Originally Posted by
Lux Flyer
I can understand the frustration, but their compensation systems aren't setup to do what you're asking for complex delays. Before travel has taken place they're setup to give hotels and food vouchers, and token in the moment gestures (meant for on board disruptions such as IFE issues or miscatered meals), not for flight delay issues. For delays they usually want to see what you actually travel since their compensation schemes are based on the overall delay you experience, not what the inital delay appears to be. They know well that initial 3 hour delays can turn into a day plus delay (as you experienced), and apparent 3 day delays can roll back into a single day as flight availability changes/rebooking options become available. While your flight is compensation eligibel due to mechanical/crew cause, as others have mentioned, there has been substantial weather in both the US and Germany which are further disrupting operations, and leading to multiple cancellations/crew/plane availability issues. So even though your flight wasn't directly impacted by weather, the storm systems are definitely impacting your rebooking options, coupled with holiday travel having already high loads, it's just a difficult weekend to be travelling unfortunately.
Thanks for explaining that - I understand that the systems aren't set up for it, but it's just so frustrating that they aren't. And I know the individual agents are doing their best - the lady at the airport the night we were cancelled spent probably 40 minutes trying to find the best option for us, and I was very grateful to her for her efforts. But United as a company really ought to have a better system for making these situations a little less unpleasant for customers. It feels as though they've taken so much power and flexibility out of the hands of customer service (to keep money from being 'wasted' making customers happy, no doubt).
Originally Posted by
Lux Flyer
Regarding the 1k in hotels....travel insurance
We have travel insurance and they told us that it's not covered - they only reimburse you for the hotel you had to stay at in your delayed city or if the trip is cancelled completely because of someone's death, illness, or the airline going bankrupt. Another expensive lesson learned there...