Originally Posted by dcpatti

The reading lamp complaint always gets under my skin a little. As far as I know, there's no proactive way to tell when a light bulb is ready to burn out, and while I don't know if any airline replaces the light bulbs proactively, it's a moot point, because I think we've all had a dud light bulb at one time or another at home that died after just a fraction of it lifespan. Knowing that a light bulb can burn out at any time, someone who places a high value on having reading light can easily protect themselves against disappointment by carrying a portable reading light. They're small, compact, durable and convenient, and for about $12 on amazon, you remove one of your potential travel nuisances. I'm not sure how it becomes compensation-worthy when it's not worth the passenger applying their own self-help proactively. Same with the spill on the seat: you're sharing a space that several or maybe even dozens of other people use in between deep cleanings, and sometimes we'll find evidence of those other people left behind. Small spills/spill residue and trash in the seat pockets are nuisances but it's the nature of a shared space, just like you might find the table at your local starbucks is a little sticky or has mug rings. Obviously not ideal, but get a napkin and tidy up. (By comparison, some evidence others leave behind is beyond reasonable expectations, so I'm not saying just deal with every situation; only saying it shouldn't go to the frustration and complaint level unless it's more than a simple nuisance.)

OP, the flight attendants sound like they apologized for the nasty sandwich wrap appropriately, and offered the best solution on hand to make the situation better; your request for refund got a response that included the procedure for obtaining this specific type of refund. I don't see what has happened that would cause you to pull your business from any airline over these things; of course, that's always your prerogative. Vote with your dollars. But if you consistently stop flying with a specific airline over nuisance-level issues not being met with compensation, eventually you will run out of airlines to fly.