Kacee

Technically not a downgrade and not UA's fault. As a customer service gesture they will sometimes book upgraded pax who have misconnected into business on another carrier, but they have no obligation. Not really surprised they wouldn't do it here, since the misconnect was EI's fault.

Sucks to lose that BF seat. On the other hand, you could have done much worse than LHR-LAX on NZ.

Have you looked into EU461 compensation for the EI delay?

PTY1K

The EI delay was only an hour and I didn't arrive in LAX late so I don't think that delay compensation is worth pursuing.

HANMLN

Seeking views!

Last week, on Tuesday, June 3rd, I was flying UAL to London from Dulles with my wife. We were booked in Business First . We paid for the seats, didn't use upgrades.

I had checked us in to our flight 24 hours before take-off. We boarded in group one, took our seats in first class (2a, 2b). Minutes before take-off, the gate agent came aboard and informed my wife that United had overbooked the first class cabin and that since she had the worst status of all the passengers in first class she had to fly coach. Despite my questioning, the gate agent refused to stand down. I did not want to cause a scene so I told my wife to stay in first class and I would fly in coach on her behalf.

The gate agent offered us $750 for our trouble and refunded the difference of the flight to my credit card. I wrote a complaint letter to United and they offered to give my spouse Silver status for a year.

Does that seem like enough compensation? I am interested in anyone's view on this. Thank you .

Kacee

Sorry to hear about your experience.

No that is not sufficient. Per the chart, compensation should be $1000 plus the fare differential. Which should be calculated based on lowest economy fare available at time of purchase.

CMK10

I am confused though, you say BusinessFirst which is Business Class and then First Class which is Global First, which were you in?

Though I think $750 plus the refund, plus Premier Silver for a year (something I've never heard of UA doing) is sufficient compensation.

craz

I think that for some Silver may be = or > $250 , but for others Silver is useless. If Mrs OP doesnt usually fly on her own then Silver wont gain her much. Personally Id want the extra $250 I would have thought they would DG a person who was UPed or on an Award tkt before having refund the cherished ca$h

qweretyq

Hey newbie here.
I booked a round trip from ORD to EWR last minute in first (A) class for $950. My return flight got cancelled and they booked me on the first flight the next day in Y. They say they cannot tell me how much I'll be getting since their refund department is not currently open. Approximately how much can I expect?

iluv2fly

You will probably owe them...

Kacee

Depends on how they price the Y ticket. You want them to price based on lowest available economy fare at the time of booking. Otherwise, as iluv2fly notes, there will probably be no refund at all.

For future reference, note that you have the option of holding out for a flight with F seats available. It won't necessarily be the first available, so the choice will often be between sooner in Y or later in F.

qweretyq

How do you ensure they are pricing on lowest available economy fare? Do you just ask them what is the new ticket price for the new seat they are booking?

As for your second point, you are correct they gave me choice of waiting for first class later or take Y. I needed to get to work the next day so I had to take the latter.

DErg

As a reference point, on 5 occasions over the past 2 years when I've been on UA in paid F I either misconnected due to something they caused or they canceled the flight. All 5 times at my request the premier line (not GA) has rebooked me on another carrier in F due to UA's flights not being times acceptable to me. They have successfully rebooked me on DL, AA and AS.

Most recent example was February going IAD-SFO-SEA, IAD-SFO was delayed causing me to miss the last SFO-SEA of the night. Next F seat on UA was 6pm the next day, quick matrix search showed plenty of F seats on AS the next day so I asked them to rebook me on AS. I have found that they will never offer the other carrier but you need to find the specific flights and feed them to the agent.

Global321

I assume you mean Business First.

And you paid for Business First? Not a co-pay. Actual paid business class?

I find it hard to believe that everyone in the cabin paid for business.

I am not doubting you, I just want to understand the facts.

CruiserCLE

During the Northeast weather mess on 7/3, I called in to rebook on a different flight when the weather waiver got posted and was put in F on 1/2 segments, even though my original itinerary was paid F the whole way (domestic itin, FWIW). Am I entitled to any sort of compensation? I have a feeling the answer is no because usually the choice is if you want to stay in F you may wait or they can get out sooner, but in Y. I'm not one to complain at first point of contact, but after a hellish second leg and being #1 on the upgrade list but not cleared, I was a little bitter. First segment looked like they had held back 2 seats in F but second leg already had 14 upgrades and was completely full.

This is my first experience in a year or two rebooking during a weather event as all of my flights this year have been uneventful. Thanks in advance.

lincolnjkc

Hey... also a CLEer and also had "fun" earlier this week, though I wound up in F unexpectedly...if a day later than originally planned (thank god for Y/B fares...)

Anyway, Per the Contract of Carriage you're entitled to a refund of the fare difference specifically... Rule 27(E)(4) (Flights Delays/Cancellations/Aircraft Changes - Schedule Irregularity) is the closest ("If space is only available and used on a UA flight(s) of a lower class of service than originally purchased by the passenger, UA will provide a refund of the difference in fare pursuant to Rule 27(C)(5)." But Rule 4, Rule 27(A)(3), Rule 27(C)(3), Rule 27(C)(5) may be worth looking at as well.

I don't believe there's entitlement for any additional compensation however... my experience with getting UA to refund even the fare difference can take some teeth pulling.

CruiserCLE

Thank you for the info! I had sent a generic request to customer care so when they respond in 15 (or 20...30...) days I will cite this if I do not make it anywhere with them. Glad to hear you made it out as well. I was on the 730p to IAD last night (that ended up getting cancelled) but called and switched to an ORD flight to connect to my destination. Man was I a happy camper when I saw how packed the airport was with stranded passengers. It looked like everything going east was delayed or cancelled.

On a side note, CLE looked quite "busy" even though it was artificial because of cancelled/delayed flights. I think I counted 6 or 7 mainline jets as well as the RJ's on the ground at the same time... quite a site on the C concourse these days!