Originally Posted by
canadiancow
The fact that you equate "priority baggage handling" (which is often not delivered), "exclusive boarding lanes" (which is often not delivered), and "lie-flat bed with lumbar support", is quite telling.
I'm the first to say that my own inflatable mattress solves all my issues. But I feel like you're saying "lounge access" is equivalent to "eventually getting your destination", which is ludicrous.
So 20% of the cabin experienced deceptive advertising is acceptable? I'm not sure I'd accept 0.1%, but I certainly don't think 20% is reasonable.
My second last Signature flight had 60% of my party of 5 with deflated seats. I have no idea how many others didn't even notice.
So it's okay for companies to do bad things to thousands of people? Being properly compensated is a self-serving component of this, but I want them to stop the misleading advertising. "Working to fix it" is great, but that doesn't mean their advertising isn't misleading NOW.
Nowhere did I say I personally think this is an acceptable product, resolution or situation. I simply looked at it from the perspective of a 'false or misleading [advert] in a material respect'. The airline is not promising something substantially different to what it is delivering (it is not a deliberate bait and switch) it is simply that what they are delivering is substandard and defective. In the same way if you bought a pair of (for want of a better analogy) a pair of Nike Air trainers, and they were defective, it wouldn't be false or misleading advertising by Nike, it would be a defective product, covered by other consumer rights. Even if they knew 20% of their trainers wouldn't inflate consistently over time, it still wouldn't be false or misleading, since the product, as designed, when working correctly, matches the advertising. It isn't to say the company is right, morally, or under other legislation, just that this isn't the right provision to die on the hill for.
In terms of what is more important to whom, and the weighting to apply, it is entirely subjective. I know someone who sleeps like a log sitting bolt upright on a plane, so doesn't really care about the onboard product, but hates lines like you wouldn't believe, so priority check in, security and boarding would probably matter to her more. For a shorter flight the lounge experience is a significant part to me, especially if I have a longer connection where I may spend more time in the lounge than in the air, since I can eat, have a few drinks, and then the flight passes by pretty quickly. For my upcoming Transpacific, which I booked AC before I was aware of this issue, you better believe the seat is damn important to me (and I am pondering my camping mat options). Again, what I feel personally, and what I understand of objective criteria are different.