lecture on the marvels of flying? Really?
Let me get this straight: Because flying itself is so marvelous, people who booked and paid a substantial amount more for an upgraded experience should happily accept a downgrade because the airline made a mistake/cut corners for economic reasons? That makes no sense.
@Kevin H : Why assume people who book business class travel on long-haul flights are snobby and entitled?
For most people over 40, being cramped for many hours and missing a night’s sleep means you will be seriously impacted for the first day or two once you reach your destination. Being expected to accept an uncomfortable experience when you booked and paid for a comfortable one is a big deal. The whole point of this discussion is to share experiences and cautionary tales for people who may find themselves in this situation.
I particularly appreciated the experience of the airline pilot on a flight to Dublin who called out the gate agents on their repeated lies.
One poster’s experience seemed to offer the perfect solution : Airlines should offer prospective volunteers 75k miles or a status tier upgrade. The tier upgrade is very hard to earn, costs the airline nothing, and is very handy to have for those who travel frequently. The miles, if used at all, will most likely be used to fill empty coach seats.
Should have offered them 10k. The reputational impact is far more than 130k.
United is cheap AF and I generally avoid them even though SFO is my home airport. I don’t even like using miles to fly United
What this article neglects is the difference they have to pay out can be minimal because they only pay the difference between what you paid and the maximum possible economy faire which they can set very high on an oversold flight.