ariyo15

The remainder of the compensation is for:
1) Downgrading from UA to OZ (though not class of service, it is a downgrade in and of itself)
2) The hassle of having to deal with this for several hours (in a panic) on two different occasions prior to departing, as well as once in ICN
3) Losing my Kosher meal. Yes, this could be called my fault because I should have known to call UA, but in reality I did my part by securing it with OZ. If US wanted to screw with the reservation they should have moved the meal as well. I realize there is no way that would ever happen, but it's still a HUGE inconvenience
4) Re-route at SFO
5) Lost luggage

I'd say it may have been slightly more than I "deserve," but again, this is preparing for negotiation. I'd say it isn't way out of line given how much went wrong in such a short period of time.

burlax

The ticketing carrier is not responsible for lost luggage. The operating carrier is.

ariyo15

There are lots of problems here that are technically the fault of the operating carrier. Given most of those events came as a result of US mishandling this itinerary however, I've decided to include it all in my formal complaint.

burlax

So, if you had food poisoning after eating at a restaurant at SFO, would you complain about that to US as well? Because your presence at SFO was caused by US mishandling the itinerary?

tommyleo

That's not a good analogy. Here's what ariyo15 wrote previously:

"Get to SFO, are told the US flight is delayed and 45 minutes won't be enough connection time in PHX. Given BPs for AC's SFO-YVR direct (in coach). 'Don't worry you're bags will be sent over.' ... my baggage was lost at YVR - well it was actually in PHX"

Perhaps ariyo15 can clarify, but it certainly sounds like US had possession of the bag for the SFO-PHX flight, and then ariyo15 was told that the bags would be sent to AC from US. But the bag never got to AC since it was in PHX. So that's clearly US's fault, not AC's.

tommyleo

Your statements are too general. The operating carrier is responsible for delivering lost luggage. The operating carrier is not necessarily responsible for compensation.

I had a similar problem last summer. The beginning of my trip to HKG went like this:

PHL-CLT US
CLT-SFO US
SFO-PVG UA

Even though I was connecting in PVG, all bags are offloaded there and must be retrieved and re-checked. But one of my bags did not arrive. The UA baggage agents took the report. I called UA and they told me that they had no record of my bag. I called US several times and finally found someone who was able to track down my bag. It turned out that my bag did not get on my CLT-SFO flight. Ultimately, UA made sure that my bag was sent to my hotel. But US compensated me for the cell phone charges that I incurred while making multiple phone calls from Asia airports to sort out the whole mess.

whytravelsomuch

But by asking for way more than you deserve, not "slightly" more, the email is not going to get the attention it deserves. A customer relations person is going to read it and think, "this person is being unreasonable in their demands and nothing we can offer will make them happy, so lets just send a canned response and be done with it".

And as to the reasons for requesting additional compensation, I'd stick to what are "valid" problems and leave the rest out including any dramatics.

1) Yes it was a downgrade in airlines but this one is iffy since you were already given back miles for the class of service downgrade.
2) Sure it took time to get it fixed and they may do something for that but your panicked state is not the problem of the airline.
3) Not the problem of US Airways.
4) They rerouted you on a routing that actually saved you travel time and they already compensated you for the downgrade in class of service. Plus the delay wasnt USs fault.
5) This is really the only real problem that I'd say is deserving of compensation and should be the issue focused on.

ariyo15

100% correct.

iztok

God wanted him to be on a diet.

fly747first

You must have a lot of patience and tolerance for mediocre service and I wish I had that virtue. In less than a year, I have gotten food poisoning from UA p.s. F meals several times up to a point that I'm only flying AA F on the transcon markets from now on. To make matters worse, UA's long-haul C is beyond pathetic, as even US Airways' Envoy Class easily defeats it (well to be fair only on A330 aircraft with the new Envoy Suites).

I do entirely agree with you that UA's LHR-based cabin crews are phenomenal and they consistently deliver top service.

fly747first

I think you are missing the point... US should not have rebooked the OP in Y class when he was on an F ticket. Whether a passenger is flying in paid or award F, the airline that issues the ticket has the responsibility to rebook the passenger in the same class-of-service in the event of an involuntary change.

whytravelsomuch

And what about when there is nothing available in the same class of service?? Which was probably the case here. Seems like US did the next best thing which was get the OP to their destination as quickly as possible which in this case was quicker than their original intinerary.

Superguy

US should give the option of either rebooking the pax on a later flight in F or rebooking on an early flight in Y to get home more quickly. It's not a decision US should make without consulting the pax first.

whytravelsomuch

The airline actually tried doing something right by getting the passengers to their destination in a timely manner but yet they still get blasted. If the passengers wanted to remain in first class, they'd have every right to ask for that and be stuck with what might not be ideal flight options. As with any airline, the goal is to get the passengers to their destination in a timely manner above anything else.

fly747first

Well there are two problems with your statement: a. we have no way of knowing whether indeed Y is the only class of service available (come on, bad lazy agents are found in every airline) and b. considering that Air Canada has made it harder for its own frequent flyers to get upgraded on US/Canada flights, I doubt that there weren't any J seats left on the AC flight US rebooked the OP on, and that's just one example.