A free hotel room? Ha!

[blackbox]

Good point, he may have paid a full fare, and there are certain expectations that should be met when you purchase things, I'll give you that. I was just using him a general example for things that I see on a daily basis. There are so many variables in the business that the public does not consider, nor do they have any patience for(e.g. MX, WX). They just know that if their flight gets delayed or cancelled that they got screwed and want compensation. Do we (the airline) really owe them because we delayed a flight in the interest of THEIR safety? That's where I get frustrated, that there is ZERO patience on behalf of the customer.

I agree with you 100%. people think its so simple just to change something. If they have no experience dealing witha certain situation they just dont understand.

 

[Fred Rogers]

safety

You know I've thought a lot about this, and I think it's the fact that we've made the whole experience so routine. That is a good thing, but people forget that they are in a 100,000 lb hunk of metal going 500 mph 6 miles above the earth's surface. People get angry if the flight is delayed 10 min, regardless of the reason. Pilots are increasingly looked at like bus drivers (by passengers AND management), and the fares go down and the gas goes up.

It's really an interesting set of circumstances and I wonder how we go about fixing it. I have always been one who claims to people that you don't have to be John Wayne to fly an airplane, but you are a professional who is responsible for a good many lives (be it 19 or 390) in the aformentioned hunk of metal.

I don't know what the solution is, but I think it is an interesting / frustrating situation. Great thread btw.

 

[DX Rick]

I love the drunken hillbillies who scream "I am never flying Southwest every again!"
Happens atleast 3 times a show.

 

[Fred Rogers]

I love the drunken hillbillies who scream "I am never flying Southwest every again!"
Happens atleast 3 times a show.

ha ha.. yeah, until they want to go somewhere and they don't want to pay over $100 for the ticket. I can hear the gate agent's inner monologue "oh you'll be back you drunken moron, and then I'll have to put up with you again dammit"

 

[urflyingme?!]

I'm just hoping that the first drunk I kick off happens to be my old high school dean. There's something to dream for...

 

[smellthejeta]

My question is this: If you pay $89 dollars for an airline ticket, is it reasonable to demand a hotel room which will cost just as much, if not more from the airline? I could understand it if you paid full fare for a first class int'l ticket, but does anyone else find this ridiculous? :angryfire

My question is this: If you pay $89 for an airline ticket, is it reasonable to expect to actually get on the flight on which you've purchased a ticket?

If an airline oversells a flight, it is a risk THEY take, not the pax, even though pax are aware that "flights may be oversold." One of the reasons that last minute tix are so expensive is that the airline figures that if the flight is going to be put in an oversold situation, that the high revenue they generate from that last minute sale can be used to compensate the pax being denied boarding. EVERY airline that I've flown will pay for a hotel if they cannot get you out the same day.

Once upon a time, I was bumped by AirTran on a $111 (roundtrip) ticket. I had left my car at IAD and used mass transit to get to BWI (I had time to kill and too cheap to pay for parking and gas). I did not like the hotel accomodations (too far away from the airport for an early AM flight with uncertain security lines) so I talked them into paying for a $90 ticket out of IAD, where I could sleep in my own bed and use the express security line (employee) in the AM.

 

[g-code]

I love the drunken hillbillies who scream "I am never flying Southwest every again!"
Happens atleast 3 times a show.

Thats their bread and butter.

 

[dabandermac]

Does it really matter how much he paid for the ticket? Everyone is riding on the same plane and deserves the same service. Someone with a $300 ticket should be treated equally as someone who paid $89. Bumped from his flight (not his fault), buy the fella a hotel room. End of story.

 

[YourPilotFriend]

Don't worry, when the airlines hit rock bottom the only thing left will be to compete in service.

 

[COOPERVANE]

Southwest supposedly almost used:

"We know you'll be back, because we're cheap, and you are too!!"

Priceless!!

It is amazing how SWA gets away with so much. The flight attendants play games, and are free to make non politically correct jokes. I have heard several people talk about "toilet paper roll races" down the isles during climbout. If Delta did that, the pax would freak "So, you have plenty of money to waste on TP, so why are our ticket prices so hi?" We can't even say "Merry Christmas" without getting letters. Good for them

lower expectations I guess

 

[PSPFAWILL]

How about the drunk when denied boarding who said "I am not abbreviated".