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khenrickson

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What's Happening Now

June 13, 2010 5:28 am

The notification isn’t so much a problem at most airports. The electronic boards are usually updated minute by minute. The problem is that the airlines will say “Flight 100, delayed till 7:00pm.” then “Flight 100, delayed till 7:05pm”. And so on and so forth. They’re notifying everyone…with completely useless information. Forcing them to do so more frequently isn’t going to fix a thing. Forcing them to come up with an accurate estimate is what is needed.

June 13, 2010 5:41 am

If you charge for a service (delivery of a bag on flight 100), and do not provide that service… then a refund is in order. Package services refund based on service actually rendered, so why not airlines?

Two hours is reasonable in most cases. It depends on the passenger, and may require more complex itenerary tracking. On a flight to Hawaii, my bag was delayed about 4 hours, and delivered to my hotel. No big deal. If I had been flying somewhere to take a cruise, that could have been a very big deal.

Some carriers already do this, in certain circumstances. I have been able to get refunds from regional carriers for taking a bus. It is, however, impossible to get this information from the central reservations number (they don’t know the regional carrier’s policies, just… more »

…code-share the tickets), and the lines at the airport are usually so long that it’s almost impossible to talk with anyone FROM the regional carrier to find out if the refund applies. Mandating it would simply enforce an already unwritten policy, and provide guidance to the central reservations people about what compensation is due.

I think it needs to be spelled out. Particularly to include refunding frequent-flyer miles. At 2 cents a mile, you think they’d be more willing to give those back.

Some travel sites already have on-time estimates. I think all carriers should provide that. Maybe a flight is cheap, but never actually takes off.

What is so special about an international airline. Planes are planes, customers are customers. Just because you fly between countries doesn’t mean that service is more difficult. The airline should, of course, only be responsible for the delivery of passenger and bags TO Immigration/Customs. If there is a hold in Immigration/Customs, that’s a different government department to deal with.

If the airlines decide to reduce benefits in the contract of carriage, that might actually be a good thing. Right now, it’s a roll of the dice. You HAVE to stand in the 1 hour long service line because you MIGHT get a refund, or a few bucks… I’d rather know that it wasn’t coming, and to give up and get a hotel, than to stand in the line and beg like a puppy for a treat.

Customers should be able to sue the airline in any appropriate jurisdiction. If the airline doesn’t have a lawyer in said jurisdiction, I’d hope they can FLY ONE THERE! « less

June 13, 2010 5:47 am

I think all services should be listed. Including the real perks like $90 upgrade to first-class domestic.

For a ‘full fare’ price, go back to what airlines provided during regulation days, and figure out what ammenities have been removed. Then list those.

All airlines need to comply. Restaurants don’t go out of business just because they list their prices on the menu. I don’t think airlines will either.

June 14, 2010 3:50 pm

Thank you for your comment. Do you have any other suggestions for how amenities should be presented to the consumer?

June 14, 2010 3:59 pm

I found your point about time delays interesting. Do you think a person who needs absolute timely delivery of luggage, by informing the airline of such a need, should be treated any differently then then the person who is not terribly inconvenienced by a 2-4 hour delay?

June 14, 2010 4:02 pm

Thank you for your comment. Do you have any suggestions for how to enforce/provide incentive for airlines to give accurate estimates? Would you for example support certain penalties?

July 15, 2010 2:51 pm

I’d just like to respond to this as one of those people who needs to plan around meals. I have juvenile diabetes (type 1), so my food intake needs to be fairly regular to keep me healthy and coherent. Obviously, this is important to me. However, that doesn’t mean that I expect the airline to feed me. I always bring snacks onto the plane (no beverages, of course) to hold me over, just in case. It’s hard to predict when you’re going to need to pack an entire meal, but it’s very easy to stick a granola bar and an apple into your bag for the flight. There is nothing preventing people from feeding themselves on the plane, especially if they have a medical condition, as I do.


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