772 downgrade for EWR-IAH-GRU, rebooked EWR-GRU, SWU redeposit?
 

CO811 EWR-IAH was downgraded today from a 772 to a 752.
My father was in line today around 2pm at EWR about to check in for EWR-IAH as part of EWR-IAH-GRU in F & BF using an SWU when CO called him and said they would put him on EWR-GRU in BF instead. He asked if they were offering compensation and they said no since they were putting him on a non-stop flight in BF. However, now he has to wait at EWR for 7-8 hours for the flight and wasn't given any meal vouchers to replace the dinner on EWR-IAH. Also, he isn't as savvy so he didn't ask what fare class they were rebooking him into or if he could get the SWU back.

I told him getting original routing credit shouldn't be an issue, my question is, do you think it's fair to request the SWU back?
They rebooked him into R class not J which appears to be available. So he was UGed, rather than getting booked into J.

Yes, I know the IAH-GRU and EWR-GRU are the same 762 equipment so he wasn't screwed out of a flat-bed but the whole point of using the SWU was because he could get the 772 and 762 + additional miles going via IAH. He wouldn't have used the SWU on EWR-GRU on a 762 (he isn't on the return trip).

There's no way he'll get the SWU back unless he asks for a downgrade.

The other points of your argument are really not relevant to the airline...they're getting him to GRU in BF, and like you already said he'll be able to get original routing credit after the fact. You might get some kind of compensation if his arrival in GRU ends up being later than if he had gone through IAH, but it won't be a SWU..perhaps a few miiles.

How was he downgraded to a 752? Did you mean 762?

I doubt he will get the SWU back. To be honest, he used it for BF service there, and that is what he is getting. If not taking a 772 to Houston was a dealbreaker, then he should have requested a seat for the next day or asked to be downgraded to Y and gotten the SWU back.

Aircraft swaps happen, and I think CO rebooking onto the direct flight was fair. I do think they should have provided him a food voucher for the airport though.

Original routing credits should be no big deal to get.

Is this a joke?

Well this explains what happened to my 777 tomorrow. It was downgraded to a 757-200. What 52 BF seats to 16 BF. CO called me and wanted to make sure I checked and everything. The 777 was a full flight too. Agent told me the people who check in late will not have seats. 777 is not going to fit into a 752. I wonder what is going to happed to all those people. I feel sorry for the F/A that has to work the first 6 rows in coach as it will be filled with the 36 Elites that were bumped out of lie flat BF seat with food serivce to CO coach seat with BOB. It's going to be a fun flight!:rolleyes:

CO811 EWR-IAH today was supposed to be on a 772. It got switched to a 752. There are only 16 flat beds on the 752 vs. 50 on the 772.


He texted me from the PClub that he asked for and was given a $30 meal voucher.


No, the SWU redeposit is a long shot, I agree, but a little compensation would've been nice.
He helped them out and was inconvenienced for it. He could've said no and waited until they started asking for volunteers at the gate (maybe he should have) and then let the GAs deal with the people who were getting bumped.
When CO called me a week ago the day before because my IAH-EWR 772 was switched to a 752 and offered me a non-stop flight from DFW instead and they still offered me compensation.

From CO’s perspective, they’re probably helping your dad by moving him to what most would probably consider a preferable itinerary.

I thought they kept a backup 772 in Houston. What flight are you taking that was downgraded?

Flight 810 IAH-EWR. That my second of three flights that day.

I believe it is a 764 that's kept on the ground, not a 772, though that may have changed in the many months since we last had an Ops briefing at a CO Do.

Slightly off topic, but doesnt this sound like CO playing the sneaky game of not paying VDB comp during equipment swaps?

They tried to do this to me once when I was on a MR and 753 got switched to a 739. When I checked in they told me they were putting me on a less circuitous routing (MCO-EWR-DTW instead of MCO-IAH-DTW). I asked them if they were also providing VDB comp since I did not approve the change. When they said no, I didnt approve the new routing, waited an hour till boarding, they were still way overbooked, and got the $400 VDB and a reroute. You just have to play their little game.

Backup widebodies (if they have one on the ground) are there to cover the longhauls that cannot be flown with domestic narrowbodies. They are not there to cover for EWR-IAH.

In fact, the VERY reason the EWR-IAH was downgraded might be because they have to pull it to cover other longhaul flights.

That would make sense. I was thinking that second guy was downgraded on a long haul route from Houston.

The info I remember reading was at least a year ago here on the boards. It was in a thread talking about what happens when the 772 from IAH-NRT goes down and people were talking about keeping a backup 772 in Houston for this route/others.

I've been on a 772 IAH-EWR flight that was downgraded. They put as many people as they could on the flight that left before it (called us) and then ran two 737s to carry the rest.