uftc

3/8 SEA-PHX, after boarding and sitting on the tarmac for 2-3 hours, flight was cancelled due to maintenance.

Called Chairman’s #, rebooked for 3/9 a.m.

Called, took shuttle to nearby hotel, paid $149 rate + taxes, $30 for dinner, $25 additional night PHX parking.

After faxing in receipts, etc., and emailing customer relations, received the following response:

Dear Mr. [UFTC]:
I have received the receipt you submitted for hotel reimbursement due to the recent flight interruption you experienced. Based upon review of your file, a check for hotel costs in the amount of $75.00 will be sent to you under separate cover. Please allow 30 business days for the check to arrive. Please note no reimbursement for your meal expenses will be issued.[UFTC], as a Chairman Preferred Member, I see you travel with US Airways often and value your input. Whether your comments reflect opinions about our policies, failures in our service, or compliments for our successes, we are grateful that you take the time to offer them.Thank you for choosing US Airways as your preferred carrier. We look forward to seeing you on a future flight.Sincerely, [name] Representative, Customer RelationsUS Airways Corporate OfficeCase: US-12UFTC-xxxxxx-xxx

Am I s.o.l. since I did not wait in line for a voucher and shuttle to the US Air-contracted hotel with the other pax or is it worth it to bother seeking additional compensation / reimbursement?

Biggie Fries

Yes and no. Basically, you made the judgment that your time, sleep, what-not were better spent as you deemed fit than in waiting in the voucher line and taking whatever hotel US deemed fit. Sometimes that is a good choice, sometimes it isn't. Given your outcome, I might well take it a priori -- if I knew I could get $75 back from US, and the voucher line was long, I'd be pretty happy to negotiate my own hotel and go to Mickey D's. The parking thing is annoying, but that can't be fixed either way.

PHL

Because you opted to go it on your own, despite US providing accommodations, you are only entitled to their amount. $75 is better than I thought. I had your same situation in CLT a few months ago and booked a Hampton Inn for $49 plus 10,000 HH points since I knew a mechanical delay would have me miss the last connection of the night there.

They fully reimbursed me the $$. I could care less about the points since I earn enough each week staying at Hiltons.

formeraa

I'm surprised that US didn't add in $10 (or whatever token amount) for dinner, since I'm sure they gave the other passengers a voucher for $10. I've never been reimbursed for extra parking -- ever.

That said, I was delayed 3 hours on WN (PHX-SEA flight) due to a mechanical problem. They gave us a $100 travel voucher, which was roughly the cost of my flight. I was absolutely thrilled. WN made a mistake and they essentially refunded my trip cost.

Often1

OP isn't entitled to anything. Anything a domestic carrier provides is a matter of CS and not of entitlement.

$75 is probably roughly the cost of a hotel night and meal coupon which US issued and would have provided to OP if he had waited in line. Remember, carriers pay pennies on the dollar for the rooms and get a deep discount on the meal vouchers.

No reason for US to provide OP with more than it provided other pax. In fact, it makes zero business sense to do so because US has a business interest in discouraging others from going it alone.

Nikolaos

[QUOTE=Often1;18376711No reason for US to provide OP with more than it provided other pax. In fact, it makes zero business sense to do so because US has a business interest in discouraging others from going it alone.[/QUOTE]

+1 Excellent point! Opting out and then asking for another party to bear the cost, is a classic moral hazard case..

Bridogger

Just as a point of note, as of last summer, US no longer provides meal vouchers at all... UNLESS the passenger was originally a First Class passengers or elite, that was on a flight where there would have been a full meal service. Other than that, meal vouchers are no longer issued, per company policy.

uftc

I took the following excerpt from the CS plan to mean I could expect a few dollars back even if I went solo:

When a US Airways flight on which the customer is being transported is cancelled or causes a missed connection, due to reasons within the control of US Airways, creating an overnight stay for the customer, US Airways will provide one night's lodging. US Airways will pay for:

• Hotel room (US Airways will not cover: room service, alcohol, or movies, laundry or other hotel services)

Good point - When this (last outgoing US Air) flight was eventually cancelled 1 1/2 - 2 hours after scheduled departure, it looked like there were only 2 ticketing agents still around to accomodate everyone on the flight.

uftc Jr's birthday was the next day, so I opted to try to get somewhere where I could skype and apologize for not being able to be home to wake him up in the morning like I said I would when I left earlier in the week. I know... My call & not US Air's problem.

Although I am not owed anything, my original seat was in 1st, I was re-booked in coach, and I've been CP since pre-FP merger, so I had hoped I would be thrown a 'thanks for your loyalty' bone.


But they only beat us because they love us...

Nikolaos

I think that since it was your child's birthday, you made the right choice!! Best wishes by the way!!

I think that the $75 check you ll receive is a sign of some (even not ultimate) love..

MrAndy1369

Are...you...serious?

This better be a joke.

BoeingBoy

Unfortunately, meal vouchers for delays/cancellations has disappeared from both the Contract of Carriage and the Customer Service Plan for domestic flights (international may have different rules and I didn't check). Even the hotel isn't in the Contract of Carriage any longer but only the Customer Service Plan, which "is not guaranteed, is subject to change without notice, and is not part of this Contract of Carriage."

Jim

MrAndy1369

If that's true, serious to US. All other legacies still offer meal vouchers by default during IRROPs. Any insight why, BoeingBoy?

BoeingBoy

None at all, only speculation that it may be a cost cutting move. I'd didn't even realize that there had been a change until it came up in this thread.

Jim

Biggie Fries

I suspect that international -- EU countries, to be specific -- is always going to be more negotiable, since US is still walking a tightrope between what they would like to be the case (that they, US, get to make their own rules, and that the EU compensation standards do not apply to them) and the possibility that some annoyed attorney will push the matter to the point where it gets costly to US. In my experience, US will deny up and down, left, right, and center, that they need to follow EU rules ; and they will not follow EU rules to the letter ; but they are more generous and / or accommodating than I have ever experience for a domestic IRROPS. YMMV.

MavSeven

There was a memo put out about it when it happened, saying the vouchers were cumbersome and prone to fraud.