United Airlines Issues $10,000 Travel Voucher
United Airlines has been in the news a lot lately, almost entirely for negative reasons. They just can’t seem to figure out travel with dogs. But the biggest story of the past year was when United dragged a man off of the plane because they wanted to give a crew member his seat. It seems they have corrected their bumped passenger policy and they have gone in the extreme, the other way. United just issued a $10,000 travel voucher! No I did not put too many zeros in there.
Details
According to USA Today the flight was a morning flight from Washington Dulles to Austin. There was a broken seat on the plane that needed to be removed from service, causing United to remove one passenger from the plane.
United started out by offering a $1,000 voucher and then said if no one took it they would kick off the lowest fare passenger. United upped the offer to $2,000 once the passenger was removed but she pushed for cash. They had settled on a cash price of $650 when another flight attendant offered a $10,000 voucher and a spot on the next flight out.
Conclusion
I am glad that United upped it’s voucher game but to give $10,000 in travel credit over $650 cash seems insane. I also think the flight attendant jumped the shark a little bit by going from $2,000 to $10,000. It ended up working out well for the deplaned passenger and that is what is most important.
What do you think? Are you surprised by this move? Are you going to hold out for more compensation if you are ever bumped?
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Can we have a blog on how to negotiate for more? I was just bumped from a paid cash first class seat and they barely gave me anything. The entire flight was canceled due to mechanical.
Ideas?
A canceled flight is different than an involuntary or voluntary bump. You get more for that since there are guidelines by law etc. For flight cancellations you are at the mercy of the airline unfortunately and what they are willing to give you.
Since this story made the MSM via MSN.com, now every unboard passenger will be demanding at least $10,000. Now is that a one use voucher or can it be for multiple flights. Then what are the restrictions on the days etc.
IMHO, the FAA has to get control of these flying zoos. No more emotional support critters with bogus paper work. A service dog and even a small dog in a carrier are items that the flight crew should plan for and safety is kept to a high standard.