Originally Posted by dvs7310

I explained this has nothing to do with my status on United but this is a DOT rule based on the terms of my e-ticket. She wasn't having any of it, absolutely refused to budge. Called UA Premier line, they said pay it and request a refund from UA when I get home. Fine, I pay. Then I ask if she'll throw my priority tags in the middle of the bag tags so when UA picks them up they come out with the priority bags at my final destination (most non-alliance airlines don't mind doing this). She calls a supervisor saying she wasn't going to be the one to get fired if they aren't allowed... supervisor says it's fine, go ahead. So it would seem that they carry a pretty big chip on their shoulders about the former relationship with UA as an Express carrier and are awfully proud now to be independent and try to charge every ancillary fee they can.

Well, needless to say once I hit the ground in Fort Myers, during my layover I went to the DOT Air Consumer complaint page and filed my complaint with them as Silver broke the rules. I also copied the same email to Silver Customer Service advising them that I've complained to the DOT and that I'd appreciate a refund for the fee they wrongly extorted from me.

I got a reply from the DOT within hours saying that it appears that Silver broke the rules and they were going to move further with an official investigation. I didn't get anything from Silver for several days, however finally they got back to me, apologized and said I'm entitled to a refund of the $50 but I have to call them with my credit card info (a bit inconvenient since I'm 13 hours ahead of them and they're only open 9-5).