Gekko

A question for anybody who has experienced a failure of on board power on a business class ticket - what is fair compensation? As background this was SFO/SYD on a 747, paid business ticket (D class - 3 seats), however seated in first class cabin. According to the crew, the entire first class section was without power, but it seems like only my wife were (significantly) inconvenienced by this issue.

I spoke to customer care, their offer was AUD$400 in total for the 3 passengers (one oneworld emerald and one sapphire) which given a $30K spend on tickets, and the booked (but not ticked) $30K in travel I have coming up this week seems paltry (and to be honest, cost me more than $400 in time once landed).

It's been 4 weeks since reported, and follow-up from the cust care has been pretty lax - finally today they said they are awaiting a crew report which was requested two weeks ago.

thoughts?

Blackcloud

I received the same level of compensation for no AVOD, but loop IFE, in First for two people.
Personally I think that is adequate. What do you think you should get?

Gekko

I've previously received A$300.00 *per person* for no AVOD (non-functioning). This was not power (at all) and given that a key part of this 14 hour journey for me was due to be working, I would expect something similar...

As the cabin differentiation continues to really center around seat and meals, ensuring that things like power and AVOD work should be a high priority, and there should be an expectation from Qantas that failure to have these items functioning will significantly impact passengers experience (albeit in different ways).

Dave Noble

It doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Of the 3 of you travelling, how many were actually impacted by this? Was there an empty seat in one of the other sections of business class where you could have sat to work

Gekko

Both J and F were full, 2 of us were impacted heavily - the 3rd was non-critical. Originally when they offered $400, i was pleased that they were recognizing our regular custom and spend as I thought it was per person, then when they said it was for all 3, I was less than impressed ($133 / 10K ticket?!)

Dave Noble

That is $200 per affected person. If there was no desire to use the facility then there is no reason to expect compensation surely.

Personally I think that, if the only issue was the laptop power, that $200 is reasonable compensation.

Shame they didnt try seeing if 2 people in a section where the power was working might be prepared to switch places

Gekko

non-critical = desire to use, unable to, able to suffice with non-use/alternatives.

simongr

I received a $300 voucher for travel after IFE was not working on a flight HKG-SYD - it was sent to all pax in the cabin.

I actually think IFE would be deeemed to be worse than power as probably more people use IFE than power.

moa999

If it was just external power I would thnk that is reasonable.
However surely they could have taken the laptop (or other device) elsewhere in the plane to charge for a few hours.

If it was power meaning power, IFE and seat controls then would be expecting something more.

Gekko

yes, that would have been helpful. unfortunately, this flight wasn't the best - staff were not particularly attentive, pillows were dirty, and to be honest, i didn't think about that solution either.

WillR

Certainly sounds inadequate to me.

If you really did need to work on board, that could have been the entire reason you paid for a business class seat. Failure to deliver on that service promise could be a really big deal for you, and if so a significant portion of the Y-J cost difference should be refundable

deeruck

I've seen this happen, and only for a kids movie laptop in Y. Remember option for future use if same happens. (Sorry, no advice or help with the compensation question).

Dave Noble

You did mention that there were only 2 wanting power , so lack of power would be irrelevent to the 3rd person so no reason to be compensated

I would have classed that $200 each lack of laptop power would be perfectly reasonable

If you mean that the entire IFE was not working ( rather than just the laptop power ) then that is different

Dave

WillR

With respect, he didn't say only 2 wanted power.

He said that 2 pax (out of 3) were significantly inconvenienced, and the third was non-critical, which he defined as 'desire to use' but able to cope with alternatives. "Desire"="want", at least in my book.

And $200 quite clearly is not enough. The price difference SYD-SFO between D and a standard discount Y ticket is at least $4000 on average. If you really think $200 is enough to compensate for no power, and carry that standard through to the obvious but ridiculous conclusion, you might one day end up flying on a business class ticket but with no AVOD, catering, nor lounge access and end up still paying $3000 more than an economy ticket once the paltry compensation is taken into account.

eoinnz

Would be fair to say if the 3rd person was traveling alone, they wouldn't be asking for compensation.

Premium economy is also offered on this flight which offers seat power so the difference between the J and the next lower cabin is less than $4000. I imagine space and comfort would have been a much bigger factor in purchasing business, not just for the sake of laptop power.

I think the offer is reasonable as do other users here and even if they did increase the compensation amount I don't think it would be much more.

But it's not about what we would take. If your not satisfied with the offer then make it clear to them what you expect. I'm not aware of many people that can read minds.

$400 is probably the going rate for power not working. It would be higher if others in the past had complained about it being too low.