Blink, Blink, Blink, What?

[falafel]

Sure overbooking should happen... That is how airlines make money and keep my tickets cheap. Airlines should just compensate better when it does happen and they have to. Even if they have to pay more than the 400% that is mandated by the DOT.

Some representative of the airline should have came on the plane and said, "We need four seats on this fight." While holding up the cash said, "Do we have any takers at $900 each?" and kept adding a Benjamin until four hands go up. Cash talks. Knocking an Asian dude out and dragging him off the plane is an image that a lot of folks are going to remember for some time.

Yeah, that is crazy talk. There is nothing at all wrong with overbooking. The only mistake UAL made was to stop upping the price. I guaran-damn-tee that there is a price at which another seat gets volunteered and it wouldn't be that high. Certainly a ton cheaper than the settlement they will inevitably make with this guy.

It may have been discussed in this thread already, but there is a limit to how much an airline can offer you for your seat when it is overbooked. I saw two different numbers. One said $800 was the maximum, another said $1300. If the first number is correct, then United did everything they could (financially speaking) to try to open up the seats. If $1300 is correct, well, then they really messed things up.

[Northwestcoug]

It may have been discussed in this thread already, but there is a limit to how much an airline can offer you for your seat when it is overbooked. I saw two different numbers. One said $800 was the maximum, another said $1300. If the first number is correct, then United did everything they could (financially speaking) to try to open up the seats. If $1300 is correct, well, then they really messed things up.

From the NYT:

Typically, airlines began bargaining with passengers at the gate, offering travel vouchers of $400 to $600, at first. In the United States, compensation maxes out at $1,350, but experts say the reward offers rarely go that high.

[Uncle Ted]

It may have been discussed in this thread already, but there is a limit to how much an airline can offer you for your seat when it is overbooked. I saw two different numbers. One said $800 was the maximum, another said $1300. If the first number is correct, then United did everything they could (financially speaking) to try to open up the seats. If $1300 is correct, well, then they really messed things up.

No they didn't. 400% of the one-way ticket price (in cash) is the maximum they have to pay by law. If I recall they were offering an $800 travel voucher which most likely expires in a year or less. But there is no law that states they can't offer more. They deserve all the bad PR they are getting for not offering more.

Edit: http://time.com/4733837/united-airli...r-overbooking/

What should United have done instead?
The only reason this happened is because of the airline’s incompetence. First in not being able to manage its own staff. And next, whomever made the decision to send the police on board to forcibly take people off had a lot of different options. They could’ve put their own people on a different flight. They could have sent a couple of crew members across town to the other Chicago airport. They could have put the crew on a Southwest flight. And if they had offered passengers $1,350 in cash, I bet they would have had ten people jump up and take it. And there would’ve been people who would’ve rented a car and drove down to Louisville. There were a lot of things the airline could’ve done, but they didn’t.

Like United had no other option.

[falafel]

No wonder the doctor had to get home. He had to trade some pills for sex and he only has sex-trade clinics on Mondays.

Dr. David Dao, 69, who was captured in a now-viral video being forcibly dragged off the Louisville-bound flight at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Sunday, was working as a doctor specializing in pulmonary disease in Elizabethtown when he was convicted of trading prescription drugs for sexual favors.

According to documents filed with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Dao was arrested in 2003 on the drug-related offenses following an undercover investigation.

The board’s probe into the criminal charges found that Dao became sexually interested in a male patient, Brian Case, whom he gave a physical examination to, including a genital examination, and whom he eventually made his office manager.

Case quit that job due to “inappropriate” remarks made by Dao, who then pursued him and arranged to give him prescription drugs in exchange for sexual acts, according to the documents, filed last year.

In 2004, Dao was convicted on a slew of felony counts of obtaining drugs by fraud or deceit and was later placed on five years of supervised probation, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

https://nypost.com/2017/04/11/doctor...drugs-for-sex/

[Northwestcoug]

No wonder the doctor had to get home. He had to trade some pills for sex and he only has sex-trade clinics on Mondays.



https://nypost.com/2017/04/11/doctor...drugs-for-sex/

I hate this about the story. No doubt he was guilty of sleazy things, but his license was reinstated a couple of years ago. Now that he is a worldwide story, his past gets unfairly drudged up.

[Jeff Lebowski]

My outrage was TIC. If overbooking suppresses prices, is relatively rare, and airlines truly make it worthwhile for the overbooked, I'm OK with it. But make it straight cash and no vouchers, like the article you posted earlier today.

You're killing me. Of course it suppresses prices. If you don't overbook, you fly with empty seats. Guaranteed.

When my daughter took a high school stats course they had an assignment to calculate the proper ratio for overbooking by doing a monte carlo analysis and playing with the reimbursement fees, overbooking ratios, etc. It was a very cool assignment. My point being... this isn't rocket science.

[Northwestcoug]

You're killing me. Of course it suppresses prices. If you don't overbook, you fly with empty seats. Guaranteed.

When my daughter took a high school stats course they had an assignment to calculate the proper ratio for overbooking by doing a monte carlo analysis and playing with the reimbursement fees, overbooking ratios, etc. It was a very cool assignment. My point being... this isn't rocket science.

Easy now. I'm not giving ultimatums in order for me to support overbooking. I'm not on a mission to stop overbooking, and I'm sure it does keep prices down. I don't know to what extent, but it certainly helps.

I see how my second sentence could be read differently. But honestly, I'm not trying to kill you!

[falafel]

No they didn't. 400% of the one-way ticket price (in cash) is the maximum they have to pay by law. If I recall they were offering an $800 travel voucher which most likely expires in a year or less. But there is no law that states they can't offer more. They deserve all the bad PR they are getting for not offering more.

Edit: http://time.com/4733837/united-airli...r-overbooking/



Like United had no other option.

Look at all your outrage!!!

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

[Uncle Ted]

Look at all your outrage!!!

You damn right!! I want my cheap airline tickets... United needs to be operating at a loss for the next year for this!

[falafel]

I hate this about the story. No doubt he was guilty of sleazy things, but his license was reinstated a couple of years ago. Now that he is a worldwide story, his past gets unfairly drudged up.

I'm not sure its unfair to "drudge up" the fact that this dude was convicted of several felonies related to his profession, when his profession is the reason he claims he can't get off the plane.

[SCcoug]

I'm not sure its unfair to "drudge up" the fact that this dude was convicted of several felonies related to his profession, when his profession is the reason he claims he can't get off the plane.

I'm with NWC. It's an irrelevant smear.

[falafel]

I'm with NWC. It's an irrelevant smear.

Damn it, why didn't you guys tell me this before I went to the NY Post with it?

[Northwestcoug]

I'm not sure its unfair to "drudge up" the fact that this dude was convicted of several felonies related to his profession, when his profession is the reason he claims he can't get off the plane.

I don't care about his reason why he has to fly. The important story is what happened to him when he refused to leave, regardless of why he wouldn't leave.
There is no reason to bring up his past crimes in this story. If he's still a sleaze in his current practice, that's for the local media to cover. But everyone else should focus on the larger story, especially if he's a 'clean' doctor now.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I don't care about his reason why he has to fly. The important story is what happened to him when he refused to leave, regardless of why he wouldn't leave.
There is no reason to bring up his past crimes in this story. If he's still a sleaze in his current practice, that's for the local media to cover. But everyone else should focus on the larger story, especially if he's a 'clean' doctor now.

The mob has a taste of blood. Watch out!

[falafel]

I don't care about his reason why he has to fly. The important story is what happened to him when he refused to leave, regardless of why he wouldn't leave.
There is no reason to bring up his past crimes in this story. If he's still a sleaze in his current practice, that's for the local media to cover. But everyone else should focus on the larger story, especially if he's a 'clean' doctor now.

Isn't the reason why he refused to leave at least somewhat relevant? What is he was yelling "I have to get home and play Ghost Recon!" "I have to get home and water my plants!" " I have to get home and watch porn!" "I have to get home and trade pills for gay sex!"