Does Anybody Know Why US 714 Today Was Downgraded?

[SS255]

Just curious. My parents were on this flight. When they arrived at DEN to have their bags tagged, the kiosk beeped. The agent told them that the aircraft had been downgraded (from a 321 to -- I believe -- a 320), and they had automatically been re-booked onto US 484 to CLT in F, connecting onto a later flight to AVP, also in F. They were also given $475 travel vouchers each.

The agent told my parents that 60 people had to be off-loaded from the flight and re-accommodated, including a paid F passenger who had been in Row 4, and was NOT happy about having to sit in Y. She said that she purposely bought an F ticket because she cannot fit in a Y seat. Had I been present at the ticket counter, I would have told her to make the agent put her in F on another carrier if US couldn't accommodate her in F.

If US gave out $475 travel vouchers to the 60 inconvenienced passengers, it must have cost them more than the profit margin on the flight.......not to mention the difference in fare class for the poor woman who got downgraded from F to Y.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Just curious. My parents were on this flight. When they arrived at DEN to have their bags tagged, the kiosk beeped. The agent told them that the aircraft had been downgraded (from a 321 to -- I believe -- a 320), and they had automatically been re-booked onto US 484 to CLT in F, connecting onto a later flight to AVP, also in F. They were also given $475 travel vouchers each.

The agent told my parents that 60 people had to be off-loaded from the flight and re-accommodated, including a paid F passenger who had been in Row 4, and was NOT happy about having to sit in Y. She said that she purposely bought an F ticket because she cannot fit in a Y seat. Had I been present at the ticket counter, I would have told her to make the agent put her in F on another carrier if US couldn't accommodate her in F.

If US gave out $475 travel vouchers to the 60 inconvenienced passengers, it must have cost them more than the profit margin on the flight.......not to mention the difference in fare class for the poor woman who got downgraded from F to Y.

It happens.

It's not a perfect world, nor a perfect industry, nor a perfect airline.

Life's not fair sometimes. Buck up.

Take the train, the bus, hitchhike, book another carrier (with similar results sometimes,) sue the airline (good luck with that,) buy your own Gulfstream jet, etc.

Should US have cancelled the flight and inconvenienced all the passengers? Sure, there was no profit in this flight, but likely a significant loss. But they got most of the people where they needed to go.

 

[cynic]

sounds like pretty good customer service and they were addressed it as well as one could expect.

 

[Art at ISP]

Yes these things happen, and all SS was looking for was a little information. Apparently, US did the right thing in this case and offered generous compensation for those affected.

nycbusdriver, I usually agree with you on most points, however in this case, I think you bit the wrong messenger...

 

[SS255]

Yes these things happen, and all SS was looking for was a little information. Apparently, US did the right thing in this case and offered generous compensation for those affected.

nycbusdriver, I usually agree with you on most points, however in this case, I think you bit the wrong messenger...

Thanks, Art. I was just curious what caused the downgrade because my parents asked me if i could out -- not complaining. They were fine with the re-route.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Yes these things happen, and all SS was looking for was a little information. Apparently, US did the right thing in this case and offered generous compensation for those affected.

nycbusdriver, I usually agree with you on most points, however in this case, I think you bit the wrong messenger...

Ok. I thought the machine that sucked passengers' brains out was only at the entrance to the airport.

Do passengers, and their relatives, think that airlines just downgrade equipment, or cancel flights, as a whim?

"Why yes, Mr. Customer Service Agent, let's just cancel that one, even though the airplane and crew are in place in ready to go. We want to piss away tens of thousands of dollars on vouchers and rebooks on other carriers just because we need to alienate these 200 particular people. They don't know it, but we have it in for them PERSONALLY. Why? Because we can."

There you have it. While there are scads of easily discernible, logical reasons that a flight might be canceled or downgraded, the one that the passenger (or their relatives) always have at the back of their mind is that it's whimsy on the part of the carrier.

Bottom Line: Why even ask such a question? The answer is obvious. The flight was downgraded because THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT AVAILABLE for the flight. Why? What difference does it make? If it WAS available, it would have been there. Does it really matter WHY it was not available?

 

[FWAAA]

If US gave out $475 travel vouchers to the 60 inconvenienced passengers, it must have cost them more than the profit margin on the flight.......not to mention the difference in fare class for the poor woman who got downgraded from F to Y.

If US gave 60 people travel vouchers for $475 each, that total is likely more than the entire revenue from the flight (not just the profit), IF all the vouchers were redeemed. Fortunately for airlines, voucher spoilage is high and only a fraction of the $28,500 total will probably be redeemed.