Observations of SouthWest from a UA MM
#16
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 228
I'm not sure you understand, but the hotel + transportation + meals is not upto WN's discretion. It's a FAA rule. I'll file a DOT complaint today and end up getting it for sure, but they've left a bad memory. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I think they take adavantage of their customer's lack of flying experience.
#17
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 200
I’m afraid you must be someone with a lack of flying experience. FAA has zero rules concerning the above issues. If, perhaps you are confused about the difference between the FAA and the DOT, the DOT explicitly states that an airlines is Not required to provide hotel, transportation or meal vouchers.
#18
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: St. Louis, MO
Programs: AA EXP, 1MM; HH Gold; IHG Platinum
Posts: 148
Denied boarding is a completely different situation vs. an operational delay or cancellation. You're comparing apples and oranges.
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,074
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,074
Delta does an overall great job. I would normally prefer to fly them and get to pick my own "special" seats due to status and maybe first class.
BUT - WN flies to more places with better schedule for us. And the ability to book, cancel, change, rebook, etc is well worth it to us. And of course the companion pass is awesome.
BUT - WN flies to more places with better schedule for us. And the ability to book, cancel, change, rebook, etc is well worth it to us. And of course the companion pass is awesome.
#21
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,385
So there are two separate issues: i) Compensation which is as you say carrier driven and ii) FAA rules. The FAA requires meal vouchers, transportation and hotel rooms if the delay is caused by the carrier (i.e. crew times out or in my case a vendor had IT issues) and results in a prolonged delay.
FAA doesn't regulate this consumer item. DOT does
DOT explicitly says they dont have such a rule (unlike EU's EC261)
https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...-cancellations
My flight is delayed - am I entitled to money or other compensation from the airline?
No. There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed. Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers. If your flight is experiencing a long delay, ask airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
===
If my flight is cancelled, is the airline required to provide me with a hotel room, cab fare, a food voucher, or reimbursement for any other non-airline ticket costs associated with my trip?
No. Airlines are not required to provide passengers with money or other compensation for costs that fall outside of the cancelled airline ticket and fees tied directly to the airline ticket (such as baggage fees, seat upgrades, etc.) when flights are cancelled.
Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for passengers whose flights have been cancelled. If your flight is cancelled, ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
No. There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed. Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers. If your flight is experiencing a long delay, ask airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
===
If my flight is cancelled, is the airline required to provide me with a hotel room, cab fare, a food voucher, or reimbursement for any other non-airline ticket costs associated with my trip?
No. Airlines are not required to provide passengers with money or other compensation for costs that fall outside of the cancelled airline ticket and fees tied directly to the airline ticket (such as baggage fees, seat upgrades, etc.) when flights are cancelled.
Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for passengers whose flights have been cancelled. If your flight is cancelled, ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room. While some airlines offer these amenities to passengers, others do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
https://www.southwest.com/assets/pdf...commitment.pdf
southwest just has this. no meal voucher
If circumstances within our control, such as aircraft “swaps,” cause you to miss the last possible flight (or connection) of the
day to your destination, our Customer Service personnel have the authority to arrange at no additional cost to you:
● Overnight lodging
● Ground transportation to the overnight facility
If the cause of your inconvenience is not within our means of control, we will do our best to assist you by securing a
discounted rate at a hotel at or near the airport
day to your destination, our Customer Service personnel have the authority to arrange at no additional cost to you:
● Overnight lodging
● Ground transportation to the overnight facility
If the cause of your inconvenience is not within our means of control, we will do our best to assist you by securing a
discounted rate at a hotel at or near the airport
Last edited by paperwastage; Jun 15, 2021 at 6:35 pm
#22
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,385
UA left me stuck in SFO for a full 24 hours (on top of a 3 hour delay onboard) a year-ish ago.
Their best offer? $300 voucher. No hotel. No transportation. No meals. I attempted to escalate, and was politely told to pound sand.
Bonus? This was on *full J* international ticket.
So, as you can see, UA isn't necessarily much better than WN when it comes to compensation for non-status passengers.
Their best offer? $300 voucher. No hotel. No transportation. No meals. I attempted to escalate, and was politely told to pound sand.
Bonus? This was on *full J* international ticket.
So, as you can see, UA isn't necessarily much better than WN when it comes to compensation for non-status passengers.
Hotels? for 1K irrops (WX, MX, ...)? [Consolidated Q&A 2015-forward]
http://rg.star-allianceemployees.com...-handling.html
In the event of an uncontrollable delay, Star Alliance member carriers will provide amenities to premium customers (First, Business and Star Alliance Gold status customers and customers requiring special assistance) travelling on an "intercontinental" journey including "intercontinental connection" to/from domestic services. An "intercontinental connection" is defined as one which does not exceed 24 hours. Intercontinental services are defined as those operating between Europe, Asia, North America (including Central America), South america, Australia & New Zealand and Africa.
Minimum Amenities
Access to phone and/or Wi-Fi and/or other means of communication and/or provide information about communication access;
Meals and/or refreshments when delay exceeds two hours;
Hotel accommodation for more than 8h delays if it occurs in overnight period;
Ground transportation between airport/hotel/airport must be provided upon customer request;
For those customers who decline airport accommodations, carrier should provide ground transportation options to allow customers to travel to/from their residence if within 80 km from the airport, or provide ground transportation compensation fee.
Minimum Amenities
Access to phone and/or Wi-Fi and/or other means of communication and/or provide information about communication access;
Meals and/or refreshments when delay exceeds two hours;
Hotel accommodation for more than 8h delays if it occurs in overnight period;
Ground transportation between airport/hotel/airport must be provided upon customer request;
For those customers who decline airport accommodations, carrier should provide ground transportation options to allow customers to travel to/from their residence if within 80 km from the airport, or provide ground transportation compensation fee.
#23
In memoriam
Join Date: Dec 2001
Programs: DL 2MM, AA MM, DL Sky Club Life, AA Admirals Club Life, Hilton Gold Life
Posts: 1,732
#24
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), IHG Spire, UA Silver
Posts: 5,849
FAA takes discrimination complaints. DOT takes other air travel complaints.
https://www.transportation.gov/airco...umer-complaint
https://www.transportation.gov/airco...umer-complaint
#25
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: NYC
Programs: AS 75K, DL Platinum
Posts: 631
if you know your stuff, you might have gotten hotel/meal reimbursement (unfortunately it comes to having to refer to FT gurus) under *A rules... as long as it's a inter-continental int'l J
Hotels? for 1K irrops (WX, MX, ...)? [Consolidated Q&A 2015-forward]
http://rg.star-allianceemployees.com...-handling.html
Hotels? for 1K irrops (WX, MX, ...)? [Consolidated Q&A 2015-forward]
http://rg.star-allianceemployees.com...-handling.html
#26
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 71
Take the voucher and head out, bud.
#27
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: United Two Million Miler; United 1K, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 568
Not quite. WN could have:
a) Given me a hotel room and booked me on the 11am flight allowing me to catch some sleep.
b) Flew me out at 6am (after arrving at 1am).
WN refused to entertain a) and refused to give me a hotel room for b) saying I didn't need one. Again as I mentioned earlier, they had a system wide grounding of all planes so they were trying to save money but FAA rules are the rules but I think WN takes adavantage of a leisure travel customer base who are not informed.
a) Given me a hotel room and booked me on the 11am flight allowing me to catch some sleep.
b) Flew me out at 6am (after arrving at 1am).
WN refused to entertain a) and refused to give me a hotel room for b) saying I didn't need one. Again as I mentioned earlier, they had a system wide grounding of all planes so they were trying to save money but FAA rules are the rules but I think WN takes adavantage of a leisure travel customer base who are not informed.
.
#28
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
The observation from this UA MM about all airlines, not just Southwest, is that sometimes you get dealt a bad hand with no way to turn the L into a W. That's when you use the skills you've accumulated as a FF to make the L as painless as possible and then move on.
#30
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Boston, MA (BOS)
Programs: AA PLT Pro 2MM, DL Gold, UA Silver, Marriott Ambassador + LT Plat, COFC Venture X, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 5,587
Why didn’t OP book with Citi Prestige, Chase Sapphire Reserve, etc with good trip delay insurance? Any astute FTer should be doing so at this point versus chase after (no pun intended) the airport customer service during a delay for hotel accommodation