22 hr mechanical delay -- what should airline owe passengers?

Hello -- I was on a United airlines flight to Hawaii. The last leg was Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Two mechanical failures, much management bufoonery and
22 hours late, we arrived to Honolulu. The weather was fine. 100% fault of
mechanical issues. United got our bags on another flight, which arrived on
time, but not the passengers. United made no attempt to get us on other
United flights or other airlines. They reimbursed me for my direct out of
pocket expenses, and only after writing a complaint letter, did they offer a
$100 travel certificate.

My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say no. I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use for a
roundtrip ticket).

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks much!

wrote in message
...
Hello -- I was on a United airlines flight to Hawaii. The last leg was Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Two mechanical failures, much management bufoonery
and
22 hours late, we arrived to Honolulu. The weather was fine. 100% fault
of
mechanical issues. United got our bags on another flight, which arrived
on
time, but not the passengers. United made no attempt to get us on other
United flights or other airlines. They reimbursed me for my direct out of
pocket expenses, and only after writing a complaint letter, did they offer
a
$100 travel certificate.

My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use for a
roundtrip ticket).

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks much!



Your rights:

In the EU: considerable. See
http://ec.europa.eu/news/transport/070802_1_en.htm

In the USA: None as far as I can ascertain.

--

JohnT

Your rights:

In the EU: considerable. See
http://ec.europa.eu/news/transport/070802_1_en.htm

Given it was a Los Angeles to Honolulu flight, I don't see how this is
relevant, even if he was an EU citizen.

In the USA: None as far as I can ascertain.

Is that really true?

On Apr 6, 12:51*pm, wrote:
My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?"
We got more compensation from Northwest under similar circumstances.

Our flight from HNL to SFO tuned around and retunred to HNL for a
mechanical problem. As we got off the plane, we were given vouchers
for either 10,000 miles or US$100 off our next flight (our choice),
plus a food voucher.

We reboarded and tried again. We were diverted to LAX because a
recurrrence of the same mechanical problem meant we could not land in
SFO. As we got off the plane, we got a second voucher for a domestic
round trip in the contiguous 48 states. The Hawaiian residents
grumbled that they were unlikely to be able to use these vouchers, but
it should work out for the passengers living on the mainland.

We reboarded and arrived in SFO about 10 hours late. The passengers
bound for MSP were booked into hotel rooms near SFO before continuing
on the next day.

wrote in message
...
wrote:

Hello -- I was on a United airlines flight to Hawaii. The last leg was
Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Two mechanical failures, much management bufoonery
and
22 hours late, we arrived to Honolulu. The weather was fine. 100% fault
of
mechanical issues. United got our bags on another flight, which arrived
on
time, but not the passengers. United made no attempt to get us on other
United flights or other airlines. They reimbursed me for my direct out
of
pocket expenses, and only after writing a complaint letter, did they
offer a
$100 travel certificate.

My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

tim

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 17:35:30 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
wrote:

Hello -- I was on a United airlines flight to Hawaii. The last leg was
Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Two mechanical failures, much management bufoonery
and
22 hours late, we arrived to Honolulu. The weather was fine. 100% fault
of
mechanical issues. United got our bags on another flight, which arrived
on
time, but not the passengers. United made no attempt to get us on other
United flights or other airlines. They reimbursed me for my direct out
of
pocket expenses, and only after writing a complaint letter, did they
offer a
$100 travel certificate.

My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

Maybe, but the airline is not responsible for compensating you for it.

"John Kulp" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 17:35:30 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


wrote in message
. ..
wrote:

Hello -- I was on a United airlines flight to Hawaii. The last leg was
Los
Angeles to Honolulu. Two mechanical failures, much management
bufoonery
and
22 hours late, we arrived to Honolulu. The weather was fine. 100%
fault
of
mechanical issues. United got our bags on another flight, which
arrived
on
time, but not the passengers. United made no attempt to get us on
other
United flights or other airlines. They reimbursed me for my direct out
of
pocket expenses, and only after writing a complaint letter, did they
offer a
$100 travel certificate.

My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say
no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was
very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use
for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

Maybe, but the airline is not responsible for compensating you for it.

why not?

tim

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 21:31:12 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say
no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was
very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use
for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

Maybe, but the airline is not responsible for compensating you for it.

why not?

Because there is no regulation requiring them to.

"John Kulp" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 21:31:12 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say
no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was
very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount
and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use
for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

Maybe, but the airline is not responsible for compensating you for it.

why not?

Because there is no regulation requiring them to.

That I can accept, but I don't see how it can change a person's expectation
that there should be such compensation

tim

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:25:09 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


"John Kulp" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 21:31:12 +0100, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:


My question to the forum is: "Is this adequate compensation?". I say
no.
I
did get a call from customer service, and while polite, the rep was
very
firm in that United will not reimburse anyone more than this amount
and
that
I was unreasonable to expect more (I asked for a free voucher to use
for
a
roundtrip ticket).


How much reimbursement do you expect other than what you paid out of
pocket?

I don't know about you, but my wasted time costs me money!

Maybe, but the airline is not responsible for compensating you for it.

why not?

Because there is no regulation requiring them to.

That I can accept, but I don't see how it can change a person's expectation
that there should be such compensation

I wasn't responding to expectations, but to what an airline legally
must do.