I really like Southwest, is it the cattle call seating that turns most people off?

The one reason I hate Southwest the whole first come first server seating bullshit. Even though I always use early bird etc.

Yeah, with my checked bag savings, I always buy early bird.

Southwest began the whole race to the bottom in the airline industry. Fuck them. And their fares are not the cheapest which MANY people seem to believe.

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Not sure...doesn't bother me, though...I like Southwest, too...

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[United Spokesman] Hobart said United tries to come up with a reasonable compensation offer, but "there comes a point where you're not going to get volunteers."

That's bullshit and speaks to CB's point about not being willing to pay market price.

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Just looked at the flight costs and I can get a ticket on United from ORD to Louisville for $213. They were offering nearly 4x the cost of the ticket. That seems fairly reasonable to me.

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Same, I'm fine with Southwest and MDW is a hell of a lot closer for me than ORD.

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Market forces say otherwise.

Hopefully Joe Thomas tweets about this

https://twitter.com/joethomas73/status/ ... 4119362560

It's the same reason beers cost $10 in a ballpark- it's a captive, not free, market. It just happened to work against UAL here.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

"Ain't no fun, when the rabbit got the gun!"

lol, like we shop at Walmart.

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wtf is work comp, chopped liver?

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Milwaukee FTW!

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didn't read the whole section, but as was pointed out in an article about this situation, that rule only covers people who are being denied access to the plane while boarding, not people who are already sitting in their seats.

Its one thing to tell someone you can't enter, its an entirely different set of logistical circumstances when you start insisting that people already sitting in their seats have to leave the plane.


I guarantee this will never happen again with people already on a flight.

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Yup. They also take over airports and push out the competition and then raise prices and cut flights.

There is reason they advertise so much. They desperately need to keep up an appearance that doesn't exist.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It probably happens several times a year but most people are adults not shrieking children.

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They certainly took over MDW. I think Delta is the only one with any presence there at all anymore.

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yes, but going forward I guarantee it will never happen again.

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What it comes down to for me and I think this is the point this guy's lawyers will be making down the road is this.....

At what point is it ok for the airlines to stop offering the carrot and instead offer the stick?


If no one bites at $800 does that mean its now ok to call in the gestapo and start dragging people down the aisle? We already read about Delta offering up more money to their passengers in similar situation.

I doubt a jury is going to look too favorably at United after the plaintiff's attorney puts forth the argument that United decided it would be more beneficial to United to drag people off the plane as opposed to trying to sweeten the pot. I don't think its at all reasonable to go from $800 to shock and awe without first trying $1000 and then even more $$. I would think the offer would have to get up towards $2000 before people on a jury started to side with the airlines right to remove a passenger in that situation.

Keep in mind that this is 100% United's own doing and the burden of fixing the situation was on them.

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They also have to take away the 1 year restriction on using the voucher. That's fucking bullshit. Ok, maybe it works out if I'm planning a trip in November and I haven't booked my flight, otherwise, so I don't "lose" my voucher, I'm basically planning a vacation I wouldn't otherwise plan and I"m out more money.

Why does it have to be either/or? Aren't United and the doctor both pretty huge douchebags in this? Both come off embarrassingly bad, imo.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think 4x the ticket price is reasonable. If you start doling out $2K every time this happens, people will just hold out for $2K in every scenario. The guy being dragged out makes it a bad look but that fool chose to act like a 3 year old.

If anything this sets a base for United. We will offer ~4x the ticket value and if no one bites you're running the risk of getting involuntarily chosen. Might make people think twice as the announcement is being made.

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That's horrendous customer service. Good luck staying in business giving your customers ultimatums on situations the company fucked up on.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If they didn't put a year expiration on the voucher, the bidding would never get past $1200, IMO.

Sorry, but this is 100 percent on United. You don't drag a guy off the plane. Either you don't let him on in the first place or you figure out a way to get the crew to their destination another way.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

I agree but as long as the fares are priced right, people will still fly them. People still fly Spirit for god's sake.

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I mostly agree with you, but it's not 100% on United. If the guy doesn't act like a fucking two year old we aren't having this conversation.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They offered him compensation to get out of a contract. He said no. So the answer is to smash his face into a seat and drag him out? That's not very libertarian.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?