A few months ago, I flew to Europe using my United miles and had the opportunity to experience some awesome European Airlines hard and soft business class product. Despite this, on my return, I flew
Lufthansa’s’ 747-8i to Washington DC and was supposed to connect to US Airways to Charlotte and then onto Seattle. Yet, due to irregular options (IRROPS), US Air rerouted on United from DC to Phoenix and then on to Seattle on US Airways. My entire flight was originally booked in business, but due to the IRROPS, I was rebooked in Economy because there was no business class space available between DC and Seattle.
Long story short, minutes before boarding, a domestic first class seat opened up on the United flight from IAD to PHX and I asked the gate agent if I could be rebooked upfront and explained to him that due to the IRRPOS I was downgraded. The agent looked at my reservation and told me he couldn’t upgrade me because my ticket was not upgrade eligible since US Air had rebooked me in the economy class cabin with a fare code that could not be upgraded. I explained the situation to the gate agent but he refused to listen, handed me the phone and told me to call the rebooking line.
30 minutes later the plane was ready to depart and the first class seat was still open. The agents on the phone could not book me in the first class because the seat was under the gate agent control. The gate agent also refused to speak to the agent on the phone because, as he claimed, he was too busy preparing the flight for departure. The agent on the phone was empathetic and understood the situation and apologized profusely but there was nothing she could do to secure the seat for me. Finally, I had to let her go and boarded, otherwise I was going to miss my flight. The first class seat flew empty and I ended up in the economy class cabin.
The lead flight attendant had witnessed a bit of the exchange between myself and the premerger United gate agent and was dismayed by the handling of the situation. Her warm smile and apology was more than welcome, I was fustrated but would rather get home then be stuck in an airport. Then, once at 30,000 feet, herself and another FA came by to apologize and wanted to get the full story on what happened (this exchange was made easy because I had the exit row to myself). Before I knew it, the Premerger Continental employees were bringing me drinks and snacks from the front of the plane. One FA looked at me and said, “I’m sorry man, they treat us the same way” and basically told me that the two companies are STILL not playing nice together.
The flight turned out to be quite enjoyable and honestly, I would take an economy seat with a row to myself over a domestic first class seat any day, so in the end, it all turned out for the best. Despite this, the attitude presented by the gate agent was uncalled for and extremely rude. Due to his lack of professionalism, I decided to write United a letter about the situation. Within 3 days, United called me to profusely apologize. Hector, the customer service representative who called me, was genuine and actually seemed embarrassed by the situation that took place at IAD. He was even more confused on why the agent would let a first class seat fly empty instead of upgrading an elite passenger or a passenger who was clearly downgraded; a quick search of my itinerary showed the history and the downgrade due to IRROPS. After a short and pleasant phone call with Hector, he informed me he was going to see what he could do to resolve this issue and would be in contact with me by the end of the week.
A few more days passed and on Friday morning, I woke up to an e-mail from Hector apologizing for the customer service fall out I experienced at IAD. Included in the personalized letter was an e-certificate for $200 off my next United flight.
I think stories like this are important to share because it proves that the corporate offices are listening. Despite having a bad experience with the gate agent, United recognizes there was a falling out. But here's the question. Who is really at fault? US Air or United?
Originally posted on
upgrd.com