calville

PS I forgot to add that the Mexico DF rep told me that UA was not obligated to offer hotel vouchers, that their only obligation was to get the customer "from Point A to Point B."
"How and when we do it is an option the airline chooses."

BTilke

UA has been this way long before it faced bankruptcy. On an oversold flight from Chicago to Portland, OR, several passengers, including myself, volunteered to be bumped when the offer was upped to $300 in vouchers per person and seats on the next flight (3 hours later, not a huge deal). AFTER the original flight had left, however, the gate agent tried to go back on the deal and started writing out vouchers for $200, not the $300 promised. When I pointed out the "error", she said it was too late to change it and that it would take too much time. Amazingly, some of the passengers were willing to put up with the lies. I made a stink and demanded a supervisor. Eventually, we all got the $300 vouchers but after using those up, I refused to fly United again unless someone else had booked the flight and paid for the ticket (i.e., a business trip) without asking me first.

calville

I read an interesting article recently about Ryan Air, the budget Euro airline. They refuse to give any refunds for any reason, including flight cancellations! They also make some of their profits by having very low baggage wt limits and charging exorbitant excess weight fees (often more than the cost of the ticket).

If the passenger knows going into it what the deal is, then I guess it's OK.

I wonder if the traveling public knows that United no longer feels any obligation to reticket passengers.

RufusTFirefly

mikemo--you are obviously not very good at reading comprehension. What I wrote was not a defense of United Airlines. It is a statement of fact--corporations are not moral--morlity is not an issue for corporations; a corporation is the legal equivalent of a person with one aim--to maximize profits--a "person" without any morality.

United is no different from any other corporation in that sense. If a corporation decides that it can maximize profits by treating people well, it will do so--but it has nothing to do with morality. If a corporation decides that it can maximize profits by treating people shabbily, it will do so--but it has nothing to do with morality.