tkflyer

Just received an email back from UA Customer Relations regarding a broken AV (all E seats) problem on CO operated flight. Here is an alarming extract.

Thank you for getting back to me. Please understand that I have re-visited your concerns, and I very much regret that you continue to be unhappy with us. United is in the process of redesigning our compensation guidelines and in the interest of creating a financially sound airline we will not be able to be as generous with our compensation as we have in the past. We will no longer be issuing compensation for every contact and in fact are limited compensation to 6 times per 6 month period. I am sorry for any disappointment this causes.

As your flight was on Continental and we are currently still operating as separate carriers, I have forwarded your concern regarding the entertainment system to their attention.

emanon256

I wonder if its the same person who told me:

Dear Mr. Emanon:
I regret you continue to be frustrated by my response. Our responsibility in Customer Relations is not to apologize, but to report your feedback to the appropriate managers which we have done.

I realize the website states On United Express® flights longer than 760 miles (approximately two hours), United First customers will enjoy complimentary snack boxes featuring high-quality, brand-name foods however it also states times and menu items listed are subject to change or substitution.

channa

Very interesting that it's not a function of travel, rather it's a fixed frequency.

FriendlySkies

What about legitimate issues that occur more than six times in six months? For those of us that fly thousands of miles per year, you might run into multiple aircraft, within those six weeks, that have issues. On a run last May, I had four flights that had broken IFE, resulting in four e-certs, 3/4 of them waiting when we landed...

gawhite411

I think you should view the 6 in 6 as a hard cap and an extreme upper limit. I would be stunned if you could actually get 6 instances of compensation, even if you flew two flights a day every day for 6 months. To put it simply, CO simply does not provide compensation except under EXTREME circumstances, and CO does not provide different compensation levels based on the status of the customer. It is clear to me that the merged carrier is going to the CO route vis a vis compensation. I don't think I know anyone who has gotten 2 instances of compensation from CO in 6 months, let alone 6.

Just to be clear broken IFE is unlikely to rise to the level of a compensation event on CO. Even if it did, the best you could hope for would be some miles.

SEA1K4EVR

My god 6 times in 6 months? There must be some real whiners out there! I average one or two complaints per year where I actually expect some compensation because of a real problem.

SFO_Chad

No kidding. No wonder there are changes in progress!!

Most of my emails to the UA actually request no compenstation - but rather a request for a personlized repsonse that addresses my concerns and notes that the issue will be addressed.

To each their own.

MatthewLAX

Let's see if they eliminate the appreciation cards...

FriendlySkies

In some cases, however, those six times may be justified. While most of my e-certs come from skykits, or proactively, there have been cases where I could/should have asked for something, but did not.

pigx5

I believe that they will.

SFOSpiff

While I think this is a bad step in the wrong direction, I can sort of see this being reined in, and we knew it was coming. There are at least a few people who are getting halfway to 1K with cert-funded MRs, so clearly it's possible to abuse the system.

On the other hand, the idea that I can fly a 12 hour flight with totally broken IFE and get nothing but "it sucks to be you" ... well, that's going to backfire. Even in the BA forum people report getting up to 35k miles for broken IFE or seats on long haul flights in C or F. And frankly, aside from the fuel surcharges, BA miles will get you farther than UA miles.

I know what some of you are going to say about frills, extras, etc, but if I wanted the "our job is to get you from A to B and you're lucky you get a seat" attitude from my airline, I'd fly Ryanair.

LIH Prem

a few people? Half way?

It a lot more than a few.

-David

garykung

I wonder how they count it - Are they mixing up Customer Relations complaints with skykits?

Anyway - get whatever you can now...(providing you do have a legitimate complaints...)

1K and GS - Good luck...

It is still something (better than nothing)...

nycvisitor

You can see (just by browsing this forum) people are/were abusing the system. It makes sense and we just have to live with that!

emanon256

I do agree with 6 compensations in 6 months being excessive. I fly 2-4 segments a week, almost every week, and get 3 to 4 certificates a year.

But I also agree, if I am stuck in a long haul trans-con or trans-ocean with no IFE, I would be irked and expecting as least a few miles.

Several people in here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...1-edition.html have reported being told Sky Kits/Appreciation Cards have been discontinued.