Comments on: Why I love flying in winter….

By: lucky

lucky — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:30:06 +0000

@ first — If you’re on the same record they will protect you on the next available flight. As far as hotels go, it all depends on the cause of the delay. If it’s caused by something outside of United’s control and you’re not a 1K you’ll probably be stuck paying for your own hotel, though.

By: first

first — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:51:38 +0000

tight connection ,only 50 minutes.
Thanks!

By: first

first — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:49:31 +0000

lucky,
If I do LAX/BOS run same day turn around
And what if I miss the return BOS/LAX due to my inbound late arrival.
Would UA pay for hotel and reschedule for next day free of charge?

By: lucky

lucky — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:58:22 +0000

It depends on the circumstances, mommafrica. In general, unless it’s a substantial delay (like 24 hours), you won’t get compensated if you’re still at home. Also, chances are that if they call you the delay was outside of their control, like weather, the plane being stuck somewhere else, etc. You can always write the airlines and hope for something, but chances are you won’t get much.

By: mommafrica

mommafrica — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:53:44 +0000

If ur phoned at home & told ur being put on a later flight, can u be compensated for this & how? If its an hour/2/4, how does this work?

By: lucky

lucky — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:44:02 +0000

An e-certificate is basically an electronic voucher which is good for a certain amount of $$$ off a ticket. For example, UA issues e-certs as compensation.

In your situation you shouldn’t have been comped, since weather is outside of DL’s control.

By: mommafrica

mommafrica — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:19:39 +0000

That was a heck of a blog (great).SkyKit-definitely something new for me. What is an “e-certificate?”
When I went to Mexico, a major hurricane was on the way. The airport there was overcrowded b/c planes were dropping off people even though they weren’t supposed to. A DL agent graciously put me on an earlier flight w/out my asking her to. After that I spent many hrs in a Texas airport. Should I have been comped for that/does the weather supercede this delay in Texas?

By: lucky

lucky — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:09:00 +0000

They can choose to give you one form of compensation or another. Just ask for what they’re offering (they’ll usually say a free ticket), and then later ask nicely if they could offer travel credits instead. As for seeing if the flight is oversold, you can check via the airline’s website directly to see how many more seats they’re selling, which is a good indicator. If they’re not selling anymore seats they’re sold out, and if they’re only selling a few more seats there’s a chance they’re already oversold.

I made another post a while back talking about the best way to negotiate with agents. It can be found here:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/2008/08/06/answering-a-few-reader-questions/

By: mommafrica

mommafrica — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:07:54 +0000

Do u have a choice in choosing the credits/the voucher/ must u take what is offered? In other words, can I say to the GA what r my chances of a “free voucher.” How do u know if the flight is oversold? Do u ask this as u check-in?

By: lucky

lucky — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:17:33 +0000

I’m always happy to answer questions, so ask away.

Yes, in general travel credits are the better option. The exception might be if you’re offered $200 in travel credits. In that case a free ticket is probably worth more.

If a flight seems to be oversold (based on the loads), I’ll typically approach the GA when I get to the gate and nicely ask whether s/he thinks they’ll need volunteers for today’s flight, and explain that I have a flexible schedule. If they say they might I just ask to be added to the list, and if they say no I just say thank you and walk away.

With an IDB they’ll typically try to offer you vouchers since the alternative is cash.