USA TODAY: She was mad about being bumped. Then United gave her a $10K voucher

https://usat.ly/2pB9jcq

Seriously? Was the brute squad taking a coffee break?

She was never permitted to board. They followed all the rules. She was tweeting up a storm like an entitled brat.

flyguy84 wrote:

She was never permitted to board. They followed all the rules. She was tweeting up a storm like an entitled brat.

I do agree her reaction was over the top. Per the article her seat was broken so I do not agree with her that this was overbooking and under the control of United.

I think the payout is excessive but that is what they agreed to so there you go, there isn't much more to be said. It's a voucher, she apparently wanted cash and they wouldn't do that.

Tugg

What is UA's policy on compensation that caps out at $10000? What are the steps? She was offered $2000 at some point, what are the particulars? I need to know, errr ... for my next UA flight.

UA should have made her sign an NDA before giving the 10K, now she has all the cards.

United desperate to not have another PR issue so went all out it seems...

Seabear wrote:

Seriously? Was the brute squad taking a coffee break?

You mean the Chicago airport police? And if UA didn't pay her you would probably complain.

They are damned if they do and damned if they don't on these boards.

I'm assuming they paid her off so they could get some negative press brushed off due to the animal issues this week. Unfortunately, now everyone will want $10K for being bumped.

Gosh i want to be bumped off now. Got a flight with Jambojet (Kenya) tomorrow. Praying to be bumped with that kinda compensation.

Has anyone seen any actual proof, the only picture I have seen said up to $10,000

MileHFL400 wrote:

Gosh i want to be bumped off now. Got a flight with Jambojet (Kenya) tomorrow. Praying to be bumped with that kinda compensation.

According to wikipedia Jambojet has 29 employees. $10k would probably be the entire payroll...

Edit: sorry, 24 employees

jetwet1 wrote:

Has anyone seen any actual proof, the only picture I have seen said up to $10,000

Yes she tweeted a photo of her “voucher.”

I wouldn’t have given her anything more than $800.

My experience with UA employees has been 99 positive, cabin crew and gate agents alike. And I fly DL most of the time, so I'm not someone who's a UA fanboy.

That's not to say that there aren't issues, but let's cut the B.S. with saying that all UA employees are bad or that the "hot take" press of the Dr. and the pets are the "norm." Yes, there are issues but issues don't unilaterally define the airline.

I do think that the airlines (as in UA/AA/DL) are going to continue to face PR issues related to bumping and they're going to continue to be pressured into paying out larger sums because the contract of carriage is so tilted in the airlines' favor that it doesn't make sense to the average consumer.

It's really hard to find any reasonable way to explain that a paying passenger isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat on the flight that they bought a ticket for or isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat in business or first that he or she paid for.

One of my colleagues was recently flying to India; she had a business class seat with a connection in Europe. The flight was oversold and the airline told her that her options as to fly coach or to fly in business in 4 days, when the next available seat came up. This was work travel, so she had options - our corporate travel booked another flight, at great expense I might add. She's also a partner and it got escalated way up in our corporate travel to the point where our corporate contract with the airline was at risk. Ultimately, the original airline compensated my firm for the cost of the second flight that was booked last minute, but most people don't have that leverage.

Man, she really wanted that voucher to be CASH. Someone gives me $10k towards something, I'm going to shut my mouth and be thankful... Her $100 airfare just turned into $10k.
Vis a vis the media circus against UA: Such is any business operating in the internet age. Word spreads like fire, and the timing of issues to hit UA is terrible. The US media doesn't help; just today, I watched a news clip about the dog in the overhead bin story, and they showed the incident with the doctor. The masses need a common enemy, and that (unfortunately) is UA at the moment. If she chose her seat, and that seat goes INOP for any reason, then it's just that: safety. Assuming they can't put her in another seat, this becomes an issue beyond just an oversold flight... Because something about her tells me that the landing gear won't even hit the ground before she's on the phone with an attorney if she would have been able to sit in a broken seat and gotten pinched.

And then she bitches about not being able to use the lounge, after she just said she's the "lowest paying customer", or something to that effect. I guess if you're going to go for it, might as well go big. I wonder if UA has any private company jets on the apron that can fly her to her destination, meal service and all?

berari wrote:

What is UA's policy on compensation that caps out at $10000? What are the steps? She was offered $2000 at some point, what are the particulars? I need to know, errr ... for my next UA flight.

haha...it takes a lot to get the magic payout. I would assume, from the tweets, the woman was being obnoxious and somehow or another this happened. I also would like to know how that happened...I don't believe a gate agent has the authority on their own to issue that dollar amount.

Also you might want to consider flying DL instead...you are more likely to be bumped due to over sales.

2017 VDB's
DL 128,331
AA 47,459
UA 47,057
WN 36,482

neomax wrote:

UA should have made her sign an NDA before giving the 10K, now she has all the cards.

I disagree United needs to BE above board and up front about it. "No ring around the rosie" that might portray them as deceitful

strfyr51 wrote:

neomax wrote:

UA should have made her sign an NDA before giving the 10K, now she has all the cards.

I disagree United needs to BE above board and up front about it. "No ring around the rosie" that might portray them as deceitful

I agree. NDA’s are often misconstrued to have something nefarious to hide. You should have been in PR!

tlecam wrote:

My experience with UA employees has been 99 positive, cabin crew and gate agents alike. And I fly DL most of the time, so I'm not someone who's a UA fanboy.

That's not to say that there aren't issues, but let's cut the B.S. with saying that all UA employees are bad or that the "hot take" press of the Dr. and the pets are the "norm." Yes, there are issues but issues don't unilaterally define the airline.

I do think that the airlines (as in UA/AA/DL) are going to continue to face PR issues related to bumping and they're going to continue to be pressured into paying out larger sums because the contract of carriage is so tilted in the airlines' favor that it doesn't make sense to the average consumer.

It's really hard to find any reasonable way to explain that a paying passenger isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat on the flight that they bought a ticket for or isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat in business or first that he or she paid for.

One of my colleagues was recently flying to India; she had a business class seat with a connection in Europe. The flight was oversold and the airline told her that her options as to fly coach or to fly in business in 4 days, when the next available seat came up. This was work travel, so she had options - our corporate travel booked another flight, at great expense I might add. She's also a partner and it got escalated way up in our corporate travel to the point where our corporate contract with the airline was at risk. Ultimately, the original airline compensated my firm for the cost of the second flight that was booked last minute, but most people don't have that leverage.

The problem is that every segment of the travel industry overbooks, or changes the inventory. On my honeymoon, I had booked a convertible. Got to SAT, and it turns out that the National franchisee at SAT had gotten rid of convertibles, because so many of them had been vandalized (there was some street gang in San Antonio slashing rag-tops). They offered to upgrade me to a Lincoln Town Car for free, but we took the Mustang hardtop with a reduced rate.

A couple of years later, we had a suite booked at the Westin Calgary. I specifically noted in the reservation that we would check in late, because our flight got into YYC at 8:30. By the time we cleared customs, got the rental car, and drove to downtown Calgary, it was 10pm.

Guess what? All of the suites were gone. We got downgraded to a room, with a reduced rate and free breakfast.

A friend of mine is a 737 captain with AA. AA overbooks F on JFK-LAX, because so many people will double and triple book flights. Once, we got bumped on LAS-ORD. AA sent up to LAX. We were put in F on LAS-LAX, but we were told that F was full on LAX-ORD. Guess what, half the cabin was empty, when we pushed back.

A lot of people still book a flight and don't even think about missing it, if a meeting runs long.

That's pretty interesting that they're willing to give a $10,000 voucher instead of 400% of her one-way fare in cash (which is probably about $600, like she said). Does UA hate giving out cash that much?

I feel like this problem could have been solved much earlier if UA just said to her "as required by the DOT, here's a check for $612.34, 4 times the fare you paid, plus a boarding pass for the next flight, and in addition here is a complimentary lounge voucher while you wait for your next flight."

Please stick to the topic. The event that occurred last year propagating the compensation changes has been discussed ad nauseum, and has nothing to do with the current discussion.

✈️ atcsundevil

The 10,000 USD is a red herring. UA seems not to be prepared to offer cash. Will it be as difficult to use the voucher as for example miles? Will the voucher be good for several flights?

mjoelnir wrote:

The 10,000 USD is a red herring. UA seems not to be prepared to offer cash. Will it be as difficult to use the voucher as for example miles? Will the voucher be good for several flights?

As the article clearly states she was offered the cash INVOL option of $645 or the $10,000 travel credit and opted for the latter. Since the famous incident the company’s direction has been to avoid INVOL denied boardings whenever possible and that includes offering up to $10,000 in travel credits before denying someone boarding involuntarily.

The travel credit works very much like a prepaid debit card and can be used to buy tickets for other people as well, not just the certificate holder. It’s valid for one year and it retains residual value until either the full amount is used or the certificate expires.

ckfred wrote:

tlecam wrote:

My experience with UA employees has been 99 positive, cabin crew and gate agents alike. And I fly DL most of the time, so I'm not someone who's a UA fanboy.

That's not to say that there aren't issues, but let's cut the B.S. with saying that all UA employees are bad or that the "hot take" press of the Dr. and the pets are the "norm." Yes, there are issues but issues don't unilaterally define the airline.

I do think that the airlines (as in UA/AA/DL) are going to continue to face PR issues related to bumping and they're going to continue to be pressured into paying out larger sums because the contract of carriage is so tilted in the airlines' favor that it doesn't make sense to the average consumer.

It's really hard to find any reasonable way to explain that a paying passenger isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat on the flight that they bought a ticket for or isn't ACTUALLY guaranteed a seat in business or first that he or she paid for.

One of my colleagues was recently flying to India; she had a business class seat with a connection in Europe. The flight was oversold and the airline told her that her options as to fly coach or to fly in business in 4 days, when the next available seat came up. This was work travel, so she had options - our corporate travel booked another flight, at great expense I might add. She's also a partner and it got escalated way up in our corporate travel to the point where our corporate contract with the airline was at risk. Ultimately, the original airline compensated my firm for the cost of the second flight that was booked last minute, but most people don't have that leverage.

The problem is that every segment of the travel industry overbooks, or changes the inventory. On my honeymoon, I had booked a convertible. Got to SAT, and it turns out that the National franchisee at SAT had gotten rid of convertibles, because so many of them had been vandalized (there was some street gang in San Antonio slashing rag-tops). They offered to upgrade me to a Lincoln Town Car for free, but we took the Mustang hardtop with a reduced rate.

A couple of years later, we had a suite booked at the Westin Calgary. I specifically noted in the reservation that we would check in late, because our flight got into YYC at 8:30. By the time we cleared customs, got the rental car, and drove to downtown Calgary, it was 10pm.

Guess what? All of the suites were gone. We got downgraded to a room, with a reduced rate and free breakfast.

A friend of mine is a 737 captain with AA. AA overbooks F on JFK-LAX, because so many people will double and triple book flights. Once, we got bumped on LAS-ORD. AA sent up to LAX. We were put in F on LAS-LAX, but we were told that F was full on LAX-ORD. Guess what, half the cabin was empty, when we pushed back.

A lot of people still book a flight and don't even think about missing it, if a meeting runs long.

I’m not against overbooking. My only point is that as a matter of commerce and common sense, it’s really hard to explain to someone that they don’t actually get what they paid for and that they don’t have a remedy that’s reasonable (e.g. flying coach to India or not reaching your business meeting for 4 days.)

Why can’t this stuff happen to me when flying. Every time I go up to the counter someone always beats me to the voucher.

Why would UA want this news to be quiet?

For only $10K of credits, UA demonstrates how they actually changed the process they will go to assure customer sat when something happens that impedes a customer's plans. The bumped customer is now their biggest cheerleader and the airline looks crazy generous. Oscar has to love it.

Furthermore, as I recall you cannot split a voucher across itineraries. So consuming this voucher smartly will require some interesting forethought. If United is lucky, she will eventually share a picture of her and a friend in their biz class seats to Sydney explaining this is what happens to United customers who get bumped. Maybe it will be a press release.

The United rules for getting this kind of voucher make it really rare so how exactly does this cause any harm to UA?

People are never satisfied....$10k voucher from a cheap ticket

dakabero wrote:

Why would UA want this news to be quiet?

For only $10K of credits, UA demonstrates how they actually changed the process they will go to assure customer sat when something happens that impedes a customer's plans. The bumped customer is now their biggest cheerleader and the airline looks crazy generous. Oscar has to love it.

Furthermore, as I recall you cannot split a voucher across itineraries. So consuming this voucher smartly will require some interesting forethought. If United is lucky, she will eventually share a picture of her and a friend in their biz class seats to Sydney explaining this is what happens to United customers who get bumped. Maybe it will be a press release.

The United rules for getting this kind of voucher make it really rare so how exactly does this cause any harm to UA?

I think if she posted a pic on every social media platform and siad that the $10,000 basically paid for 2 Polaris tickets for her and a friend to Paris and they held a toasted glass in the air and and said “thank you United for your outstanding generosity after I got bumped out of a broken seat last year!”— not one media channel would pick it up. And I can think of one poster here who would skewer UA over it somehow, and puke on the unappealing seat design.

dakabero wrote:

Why would UA want this news to be quiet?

For only $10K of credits, UA demonstrates how they actually changed the process they will go to assure customer sat when something happens that impedes a customer's plans. The bumped customer is now their biggest cheerleader and the airline looks crazy generous. Oscar has to love it.

Furthermore, as I recall you cannot split a voucher across itineraries. So consuming this voucher smartly will require some interesting forethought. If United is lucky, she will eventually share a picture of her and a friend in their biz class seats to Sydney explaining this is what happens to United customers who get bumped. Maybe it will be a press release.

The United rules for getting this kind of voucher make it really rare so how exactly does this cause any harm to UA?

The voucher retains residual value and can be used for as many intineraries as desired. It works very much like a prepaid debit card and the remaining balance is stored until it’s either used up or the certificate expires.

dc10co wrote:

dakabero wrote:

Why would UA want this news to be quiet?

For only $10K of credits, UA demonstrates how they actually changed the process they will go to assure customer sat when something happens that impedes a customer's plans. The bumped customer is now their biggest cheerleader and the airline looks crazy generous. Oscar has to love it.

Furthermore, as I recall you cannot split a voucher across itineraries. So consuming this voucher smartly will require some interesting forethought. If United is lucky, she will eventually share a picture of her and a friend in their biz class seats to Sydney explaining this is what happens to United customers who get bumped. Maybe it will be a press release.

The United rules for getting this kind of voucher make it really rare so how exactly does this cause any harm to UA?

The voucher retains residual value and can be used for as many intineraries as desired. It works very much like a prepaid debit card and the remaining balance is stored until it’s either used up or the certificate expires.

Actually, dont UA certs expire after one year? So for arguments sake, lets say this lady takes a few domestic trips a year and we know she buys cheap fares, so after a year lets say she has $8,000 residual value on the cert. Does it expire or does it extend for another 12 months from the last usage date? If it expires after a year no matter what then this will cause more bad publicity for United.

Another thing, the lady wanted a check from UA not a cert. Why didn't she get a check? Why doesnt UA like to play by the rules? They always trying to get over on the general public.

??????????????????
In 2,940,000 I never saw United “try” and “get something over” intentionally on me. When something has gone wrong they will generously compensate - if you’re loyal to them, they are loyal back in spades!

Sounds like SHE wanted to get something over on United and I’m glad they were smart enough NOT to let her get away with it.

“Maybe” it should have been a full refund PLUS cash bonus in the value of her ticket and a free ride on the next flight. That makes more level sense.

She is a very greedy person who wanted $10,000 cash from a big company for a minor infraction - then cried when she didn’t get it

In United's head it was pay $10,000 to a paying passenger who wants her 3 seconds of fame, or pay $500,000 to the FAA for transporting someone in a broken seat.

10K can easily get you a round trip J ticket.

Fairly recent story of mine:
I was on a UA 752 in paid domestic First. Right after take off I reclined into a flat bed and fell asleep. I almost missed the meal service.When I woke and sat up a lovely FA asked if I wanted lunch. I did, but they ran out of the item I wanted. She was willing to give me someone else’s as I was 1k. I insisted not to do that- after all I was asleep.
She got me a hot chicken sandwich from the Bistro options in economy. I was absolutely fine with that.
But she used her UA iPhone to give me a “customer inconvenience award” (or whatever they call it). By the time I got home United deposited 10,000 miles in my account! I expected nothing.
Now, will my story of great customer service be reported in USA Today? No, because who wants to read good news from United?
That’s a small example of why I stay loyal even if they aren’t the best airline in the world.
This lady should be tickled pink with her $10 grand voucher!

jumbojet wrote:

dc10co wrote:

dakabero wrote:

Why would UA want this news to be quiet?

For only $10K of credits, UA demonstrates how they actually changed the process they will go to assure customer sat when something happens that impedes a customer's plans. The bumped customer is now their biggest cheerleader and the airline looks crazy generous. Oscar has to love it.

Furthermore, as I recall you cannot split a voucher across itineraries. So consuming this voucher smartly will require some interesting forethought. If United is lucky, she will eventually share a picture of her and a friend in their biz class seats to Sydney explaining this is what happens to United customers who get bumped. Maybe it will be a press release.

The United rules for getting this kind of voucher make it really rare so how exactly does this cause any harm to UA?

The voucher retains residual value and can be used for as many intineraries as desired. It works very much like a prepaid debit card and the remaining balance is stored until it’s either used up or the certificate expires.

Actually, dont UA certs expire after one year? So for arguments sake, lets say this lady takes a few domestic trips a year and we know she buys cheap fares, so after a year lets say she has $8,000 residual value on the cert. Does it expire or does it extend for another 12 months from the last usage date? If it expires after a year no matter what then this will cause more bad publicity for United.

Another thing, the lady wanted a check from UA not a cert. Why didn't she get a check? Why doesnt UA like to play by the rules? They always trying to get over on the general public.

All UA (and DL and AA) certificates expire after one year..that is industry standard.

UA very much played by the rules, if she had turned down the 10K, UA would have written her a check and ended the matter there. This was ultimately her choice and hopefully she uses the certificate to take an amazing vacation.

jumbojet wrote:

Actually, dont UA certs expire after one year? So for arguments sake, lets say this lady takes a few domestic trips a year and we know she buys cheap fares, so after a year lets say she has $8,000 residual value on the cert.....

Let's just stop you right there.
"We know she buys cheap fares." Hmmm - if you say so. All I know is she had the cheapest ticket on this one flight.
What we don't know is what she, or anyone else, would do if they won the lottery. And she sure won the lottery!

I know what I would be doing with a $10k voucher, and it wouldn't be flying in the cheap seats.

dc10co wrote:

The travel credit works very much like a prepaid debit card and can be used to buy tickets for other people as well, not just the certificate holder

It gets better & better.

a DL 2-million miler diamond who has a history of bad mouthing UA wrote:

If it expires after a year no matter what then this will cause more bad publicity for United.

You can hope & pray all you like that this will be headline news 12 months from now, but I reckon it will have to be a very slow news day.

jumbojet wrote:

Why doesnt UA like to play by the rules? They always trying to get over on the general public.

dc10co wrote:

As the article clearly states she was offered the cash INVOL option of $645 or the $10,000 travel credit and opted for the latter.

Yeah, why don't they play by the rules? How dare they offer this woman an alternative - an alternative that most of us here would run over hot coals for.....
(Not everyone obviously - some people only fly DL)

VC10er wrote:

Fairly recent story of mine:
I was on a UA 752 in paid domestic First. Right after take off I reclined into a flat bed and fell asleep. I almost missed the meal service.When I woke and sat up a lovely FA asked if I wanted lunch. I did, but they ran out of the item I wanted. She was willing to give me someone else’s as I was 1k. I insisted not to do that- after all I was asleep.
She got me a hot chicken sandwich from the Bistro options in economy. I was absolutely fine with that.
But she used her UA iPhone to give me a “customer inconvenience award” (or whatever they call it). By the time I got home United deposited 10,000 miles in my account! I expected nothing.
Now, will my story of great customer service be reported in USA Today? No, because who wants to read good news from United?
That’s a small example of why I stay loyal even if they aren’t the best airline in the world.
This lady should be tickled pink with her $10 grand voucher!

Thank you!...Great post