US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Choked & Robbed at PHL

I knew it was going to be a bad flying exerience yesterday moring at PHL when I pushed my cart of bags up to the curbside and the attendant looked at me as if he did not know what I was doing there and asked if he could help me. I asked if I could check my bags there and he started up - "first, you have too many bags." I replied that I did not and that I had two bags to check-in, one carry-on bag and a personal item the size of a briefcase (actually, an aluminum case carrying my astronomical telescope). He said that I could only have three items total. I said thank you and turned to enter the terminal to go to the counter check-in and while doing so I overheared the curbside agent telling someone that I had too many bags.

I was at PHL because I missed my connection to BOS, according to US Airways, because ground handling delays affecting my flight from BGI. Actually, the plane arrived and left BGI late and they could not find a free gate to which to pull up at PHL, so we were left traped in the plane for 45 minutes - oh, for the good old days when you could just use the stairs. I should say here that this was the second leg of my return trip BGI-BOS, so I had cleared these same bags at least twice before; and if it were not for US Airsways fumbling at PHL, I would not have needed to be checking-in bags again. Besides, even before my outbound flight to BGI I called US Airways twice and verrified that I could take my telescope case and a carry-on bag onboard.

I joined a long line at the check-in but I noticed an agent in the customer area with a walkie-talkie directing people with e-tickets to the Electronic ticket check-in area. I showed him the boarding pass they issued me the night before and asked whether I should join the e-ticket line since my ticket was originally an e-ticket. He told me to stay in the line where I was. When I finally reached the counter the agent behind told me I was too late for the 7:30 AM flight and that she would have to put me on the 8:30 AM flight. She re-issued my boarding pass, tickted my bags and just about to hand me the boarding pass completing the transaction when the agent with the walkie-talkie came up to the counter and told her that my checked bags which were still on the scale had to be security scanned.

He grabbed one bag and put it down again saying that it was too heavy. The agent behind the counter then dragged it over to the x-ray machine and came back to tell me that the bag was 18 lb. overweight and that the cost would be $80. I protested that they brought the bag 2500 miles from BGI without my being penalized and that would have been true all the way to BOS if they had not screwed up the connection. She then said she could reduce the charge to $50. I continued to protest but all she would do for me was to printout the address of the customer relations people to continue my protest there.

To make matters worse when I finally boarded the plane I discovered that they were only about 30 other passengers on the flight - a big A319 that can carry about 160 or so. Clearly, the plane wasn't overbooked or too heavy. So, my question is - was I a victim of security and/or vengeful US Airway check-in agents, or was I just plain choked and robbed at PHL by US Airways.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BajanYankee:
To make matters worse when I finally boarded the plane I discovered that they were only about 30 other passengers on the flight - a big A319 that can carry about 160 or so. Clearly, the plane wasn't overbooked or too heavy. So, my question is - was I a victim of security and/or vengeful US Airway check-in agents, or was I just plain choked and robbed at PHL by US Airways.</font>

Small pick to nit, but the A-319 holds 120....

Did your two checked bags exceed 70 pounds?

Many agents waive this rule, but that does not mean it is what they should be doing according to the rules.

Well, *was* your bag overweight? If it was, it seems like you really don't have a right to complain if they charge you for it... if they missed it before, count yourself lucky, but I can't see how getting something by mistake gives you a right to be given the same thing again.

As for the number of bags, based on my understanding (from US Air's web site and talking to an agent), the first agent you spoke to was correct, you were over the limit. The "personal item" counts as one of the three items you are allowed. So, although the agent you spoke to on the phone was correct that you could bring one carryon and a personal item onto the plane, by doing so you reduced the number of items you were permitted to check to one.

All in all I think US Air was just following their rules, which I think is a good thing. I think an airline should be consistent so its customers know what to expect of it. I think it would have been nice if they had waived the fee, especially since you had to stay in PHL overnight, but I don't think they were under any obligation to do so. Did they pay for your hotel room and meals while you were stuck in PHL? If they didn't do that, then *that* is a reason to complain. In any case, it's not their fault if there wasn't any gate space. I really think there should be a distinction made between things which are an airline's fault and things which they couldn't possibly control. When I was stuck in CLT for nine hours because of bad weather throughout the east coast, I didn't complain. US Air does not control the weather and it would be wrong for them to fly in unsafe conditions. On the other hand, when my girlfriend was flying Airtran out of Atlanta their entire computer system failed. They wouldn't tell her how long the delay would be and finally, after a couple hours, they boarded people using handwritten boarding passes (this was pre Sept. 11-- I wonder what they would do now?) *That* was their fault, was ridiculous, and convinced her to never fly Airtran again (unless necessary to escape widespread rioting).

Sorry for your experience.

If you bag exceeded 70lbs, then the agent
in PHL followed procedure, which is to
charge for the bag. This is occasionally
waived when the bag is just a lb or two
over, but not beyond that. With the
employees previous polled that a 10 percent
wage cut should not occur, it isn't too
tough for an agent to "tow the line" and
obey the rules that produce revenue for
the company. The agent in PHL isn't aware
of what transpired on your initial checkin
and is only performing what he/she is
encountering with you at her checkin
position.

Please don't take this as a lecture but
rather a clarification only. Thanks http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Sorry for your bad experience.

I think US is having its morale problems. I have some flights on US later this week and will see how things go. My last flight on US was a few months ago and the FAs on that flight were dispirited about the cutbacks and clearly not happy.

Interesting topic. I was sitting waiting for a flight at BWI a few weeks ago and a random guy in the waiting area started complaining about the same thing.

He tried to check two large suitcases plus some skis and tried to carry on a suitcase plus a briefcase. The agent on the way out didn't charge him, but the agent on the way back charged him the $80 fee for an extra piece of checked baggage.

He insisted that his skis (which were checked) and his ski boots (which took up most of the space in his carry-on suitcase) should have been considered one item. He was pretty indignant. I gently explained the rule to him, he started to argue with me, and I gave up.

That's why I think it's so important to enforce the rules equally (and know them in the first place).

David

The moral of the story--avoid travelling with an 80lb telescope in a large (and possibly suspicious looking) metal box.

I am unclear on how you missed the 7:30 flight. Typically they move pax to the front of the line as their departure gets closer to avoid missed flights.

It seems to me that the agent followed the rules and that you really have no recourse. However, that begs the question of whether the rules make sense and whether the fees are reasonable. Seventy pounds is a pretty generous amount of weight and the three bag rule is reasonably generous unless you're going on a ski trip. However, the $80 per extra/overweight bag charge is excessive. It seems to me that a more reasonable charge would be in order, say half. I think that enforcing that $80 charge is a good way to enrage a lot of people, many of whom are probably paying less than $200 for their ticket and who are not going to be happy being hit with such a large fee. Enforce the rules, but make the per bag fee something more reasonable.

I agree that $80 is unreasonable... but then again, I think $100 change fees are unreasonable and that is something that irks me more. I think the old price of $75 makes sense-- it's large enough to keep people from changing tickets on a whim, but small enough that the change fee is still substantially less than the price of a new ticket.

I'd also like to say that while I don't agree with all of US's policies, they are still the best domestic airline and I'd rather be on US metal than anyone else.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
Did your two checked bags exceed 70 pounds?</font>

Only one of the checked bags exceeded 70 pounds. The agent never said what the weight of the other bag was but I know that it was considerably lighter. She did suggest that I take some of the stuff out of the heavier bag and transfer it to the lighter bag, but I told her that the heavier bag contained fish and I didn't want to be mixing it with my clothes in the lighter bag. Besides, I did not relish the idea of unpacking and repacking my bags at the ticket counter.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by idomoneus:
Well, *was* your bag overweight? If it was, it seems like you really don't have a right to complain if they charge you for it... if they missed it before, count yourself lucky, but I can't see how getting something by mistake gives you a right to be given the same thing again. </font>

Well, there is the rub - I don't believe I got anything by mistake. The bag in question was still carrying the US Airways tag from BGI to which the agent at BGI had attached one of the US Airways red "HEAVY" labels. She had to remove that tag before attaching the new one. And, as I noted before, she had pratically completed the transaction and seemed perfectly satisfied with the weight until the other agent intervened with the security scanning crap. However, even if I got something by mistake at BGI and US Airways screws up my connection stranding me in Philly for a night, what gives them the right to be stiffs the next morning further irritating a customer over the weight of one bag that was going on a plane that they knew practically empty?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by foodguy:
The moral of the story--avoid travelling with an 80lb telescope in a large (and possibly suspicious looking) metal box.
</font>

Probably my writing isn't all that clear but the telescope in its case weighs less than 12 pounds and I think I said that the case was about the size of a briefcase, and that it was a carry-on item - not checked baggage. The primary reason I called US Airways twice before my trip was that it was the first time I was traveling with my telescope since 9/11 and I wasn't sure if I could take it onboard the aircraft with me whatwith all the new security related restrictions. I would not risk the instrument as checked baggage because of its fragile nature.