Except that the risk isn't the passenger's at all; cost of return transport is the responsibility of the carrier (in this case, UA), and they can be fined quite severely too.
UA is in the right here regarding the passport. As for the UM and nonstop flight issue, that's a sword that cuts both ways, and that's the policy they've chosen.
That being said, at the airport, the agents could have offered to change their itinerary to drop the first segment (and perhaps a refund due), and if the OP had enough miles, to then have the child be put on the same flight with award miles. But maybe that's too creative and customer centric these days...
Originally Posted by
flyingnosh
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillScann
Say what you will, this is all a bit Kafkesque.
Agreed. This is bureaucracy at its finest. If the airlines want passengers to take risk for IRROPS except when MX, then surely they should be willing to let passengers take risk for getting stuck at a connection point without a passport. Checking passports at the original departure point is helpful, but shouldn't be completely rigid.