bloxomo

True dat.

See the DOT's "Fly Rights" in section 4 ("Overbooking"), the second part of the 4th exception: "on flights using aircraft with 30 through 60 passenger seats, compensation is not required if you were bumped due to safety-related aircraft weight or balance constraints"

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm

Doug 1029

The vast majority of flights from DTW-ORD are smaller craft, hence weight and balance issues. GA may have been correct.

EmailKid

Are you sure? I got a VDB voucher from US a few years back because headwinds were too strong on PHL-IAH and they needed a few volunteers to reduce weight.

EmailKid

DeaconFlyer

IDB = $0
VDB = Whatever the airline decides to give you

MR_MAMA

They removed the OP from the plane, unless he was flying standby..it would be IDB.

Just looked at what type of plane, looks like there was a 1030ish dep what was a 175 but the one after that which seems more likely at 105pm was a DC950

EmailKid

It just does not make sense that they would give you a voucher if they can bump you for free. Considering how many other bennies have been taken away, this seems to go the other way.

EmailKid

DeaconFlyer

As much as some posters would try to have you believe otherwise, there are still some UA staff members who try to focus on customer service.

craz

Seems then that yesterday was the 1st day COdbaUA started using DC-9s! Neither UA nor CO used DC-9s , DL or NW surely did

Just not enough info to know if 100% this was a IDB or not, did another passenger get on board? was it a weight issue? was the OP a SBY? etc etc until the OP comes back and lets us know theers no way to know what actually took place,imo

Loren Pechtel

Yeah, that was what I was thinking also--the GA pulled the last person but apparently didn't put anyone on. That sounds like they needed the pounds, not the seat and that makes it a no-compensation case.

xliioper

Not always. In fact, if they can get you to your destination within an hour of your originally scheduled time, they do not owe you anything for an IDB. Otherwise, it is based on the one way cost of your ticket. 2x the fare for delays between 1 and 2 hours (with max of $650), and 4x the fare for delays more than 2 hours (with max of $1300). Given how cheap flights between DTW and ORD can be, you may be much better off with a VDB voucher.

Assuming this is actually an IDB situation and not a weight and balance issue.

Often1

OP needs to provide more information. What was the aircraft size & how much of a delay was occasioned by the bump?

This was an IDB because OP was removed from the flight without his agreement. But, depending on the size of the aircraft and the length of delay occasioned by the bump, the compensation due could be anywhere from $0 to $1,300 (paid in cash).

If the IDB would have been $0, the GA did OP a favor by turning this into a VDB (which it wasn't).

For what it's worth, the "V" means "voluntary." There is no fixed amount and it is whatever you agree to. It is generally paid in the form of vouchers, not in cash (check) and can also include other incentives such as a hotel, food, UG's and the like.

shortkidd

Long day of flying yesterday.......so, they did in fact pull me off the flight and gave the seat to someone else. I was originally on a different flight and paid for a flight change because I needed to get to Chicago to get my baggage and grab an AA flight.

EDIT: Both flights yesterday were RJs.

Funny thing is....on the second flight something screwy went on again....My boarding pass wouldn;t be taken by the machine because someone was in the seat already. It looks like they double booked the seat and they had to go onto the flight and pull someone off.

So, I got the short end of the stick on the first flight and someone else got the short end of the stick on the second flight.

Only a few UA reservations left until I switch to a competitor. I personally have never seen it this bad at UA and I think I went through some tough times in the 90s.

cordelli

Yet another United MileagePlus (Consolidated) thread high on speculation and short on facts.

There is no where enough information provided for anybody to be making any reasonable decisions as to what happened.

UA-NYC

And yet the outcome is what matters, UA losing another long-time loyal and possibly fairly profitable customer. No wonder PRASM continues to lag.

Ocn Vw 1K

As some of the more recent posts suggest, the GA may have given the OP the correct overall "bottom line".

We just don't know without more facts, including the a/c seating size and whether weight and balance issues were involved (although the OP's observation about giving the seat to another suggests that there may not have been a wt./balance issue). However, whether or not the OP was entitled to be compensated as an IDB, if the GA did not first seek volunteers, the DOT would likely consider this an IDB situation for statistical reporting and for enforcement purposes, even if OP was not entitled to IDB compensation.

There are indeed cases where the IDB compensation is far less than the typical VDB offer. One easy, mainline example: an A320 is oversold by 3 but all three are protected on the next flight scheduled to arrive at the ticketed destination 0:58 minutes after the oversold flight. IDB compensation will be zero; VDB comp. will be whatever offer is made and accepted by the pax. (i.e., $200 voucher). (See 14 C.F.R. sec. 250.6 (d).)