joe_miami

I agree the $125 is about right, but this is a ludicrous argument when talking about an airport at which there's zero chance of an airplane swap.

If the airport was open, security should have been open.

SFO777

Ludicrous or not, that's the policy. TSA closes at ALB because there are no scheduled flights after 8:30pm. Why should they keep TSA open any later when there are no scheduled departures? This one was on OP's friend and he is indeed damn lucky that UA booked him on AA let alone offer $125.

joe_miami

Nobody in their right mind goes to the airport 5 hours before a flight that is confirmed to be delayed for 5 hours.

By that logic, they should turn off the lights and close the bathrooms, too. Ludicrous.

lincolnjkc

The lights and water usage for a few hours pale in comparison to the salaries and overhead of keeping humans (I think the minimum staffing for a TSA checkpoint is somewhere between 3 and 5 people, including at least one supervisor, IIRC) around when everyone is expected to clear security prior to scheduled departure time. TSA scheduling is a TSA thing, flight scheduling is a UA thing -- I'm not even sure UA would have a way to "force" TSA to remain open for a delayed flight if they wanted to.

Checkpoints closing is also fairly typical at the vast majority of airports -- my home airport the last TSA checkpoint closes at 11:30, period. Richmond, another airport I spend too much time at, has a sign as you leave the sterile area that "If you leave after 8:30pm TSA will be closed and you aren't coming back in"

UA's (and every other airline's) guidance is to be at the airport at the originally scheduled departure time period. While I'll gamble with that a bit any time I have a particularly early or late flight (scheduled or otherwise) I'll check with the airline and to confirm their ticket counter and security operational hours.

joe_miami

If airline and airport policies were always smart, we wouldn't need FlyerTalk.

There's absolutely no point in advising passengers of a flight delay if they still need to be at the gate at the scheduled departure time, even at airports where there's no chance of an airplane swap.

mangoMan

My friend said he talked to TSA and was told that they would stay open if UA told them too. They said they do this frequently as this situation happens all the time.

Edit to add: Just as a data point, my friends ended up negotiating for a $150 voucher after their arrival in ORD.

shdflyer

ORD - BZN was overweight due to cargo and after everyone was in their seats an agent came on board and said they needed 5 volunteers to take a later flight 10 hours later that day -- and he started the "bidding" at $2,000 ETC per person.
My son and I were near the front, shot our arms in the air instantly, my son yelled "You've got two right here!" and 30 minutes later we walked away with total of $4,000 in ETC. Spent a sunny day in Chicago celebrating our good fortune and arrived BZN at 11 pm instead of 1 pm. Wow.

HkCaGu

Report: Incident: United B738 near Sacramento on Apr 4th 2019, engine problem

6 am YVR-SFO diverted to SMF. Me/parent1 going to LAX with 2.6 h connection. Parent2 going to HKG with 4.6 h connection.
3 of us received and used a taxi coupon SMF-SFO. Arrived at SFO-LAX gate just before start of boarding. Parent2 rechecked a bag and had time for PL (revenue Z, open-jaw special).
(Planned SFO UC visit obviously shelved, used LAX UC instead, so effectively we exited LAX an hour delayed.)
I (G) got $250 cert, parent2(S) got $200, parent1(GM) got $150.

greenarmy

Broken IFE Dub-Ord in (basic) Economy, no status, $125 ETC after writing in
Dulles - London daytime flight delayed 8hrs due to mechanical issues $150 ETC auto-emailed inviting to claim it.

flymexico2010

As a lowly silver I got 100 USD in voucher value due to an inoperable AVOD on a pretty long flight ORD HKG.
Was that not a little bit low?

thanks

joe_miami

Probably not, although United's wildly inconsistent approach to comp might lead people to believe otherwise.

paperwastage

no-status economy, $100 voucher

in-op restrooms, last 4 hours of 14hr flight
(only 2 rear economy were working, other 4 J and 4 Y were in-op)

pregabalin

1k in paid F from SFO to LAX. Seat wouldn’t recline, so I messaged and was given $200 certificate.

flymexico2010

was this automated compensation?

paperwastage

Automatic Email told me to apply via united cares

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