richl@lumiere.UUCP (Rick Lindsley) (03/16/86)
I recently had a nasty problem with an airline, but I'm wondering if they are within their rights or not. I recently had a flight from San Diego to San Francisco, with a connection in San Francisco to Portland. The flights were relatively late -- 8pm to 9:15pm and 9:50pm to 11:30 pm. We took off from San Diego an hour and a half late -- they said that due to bad weather in San Francisco they were told to not even take off. Once we got to SF, we still had to circle for about 45 minutes. I asked several times before we left San Diego as to my connecting flight (which was on the same airline) and was told that ALL flights into and out of SF were running about equally late due to the weather. But lo and behold, when we finally landed in SF, 2 hours and 15 minutes late, my flight had left (or been cancelled -- nobody seemed to know for sure). The airline representatives said that although they would be happy to re-book me for a flight in the morning at my discounted fare, that their responsibility ended there. No, they wouldn't pay for my hotel -- they were only liable if the delay was due to mechanical failure, not "air-traffic delays". Motels are INCREDIBLY expensive in SF!! And at 12:30am it's hard to be choosy. It cost $50 for a room -- and that was a Days Inn! (I'm used to rooms being $20-$25 when I travel!) Is this standard policy for (some/most/all) airlines? Would it do any good to complain? Or does this make perfect sense to everyone but me? Rick
shaprkg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Bob Shapiro) (03/18/86)
In article <1777@lumiere.UUCP> richl@lumiere.UUCP (Rick Lindsley) writes: >I recently had a nasty problem with an airline, but I'm wondering if they >are within their rights or not. > >I recently had a flight from San Diego to San Francisco, with a connection >in San Francisco to Portland. The flights were relatively late -- 8pm to >9:15pm and 9:50pm to 11:30 pm. > >We took off from San Diego an hour and a half late -- they said that due >to bad weather in San Francisco they were told to not even take off. Once >we got to SF, we still had to circle for about 45 minutes. I asked several >times before we left San Diego as to my connecting flight (which was on >the same airline) and was told that ALL flights into and out of SF were >running about equally late due to the weather. > >But lo and behold, when we finally landed in SF, 2 hours and 15 minutes >late, my flight had left (or been cancelled -- nobody seemed to know for >sure). > >The airline representatives said that although they would be happy to >re-book me for a flight in the morning at my discounted fare, that their >responsibility ended there. No, they wouldn't pay for my hotel -- they >were only liable if the delay was due to mechanical failure, not >"air-traffic delays". > >Motels are INCREDIBLY expensive in SF!! And at 12:30am it's hard to be >choosy. It cost $50 for a room -- and that was a Days Inn! (I'm used >to rooms being $20-$25 when I travel!) > >Is this standard policy for (some/most/all) airlines? Would it do any >good to complain? Or does this make perfect sense to everyone but me? > >Rick Yes this is standard policy for some/most/all airlines. Ever since deregulation they are not required to be responsible for delays due to weather (act of God). Yes it would do good to complain. Write a letter to the airline or better yet, if you had a travel agent book your flight, have them write the letter. While airlines are not required to help you in the above situation, they are very conscious of their image to the public. The Public Relations people might reimburse you if you catch them at the right time. They might also offer you some free transportation for your troubles and anything you can get is better than nothing. Welcome to the world of deregulation. Bob Shapiro
holloway@drivax.UUCP (Bruce Holloway) (03/18/86)
In article <1777@lumiere.UUCP> richl@lumiere.UUCP (Rick Lindsley) writes: >I recently had a nasty problem with an airline, but I'm wondering if they >are within their rights or not. > [...] >The airline representatives said that although they would be happy to >re-book me for a flight in the morning at my discounted fare, that their >responsibility ended there. No, they wouldn't pay for my hotel -- they >were only liable if the delay was due to mechanical failure, not >"air-traffic delays". > [...] >Is this standard policy for (some/most/all) airlines? Would it do any >good to complain? Or does this make perfect sense to everyone but me? When my wife and I were coming back from Boston a couple of years ago on United, we were delayed for a few hours in Boston due to a mechanical failure, and then we made an unscheduled stop in Chicago to pick up some stranded passengers, and then sat on the runway another hour and a half waiting for the weather to let up. We missed our San Francisco connection by six hours. United put us up in a hotel overnight, gave us breakfast, and booked us on an SD3-30 (a little prop plane) for the flight back to Monterey the next morning. -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Whatever I write are not the opinions or policies of Digital Research, Inc.,| |and probably won't be in the foreseeable future. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Bruce Holloway ....!ucbvax!hplabs!amdahl!drivax!holloway (I'm not THAT Bruce Holloway, I'm the other one.)
roger@celtics.UUCP (Roger Klorese) (03/20/86)
In article <1777@lumiere.UUCP> richl@lumiere.UUCP (Rick Lindsley) writes: >I recently had a nasty problem with an airline, but I'm wondering if they >are within their rights or not. > Yes, they are. Isn't deregulation wonderful? -- *** Speak for the company? Naaaah, it's hard enough speaking for ME! *** ... "What were you expecting, rock'n'roll?" Roger B.A. Klorese Celerity Computing, 40 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701, (617) 872-1772 UUCP: seismo!harvard!bu-cs!celtics!roger, ucbvax!sdcsvax!celerity!celtics!roger ARPA: bu-cs!celtics!roger@harvard.ARPA, celerity!celtics!roger@sdcsvax.ARPA