First I would like to say, thanks for the replies.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
Ok. Things seem a little clearer now. Sounds like it was a bit of a mess at the airport that day.
But I still have lots of questions.
You arrived at check-in 2+ hours before departure.
There was a line. You waited 45 mins. Did you not try one of the mobile check-in machines? Were you checking baggage?
If there were mobile check-in machines, we weren't aware of them as there weren't any in the vicinity. We were checking baggage.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
Given that you were now approx 90 mins from departure, did you ask at the check-in if you could have expedited or priority security access given that the lines seemed long?
We did not. 1)We were not expecting the subsequent lines to be that long, and 2)We do not fly frequently, let alone out of the country often and are not aware of options such as asking for priority security access.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
Once you had your BPs (boarding passes), it took you another 90 mins to go through security?
Did you speak up at any point and ask to be moved to the front of the line given that your flight was closing? If you didn't, then that's on you.
Yes, about 30 minutes to go through security, followed by another 45-50 minutes to go through passport check. During that line, it was apparent that if we were to wait the entire line, we would not make it to the gate in time. We asked if we could be moved toward the front as our departure time was coming up very shortly, and were told that its the same for everyone else.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
When you reached the gate (and it sounds like the flight had closed?) who did you talk to? Did the agent re-book your ticket?
We talked to the people at table of the gate in question who checks your ticket. They told us to go pick up our checked bags at the baggage claim and go to customer service. This was followed by a day-long run-around, explained below.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
You said you bought a new ticket. Who told you to do that? Did you call Aer Lingus on the phone? Or did you go back to the Aer Lingus ticket desk in Departures?
We initially booked through Expedia. When we received our bags, we were told to go to the Avia Partners desk who was working with Aer Lingus. They had us call both Expedia and Aer Lingus. The Expedia rep spoke with Aer Lingus and from what we can tell the latter were unwilling to work / accomodate us whatsoever. We then had the rep speak with the people at the Avia Partners desk and from overhearing their conversation it sounded like a lot of back-and forth finger pointing. We were on the phone on hold for hours. Finally, wanting to just return home we were told to book our flights at cost and an Aer Lingus representative will call us back after reviewing details. We received no such call. We returned home and had to follow up ourselves.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
Basically, this sounds like a Brussels Airport issue ... and doesn't qualify under EC261 for a claim against the airline.
It feels like both, but we felt it was more Aer Lingus due to the fact that we arrived extremely early, and they were not even operating check-ins at the time, and when they finally did, all that wait on the front end pushed everything else back. Had they staffed more adequately like many other airlines, it would have been a non-issue.
Originally Posted by
UAPremExecflyer
Though, Aer Lingus might be a bit more sensitive to your inconvenience.
Also, did you have travel insurance? This is a situation where travel insurance would come in very handy.
I have travel insurance but it will only cover my own ticket, the other two do not have travel insurance unfortunately.