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First European Provider To Break Net Neutrality
Rik van der Kroon writes "Major Dutch cable provider UPC has introduced a new network management system which, from noon to midnight, for certain services and providers, caps users' bandwidth at 1/3rd of their nominal bandwidth (Google translation; Dutch original here). After the consumer front for cable providers in The Netherlands received many complaints about network problems and slow speeds, UPC decided to take this as an excuse to introduce their new 'network management' protocol which slows down a large amount of traffic. All protocols but HTTP are capped to 1/3 speed, and within the HTTP realm some Web sites and services that use lots of upstream bandwidth are capped as well. So far UPC is hiding behind the usual excuse: 'We are protecting all the users against the 1% of the user base who abuse our network.'"
These are + / - 1% of our customers use newsgroups and P2P fanatic. fuck my all your base shirt
"I don't think that's accurate. For starters, your description of the airline's policy is wrong:"
I don't think so.
"They sold the tickets to those 1% and get the money whether they show up or not."
No. They get a portion of that money since almost every one of the major airlines have missed flight policies that charges the customer the difference between the ticket price they paid and the "ticket desk price" for the next flight if they want in addition to a standard change fee if the airline charges one. South West does not have a change fee so you only have to pay the difference in what you already paid and the new ticket. If you can fly out a day later the difference is pretty small. In the neighborhood of 20 bucks from PHX to SEA.
This is very similar to the ISP method of just delaying your data since you still get it, just a bit later due to their capping or limiting. Although not really the way they advertise, price or sell their plans.
"Second, overbooking doesn't make the top 10 list of things that airlines do to make people mad. Why? They ask for volunteers and offer incentives to be bumped. If no one jumps, they increase the incentive. Even on a small plane that's the last chance to get home before Christmas, someone will volunteer once their price is reached. I would be pissed if I were involuntarily bumped, but so far they've been smart enough to make that not happen."
Fair enough. They offer encentives to take the edge off. I personally think that it's not really voluntary, since if no one agreed to it, they would have to cancel the last purchased ticket (unless it was 1st class :)
) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
As far as I know, airlines have policies like that for change with advance notice (in which case they could potentially resell the seat even without overbooking), but not for just having missed a flight - you're stuck paying then.
I recall having this conversation with a Northwest (I think) telephone agent when I phoned them immediately after going into a ditch on the way to the airport - she said if I hadn't called, I would have been charged the full ticket price. I still had to pay a change fee, so if they were overbooked or managed to resell the ticket in the few hours before the flight took off, they got paid by two people for the same seat.
If they actually did that, it would certainly not be voluntary. I think from a PR perspective, they'd be smart to offer well in excess of the ticket price for getting bumped if that's what it takes for that to not happen.
Come to think of it, I've been moved off a flight before. They called me the day before, told me that they were oversold and wanted to upgrade me to first-class on a different (earlier, I think) flight at their expense. I said yes. Though they'd singled me out and suggested it, it was still voluntary, and I was happy about it.
They have policies for both advance notice and missed flights.
They also have policies for connections, customs, linked flights and late cancelations which are under 1hr for most.
From: http://www.airsafe.com/complain/bumping.htm
Overbooking and Involuntary Bumping on U.S. Airlines
U.S. airlines are allowed to overbook flights to allow for "no-show" passengers. However, if passengers are involuntarily bumped, airlines are required to do ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for compensation. Most involuntarily bumped passengers are subject to the following minimum compensation schedule:
-There is no compensation if alternative transportation gets the passenger to the destination within one hour of the original scheduled arrival.
-The equivalent of the passenger's one way fare up to a maximum of $400 for substitute domestic flights that arrive between one and two hours after the original scheduled arrival time or for substitute international flights that arrive between one and four hours after the original scheduled arrival time.
-If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles to a maximum of $800.
So the most they would have to pay (in money not PR) would be $800. Even if your ticket was $2000 they are only required to refund you $800.
They also have sections for voluntary bumping but it's pretty much between you and the airline and not a regulation.
They would most likely try and go out of their way to keep you happy but allowing the situation to begin with is a bet against people using their services 100%
Sometimes I'm sure they lose out to keep some customers happy but it's not the same as honoring the purchase of a flight when it's advertised at a certain price for a certain time. Small print notwithstanding.
) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.