The airline made the offer but never followed through and canceled the original flight.
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Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying
David Reeves and his family experienced the scenario described above at Oakland International Airport on Sunday. Reeves' family was flying to Nashville for Christmas on a flight to Salt Lake City, and at the gate, passengers were offered $8,000 to give up a seat and fly on a later flight. The family agreed to give up three seats on the aircraft, meaning they would receive $24,000 in vouchers. The family never received their money because the first officer for the flight did not show up, leading the flight to be canceled.
According to ABC7, Reeves asked the gate agent if the airline would honor the voucher offer.
Reeves added that he thought the decision not to honor the offer was bad business.
It gets worse...
To make matters worse, the flight was canceled, and Reeves' family was offered another flight only two days later. Because the cancelation was considered 'controllable' by the Department of Transportation's standards, the airline's compensation policies went into effect instead.
After creating the '
Airline Customer Service Dashboard' in September, the DOT aims to ensure all passengers know explicitly what ten major United States carriers will and will not cover in the event of controllable disruptions.
Delta's policy is to do the following in the event of a controllable cancellation:
- Rebook passengers on same airline at no additional cost
- Rebook on a partner airline or another airline with which it has an agreement at no additional cost
- Meal or meal cash/voucher when cancellation results in passenger waiting for 3 hours or more for a new flight
- Complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation
- Complimentary ground transportation to and from hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation
According to the Reeves family, Delta did not honor everything it promised to pay for. The family rented a car, drove to Monterey Regional Airport, and booked a flight on another airline. According to the family, Delta did pay for a hotel and the rental car but has yet to refund the flights back to Nashville.