Broken Layflat on EWR-SFO
 

Recently flew on a J fare business class ticket and my seat was broken in the upright position (it did not recline at all let alone go fully flat). When I asked the FA for help, she offered none and did not seem to care at all. I tried to reach out to United after the flight and after a few weeks finally got a response... a $300 dollar voucher. That was a $3k one-way ticket and I am quite upset about the meager compensation especially given I am a mid-level premier status. I told them that it wasn't acceptable and that I would be taking my transcon business class flights with another airline in the future and they did not care. Anyone else had a bad experience like this / any advice on trying to get this fixed??

That's pretty stingy compensation but it's getting in to the realm of max compensation offered. It sucks but it seems to be in the norm. This should maybe be merged with the consolidated compensation thread and you can peruse through that thread to get a rough idea. To offer a datapoint, I was on an RPU upgrade and the FA offered a $500 voucher in the air. I would try asking nicely about revising the compensation and you can try emailing oscar's email to see if you can get someone in the executive leadership department.

UA typically undercomps for that. They'll give $150 for broken AVOD or no wifi, and only $300 or $400 for a broken lie-flat. I would be super pissed, too.

AA has a superior t-con product.

I would expect at least $500, $750 with some status and for a high status individual closer to $1000, as reported for a downgauge flight -- https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...tic-first.html

However it has been reported a tightening in compensation offers, Has United Suddenly Gotten Astonishingly Stingy on Comp?

I would be joging a note to oscar's office relating your future travel changes unless a more appropriate offer is made.

BTW, the Polaris seats where the motors are malfunctions, can be manual placed into lie flat model and then manually reset to upright position. Not all FAs know how to do this but should asked for help from a more knowledgeable FA.

I don’t recall seeing anywhere near that amount for a broken seat. I would much rather fly in a fully upright J seat than a fully functional recliner seat every time, personally. (And, yes, they can be put into lie-flat mode, although it sounds like OP got a FA who didn’t know, or didn’t care, how to do it).

Agree. There have been multiple reports of GS/1K getting low-balled in the $400 range, and UA not budging.

Years ago I had a broken seat in a last minute one-way first class ticket which I paid around $3500 for, and was offered $750 comp and 10,000 miles. Late in 2019 I had a broken seat on a similar itin and was offered $300 and no miles; and some reports indicate UA is going away from cash comp all together. I know it stinks, but you might just have to take what you can get and leave it at that. If they do budge and go higher, please let us know.

United knows that a mid-level premier at American received an unacceptable compensation offer and told the AA agent “I would be taking my transcon business flights with another airline in the future”.

I never think that threating to take your business to another airline is ever effective. No data on this, but I doubt that the person on the phone, making little money, really cares.

Every airline and agent has heard it.

Just last month I got $125 for a Y seat that wouldn't recline on a 3 hr 737 flight. $300 for a completely broken lay flat (one one the main reasons for booking that specific flight to begin with) is unacceptable. I'd be looking for $1k minimum. Imagine if you had a meeting to get to right after the flight.

It is a futile comment to make in that setting, but does that somehow make UA's refusal to provide fair compensation okay?

In my view $300 for a broken lie-flat on a full fare J ticket is objectively unreasonable. It would be entirely appropriate for customers who receive such treatment to take their business elsewhere. And to let the airline know they are doing so.

I’m pretty sure a lot of people in coach have meetings to get to after flights and still are effective.

Keep it basic - “The lie-flat I booked didn’t work”, not “I had a meeting to go to”.

Makes me wonder
 

Wonder if anyone who had to bear this failure to deliver promised product tried to do a chargeback with the CC?

No go. Passenger was transported to/from destination. If all he/she paid for was a seat, sure.

No connection - two different subjects.

On the other hand (now that I think about it), some agents might be annoyed by the response (again, not saying it’s right) and deep-six additional comp.