DONE with United Airlines

[TNSparky]

Will never fly them again....horrible.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

United's customer service has been shit for years. It sucks that one of the world's best airlines (Air New Zealand) is partnered with them, so now anytime we fly back to the US we're stuck with them.

 

[snickerd3]

most airlines don't let anyone board the plane until they have the enough people off the roster. United dropped the ball on this one. 

 

[Road Guy]

so whats the back story on that?

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

so whats the back story on that?

The airline decided they needed to fly some crew.  Plane was full.  Several passengers were asked to disembark.  Princess here decides to throw a tantrum when he is asked to leave (in accordance with the stipulations of his ticket) and when they try to forcefully remove him, his head gets knocked around a bit.  Can't say I feel too sorry for him in any case, but dang!

 

[TNSparky]

so whats the back story on that?

United overbooked the flight. For some idiotic reason, they boarded anyway. They offered a $400+hotel+rebook incentive to get volunteers....then bumped it to $800+previously mentioned extras....still no takers. Then they said the computer had the manifest of passengers and was "pulling 4 randoms" to get the book. This guy got selected. He said he's a doctor in or around Louisville (the plane's destination) and had to get to a hospital the next day to check on patients. Thus, he would not be giving up his seat and refused. So United thought the right thing to do was bring airport police on board, cause an incident and drag a guy out of his seat. In the process, he hit his head on an adjacent seat across the aisle and suffered a laceration to the lip and was knocked unconscious.

The 4 people that "needed" to be on the flight....4 United employees that needed to be in Louisville the next day.....in other words, NON-CUSTOMERS.

Everything about this was wrong, from the very beginning. Poor procedures, poor execution, poor corrective action, poor conflict resolution.....ALL WRONG.

Nobody deserves to be treated like that. I'm done with them.

 

[TNSparky]

to get the boot*

 

[TNSparky]

The FAA needs to outlaw the practice of overbooking. There is no reason why it should be legal to do that. Somebody bought the ticket for the seat, regardless of whether or not it's filled.

Deregulation was one of the worst things to ever happen to the airline industry. It has sucked ever since.

 

[kevo_55]

$800 + hotel + rebook incentive seems the better deal than to get slapped around.

That couldn't the only flight that day, right?

 

[Road Guy]

it does sound like a very shitty thing for them to do but at the same token, its not like its "your plane"  I hate doctors attitudes, so unless this guy was performing some kind of open heart surgery on a 10 year old then he should have just said this sucks and then go about his way....

 

[snickerd3]

simple solution...no fancy math or algorithms needed...the computer should know who the last 4 tickets sold belonged too. those should have been the 4 people.    

 

[TNSparky]

$800 + hotel + rebook incentive seems the better deal than to get slapped around.

That couldn't the only flight that day, right?

I would have taken the deal if they could somehow book me on a flight that at least got close (within a 2 hour car ride radius), thrown in all those extras and booked a one-way rental car at the closest airport so I could at least drive home.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

The other issue with bumping customers is that they often have reservations on the other side that are beyond their cancellation/modification date. If you miss your first day, your hotel/rental car is forfeit and you're still on the hook for at least a portion of it. Typically the $400/$800 offer is not cash, but instead a voucher for future flights which is essentially worthless unless you plan on travelling again soon.

Only time I've considered taking their offer is on a return flight

 

[TNSparky]

simple solution...no fancy math or algorithms needed...the computer should know who the last 4 tickets sold belonged too. those should have been the 4 people.    

Yeah. It does seem like theres a simple way to do it as you said. Just invalidate their boarding pass and don't let them on the plane to begin with.....much easier than this.

 

[TNSparky]

The other issue with bumping customers is that they often have reservations on the other side that are beyond their cancellation/modification date. If you miss your first day, your hotel/rental car is forfeit and you're still on the hook for at least a portion of it. Typically the $400/$800 offer is not cash, but instead a voucher for future flights which is essentially worthless unless you plan on travelling again soon.

Only time I've considered taking their offer is on a return flight

Yeah....true. If it's really $800, it needs to be just that. Have the handy-dandy United Airlines checkbook there and just start writing them.

 

[TNSparky]

The other thing I thought of is that if the airlines continue the terrible practice of overbooking, have a TSA/FAA mandate that says you (as an airline) will not receive assistance from TSA or any other law enforcement agency (federal or local) in removing a passenger in the case of an overbook. It's essentially a civil dispute and it's not law enforcement's jobs to do the airline's dirty work.

 

[TNSparky]

The other thing I thought of is that if the airlines continue the terrible practice of overbooking, have a TSA/FAA mandate that says you (as an airline) will not receive assistance from TSA or any other law enforcement agency (federal or local) in removing a passenger in the case of an overbook. It's essentially a civil dispute and it's not law enforcement's jobs to do the airline's dirty work.

The passengers didn't create the problem. They contractually lived up to every facet of their end to pay the fair for transportation delivered. It's the airline's problem, not law enforcement's.

 

[Road Guy]

yeah if you walk down the aisle and hand me 8 ben franklins then I am going to be more likely to offer up my seat...

but most all these airlines are brainwashed, my niece has been a flight attendant for Delta for a year and to hear her talk she can arrest people and FLY the plane if she needed to..

 

[TNSparky]

yeah if you walk down the aisle and hand me 8 ben franklins then I am going to be more likely to offer up my seat...

but most all these airlines are brainwashed, my niece has been a flight attendant for Delta for a year and to hear her talk she can arrest people and FLY the plane if she needed to..

One-handed, blindfolded, AND still mix a $9 G&T on that drink buggy. :thumbs:

 

[TNSparky]

I've been told flying is easy. It's landing that's hard. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯