IDB on flight from Cabo
Jan 15, 2008 | 8:22 am
#16
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His seat is not relevant. The downgrade should have been processed in reverse EUA order:
- EUA upgrade by reverse status
- Mileage upgrader by reverse status
- Paid F ticket by reverse fare class and status
Then he should have been given their seat. His seat assignment should have absolutely no bearing in this matter.
The ONLY way CO handled this situation properly is if the entire F cabin was full of revenue tickets, and he was the lowest statused of them all. And even then, CO's treatment of a paid F Elite was poor. He should have been advised of his right to a refund (plus the voucher compensation), and/or been given alternate flights on other carriers with F/J space (perhaps even to accommodate the entire party of 5 if they wanted to fly together).
Jan 15, 2008 | 8:23 am
#17
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From the original post it was stated that the person in 1E never left their seat.
Jan 15, 2008 | 8:23 am
#18
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My experience was that Continental is pretty darn stingy when one is involuntarily downgraded from First. Mrs. Westtexas and I were flying MEX to IAH a couple of days before Christmas in 2005, plane went mechanical, situation goes south. I was on a D fare, which everyone insisted was not a first class fare but instead a coach fare I had upgrade by paying $45 extra. I pointed out that it was clearly listed as international business class, and eventually lost the argument because I just got tired of fighting with people who would not read their own fare schedule.
They eventually gave me $45 per seat. When I emailed LK's office, he put me in touch with someone who tried very hard to be helpful. She did give me additional compensation, but kept repeating the line that I had upgraded a coach ticket even after I sent in docs showing I had bought a ticket with a fare basis of D. I also sent in web print outs of what it would have cost to buy a coach ticket going out and a first ticket coming in. Even with the additional compensation, I got less than that fare difference. Worse yet, nobody admitted what class of ticket I had actually purchased in spite of printed evidence.
They eventually gave me $45 per seat. When I emailed LK's office, he put me in touch with someone who tried very hard to be helpful. She did give me additional compensation, but kept repeating the line that I had upgraded a coach ticket even after I sent in docs showing I had bought a ticket with a fare basis of D. I also sent in web print outs of what it would have cost to buy a coach ticket going out and a first ticket coming in. Even with the additional compensation, I got less than that fare difference. Worse yet, nobody admitted what class of ticket I had actually purchased in spite of printed evidence.
Completely unacceptable, and both the ticket agent and whomever you spoke to after the fact were idiots. So, if a D fare is an upgrade of a coach fare for a fee, does that mean that a J fare an upgrade of a coach ticket with a $9000 upgrade fee? 
Jan 15, 2008 | 8:26 am
#19
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If you re-read the OP, you will notice that the crew member who sat in the OP's seat appeared not to be working the flight.
Jan 15, 2008 | 8:43 am
#20
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Woops, I thought the crew member was never in the seat. My mistake.
Jan 15, 2008 | 9:22 am
#21
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Well I PM'd CO Insider with all the relevant info, hopefully he can shed some light on what exactly happened and why it happened. I am pretty sure the crew member was not working the flight and only catching a ride back but not certain.
I know seat 1E has some relevance to it but searches are hard because i cant search for less then 4 letter words. Is 1E the normal seat that is designated for air marshalls on CO?
I guess what im asking is do i try and avoid 1E on future flights? Most of my segments are paid F and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I was moved once but to another open seat in F.
BTW: My fare class on the outbound was "D" I think it was the same on the return but the flight was so recent its not shown yet in my onepass account so i cant view it at the moment.
I know seat 1E has some relevance to it but searches are hard because i cant search for less then 4 letter words. Is 1E the normal seat that is designated for air marshalls on CO?
I guess what im asking is do i try and avoid 1E on future flights? Most of my segments are paid F and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I was moved once but to another open seat in F.
BTW: My fare class on the outbound was "D" I think it was the same on the return but the flight was so recent its not shown yet in my onepass account so i cant view it at the moment.
Jan 15, 2008 | 9:24 am
#22
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Well I PM'd CO Insider with all the relevant info, hopefully he can shed some light on what exactly happened and why it happened. I am pretty sure the crew member was not working the flight and only catching a ride back but not certain.
I know seat 1E has some relevance to it but searches are hard because i cant search for less then 4 letter words. Is 1E the normal seat that is designated for air marshalls on CO?
I guess what im asking is do i try and avoid 1E on future flights? Most of my segments are paid F and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I was moved once but to another open seat in F.
BTW: My fare class on the outbound was "D" I think it was the same on the return but the flight was so recent its not shown yet in my onepass account so i cant view it at the moment.
I know seat 1E has some relevance to it but searches are hard because i cant search for less then 4 letter words. Is 1E the normal seat that is designated for air marshalls on CO?
I guess what im asking is do i try and avoid 1E on future flights? Most of my segments are paid F and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I was moved once but to another open seat in F.
BTW: My fare class on the outbound was "D" I think it was the same on the return but the flight was so recent its not shown yet in my onepass account so i cant view it at the moment.
Jan 15, 2008 | 9:33 am
#23
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Jan 15, 2008 | 9:52 am
#24
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Jan 15, 2008 | 10:47 am
#25
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Jan 15, 2008 | 2:06 pm
#26
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Maybe not. If the flight deck crew was doing a EWR-SJD-EWR turn and the block time sufficiently long, that seat may have been taken for the necessary relief pilot. Since the seat was occupied at all times, it sounds as though this was the case. There is no other situation that I can think of (barring an inop FA jumpseat that you mentioned) where a revenue passenger would be bumped to coach to accomodate a crew member.
Jan 15, 2008 | 2:26 pm
#27
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Continental talks a good game but when they screw up and you need help they fall apart. The other majors are much better during these trying times. Knowing the top brass of an airline is nice but having airline screwups with gate,ticket counter,pres club and customer care.
Jan 15, 2008 | 4:22 pm
#28
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Continental talks a good game but when they screw up and you need help they fall apart. The other majors are much better during these trying times. Knowing the top brass of an airline is nice but having airline screwups with gate,ticket counter,pres club and customer care.
Your cost-to-benefit analysis may differ of course.
Jan 15, 2008 | 6:16 pm
#29
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I think they are still at the top of the class as far as American carriers and being based in NJ they are incredibly convenient. I fly CO almost exclusively and while I have had problems in the past, they were minor in detail and always resolved to my satisfaction, I have hope this one will be as well.
I will say though this is the most incensed that I have been with CO ever. I just felt there was more that they could have done and I didn't see any sense of urgency on their part and less they showed the more irritated I became.
I will say though this is the most incensed that I have been with CO ever. I just felt there was more that they could have done and I didn't see any sense of urgency on their part and less they showed the more irritated I became.