No courtesy compensation?
Jul 7, 2019, 9:56 am
#61
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And that's how I got things going, with the Alaska gate agent stating in reply that there was no compensation on offer. If some of you think that airline-provided customer service is bad in the United States, it can be down right abysmal in Canada. My assumption -- admittedly my mistake -- was that this was little more than cheap, inexpert, sub-par Canadian customer service in action (as I'm Canadian, I should be allowed to say this), but there was hope that Alaska customer service might do something to rectify it. Lesson learned.
I had a LIH-SEA-OAK (F on GGU) where I bumped to LIH-SJC Exit Row. They tried the same thing -- $0 comp, you're getting in earlier. I said no, I'm giving up my upgrade and going to the wrong airport. We ended up agreeing on $750 per person + lunch voucher + taxi up to OAK (where my car was). GGUs were returned from MileagePlan.
Jul 7, 2019, 10:15 am
#62
Moderator, Delta Skymiles and Mileage Run
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My guess is that there is more to the story. $1000 doesn’t sound like “normal” compensation for voluntary denied boarding (and re-accommodation on another carrier). In the post-Dao era compensation can, of course, go high, but that isn’t the starting point IMO. Also, surprising (to me) that Delta doesn’t issue Delta vouchers for future Delta travel instead of cash.
Everyone gets the final highest offer, even if you volunteer when it's lower. Delta has found that not everyone wants a travel voucher and would love an Amazon gift card or amex gift card.
Jul 7, 2019, 10:22 am
#63
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,124
I think a VDB situation is different in that there is no standard, so it's not an issue of escalating to CS to get a by the book resolution. There's no book. It's really a function of need and the circumstances at play and what you can negotiate at that point in time. In one case there could be a favorable outcome (5 hour early arrival) they can start at $0 comp, in another case, they could start much higher.
I had a LIH-SEA-OAK (F on GGU) where I bumped to LIH-SJC Exit Row. They tried the same thing -- $0 comp, you're getting in earlier. I said no, I'm giving up my upgrade and going to the wrong airport. We ended up agreeing on $750 per person + lunch voucher + taxi up to OAK (where my car was). GGUs were returned from MileagePlan.
I had a LIH-SEA-OAK (F on GGU) where I bumped to LIH-SJC Exit Row. They tried the same thing -- $0 comp, you're getting in earlier. I said no, I'm giving up my upgrade and going to the wrong airport. We ended up agreeing on $750 per person + lunch voucher + taxi up to OAK (where my car was). GGUs were returned from MileagePlan.
The OP still hasn't explained the circumstances of the $1000 cash payment from DL. This is not the usual compensation. If they announced the need for volunteers in exchange for $1000 of course he got the compesanrion, and he would have on AS too. This is a different solution in that AS saw an opportunity that they could solve the oversell situation and provide a better service to the OP. As others have said, if contrary to the expectations of AS staff, this was actually not a better service from the OP's perspective he could have said so and would have been able to take his originally ticketed flight, or volunteered when $ was offered.
Jul 7, 2019, 10:42 am
#64
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Change this to an IDB situation instead of VDB, and DOT would not require any mandatory compensation at all. That compensation doesn't kick in until you have at least a one hour delay (that gets you 200% of the one way fare for a 1-4 hour international arrival delay, up to $675). Getting in 5 hours early negates the compensation for being delayed. Now, where would the OP have placed on the IDB list if AS had to go that way? I don't know. Would an award ticket from a partner and no Alaska status move him to the top of the list of candidates to be IDB'd? If so, AS could have still rerouted him without offering any compensation.
Jul 7, 2019, 12:56 pm
#65
Join Date: Aug 2018
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Posts: 621
I don’t get why people are piling on the OP.
When an airline asks if the passenger wants to change flights, it’s usually because of an oversold situation. When a flight is oversold, the airline usually offers compensation above and beyond the alternative routing, regardless of whether the new routing arrives earlier.
Not unreasonable at all for the OP to anticipate compensation.
That said, he/ she should be clear about the transaction in advance of accepting it.
When an airline asks if the passenger wants to change flights, it’s usually because of an oversold situation. When a flight is oversold, the airline usually offers compensation above and beyond the alternative routing, regardless of whether the new routing arrives earlier.
Not unreasonable at all for the OP to anticipate compensation.
That said, he/ she should be clear about the transaction in advance of accepting it.
Jul 7, 2019, 1:45 pm
#66
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,832
OP, the next time you get upgraded from Y to F, be sure to ask for compensation.
Jul 7, 2019, 5:50 pm
#67
Moderator: Alaska Mileage Plan
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,316
A couple of off-topic and inflammatory posts have been deleted. The thread has turned into a general compensation discussion. We know how those turn out. It's time to close.