Originally Posted by
rruaco
I'm afraid I have to respectfully disagree here. Relying on "the computer says no" leads to bad customer experiences.
On the rare occasions when I travel with my partner I want UA to go the extra mile to make it smooth, even if it means manual fixes, overrides and bending the rules. I know you guys do well on an averaged out basis and can cope with the occasional screw up, but one bad experience for her means you just messed up half her flying for the year and that makes her unhappy, and by extension it makes me very upset with UA.
Agents should be trained well enough that they can identify a place where the process has broken down (e.g. a MM nomination hasn't been done in time by UA) and override the system to make things work as they are supposed to, rather than how they are programmed to.
Were I the gate agent (in an ideal world) I would have asked for some reasonable proof of marriage such as ID in the same name at the same address. If that checked out, I would have overridden the system because I know the MM nomination process is currently b*rked.
I'm alright with your disagreement. This is a forum and I enjoy the differeing viewpoints. The way I see it, I honestly know zero about your nominations. I haven't read that thread as it isn't somthing I know anything about and it doesn't interest me to read about it on my "off" time.
But from what I hear people saying, there is a non-airport granted benefit that UA offers thru HQ/MP that allows people of different status levels to nominate another (does it have to be spouse, or can it be anyone?) for certain other status levels. This is a nomination, as you all say, not a granting. The granting is done by UA, not at the airport gate, but thru either HDQ or MP. Whatever process in place UA has to fulfill the nominations is never going to be tought to me at the gate. The fact is, for whatever reason, be it improper paperwork, cutover glitches at HQ, a person who doesn't qualify, or whatever, that spouse does NOT have the status. Without the status, one cannot expect the benefits of that staus.
I don't want to sound like I don't think what is right should not be done, but what is right is not up to me to decide. The best I can do is to follow the rules, especially in an area that I am not qualified to make the decision, and allow those that are qualified to determine the exceptions. What would you say if a Premier told me that he is actually global service and that he has an upbublished benefit that he gets to drink open containers of his own alcohol on board (I know, it is a crazy example, but it serves to illustrate my point.) Without me hearing different from the people that determine it (the FAA and UA) I am going to follow the established procedure and not do what the passenger tells me, even if by some crazy fluke, such a new policy existed.
One would like the airport gate agent to be omnipotent and know every aspect of the 85,000 UA employees jobs, and be authorized to do them, but in reality, that is just not possible. Until a senior officer or the BoD comes out and tells me to do whatever I think is best, regardless of the known rules, or even unknown rules, I am going to do the best I can within those known and published rules, and make exceptions that I am authorized to make, and not assume that I can do whatever "feels right".
I choose to live in a world of laws and rules, a world of order. I know the world is not always black and white, and that order is against nature's grand scheme where everything eventually falls apart. I have tools and policies where I can make exceptions, and there are places where I cannot. For areas that are not covered under the "ok to make an exception" I am going to assume that it falls into the other category.
In the end though, it boils down to a simple fact. The person knew his wife had not been of gold status. He said it should be coming in the next few weeks. Therfore, regardless of anything else, it would be foolish of me to give her the benefits of a status she does not have, above those that do already have that status.