jamesteroh

I flew DL 19 LHR/DTW yesterday and it was a completely full flight and Y was oversold and they gave me an op up to J which I really appreciated. First time flying in J on international and it was a huge improvement over sitting in EC on my flight over Tuesday night

I had Seat 8-C. The seat was working fine the first couple hours of the flight. After the dessert service, I moved the seat into the full upright position to get up to use the lav and returned and was going to use it in the flatbed position to sleep since I only had a couple hours sleep the night before and was really tired. The seat just made a grinding sound and wouldn't recline at all and the footrest would work but not the recline. Used the call button and the FA asked me to stand up and removed the cushion thinking something could have been stuck and still couldn't get it to recline.

She had the purser come up and look at it and she couldn't figure out what was wrong either. She asked me if I had my skymiles card and said she was going to give me miles or a voucher and was going to have the cockpit radio maintenance and see if there was a way they could manually adjust the seat for me in a flat bed position (the flight was full so she couldn't move me).

She came back a couple minutes later with a credit card reader type machine and put my card in and it had a couple options and she asked me if I wanted a $50 voucher or 5K skypesos or a duty free credit. I told her I wasn't try to sound ungrateful but I didn't think $50 was much for having to sit upright for so long and she said she agreed and I should email Delta but $50 was the most she could give meShe gave me a credit card type receipt stating I should receive a TCV in 4 to 6 weeks. She apologized again and and assured me I would be in a flat bed position within a half hour after she heard back from maintenance (I didn't even know the cockpit would radio maintenance over something like that).

She came back 20 minutes later and said maintenance didn't want them touching it but seat 9-D was a non-rev and she asked the lady in 9-D to switch seats with me.

She did switch seats with me (she was just reclined watching a movie at that time).

Is it normal for Delta to ask a non-rev to switch seats over something like this? Especially since I was an op-up on a T fare (not sure if the purser knew that or not). The purser also told the non-rev they would give her a voucher for the problem (I was asleep and not sure if she did it while I was sleeping or they did after the flight because she was talking to the one FA during deplaning so not sure if she got more than $50 or not).

I also thought $50 was a low voucher amount for that type of inconvenience if I would have been stuck in the seat for 5 more hours. Especially seeing the reported compensation some people report for a broken IFE. Not sure if Delta would have given me more or not if I complained. I am not going to complain since I got $50 and was only inconvenienced for a half hour and it was an op-up on a T fare and the purser and entire crew were great the whole flight.

rwoman

Glad to see they took care of you - I thought paying pax (revenue/award) took priority over Non-Rev's with meals, etc.

MSPeconomist

Normally if there's a seat problem affecting a revenue passenger, including paid BE, award BE, and upgrades with miles/SWUs, the FA should ask a nonrev to switch seats and the nonrev is supposed to do so without argument or complaint, just as nonrevs are supposed to get the last meal choices. I don't know whether it would be different for an OPUP, but I don't think so. In fact, I'm not sure whether the flight manifest indicates OPUP status.

jamesteroh

I know the non-rev didn't get the last meal choice or meal service. She was served in the same order as everyone in J. I am surprised the purser (who was terrific) just didn't ask the non-rev to switch seats with me right away instead of making me wait and giving me a voucher (I don't think anyone would expect compensation for just switching seats right away especially on a t fare op up). Also thought it was odd they would give a non-rev compensation for that, but that is a pretty big inconvenience.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Paying PAX > NonRev at any time in any cabin. The FA handled it perfectly. (And the FA was probably only able to offer a maximum of $50).

BTW - if I had a seat issue while in Y and could not be moved within the cabin I would ask to be moved to another cabin including taking the place of a NonRev.

MSPeconomist

Some pursers are very subtle about the nonrev meal choice. They will take all orders following the seat map and then count haw many of each meal were requested. Sometimes they will ask nonrevs (and low status passengers) for a second choice. Some experienced and low-maintenance nonrevs will say something like "give me anything" or "surprise me" to indicate that they understand what should happen.

jamesteroh

The FA was only able to give me $50. She showed me the screen on the machien and there was a choice of 2500 or 5000 skypeso, $25 or $50 voucher or some kind of duty free credit.

sbagdon

5K does seem kinda low, for a broken seat, especially for a PM. When I saw that amount, I was going to guess FO, yet then looked at the OP's profile. Odd.

MSPeconomist

I suspect that if the seat is reported by the FA or the OP, DL will give more miles, but being an OPUP might make a difference here.

jamesteroh

5k or $50 was the most the FA could give me on board.

Seeing I was an op up and was only inconvienced for a half hour and the crew was great, I am not going to ask for more compensation.

If I was on a paid J fare and wouldn't have been reseated, I would be complaining to Delta and would expect more compensation.

bennos

Agreed. Indeed, since the objective is to not call out NRSAs to regular passengers, it would be weird to take their order or serve them in a different way.

On a NRT-JFK flight, after taking all the orders, the FA returned to a couple seated near me and in a low voice said "we're out of Japanese meals" and asked for an alternate. (My order was taken after theirs and I asked for the Japanese meal.)

mridley2

Yup. Ive heard many non revs say "Surprise Me" or "what's easier for you?"

Also, I've never had an FA prioritize meal availability based on status or fare code. Not saying it doesn't happen but I've never experienced it. Frankly I think that's a bit gauche to ask a GM to give up meal choice because a PM or DM has a preference.

TheMadBrewer

When I get an OpUp, when they ask me my dinner choice I usually do something similar ("I'll take A but if you run short I'd be happy with B"). I just happy to be up front

MSPeconomist

I've had meal priority as a DM. This is on the manifest and is easy to follow. Some FAs/pursers think this is what should be done.

OTOH, the manifest does not list the fare and I don't think lists the fare class either, but I could be wrong. Some airlines do not show who was upgraded on the manifest (miles/SWUs/free elite) because they want all revenue passengers in the cabin to be treated equally. There was discussion about this here a while back and I think someone here claimed that the fare code is in the DL manifest. Does anyone know for sure?

jamesteroh

I have seen them take meal orders on status before, but not that often.

When I flew DTW to LAX in May (upgraded Slut fare) the FA asked me for my meal choice after the door was closed but were still on the ground and asked a couple other people in random order and then when we were in the air asked everyone else. A few years ago when I had no status there were a couple times I was sitting in the aisle on a paid F ticket and the FA took the window seatmates order and then skipped to other PAX before returning to me.

If a non status is on a paid F or J ticket they shouldn't be skipped over for a high level flyer on a comp upgrade.