[SeoxyS]

Pro-tip: write in to United any flight you have where something goes wrong. They'll usually reply with a travel certificate. They almost always have something wrong (broken wifi, in flight entertainment, delays, missed connections, etc.). Each time, it's an opportunity to score.

I write this from the airport lounge after getting off a $260 flight, which I paid mostly with a $200 certificate with the last flight's issue, and landed to a new $175 certificate for broken wifi. I'm up to over $5000 in such compensation in the past couple years.

One thing worth being strategic about.

[randycupertino]

Wow, do you also complain about not liking your meals at restaurants to try and get free desserts?

[zbentley]

Sure, I'll complain that way at a restaurant, if:

- The restaurant is a near-monopoly at which I have to either eat at or go hungry.

- The reason I "don't like my meal", as you say, is because it was served to me multiple days late, during which time I was unable to leave and re-enter the restaurant without having to pay again (and this restaurant charges a premium).

- When I pay for food at the restaurant, I often receive an empty plate instead. The restaurant refers to this as my "not liking my meal", and chalks it up to personal preference unless I raise a stink.

- The restaurant is somewhere I am forced to eat by my employer, and my employer will not refund me when they fail to provide food.

- The restaurant has a reputation for being mismanaged and implementing policies that torment patrons--sometimes by physically beating them.

- The restaurant has slowly but surely increased prices while visibly decreasing portion sizes.

And so on. For a lot of people "just don't fly" doesn't work (people with overseas family or travel for work). And for those same people, mega-airlines like United are often the only feasible choice or one of a very few equivalently-shitty choices.

Also, complaining by email decreases (doesn't eliminate, but decreases) the annoyance caused by antagonizing an in-person employee of the airline with your grievances. The person whose day you might ruin by interrupting them is not the problem--their employer is--but it's very hard for many people to refrain from acting as if that person is responsible when they confront someone. The person whose job it is to read the complaint emails probably isn't having a great time either, but at least they can (hopefully) take a smoke break if they need to.

[valleyer]

I don't think that is a valid comparison.

If a flight delay causes me to miss a connection, then I paid for a service (getting me from location A to location B by a certain time) that I did not actually get. Same if the Wi-Fi is out of service.

There is no implicit promise at a restaurant that you'll like your dinner.

[stordoff]

It's more akin to an ingredient being missing or something being burnt. It's not like OP is making complaints like "the seats were uncomfortable" -- parts of the service were objectively missing.

[untog]

It's a lot easier to fire off an email complaint than it is to do it in person, where it feels a lot more awkward.

Add to that, a chef made your food in a restaurant, broken WiFi on a plane isn't exactly the same kind of hand-crafted experience.

[remarkEon]

Pretty sure there’s a flight website dedicated to doing these kinds of hacks and essentially flying for free forever (after a decent amount of up front investment) but my Google Fu is failing me right now.

[Aloha]

Maybe I should start flying UA instead of DL/AS, I have status from them via marriott. Hrm.