Originally Posted by
toomanybooks
Are you folks asking for compensation for delayed/MX flights? How much can one reasonable expect?
I assume it's strategic to wait until after January to request, when we will have achieved our higher elite levels?
If your flight is "sufficiently" delayed, you may get automatic compensation (in the form of RDMs) about a week or so afterwards.
I've gotten that at least twice in recent years:
Once when I was flying LAX-DFW (as part of an MR in a previous DEQM promo), and the 757 went out and came back and ended up being 4 hours late.
The other when I was flying back from South America and on my last leg, DFW-LAX, when the 757 did a diversion to Lubbock (which for AA is normally an Eagle-only station) and we had to wait about 7 hours for a replacement plane. (The reason for the diversion, later revealed, was that there had been unusual vibration in one engine, and ATC told the pilot to shut down that engine and land ASAP. Luckily at least Lubbock had at least an Eagle presence; it could have been an airport with no AA-related presence!)
I also got customer service RDMs without asking once when I flew either LAX-JFK or JFK-LAX in J the first time after DC power at the seats was disabled planewide on the 762s (which in turn made J IFE not work, IIRC).