Originally Posted by
OHDL1
Hard to believe that the check was for that low amount. I've seen checks for anywhere from 2-3 hundred up to the max 1300. They also have the option to take the voucher amount offered. That's how you get a IDB to VDB.
Well, there are a couple of thingz about this story to add . . . .
I was equally surprised to see the checks (2 men) being written, for I believe $46 each. I chatted with the RedCoat while this was going on out of curiosity. I asked her if they were flying J, and she said - You saw the checks - what do you think? So, ok, they were flying Y.
Just now checking advance purchase fares from ICN/NYC on DL.com, I see prices around $900. Maybe they bought their tix from a wholesaler for less. ICN/JFK is somewhere around 15K miles, depending on the routing. Assuming that this was not a broken fare - maybe just a "less than 24 hour stopover", based on mileage, even at $900, I think that puts the value of a JFK/MSP 1000 mile segment at $60, but probably less, if you deduct taxes.
The truly sad part of the whole thing is, that the 2 businessmen really had no idea what was going on. Their English wasn't great, and while the RedCoat tried (somewhat) to explain the situation to them, it really wasn't clear what was happening to them. They kept repeating that they had a reservation, and that they couldn't understand why they couldn't get on the plane. When she wrote the checks and handed them over to them, I'm not really even sure they understood that they were checks that could be cashed - just some kind of an additional document. Besides, where would they cash them? I watched them thru the whole process, as she did my VDB after theirs, and they just seemed to be in a fog over the whole thing - even as an agent walked them outside to get the limo to LGA - probably today, I'd bet that they tell people at home that they still don't have any idea why they weren't allowed on that flight.