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Saturday, February 14, 2015

Battle of the Airline Compensation Giants - Air Canada vs. United Airlines Round 2

Well, as I sit and wait... and wait... and wait... for Air Canada to at least tell me they are at minimum going to refund the business class upgrade I paid for but did not get to enjoy, save the short flight on one of those smaller South American planes - the Brassiere 190.

UPDATE: As of Friday 20-Feb-2015 I have not heard anything further from Air Canada. They continue to rack up interest while keeping my hard-earned upgrade dollars. It's over a month since I first emailed them for a refund.

UPDATE 2: As of Monday 2-Mar-2015... I have STILL not heard anything further from Air Canada. I replied to the customer support email that I received with the discount code and asked for help but 10 days has passed and I haven't received any reply.

I was given a little business card by a flight attendant on a recent unrelated trip that has a phone number for Refund Services. 204-941-2851.

I called it and guess what? It's only a recording telling you to go the the website to contact them and for 'valuable information'. This would be the same website that I used to file the initial complaint almost six weeks ago.

The same useless website that I have gotten absolutely nowhere with.

Here's the reply I got:
2-Mar-2015

*****************Do Not Reply to this email*************************
 An Air Canada Refund Representative will review your email and reply as soon as possible. If review determines that you are entitled to a refund, please allow a minimum of 3 weeks (unless otherwise stated by applicable law) for your refund to be processed. We are currently processing refunds sent in the week of Jan 26 2015
Thank you for your patience 

What do I do now??? Should I talk to my credit card company and have the upgrade charge disputed?

Dear God this is no way to treat a customer of 40 years. I have spent literally thousands of dollars per year with Air Canada. It's really quite pathetic and incredibly frustrating.


Meanwhile, United aka U Bite It Airlines has come through with an olive branch.

More specifically, 50 olive branches:
30-January-2015

Dear Mr. Flusher,

Thank you for contacting us at United Airlines Customer Care Department. Please forgive the delay in our response.

I am sorry to learn of the problems that affected your travel on UA 565 January 09, 2015 from Chicago, IL to Las Vegas, NV.

Please be assured we do understand your concerns, which have been documented for further review.

In appreciation of your feedback and patience, please enjoy the $50 electronic travel certificate that will be emailed to you under separate cover within 3-5 business days.

I hope your next experience will earn a positive review.  Thank you for choosing United.

Regards,

Asra Hasan
Customer Care


The unfortunately named Mainliner. Unless you are Keef Richards.
The same day, this arrived:
30-January-2015

Thank you again for taking time to let us know about your recent experience with United Airlines.

An Electronic Travel Certificate has been issued to Royal Flusher valid towards the purchase of one electronic airline ticket, where eligible, on United up to $50.00.

Redemption information - Total Value: $50.00  Promotion Code: 88UA6969   PIN Code: U8AN8NCH1  Issued Date: 1/30/2015  Expiration Date: 1/30/2016  Original Ticket Number: 201520142013

The reference for this item is: 123123123


I think United handled this very promptly indeed. I contacted them on 21-January and by 30-January, my pants were full and -itis with fifty United Fly-Me Dollars.

So when - and if - I ever buy a ticket on United, in the next year, I can save fifty dollars. It is not lost on me that I have to purchase from them, thus probably giving them more profit, in order to make use of the voucher, just like the percent off Air FU Canada vouchers I got (which also expire in a year - WHY???? Just WHY do they need to expire? The nasty event which precipitated the discount happened. It's over. There is no best before date on my bottled in outrage!).

I guess this $50 thing would be useful if I ever bought tickets on United, but I don't. I think this one is probably going to simply expire.

Should I email them back and explain that they should give me something useful?





Sunday, February 8, 2015

Battle of the Airline Compensation Giants - Air Canada vs. United Airlines Round 1

Here are some updates that I'm sure you'll be thrilled to read about. First things first, how is that annoying foot problem? (Not the smell, the pain one). I am almost certain I have sesame-itis. There are these small sesame bones at the base of the big toe and when anything gets inflamed, you stick -itis on it. Swollen appendix? Appendicitis. Inflamed sesame bones? Sesame itis. Swollen Dick?

Nixonitis.

(C'mon people, have some class!!!)

One more - inflamed soul singer?

Otis-itis Redding.

I did some reading on that wonderful place, The Internet. It took me 90 seconds to learn of a possible cure/treatment that I could try right away. It also took another 5 hours looking at pictures of cats, reading listicles, and watching variations of the Numa Numa song on Youtube before I tore myself away from The Internet.

I cut a little pad from moleskin and afixed it to the underside of my trusty Spenco Sorbothane insoles, which had saved me from excruciating walking pain in Vegas.

The idea of the pad is to re-distribute weight to the rest of the ball of the foot, thus relieving the crush, and subsequent itis, of the sesame bones.

Trusty Spenco Sorbothane insoles. How could I have forgotten thee??!
There are some professionally made models of pad out there, but I have yet to find them. And if I did, I'm not sure I could pass myself off as a dancer. Still, they might be worth a try.

Anyway, I made my little pad, figured out where to place it and stuck it to the underside of the Wondersole Spenco Sorbothane insole (left foot).

Holy shit. I had virtually instant relief! Because my sesames weren't getting as crushed. Always a good thing for ones sesames. Within about three days I was walking normally, and able to move my big toe without much pain.

And, my eye thing was conjunctivitis, simply cured by the drops I got a subscription for from the walk-in clinic the day after I got home. Half of them went in my eyes, even, and my forehead has never looked so clear.

But what has all this got to do with the Battle of the Airline Compensation Giants?!

Nothing at all. But I know my readers don't like loose ends.

Now, as you may recall if you read the air travel debacle post at the start of my trip, you will recall these important fun facts:

- I got up 3:00am after 2 hours sleep and motored, panic stricken, along unploughed lanes and highways to the Aerodrome through 4 inches of snow
- The flights out of Flusherville were delayed almost four hours.
- As a result I missed my Pearson to Vegas direct flight on Air Canada Rouge
- I got rerouted to Chicago and flew for an hour and a half in business class there. The Chicago to Vegas leg would be in economy, on United. I had paid for a business class upgrade.
- We were delayed in Chicago due to a broken tail light on the plane. When we left there was no real food to buy on the plane, and not enough water
- I arrived in Vegas 20 hours after I got up.

I'd paid $220 good Canadian Loonies for a first class upgrade from Toronto to Vegas and I had gotten stiffed on most of the ride. I was not impressed.

A savvy traveler never lets Air Fuckyou Canada get the upper hand. Or U-bite-it Airlines either, for that matter.

It is time to see which of these mega-Airlines would deal with my complaints the best. It's the Battle of the Airline Compensation Giants!

I lobbed the first volley. Pulling out all the stops, I composed and sent a very strongly communication to Air Canada:

19-January-2015

Subject:  Business Class Upgrade not received
Message:  My ticket was AC7251 YGK to YYZ, then AC1851 YYZ to LAS. I upgraded to business class for AC1751.

AC7251 was 4 hours late. I was rebooked on AC7399 to ORD and then on UA565 from ORD to LAS.

(RF: Note the savvy airline lingo jargon... this should improve chances of a sweet compensation deal!)

I was told in Toronto that they could not book me in business class ORD to LAS.

In Chicago, UA told me that they could not honor AC's upgrade, that it had was ACs ticket and they would have had to upgrade me in Toronto.

This was frustrating, to say the least.

UA565 boarded, and was subsequently deplaned due to mechanical issues - broken nav lights. Another plane was found and we arrived in LAS at 8:30pm local time.

For this four hour flight, UA left without galleys loaded, and had insufficient water on board and no meals. My dinner was a 2 oz. tube of hummus. Not the business class treatment I was hoping for when I paid for the upgrade. :)

In all, I arrived in LAS 9 hours later than my original flight. Needless to say it was a tiring, difficult, frustrating day of travel. From the time I left my home it was a 20 hour journey.

I would like compensation for my business class upgrade purchase in the form of an upgrade voucher to be used on my next long haul trip. It would be nice if it was return, to compensate for the horrible day I spent. And the hummus dinner.

Your prompt attention is appreciated. Here's a copy of the email receipt: (receipt followed)

Here's the first reply I got:

21-January-2015

Thank you for contacting us.

This is to confirm that we have received your  correspondence and there is no requirement to re-submit your information. Our processing time is currently 15 business days for general customer concerns, 20 business days for baggage related issues and up to 4 weeks for baggage tracing. We will make every effort to respond sooner.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as you await our response.

***Please do not reply to this email, it is an automated response.***

All I can say is God Help You if Air Canada has lost your luggage. FOUR WEEKS to find it? I think I'll put a salmon in an extra bag next time and tear the tags off of it before it goes down the chute.

Meanwhile, I went after United U-bite-it Airlines with the same vigor.

21-January-2015

Subject: Airport Experience
Reply: Not applicable

Message: I was very unhappy with how United handled this flight. Specifically, we boarded the plane, then there were mechanical delays - nav lights out, which had to be replaced. We replaned. We were given the impression that they'd fix it soon and we'd be on our way. Long story short, they had to find another airplane. By the time we left for LAS we were 4 hours late.

They left ORD without the galleys being transferred from the previous plane. The captain made numerous announcements saying they were waiting for them and had called multiple times to request them.

In the end the flight left without the galleys. There was insufficient drinking water for the passengers. The drinking water ran out. There were no meals on board.

I bought a $5 hummus snack. Crackers, which I didn't want, and 2oz of hummus. I told the F.A. that they should be giving these out, not charging.

Later I went to the head and saw a F.A. eating about three or four of these tubes of hummus from the snack packs, greedily squeezing the brown goo into their hungry maw like a degenerate, starving astronaut. Nice that the customers can suffer and pay for snacks for their meagre dinner, but the F.A. can snarf them down for free in the galley.

I was not impressed.

Note that my ticket was on Air Canada AC1851 (the ticket number cited is
an AC one, I can't find a UA ticket number on my stub.)

I was reticketed on AC to Chicago and UA to LAS. I had paid for a bus.
class upgrade, but UA would not honor it.

Meanwhile, AC in Toronto told me to speak to UA in Chicago.

Overall, it was a very long day for me.

But I thought it was terrible to have a 4 hour delay, charge for snacks,
have insufficient water and no meals on board for a 4 hour flight, and
then witness the F.A. eating what little food there was for free.

What can you do to improve my perception of UA?

Thank you.

It's on!

FIGHT!