findark

Had an issue at boarding SFO-AKL earlier this month... my companion got a page and we were told a seat was inop but not to worry*, they would fix it. They let us board about 15 minutes later, but the purser came up while on the ground and said the power recline was broken, so it was either upright or full-flat and an FA would need to operate the seat to switch. Offered her $400 ETC on the spot (she's Silver) which seemed more than fair, although kind of alarming that Polaris seats are already breaking.

*which of course means I'm standing there on my phone researching all possible positive-space rebooking options

riphamilton

about a 3h50m mx delay LAX-KOA. there were three of us: me (gold), and two non-members. we each got a $200 ETC after i emailed on behalf of the group.

i was sorta surprised/disappointed that we didn't have emails from "united proactive recovery" upon landing.

egifts

For my four hour delay that we were told about the day before, I was only offered a $125 ETC (as a 1K). Looking at the amount the last two posters were offered, I wonder if it was because they announced it so far in advance?

jsloan

lincolnjkc

Indirectly, probably. One of the factors that the pseudo-random number generator (pRNG) takes into account is the subjective 'inconvenience' caused (in addition to type of issue, passenger status, and IIRC ticketed fare class) My guess is whomever pushed the big red compensation button classified it as a "minor" [I think that's the lowest level, there may also be something lesser, e.g. "trivial"] inconvenience given the degree of notice/possibility to make alternative plans/fact that you weren't necessarily cooling your heels at the airport. On the other hand had it been classified as a "moderate", "major" or "severe" the offer would have been higher.

IIRC, from having a gate agent demo the phone version of the wheel-o-compensation 6 months ago -- on my specific issue -- the a "minor" inconvenience version of my issue would have generated a $75 ETC, while a "moderate" version generated a $150 ETC for a 1K on a flexible economy ticket [single cabin aircraft].

LIH

4 hour crew-related delay LGA > ORD for the third time in three weeks. While not formal compensation my P fare was re-booked to a full J fare which gave me enough PQM (with the higher J fare bonus that just posted) to hit 275K PQM for the year -- so de facto this delay compensated me with two additional RPUs!

BOSNRTSFOICH

Yesterday had a just shy of a 4 hour delay (3h 55m) all maintenance related, at the gate, out to the tarmac, back to the gate, finally equip swap. The gate agent came on board twice and suggested we go online to submit a claim for what we're "entitled to". But in the past, I've received pre-emptive apology emails from UA with ETC credit offer. Haven't seen anything from them yet, should I wait or should I go and submit online do you think?

WineCountryUA

4 hour delays are on the threshold of compensation / no compensation. Generally under 4-hour delays will not get pro-active emails but you may get a response if you write in.

Richym99

Last two flights I've taken have both had minor issues that affected either a small number of passengers or had work arounds that allowed pax to continue using alternatives.

Lax-Lhr no earbuds loaded for Y pax. (Most had their own)

Lhr-Sfo Avod failed halfway through flight, but personal device entertainment still available.

Both occasions prior to the end of flight announcemts have been made inviting pax to visit /unitedcares for compensation. ETC's or miles offered both times.

narvik

Darn, why do none of my flights ever have such minor issues, for which I could get ETCs for?

Kmxu

Richym99

$75 and $175 was offered in my case.

The total cost of my two fares was only $853. So United were extremely generous in the circumstances.

mathprof

Platinum member flying coavk LAX-MCO on 11/9. Wifi and personal device entertainment inoperable for the entire flight. Had an announcement with apology but no mention of compensation so I asked a FA if something would be available on united.com/appreciation. FA said there would be but only got error message when I tried. Sent a message through the website and got a generic reply (... Apologize for not meeting your expectations...) with no agent name and no offer of anything. Does that mean nobody even read my message? Maybe I'll call in tomorrow.

bmw303

I got the same exact message. Surprising for no Wifi plus delay plus other issue. Even more surprising they didn't address me by name, address any of the issues I presented, or bother to sign the email. Their email was 2 sentences.

danpeake

No wifi on short BDL-IAD flight on 12/24, but device entertainment did work (I didn't actually try it). Flight was also an hour late but that was because of weather.

$50 ETC for gold; I did write in only mentioning the wifi - it wasn't offered proactively.