<bow>

i believe wx hotel is >=1p

delayed bags don't get comp?

I believe that if it's your outbound flight, UA will occassionally reimburse the reasonable cost of clothing until the bag is delivered... but no official policy exists here I am aware of.

I'll not take sides in all of this since I see points that sway for the OP, the SYD pax, and for UA's handling of this. Clearly, some oddball things happened...

I still can't fathom why a UA agent faced with one or two extra pax, one of them a 1K, all under irrops, and all with a dire need to fly didn't simply overbook the flight by one more and then get VDBs to clear space? That way everyone is happy: The SYD pax make it to their vacation, the OP gets to his meetings, and 2 volunteers that can spare the delay get VDB compensation.

it was weather related. why should ua pay $400 or whatever for a vdb? gosh, wouldn't it be ironic if the OP who seems to mostly be after compensation got confirmed, then vdb'd himself...

I really see no issue here. You were standby, so why would there be compensation for not getting on that flight. Your original flight was delayed due to weather, again, not due compensation. United took care of 4 international passengers over one local standby passenger. They did it right in my view.

Sorry for your delay, but it happens sometimes when there are weather issues.

AD

Sure, I understand the reason. However, it seems like the agent was already pushing/bending the system pretty hard to get the 4 SYD pax on-board. In that case, why not go the extra mile and also take care of a 1k pax that you just flat out told had to standby? In the end you probably only need to offer the DBCFREE to get the volunteers and the net cost of those is pretty minimal, especially considering breakage.

The UA agent worked pretty hard. The OP was working with the UX agent, not the UA agent.

And if they got zero volunteers, they would then need to IDB someone, and how is that any better than simply leaving the OP as a standby? At least that way there was no actual IDB (a statistic which has to be reported to DOT) and nobody having to be removed from their originally-ticketed, confirmed itinerary. We also don't know how many minutes prior to departure this whole event took place... if it was too close to boarding time, the UX agent wouldn't have wanted to delay departure in order to ask for volunteers.

Glad you got some cash. Still think you were wrong. Still dont understand why you have not answered why you did not ask for a reroute on another airline.

As I said earlier, I have voluntarily reliqueshed my confirmed seat in a similar instance. ( and yes I am a 1K ).

What goes around, comes around

There are two issues here.

1) Did UA break the rules? Yes (apparently) they did. UA put non-status pax ahead of status pax.

1.5) As UA broke their own rules did they compensate the status pax fairly. From the quote above it looks like they did. UA provided a hotel room during a WX delay. I call that fair.

Issue 2

2) Did the GA and by implication do anything wrong? This answer is no both on a rules level and on a moral level. MP belongs to UA and they can do whatever they want. Morally when the agent decided to monkey with the list did the right thing as well.

If the OP was that unhappy with his room, he could have rented a car and driven to LAX. (Gmaps says it is a 6hr drive) There is no similar alternative to SYD (despite the fact that Gmaps gives directions from Sydney to Los Angeles).

Good luck with your compensation fight.

1) Nah. You are wrong. They did not break the rules. It's simila to being on the BP5 standby list. I was at ORD one time and the weather was making all connections invalid. I asked to be put on a flight that would get me to my connecting city on time. Sure, no problem. "The good news, Mr. luv, is that you are first on the BP5B list. The bad news is that you are over 100 pax on the BP5A list ahead of you." Why? Because they were disserviced pax. I was jut trying to get to my city as a standby. And guess what? THis all happened in the GS room at ORD, and as a GS, the sea did not part for me. Was I pissed? Nah. I understand what's going on. Did I get to my final destination? Yup. About nine hours after scheduled. Stuff happens.

1.5) Compensation? I hope not. I really hope not.

Agents are given latitude to do whatever is in the best interest of the company and pax taking everything into consideration. I won't bother rehashing the "once a day SYD flight" argument.

How about VDB's? Sometimes the agent gives you F on the flight they confirm you on. Did the pax originally have F? Of course not. So now F goes from F6 to F0. And you were first on the waitlist for F for that flight. Got a gripe? I think not.

I love this tread.

Everyone seems to always know what we (CSRs) can and can't do, yet noone really knows...except us.

People post BP priorities from the shuttle days, and other people quote it.

People say that a CSR can sell a flight to Y-1 (nope, a CSR can't)

There are MANY ways to get people on a flight. Some of them will tick off your co-workers, some of them won't.

I'm not gonna get into what was supposed to be done, what wasn't...blah blah, but I am laughing at you guys/gals here (in a fun way, not in a evil way) at how everyone seems to KNOW the correct course of action. I really don't believe there is "A" correct course for many situations.

Based on the 1 sided story (none of us, including the OP) know what really happened to the other party, or how it was done. I can think of plenty of ways. In all of those ways, I would have had to talk to the CSRs at the departing gate, as all of the ways would screw with their numbers, if they were not aware of it. I would have wanted their consent as well. (My rule #1 is NEVER screw with a flight that someone else is working without their knowledge and consent.)

I think the vast majority of posters on this thread think like human beings. A few think like his status somehow guarantees him the universe, some kind of all powerful being.

As much as airlines flaunt status to you all, you are all still bound by the same rules that whatever deity made for you. And you are all bound by the rules of the CoC and your fare. And we know that UA has broken rules for you as a 1k. Guess what...they may have broken some rules for you b4 u were a 1k. And maybe, just maybe they broke them for 4 trans-pac passengers.

And tomorrow, the sun will rise, and UA will be in business, and the people will be in SYD, and the OP will have gotten to Cali, and the sun will set, and most of us will still be fine.

Absolutely gorgeous post!

And is it just me, but am I the only one here who has read this entire thread and smell something really fishy regarding the accuracy/truthfulness in their story? I don't believe the OP is being completely forthright.

Please advise me how you want UA to confirm you out of the 20 min window with no seats. Do you want to sit in the lav?

Also, I don't understand your way of thinking. 4 people going to SYD (you call them vacationers) are going to miss their connection in SFO, so UA is proactive and books them thru LAX to make their flight. You come along after, and request the SEA-LAX flight as well, but there are not any seats now. Did you expect UA to take 1 of the 4 people going to SYD off the plane for you? No. That is whole game of STANDBY.

Such an easy philosophy... And yet, somehow, some people think that "stuff" should never happen, or should always be reimbursed with compensation (or retribution, should compensation not occur). Thankfully, they seem to be a small few...

Unfortunately, while you may have missed it, the OP reported getting compensation from the 1K line earlier in the thread. It's IMHO a sad state of affairs when companies (or individuals) are willing to shell out compensation to silence even the most unreasonable complaints because it's faster/easier/cheaper than standing their ground...

I don't claim to know the correct (vis-à-vis official policy) course of action... but I do know what I think is the right course of action and what I would have done in the GA's place - which, incidentally, is what happened.

I don't think that really matters; even if the OP made the story as favorable to himself/herself as possible, most people still disagree with the OP's premise and recognize that what did happen is what "should" have happened (however you define "should"). That, at least, makes me not lose all faith in humanity...