zartemis

I have a MileagePlus Explorer card and bought a Basic Economy ticket from SFO to LAS (MileagePlus numbers entered when booked). It left from an international gate and when we checked in at the gate, we were told we could not bring a full-size carry-on.

I pointed the agent to the FAQ on Basic Economy on the United site that explicitly lists the exception and she still refused. She called another agent over to read and they both still refused saying it 'didn't apply'.

I then called MileagePlus support and the rep there tried to tell them the same thing: that the MileagePlus card allows an exception. Again, they refused, telling phone rep that they were wrong.

I also pointed out the boarding pass had us in priority group 2, not 5, which surprised her, but she still refused.

She was going to charge us for our carry-ons and a third agent then asked if we bought the tickets with the card. We actually did so in this case, so we let her confirm that was true and she said she’d make “an exception” for us in that case. However, just being card holders is supposed to be enough.

I’ve read of other passengers who’ve had similar problems and since you are at the mercy of the agents with no recourse if you can’t convince them, it is NOT a sure benefit of having this card. We spent nearly an hour of frustrating discussion and phone calls before our flight, but might have had to pay high fees for our bags (she was not going to allow them to be checked free, either, apparently).

Will United really refund the charges if we get charged? Where is such a request submitted if it happens?