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Author Topic: Airline Compensation Master Thread  (Read 1098708 times)

Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3200 on: May 26, 2017, 06:11:19 PM »
The main lesson from this experience is to always fly on an EU/Switzerland/Norway-based airline when flying to those destinations. That way, EC 261 applies, and the compensation is already predetermined.

Remember, there's no free lunch here. The mandatory EU compensation doesn't just magically come out of the airlines' profits; it's built into the fare, just like any other business expense.

Maybe you answered and I missed it, but how much did you pay for the ticket in question? Unless there was some sort of extraordinary screw-up, businesses almost never compensate customers beyond the price paid for the service in question.

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3201 on: May 26, 2017, 06:23:39 PM »
Remember, there's no free lunch here. The mandatory EU compensation doesn't just magically come out of the airlines' profits; it's built into the fare, just like any other business expense.

Maybe you answered and I missed it, but how much did you pay for the ticket in question? Unless there was some sort of extraordinary screw-up, businesses almost never compensate customers beyond the price paid for the service in question.
Are the EU airlines really more expensive than the US ones for the same routes?
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline lg10

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3202 on: May 26, 2017, 06:30:06 PM »
Are the EU airlines really more expensive than the US ones for the same routes?

No, they are not significantly more expensive than non-EU airlines. In many cases, they are actually less expensive for an arguably better quality of service.

It seems that those making the argument that mandatory compensation increases fares forget that economic forces prevent a great disparity in fares. If that were the case, then virtually no one would fly on the more expensive airlines since the potential payoff of guaranteed compensation in the event of irregular operations would be less than the upfront savings of the non-EU carrier. Given the current state of the airline industry, it is clear that EU carriers as a whole are surviving just as well as their non-EU counterparts.

Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3203 on: May 26, 2017, 08:21:59 PM »
No, they are not significantly more expensive than non-EU airlines. In many cases, they are actually less expensive for an arguably better quality of service.

It seems that those making the argument that mandatory compensation increases fares forget that economic forces prevent a great disparity in fares. If that were the case, then virtually no one would fly on the more expensive airlines since the potential payoff of guaranteed compensation in the event of irregular operations would be less than the upfront savings of the non-EU carrier. Given the current state of the airline industry, it is clear that EU carriers as a whole are surviving just as well as their non-EU counterparts.

The mandatory compensation is a known expense and doesn't just get paid magically. That money has to come from somewhere, whether it's lower labor costs, maintenance shortcuts, higher fares, and/or a combination of any number of other factors.

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3204 on: May 28, 2017, 12:57:12 AM »
FRA-JFK LH

No kosher meals (booked 8 hrs before flight)

6000 miles or 50 euro in flight spending voucher

Offline EJB

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3205 on: May 28, 2017, 01:56:37 AM »
FRA-JFK LH

No kosher meals (booked 8 hrs before flight)

6000 miles or 50 euro in flight spending voucher

Wow, surprised they gave you anything

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3206 on: May 28, 2017, 02:07:18 AM »
The mandatory compensation is a known expense and doesn't just get paid magically. That money has to come from somewhere, whether it's lower labor costs, maintenance shortcuts, higher fares, and/or a combination of any number of other factors.
Or they just place a greater focus on avoidance. If the downsides are not something which people seem to have experienced then apparently the costs were worthwhile. Just that there is a cost is not really a problem if we can't even find it.
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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3207 on: May 28, 2017, 02:51:10 AM »
Air Berlin delayed/damaged luggage
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Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3208 on: May 28, 2017, 01:23:31 PM »
Or they just place a greater focus on avoidance. If the downsides are not something which people seem to have experienced then apparently the costs were worthwhile. Just that there is a cost is not really a problem if we can't even find it.

Not sure what you mean by this. Yesterday's BA meltdown potentially has BA on the hook for a massive compensation bill. That money isn't going to appear out of thin air.

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3209 on: May 28, 2017, 01:27:32 PM »
Not sure what you mean by this. Yesterday's BA meltdown potentially has BA on the hook for a massive compensation bill. That money isn't going to appear out of thin air.
I'm not sure what you are getting at. This compensation has been shown over time to be beneficial at minimal cost.
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Offline Yammer

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3210 on: May 28, 2017, 02:31:44 PM »
Not sure what you mean by this. Yesterday's BA meltdown potentially has BA on the hook for a massive compensation bill. That money isn't going to appear out of thin air.
How about from the massive profits that the airline industry are having now?

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3211 on: May 28, 2017, 03:19:14 PM »
Booked 2 Business class tickets (comped by my company) on elal paid 5,200$ each tickets. The return flight was supposed to leave 12:30 am on Friday and then elal changed it to 7am. I didn't want to risk with shabbos so my travel agent got elal to put me on the Thursday night 11pm united flight. My friend got Bussines and I was put on economy. How can I work the compensation. Also I booked it on Amex Starwood should I just dispute the charge?
Anyone have experience with a situation like this? I'd like to know as well.
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Offline MeirS

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3212 on: May 28, 2017, 04:30:34 PM »
Booked 2 Business class tickets (comped by my company) on elal paid 5,200$ each tickets. The return flight was supposed to leave 12:30 am on Friday and then elal changed it to 7am. I didn't want to risk with shabbos so my travel agent got elal to put me on the Thursday night 11pm united flight. My friend got Bussines and I was put on economy. How can I work the compensation. Also I booked it on Amex Starwood should I just dispute the charge?

Anyone have experience with a situation like this? I'd like to know as well.
I imagine this doesn't qualify as "involuntarily denied boarding into the class of booking".

Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3213 on: May 29, 2017, 06:35:42 PM »
I'm not sure what you are getting at. This compensation has been shown over time to be beneficial at minimal cost.

Minimal cost to whom? People seem to be pretending that the cost of the compensation isn't priced into the tickets. If the foreign carriers were always the same price or cheaper than U.S. carriers, then no one would book them, given that the onboard service tends to be better on the foreign carriers.

Just in this one discussion, I asked several times what the guy paid for his ticket, but he never answered. The fact he doesn't want to disclose the price he paid suggests price was a factor in his decision.

Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3214 on: May 29, 2017, 06:36:44 PM »
How about from the massive profits that the airline industry are having now?

And where do the profits come from? Revenue minus expenses.

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3215 on: May 29, 2017, 06:38:21 PM »
I imagine this doesn't qualify as "involuntarily denied boarding into the class of booking".

No. You both requested the change and had the ability to decline it.

Offline Meir

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3216 on: May 29, 2017, 07:59:41 PM »
Not sure if you are responding on my question. I requested to change the flight to similar time of original departure on condition that it's Business. They promised that it's Business even sent me a elal confirmation that it's Business it showed class j with a status of ok. When I got to gate united said it was booked on standby never confirmed seat and they laughed and said never fly elal.

Offline jsk173

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3217 on: May 29, 2017, 08:06:17 PM »
Not sure if you are responding on my question. I requested to change the flight to similar time of original departure on condition that it's Business. They promised that it's Business even sent me a elal confirmation that it's Business it showed class j with a status of ok. When I got to gate united said it was booked on standby never confirmed seat and they laughed and said never fly elal.

Per your original post, you initiated the change because you "didn't want to risk with shabbos." If you got to the airport and you were, in fact, only on standby, then that actually weakens the "involuntarily denied ..." claim you raised above.

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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3218 on: May 29, 2017, 08:09:01 PM »
Per your original post, you initiated the change because you "didn't want to risk with shabbos." If you got to the airport and you were, in fact, only on standby, then that actually weakens the "involuntarily denied ..." claim you raised above.
Well, this was after LY involuntarily rescheduled his flight...
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Re: Airline Compensation Master Thread
« Reply #3219 on: May 29, 2017, 08:24:40 PM »
@jsk173 If you don't mind me asking, what is your day job?