Originally Posted by
mahasamatman
The best possible future is one where there are no Skykits because there's no need for them.
It's unreasonable to expect total perfection, and I think it's a very good move on UA's part to empower the flight crew to handle a situation via a SkyKit immediately at the point of service failure. It sends a tangible message that the company recognizes you were inconvenienced.
Flying on CO today (who, in their minds, they think they're perfect), they were short on meals in Y due to a cancellation they had more people than originally expected. The FA is having a cow over this as they close the door, and the supervisor just said, "Sorry, hope it works out for you," as he shut the door. That company has absolutely no mechanism to take care of minor issues like this at the point of service failure. So now customers in the back are upset, whereas on UA they would have been placated by the SkyKit.
Originally Posted by
blort
My guess is that there is significant breakage in the compensation vouchers anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if fewer than half were ever redeemed. Moreover, it's not like UA is paying out cash -- they're offering dollars off future purchases. Roll that all together and it becomes a giant non-item, certainly not worth itemized disclosure.
And in many cases, the voucher actually makes them money. Someone with a $100 cert may be incentivized to buy that next ticket on UA vs. another carrier (who may even be cheaper). That brings revenue to UA, a chance to regain that customer if they were truly upset, and keeps money out of the competitor's pockets. The certificates are gold, not just for us, but for the company as well.