mersk862

Proper compensation should be a $50/100 voucher (or 5000-10000 SkyMiles) for passengers in coach, unless that passenger is a SkyPriority passenger, in which case it should be a $200 voucher.

dollerman73

Why pay $100 once and $25 the next? Oh wait, I know why, because FT'ers like the ones posting here, are more than happy with it!

To answer your question more directly, $100 is fair!

Poopdeck90210

I had the "luck of the Irish" on Saturday and managed to snag a WBC seat on my trip home SEA-MSP. I had with me three great movies on my iPhone (including Avatar)... and in front of me... my AVOD system w/Noise Cancelling headphones in 1B. I flipped thru the programme offered (which included Avatar in two languages) and I decided to stick with watching Avatar on my iPhone with my personal media viewer (sunglasses that look like they came from Star Trek that make it look like you're watching a big screen TV). I never thought I would pick my iPhone over an AVOD - but I did. I just used the AVOD to have a closer view of our map/progress heading into MSP.

-A

bmchris

Wow - nice sense of entitlement. Make sure you insist on this compensation if they run out of Coke.

pbarnette

Well, I will repeat my advice that you should get an iPad. These things happen, and if you feel that AVOD accounts for 25% or more of the value of a plane ticket, then it would be a sound investment. Two of these trips and you would come close to paying for the iPad, and you could sit in Economy Plus, with better legroom for the long flight.

FWIW, let's break down this valuation for a PM:

- Total Fare Paid = $768
- AVOD = $200
- Miles (@ $0.005 per mile, to be conservative) = $150
- Meals and Drinks (with significant discount for lousy food) = $10
- Total Value Attributable to the Actual Flight to SYD = $408

You'll have to excuse me if I don't think that AVOD is worth roughly 50% of the value of the actual flight. Heck, if we use a still-reasonable $0.01 per mile valuation, then this would value AVOD and the flight itself as dangerously close to equal. I don't like TV that much.

bmchris

Heaven forbid DL makes passengers talk to each other to pass the time...

Sez_Who

I've been doing this for 3 yrs. Unless there is some great new movie I haven't seen, I am quite content with my QC 15's watching a movie I have seen over a hundred times. Weird to most but I still love watching Airplane even on the phone. Really, Shirley.

318i

For 15 hours????

Focus: I've done this flight. I can't sleep on planes. I think I watched three movies on the way down, and four on the way back. $25 is not even close to fair compensation given expectations of those buying the tickets.

uncertaintraveler

I take a rather dim view of the compensation awarded, regardless of its value, when the compensation comes in the form of a voucher.

A customer should be under no obligation to conduct additional business with a company in order to use the compensation provided by the company to the customer.

So while others may argue whether $25 is appropriate, I prefer to focus my attention on the form of compensation. Accordingly, a voucher is not appropriate compensation.

MarqFlyer

A fully loaded 777 weighs over 350 tons on takeoff, and they can figure out how to keep it in the air for 15+ hours. But they can't figure out how to keep an AVOD system working?

With the repeated reports of non-functioning AVOD on this route, you'd think they'd have replaced this bird under the lemon law....

Culrain

This isn't the first "You should've brought your own entertainment" response to problems like the OP encountered. The primary problem with that "solution" is, as any experienced traveler knows, pack light. Don't bring anything unnecessary. As DL and other carriers market the "state of the art" personal IFEs, it defies seasoned travelers logic to add weight and mass to our belongings as some kind of back-up. Yes the magic of technology has made these items lighter and smaller, but still even an unnecessary extra 2 pounds and several inches of space can make a difference if you need to check in a bag or carry-on suffices. This is putting aside having to always ensure the fancy expensive iPod is not damaged during the constantly shifting/moving/handling that comes with travel.

I can imagine a FA announcing "Unlike those losers on Virgin Australia who waste their time away watching their choice of several movies and TV shows, playing games and listening to music, Delta is instead now giving you the opportunity to converse with your neighbors for 15 hours! While we didn't perform any kind of psychological testing to ensure you are in any way socially compatible with your seat neighbors, we're positive this will go over really well."

Manoa Chris

$25 might be fair if it was cash- a fare voucher, especially if it requires booking by telephone.

komalkks

And therein lies the catch - no compensation will ever satisfy everybody.

Wonder if there were other seats available that had AVOD

Maybe my expectations are low, but I would not lose much sleep (see the irony) over the fact that I was not able to watch movies or listen to audio on a 15 hr flt (and Yes - I have done the ATL - BOM on Delta, and the EWR - BOM on CO as well as BOM - EWR and the AVOD on CO had to be reset a few times)

Love the sense of entitlement though - I dont get TV - wah wah wah - now compensate me for my ruined "EXPECTATIONS"!!!!

pbarnette

If one is valuing entertainment at $100, each way, then I struggle to see why one wouldn't prioritize the extra 2 pounds. At that kind of valuation, you should leave behind an undershirt or two and buy them at your destination. Assuming that an undershirt runs less than $10, someone that values IFE at $200, roundtrip, should bring their own backup entertainment, instead of an undershirt, if they believe there is a 5% chance of failure of the IFE on their flights. Indeed, I would think that they should account for not just the probability of failure but also the probability that they will have seen all the movies or that none of the movies will be of interest to them.

angra

Well that beats my BE (mostly) busted AVOD NRT-ATL this morning with three reboot attempts and a shrug of the shoulders