Flight Delay Compensation on VX
 

I'm allegedly on VX732 in 1F tonight SFO-SEA.

There's a mechanical delay (late arrival of aircraft) -- delayed until at least 2230, supposed to depart 2000. I think this delay will be extended.

I arrived at 1730, intending to use the VS lounge for $40. During checkin, a checkin agent (junior/normal) said the ac was late. I asked about compensation, such as lounge access for F passengers being complimentary or discounted. She said she had not the authority, but when the overseer got in she would ask (overseer was getting vouchers..good sign!), and I should wait in the seating area.

I waited. I was told by Lani (the level 1 boss of checkin at SFO) that there was no possibility of discounted lounge access, but $10 meal voucher. "What about for first class?" "$10 meal voucher".

I mentioned being an Alaska frequent flyer on the SFO-SEA route, and that I was eagerly awaiting the VX product on that route, but that Alaska was in a much better position for delays -- there are so many daily Alaska flights that there is no way a late aircraft would cause a 3h delay in prime time.

The $10 meal voucher could not be applied toward clubhouse access, so I got some Ebisu prepackaged sushi for $10.28.

She also said there would be a $25 credit; this is for all classes of service for delays > 2h.

I said I wanted to do the clubhouse anyway, for $40, but I didn't realize I needed to pay at the VX counter, and thus left without the requisite docs. When I got to the lounge, the dragon guarding the empty lounge said "we do not take money here" and that I'd have to go back to VX. She also said there was no food -- at that point I decided to try priority pass airside.

(I broke 3 bones in my hand last night, and alcohol+vicodin is a bad idea, and I have EVDO for internet, so really only food was interesting to me)

Unfortunately, the open priority pass lounges are all in G or 1 (united RCC, delta, northwest (closed for the evening), or Continental), so I had to go out and in security to the united RCC, where I now sit. United RCC has pretty meager food offerings, but I can't really fault VX for this.

I got to see the recently privatized TSA equivalents berate old annoying eastern european woman for failing the "put your liquids in clear bags" thing -- she was herself obnoxious, but when he started picking up other pax items from the belt and using them as examples of acceptable vs hers, it became comical. Possibly again more amusing due to vicodin.

Since delay treatment for F and Y is the same, there is really very little reason for me to pay for F; if the load factor in Y is as low as it seems, a whole row of Y is better than an F seat.

In the future if delayed at SFO, knowing the quality of lounges, I'll just go to the USO and use my ID for access and donate $24 or $40 or so to feel less guilty about using it for non-official travel.

Too bad you didn't arrive a few minutes earlier. The 14:25 sfo-sea flight
didn't leave until 17:32 (not sure why).

But it looks like your flight ended up leaving a lot earlier than originally forecast anyway.

If you only wanted to go to the clubhouse for food, it's a good thing you didn't pay $40. No food after the last VS flight leaves (3:30pm).

Does anyone know if VX will refund a ticket for a delayed flight if I choose to just buy a walkup on another carrier? I know VX tickets are non-refundable (including full F fares, which is silly) but it would seem logical to offer a refund if VX can't get you to your destination on time and you don't use the ticket.

Does UA give you a refund if they are delayed? I think not.
The Contract of Carriage covers transportation from A to B, not a scheduled departure and arrival time.

You may be able to snag delay compensation due to mechanical issues, but for delays due to weather, or ATC delays, including those experienced at other airports that result in late arrival of the equipment at SFO, it's far less likely.

Yes, UA does give a refund if your flight is delayed enough that you decide not to take it and instead get to your destination another way. I recently had UA refund the DEN-ASE segment of a non-refundable ticket because UA couldn't get me to ASE within a reasonable period of time after my scheduled arrival.

More importantly, UA and every other airline in the US offers non-refundable fares, which allow the flexibility I need for irregular ops on certain short-haul routes. Sure, UA won't interline with WN, but if OAK-LAX is severly delayed on UA I can refund the UA ticket and buy a ticket on a WN flight. VX doesn't allow for that option, leaving little incentive to pay anything other than the lowest available fare.

About flight delay compensation, I am glad that they at least try to give you a $25 flight credit, in which other airlines really don't. Alaska gives out those delay packages for a phone card, a similar value meal voucher, and some miles. United... not sure if they give out anything... But I agree that F passengers should get a bit more... I urge you to email them... and VX is pretty good in responding to emails.

For most airlines, if the flights are delayed more than four hours, then they will start offering vouchers for food...

Well they don't offer refundable tickets but in return, they don't overbook their flights like Alaska or United. It is a trade-off right? They are also a LCC, and Jetblue really does not introduce refundable fares till very recently. Anyway, we will see if VX will eventually offer a refundable ticket option? That may also help the airline to lower costs.

About delays in Alaska, three hours seem to be pretty normal... I have worst... Nevertheless SFO is a very delay-prone airport...

And also you can always cancel the first class ticket and put the money back on the credit account, and save it for your next flight. There is no penalty and VX has no problem doing so. Then you can buy a walk-up ticket with UA or AS! I am sure that if you are in Y, the agent will have no problem canceling your tickets and place the values on the your credit account without penalty. Despite being non-refundable, you really can use the money for a future VX flight.

Carfield

Also, just a technicality note, if you need to cancel within the first 24 hours, VX will refund. And if you really don't like the way something is handled, e-mail or call. VX is really good about trying to make customers happy.

Yeah, but I don't really want to carry a $1300 credit for a ticket that I would normally be able to expense. The lack of a refundable option lost VX an F class ticket between SFO and IAD from me this week, even though I'm virtually certain I will not need to refund the ticket.

Well, the whole industry is getting pretty bad these days. AS is definitely not one of the worst offenders, in fact their on-time record has been well above the industry average over the past four months.

When you fly a small airline like VX, there is always going to be a risk of serious delays on a "bad day." Even AS for that matter. But, the main difference is that VX does not interline with other carriers. One can certainly cancel and refund a VX reservation during a delay, but buying a walk-up ticket on another airline is certainly a potentially expensive proposition, and who knows if the other airline will have seats available? I'm sure VX is doing its best.

Really? Or does VX only allow you to keep a credit?

We're on the same flight and looks like our plane just landed and it is at the gate....12:30am departure. We sold the $10 food vouchure and put them to something useful...beer and wine.

To be honest, I don't know, and probably shouldn't have just assumed that. I know WN will and AS will, but don't really know about other airlines policies. My return VX flight was uneventful, so I didn't have any opportunity to inquire. The one pitfall I did encounter is that on VX, your ticket is worthless if you miss the flight, because unfortunately that's exactly what happened on my first VX experience, and only by a matter of minutes. I ended up redeeming a one-way WN award to get to my destination.