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United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

latimes.com

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Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#271

Post by pbhjpbhj »

URSpider94 wrote: post #193
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then the airline needs to leave a seat unsold to allow them to do this. I hope they get sued within a cent of their ability to continue operating.

So, let's just say for a moment that this applied to 100 flights per day, and meant that United foregoes $1,000 in revenue per seat that they don't sell. They would be giving up $100,000 per day, or $1 million every 10 days, or roughly $35 million per year, by leaving a first-class seat empty on every flight. Weighing that against the risk of pissing off one or two first-class passengers a month for those times when…

>just doesn't make good business sense. //

I didn't say it did. They have to tell their top paying customer "no" or charge enough to make this possible. Humanity/morality should come in to the equation at some point too.

An alternative of course is to run an auction to be bought out of the seat, but they can't​ absolutely guarantee a seat that way. If they want to guarantee a seat, they must keep one; nothing else is a guarantee of a seat, only a promise to try and give one.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#272

Post by robbiemitchell »

tarlinian wrote: post #263
technofiend wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a spot to recharge your electronics along with free wifi! Don't forget those parts.

What kind of airports are you people flying out of where the entire airport doesn't have free wi-fi and outlets (this is actually one thing about most airports that has gotten significantly better in the last 10 years), but is still large enough to warrant a United club...I feel like I've been seeing more and more of these exaggerations since the incident...flying on any American airline is kind of crappy, but compla…

I recently flew between two NYC airports and LAX and did not encounter free wifi or plentiful outlets. They have outsourced wifi to Gogo (paid).

Some airlines will take over an entire terminal at an airport (e.g., JetBlue, Virgin America) and make it much better on both fronts. But in my experience that is not the norm.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#273

Post by shamaku »

talmand wrote: post #168
coldpie wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's a huge waste of time and resources. No one benefits. There's no reason for these clowns to be wasting my time and making people buy water on the other side of the checkpoint. It's just one huge welfare program for unemployable morons, and I have to waste two hours every time I fly to put up with their dumb horseshit. I'm gonna throw a brick through your front window. No reason for it, just gonna do it. H…

Well, if you knew the rule before going in, then from my perspective you were the one wasting everybody's time. Sure, you can view it as a stupid rule but being stupid is not the way to combat a stupid rule. As for TSA security theater and it's bloated budget, right on.

You're exactly the kind of people I worry about. Accepting idiotic rules without any critical diagnosis of the bigger picture, giving up your last ounce of humility in return for "security".

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#274

Post by shamaku »

coldpie wrote: post #129
zzleeper wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once had a tiny bit of water on my plastic thermos. The TSA guy said "throw the bottle or exit the line, walk to the bathroom and empty it there". I just looked at him puzzled, opened the bottle, and drank the water. Now that I think of it, I was lucky he didn't taze me for my 'insolence'.

I usually dump it in the trash at the line. I feel sorry for the cleaning staff, but whatever, fuck it. Anyone with brains understands how useless all this is, but it's the TSA, so brains are not involved.

Agreed!

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#275

Post by davidf18 »

bmh_ca wrote: post #207
ricw wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that we have likely hit peak demand for fossil fuel (the theory being that the demand for fossil fuel has peaked before we have reached peak supply), this is unlikely. Oil prices are unlikely to ever reach the highs of $100+ ever again. Or so goes the theory.. In short, flight prices are unlikely to be severely effected by oil prices again.

> Oil prices are unlikely to ever reach the highs of $100+ ever again. Since the oil price crash, investment in exploration has gone down dramatically, so I would argue the contrary. When the current supplies start to dwindle, I would not be surprised to see oil prices strike $200 or more a barrel. The oil crash removed the cost of exploration from oil prices, so current prices are no longer a indication of probable…

> "Since the oil price crash, investment in exploration has gone down dramatically, so I would argue the contrary...."

The fracking technology for oil and gas is still on it's Moore's Law curve and is getting cheaper and cheaper so in fact more and more fracking is coming on-line so that we're unlikely to see prices much above $50 per barrel.

Mar 21, 2017 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-03-21/big-oil-s...

April 12, 2017 https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-12/u-s-shale...

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#276

Post by talmand »

shamaku wrote: post #273
talmand wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if you knew the rule before going in, then from my perspective you were the one wasting everybody's time. Sure, you can view it as a stupid rule but being stupid is not the way to combat a stupid rule. As for TSA security theater and it's bloated budget, right on.

You're exactly the kind of people I worry about. Accepting idiotic rules without any critical diagnosis of the bigger picture, giving up your last ounce of humility in return for "security".

Hmm, I fail to see where my statement makes the claim I accept such idiotic rules. My statement makes the claim that it is stupid to act stupid in an effort to fight stupid rules.

And then I agreed with the TSA security theater notion and bloated budget which goes against your thought I've given up my last ounce of humility in return for "security".

I suggest you read my statement again because you clearly misunderstood.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#277

Post by phkahler »

Somehow I feel like this all comes back to banking and the finance industry. The issues in these cases all come down to money. They overbook flights to maximize resource (plane) allocation. This one was a case of having to swap in a smaller plane. It all comes down to how expensive airplanes are and the fierce competition among carriers that leads to a system with little redundancy. But think about that - how can there be such intense competition in an industry dealing with such high-priced equipment? Granted, a solution to this pinch is probably going to mean higher average fares. But I'm starting to look toward a much bigger picture to see how this comes about. Any thoughts on this?

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#278

Post by talmand »

coldpie wrote: post #180
talmand wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if you knew the rule before going in, then from my perspective you were the one wasting everybody's time. Sure, you can view it as a stupid rule but being stupid is not the way to combat a stupid rule. As for TSA security theater and it's bloated budget, right on.

I had some crazy notion that maybe the guy would use his gray matter and realize that water is not very dangerous and would maybe let me sneak through with some water because water is not very dangerous. Live and learn, I guess.

So, I suppose water is the only liquid on Earth that looks like water with a visual inspection through a sealed container.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#279

Post by pcmonk »

michaelt wrote: post #43
mirimir wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not legal. Edit: See lawyer quote from tiatia.

In a way, there are two questions at work here. The first question is whether you can have rent-a-cops throw a passenger off a plane after they have taken their seat. As I understand it, that is not legal. The second question is about over-booking more broadly. After all, though there's a legal distinction between a passenger a second before boarding and a second after, from a customer service standpoint they're stil…

I'm basically against overbooking, but playing devil's advocate: is it that hugely different from fractional reserve banking? They claim you can get your money out at any time, but that's not the case if everyone tries at once.

Re: United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler

#280

Post by talmand »

mirimir wrote: post #199
talmand wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did this come from? I didn't read that in the article, did I miss it?

There's a comment by tiatia, which quotes a lawyer who replied in yesterday's thread about United.

Thanks, I eventually came across it.
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