pmarrsouth

getagb

moops380

So a friend of mine flew yesterday/today bogota-ewr-cle and at the checkin desk in bogota was told there was a max 10kg per carry on piece, and was told she would need to check a 2nd bag as the carry on was too heavy, her smaller carryon was about 10kg and larger like 18 or somethign, so not really able to distribute. As her sister had parked to drop her off she had an extra piece of luggage in her car (luckily i guess?) and went along with the 2nd baggage fee of ~$65usd. When she told me this I was like, pretty sure they just made that up on the spot as the website says absolutely nothing about weights for carryons (no restrictions).

Then, same intin, my friend was on the 3rd to last flight of the day to cle and during taxi there was a mech delay, then returned to the gate, but no one was able to deboard. Then upon being cleared for the mech they taxiied for a while then the crew/pilot(?) timed out. She was put up in the radisson which is a train+shuttle from terminal C and the exact same plane departed at 9am today without much more delay (also $20 food coups). So she ended up 15 hours and 1 minute late due to a mech delay and then later a crew timeout. (the later flights all were gone)

I told her I would think about what to write in the customer care form as I think she should certainly get refunded this $65 back, and perhaps a pretty generous Evoucher. The question is how much? I got 150 the last time i was 'bumped' from EC to E on a 2 hour flight, and the lady next to me got bumped from first (she was upgraded due to gold i think) to e but on a flight an hour later got $1000. I'm thinking they might give closer to $1000 for this sort of thing, any tips or thoughts appreciated. (my friend used 20k lifemiles and the ~$100 of taxes/fees, so she'd probably be happy with anything over what that is worth).

jsloan

I suspect you'll be disappointed. $150 is more likely than $1000; possibly less unless your friend has status.

moops380

We'll see. I have no status (neither does she) and got $150 from EC to E on the same plane, I used 7500 turkish points and checked in at the last minute and was assigned my seat just 30 minutes before the flight without paying for any assignment, and I got $150... (no mech delays, no delays at all), The guy did say that my seat went to a G.S. so maybe thats why.

threeoh

Almost all Latin American airlines (including Avianca) have a 10kg (or even 8kg) limit for carry-on, so the (I'm guessing contract, not UA employee) agent misapplied the rule rather than "making it up".

Also the fee should have been $55, are you sure this was a United counter for a United-operated flight?

I think you have an even shot at getting the checked bag fees refunded or offered an ETC for in the $50-$100 range. As for compensation for the delay, $1000 is not going to happen. Read through the compensation thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...l#post31438476 I would expect between $100 and $200 for an overnight mechanical delay and no status.

jsloan

$150 for being moved is unusually generous.

moops380

Yes, that makes more sense. Billed $55 for the 2nd bag and $10 for taxes on it (TAXES YS10.00). Two receipts on united cardstock stapled together. So inclusive of taxes the 2nd bag was $65.

The overnight was caused by crew timeout, they were in the queue to leave. They were in that queue because earlier they were in a normal queue then had the mech issue. If they deplaned they could have re-accommodated dozens of people (How would they know the crew would timeout?, they should know a little bit). There were 2 more flights that night and one to CAK (30 miles away) was showing 9+ award seats even when i checked 2 hrs before that departure. I guess doing this they didn't have to remove anyones luggage from the hold as it was the same exact plane that left at 9am about 11 hours after they deplaned.

So I guess the expectations are more like 200-300 maybe but, they had no crew in newark from 10pm until 9am?? and that plane just sits there? She did say it was at most 2/3 full if that means anything.

Thanks for your responses.

UPDATE: $150 egc, unclear if it was for the overnight delay, or if it was for the baggage issue. Better than nothing I suppose.

So I was at the lovely priority pass restaurant when I got the status update of my seat on my phone and was like, great, exactly what I wanted, EC window just 30 minutes before departure or so. I walked straight to board maybe 10 minutes after that as the last person in "group 2". Then my phone made a beep and was like, here is your new seat and the agent handed me a paper ticket, I said, I'm a bit confused I was just texted this seat assignment 10 minutes ago. I really wasn't expecting anything but was just curious as to what happened, and it appeared a supervisor was right there with a new smartphone-united contraption and was sort-of teaching the 2 ladies at the desk how to do a 'instant Ecert'. He said well a GS didn't have his family in the same row and we needed to accommodate, but we can give you some money. I said ok that would be good as this never happened to me before and I find it strange. He scans my pass looks at my UA account on this device (probably sees my points balance (currently too high) and some other info (previously have been *gold from avianca br)), asks me to confirm my email, says, do you think 150 would work, I said, sure that would work. He said check your email it should be there right now, and it was and I walked right down the jetway with a smile. Took maybe 90-120 seconds to complete this, no customer care emails or anything. This plane was 100% full and the lady that got the $1000 bump was in the middle next to me oddly, I still had a window seat. Maybe just my lucky day.

seanp7

$250 ETC for no mattress pads and an extremely rude crew. US-EU in Polaris.

pong1092

I booked a flight for my mother for IAH to SEA back in may for a flight today in Business(P) class. My mother is elderly/disabled which was the reason for business class. Need of wheelchair was noted on original reservation and I called to confirm this morning. She has now been moved to economy due to equipment swap or offered a flight 1.5 hours later and $300ETC with confirmed business. She doesn't want to wait around the airport and would rather fly economy. What type of compensation will she receive for this? Would it be the differential in fares? Thanks,

fumje

You can likely get them to refund the differential. I would think it's fair to request the $300 ETC in addition, regardless of which flight she takes, but there isn't a policy of that.

findark

OVS DOWNGRADE would be $250 ETC plus the fare difference. I agree asking for same $300 plus differential would not be crazy (although Y over F 90m later is nuts! )

pong1092

Well they still don't have her confirmed in economy as they told her at the ticketing counter. Been on hold with united for 30 minutes while they have tried to contact someone at the airport. Got another hour or so before the flight. Shes at the at the gate but no agent yet and she doesn't quite understand what is going on since they told her she had an economy ticket but didn't give her one. Flight is full and she isn't on any standby list.

If this was me id take the 300 dollar ETC in a heart beat for a 1.5 hour wait. Little hard to tell her to do the same.

WineCountryUA

Depends on the reason of the aircraft swap, there may or may not be Oversold comp https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ation-etc.html UA will likely push back on this and it would only be if she flies in economy ($200 ETC)

If she agrees to the economy re-accommodation, there may be some fare differential due (this is complicated if there are multiple flight segments)

And a small customer appreciation inconvenience gesture ($100/$150 ECT)

pong1092

They ended up getting her in business not sure the whole story yet. Not expecting any compensation now since original paid for class was honored just with a lot of unnecessary trouble, thanks for the help.