Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Asking a question about who should be responsible for the bag fee if the delay was not the fault of the airline is not making excuses for anyone. The thread has carried on because you struggled consistently with the concept that a delay could be anything but the fault of the airline. Instead you could have answered my question by stating you didn't care who's fault it was. Furthermore when the thread was started the 12 hour or more detail was not available rather my question posed was a general one. Overbooking regularly occurs as I previously stated because passengers regularly don't show up for their flights
But I do care whose fault it is. You were asked repeatedly to illustrate all of the weather-related situations where the airline would not be at fault. After like 7 attempts, you finally came up with a lightning storm, and though conceivable, even that is dubious.
Well now you know, it's 12 hours. So, after a 12-hour delay, shouldn't(at the very least) the customer get his baggage fee returned?
I know why overbooking occurs. Ultimately, because it's profitable. The airlines would rather risk stranding passengers than leave a few empty seats on a plane. Even with the increased penalties(another action the DOT was forced to take), the airlines continue to overbook in large numbers. If someone has a confirmed reservation and shows up on time, they should get on that flight, period.
Again, they do these things because they can. If a restaurant or hotel chain consistently overbooked like that, they would be out of business.
But I do care whose fault it is. You were asked repeatedly to illustrate all of the weather-related situations where the airline would not be at fault. After like 7 attempts, you finally came up with a lightning storm, and though conceivable, even that is dubious.
Well now you know, it's 12 hours. So, after a 12-hour delay, shouldn't(at the very least) the customer get his baggage fee returned?
If it's not the fault of the airline no I do not feel that they should.
Quote:
I know why overbooking occurs. Ultimately, because it's profitable. The airlines would rather risk stranding passengers than leave a few empty seats on a plane. Even with the increased penalties(another action the DOT was forced to take), the airlines continue to overbook in large numbers. If someone has a confirmed reservation and shows up on time, they should get on that flight, period.
Again, they do these things because they can. If a restaurant or hotel chain consistently overbooked like that, they would be out of business.
Restaurants and hotels overbook when they can, what all businesses should do it just fully charge all no shows and allow no cancellations and at that point you could move away from the overbooking
If it's not the fault of the airline no I do not feel that they should.
Well again, you've so far been unable to offer any realistic scenario where the airlines are not at fault. So until then, we're going to disagree and I'm going to support this rule.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lowexpectations
Restaurants and hotels overbook when they can, what all businesses should do it just fully charge all no shows and allow no cancellations and at that point you could move away from the overbooking
Restaurants and hotels operate in the free market, so in the relatively rare instance that you find yourself inconvenienced by an overbooking or a delayed table, they will gladly make it up to you; they don't need a government agency to force them to do it. Anecdotally, I've only been bumped from a hotel one time. Before I had arrived, they had a room reserved for me two blocks away at a better hotel, offered a sincere apology, and paid for my room service and laundry service for three days. Twice in my life I've had to wait for a reserved table at a restaurant. They both gave my entire party free drinks at the bar while we waited, and free desserts after dinner. These things were offered immediately, without prompting/sucking azz/escalating, for(at most) a 30-minute inconvenience. I'm sorry friend, but the service offered from the airlines versus other industries is night and day.
Your suggested solution makes sense, but the airlines would never do it; not voluntarily, at least. Business travelers are the most likely to cancel/no-show(with a hefty fee), but they also spend the most money, and it's substantial. It's a win-win for the airlines: Allow the business customer to be flexible at the expense of the leisure traveler(yes, that's who's getting bumped), and still make more money if the former cancels/no-shows. We haven't even broached the subject of cancellation fees and how much revenue the airlines are generating from those alone.
I'm not saying it's impossible at all. I have no idea. As I said, I'm not familiar with airline operations and I'd like to better understand them. So again(fifth time), I'm just asking you to explain how that is. If a flight is delayed for two hours because of weather, why can't the baggage crew transfer when they have an extra two hours to do so?
Weather delays can affect operations in a number of different ways. If a major hub is experiencing weather delays, these delays will reverberate throughout the system as the planes travel to and from that hub. The delays won't all be exactly the same, though, because other factors come into play as well. For example, a plane that is starting its day at the hub might be able to leave on time (because it was already there at the airport instead of having to fight its way in through the delayed approaches), whereas a plane that came from another airport that is also experiencing bad weather has had two opportunities for delay, one leaving the first airport and the other arriving at the second airport. One plane might be delayed a half-hour; another might be delayed an hour. The bags coming in from the hour-late plane might not make it to the half-hour-late plane; but the bags from the half-hour-late plane will have extra time to make it to the hour-late plane.
So, as an example, let's say you have a plane that flies from Omaha to Chicago; then from Chicago to Tampa; then from Tampa to Dallas. Let's say that they're having bad weather in Omaha and Chicago; but the weather is just fine in Tampa and Dallas. That plane is going to be late leaving Omaha; late arriving in Chicago; late leaving Chicago; and late arriving in Tampa. So you're a passenger there in beautiful sunny Tampa, waiting for your flight to beautiful sunny Dallas; and you're told that your plane is late because of bad weather. It may seem like a ridiculous excuse (after all, a look out the window will tell you that it's bright and sunny out); but it's true.
And if the weather is bad in Omaha but fine in Chicago, a passenger from Omaha connecting in Chicago to a flight to Tampa might find their luggage didn't make the transfer even though they were able to catch the plane, because there simply wasn't enough time between the arrival of the delayed Omaha flight and the departure of the on-time Tampa flight to get the luggage unloaded and transferred. That's not the fault of the airline, that's due to the weather delaying the first flight.
And if the weather is bad in Omaha but fine in Chicago, a passenger from Omaha connecting in Chicago to a flight to Tampa might find their luggage didn't make the transfer even though they were able to catch the plane, because there simply wasn't enough time between the arrival of the delayed Omaha flight and the departure of the on-time Tampa flight to get the luggage unloaded and transferred. That's not the fault of the airline, that's due to the weather delaying the first flight.
And that's a very realistic scenario. So what the airline needs to do is simply put those bags on the next flight to Tampa. That would keep them well within the 12-hour limit that this rule imposes.
And that's a very realistic scenario. So what the airline needs to do is simply put those bags on the next flight to Tampa. That would keep them well within the 12-hour limit that this rule imposes.
What if there are no more flights to Tampa? Weather could impact that as well. It would be much easier if you stated you didn't care what the reason the fees should be refunded instead of continuing on with this
What if there are no more flights to Tampa? Weather could impact that as well. It would be much easier if you stated you didn't care what the reason the fees should be refunded instead of continuing on with this
I can see where baggage can be substantially delayed in some rare instances, but this isn't a rare problem; that's why we're talking about it. The real issue is, if you give the airlines an "out" or an excuse, they're going to milk it at every opportunity, and nothing will improve. As we've seen over the last several decades, the airlines aren't inclined to do the right thing unless and until a government agency forces them to.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
