Originally Posted by
SeaRaptor
An "overweight" bag is considered to be over 50 lbs.; if you suspect your bag of being near that limit, just weigh it on the scale provided before you hurriedly click past the corresponding screen at the kiosk. Even if you aren't paying for the extra weight, the agent needs to tag the bag with one of the "heavy" markers so the handlers know to treat it differently.
This doesn't excuse bad behavior; if you caught this woman's name, please alert someone regarding it. But there are valid non-financial reasons they need to know if the bag is over 50 lbs.
EDIT: Looks like fastair has also pointed out some other good reasons the airlines request this information.
Then COUA should locate the kiosks next to a scale. This is not hard. If a kiosk is not next to a scale, then don't allow that kiosk to check a bag. If it is next to a scale, then the kiosk should walk the pax through the process of weighing each bag. The scale should then send the weight to the kiosk. After all bags are weighed, the kiosk should then compare the number of bags and the weight of each to the pax's allowance and then if required, ask to swipe the credit card for payment. Then the correct tags are printed.
Or COUA employees could stop being mean.
Ok, fantasy time over ....
To be honest, as a 1k who rarely checks bags, and when I do, I always have the 1k or first class check in agent take care of all this, I don't have a clue how the masses check bags in the era of the kiosk.
But in the new United, I expect in my declining years when body won't let me carry on, I will, to avoid the screaming, just use my lifetime 210 pound allowance and claim each bag as heavy. So that means more pax will be mistakenly offloaded due to weight and balance. Oh well, not my problem.