anat0l
Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Posts
- 11,594
My sister (with no Velocity status) was booked on a cheap ticket on DJ1252 last night (ROK-BNE). It was a bumper day for DJ yesterday which resulted in my sister's flight being ultimately delayed from a ~2030h departure to a ~2315h departure.
A couple of friends which knew my sister were also on the same flight. They arrived at ROK airport about 15 minutes earlier than my sister and checked in only to be told of the delay. At that time, the DJ counter / manager / whoever was there managing the show said that the predicted delay was at least 4 hours (didn't end up this way, of course). As a matter of policy, they were offered a full credit for their flight (in terms of DJ credit). In essence, they ended up flying free of charge (although it's DJ credit, not cash, but close enough to "free"). The friends were on the same fare basis as my sister and had no status either. (I've been told that the credit was offered in the form of a proforma letter which apologises for the long delay and a "credit note" of some form indicating that they can use it for flight credit later. This is second-hand information - I do not know exactly what these look like, nor the exact wording / content of these documents.)
When my sister arrived and checked in she was also told of the delay, she was told the predicted delay was about 3 hours (i.e. in the time between her friends and herself checking in, DJ had revised the delay prediction). As a matter of policy, she was offered $18 in food vouchers to spend in ROK airport.
It should be noted that my sister didn't know about her friends' compensation and the revised delay calculation until they met after my sister checked in and they were sitting down to eat / chat in ROK airport. When my sister had learned they got a credit rather than food vouchers, she went back to the counter and asked why she wasn't entitled to a credit either. So the DJ person explained the policy and since when my sister arrived the delay had been revised down she was subject to a different form of compensation, even if she had arrived only minutes after the delay had been recalculated. My sister didn't like the response, but she was directed to call DJ if she wasn't happy with the decision.
The flight was alright - a 737 took the place of the normal e-jet and everyone got free L2A, food and drink, though my sister scarcely ate anything since she had used food vouchers at ROK.
She has called DJ this morning (got the Philippines contact centre) and asked them why she shouldn't receive a credit compensation since all pax were on the same flight and should get the same compensation. She's been told by the phone agent that they can't do anything and an email needs to be sent to the Guest Contact Centre (sorry, might've got that term incorrect).
Naturally she is rather livid right now at the "double standard".
In my mind I'm torn what to tell her to do. In some cases, one might argue she is lucky to get anything in the face of a delay (many of us get nothing, including no opportunity for reroute / refund for no traveling), but $18 in food vouchers is very different to a credit for $99 of DJ flights. Also, we know quite well, notwithstanding status and fare basis effects, not everyone ends up receiving the same compensation (i.e. sometimes if you don't ask, you get nothing!) It should be noted that none of her friends nor my sister actively demanded any compensation; quite the opposite - the DJ agent at ROK explained there was a delay and proactively offered the compensation. Commendable on their part for that, but just to make clear there was no "hush hush" exercises on the part of DJ as a result of anyone involved here just becoming livid.
On the other hand, she does have a point that they were all on the same flight and thus should receive the same compensation; if that means calling all the pax and proactively offering it to them then so be it....
What do you all think? Is my sister entitled to anything more or less, or should she just treat it as "damn, I lucked out" and move on? Or something else? Either way, I'm going to have a real uphill battle explaining everything to her if I have to tell her she's not getting a $99 flight credit. (I'm not saying that those who say she shouldn't get anything are wrong, it's just that when you're the bearer of not-so-good news there's always a risk of "shoot the messenger") But I thought I'd tap into the greater in-the-know collegiate and try to offer her some advice. (Man offering woman advice = dangerous?)
Happy to clarify any additional aspects that aren't clear in the story - just ask.
A couple of friends which knew my sister were also on the same flight. They arrived at ROK airport about 15 minutes earlier than my sister and checked in only to be told of the delay. At that time, the DJ counter / manager / whoever was there managing the show said that the predicted delay was at least 4 hours (didn't end up this way, of course). As a matter of policy, they were offered a full credit for their flight (in terms of DJ credit). In essence, they ended up flying free of charge (although it's DJ credit, not cash, but close enough to "free"). The friends were on the same fare basis as my sister and had no status either. (I've been told that the credit was offered in the form of a proforma letter which apologises for the long delay and a "credit note" of some form indicating that they can use it for flight credit later. This is second-hand information - I do not know exactly what these look like, nor the exact wording / content of these documents.)
When my sister arrived and checked in she was also told of the delay, she was told the predicted delay was about 3 hours (i.e. in the time between her friends and herself checking in, DJ had revised the delay prediction). As a matter of policy, she was offered $18 in food vouchers to spend in ROK airport.
It should be noted that my sister didn't know about her friends' compensation and the revised delay calculation until they met after my sister checked in and they were sitting down to eat / chat in ROK airport. When my sister had learned they got a credit rather than food vouchers, she went back to the counter and asked why she wasn't entitled to a credit either. So the DJ person explained the policy and since when my sister arrived the delay had been revised down she was subject to a different form of compensation, even if she had arrived only minutes after the delay had been recalculated. My sister didn't like the response, but she was directed to call DJ if she wasn't happy with the decision.
The flight was alright - a 737 took the place of the normal e-jet and everyone got free L2A, food and drink, though my sister scarcely ate anything since she had used food vouchers at ROK.
She has called DJ this morning (got the Philippines contact centre) and asked them why she shouldn't receive a credit compensation since all pax were on the same flight and should get the same compensation. She's been told by the phone agent that they can't do anything and an email needs to be sent to the Guest Contact Centre (sorry, might've got that term incorrect).
Naturally she is rather livid right now at the "double standard".
In my mind I'm torn what to tell her to do. In some cases, one might argue she is lucky to get anything in the face of a delay (many of us get nothing, including no opportunity for reroute / refund for no traveling), but $18 in food vouchers is very different to a credit for $99 of DJ flights. Also, we know quite well, notwithstanding status and fare basis effects, not everyone ends up receiving the same compensation (i.e. sometimes if you don't ask, you get nothing!) It should be noted that none of her friends nor my sister actively demanded any compensation; quite the opposite - the DJ agent at ROK explained there was a delay and proactively offered the compensation. Commendable on their part for that, but just to make clear there was no "hush hush" exercises on the part of DJ as a result of anyone involved here just becoming livid.
On the other hand, she does have a point that they were all on the same flight and thus should receive the same compensation; if that means calling all the pax and proactively offering it to them then so be it....
What do you all think? Is my sister entitled to anything more or less, or should she just treat it as "damn, I lucked out" and move on? Or something else? Either way, I'm going to have a real uphill battle explaining everything to her if I have to tell her she's not getting a $99 flight credit. (I'm not saying that those who say she shouldn't get anything are wrong, it's just that when you're the bearer of not-so-good news there's always a risk of "shoot the messenger") But I thought I'd tap into the greater in-the-know collegiate and try to offer her some advice. (Man offering woman advice = dangerous?)
Happy to clarify any additional aspects that aren't clear in the story - just ask.
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