LilAbner

Hey yea! Never thought of that! "Double Agents"!
Guys dress up in red coats, ask people to see their bag tag receipt, and then assume their identity and cancel their future reservations on ual.com! Pretty sneaky way of being incognito and stealth all at at the same time.^

craz

Im sure they had to supply alot more info. But say they didnt as I said above whats to stop me from going to EWR,JFK or LGA in a few hours act as if I just came in on the flight and stand there and check tags on the bags as they go by getting the PNR and Name

And I do check tags numerous times every year, Im not loking at the names or PNR but instead to see if the bags came off the flight I just came in, nothing stops me from getting a name and PNR as well

Had the OP simply supplied their claim checks they wouldnt have been asked for any ID, but once they went off on that rep that ended that

WineCountryUA

no you do not (as is confirmed in the referenced thread and from personal experience)

no argument there.
I have flown for long of enough to remember when claim checking was common and still occasional come across it.
(While only check bags when +1 is traveling, I have had an incident of someone else was leaving with my bags -- still not convinced it was an "accident.")

grahampros

Forget about UA in this case. You need to learn how to act in public. Totally uncalled for. Hardly something to get so worked up about. These things happen all the time in travel. Bothers you so much, perhaps travel isnt for you.

tom911

Are you sure there wasn't a crime? In California, for instance, the section on battery reads "A battery is any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another." Seems to me like the deliberate stepping on the bag would be a use of force. Even spitting on someone in California is a battery. Is harassment a crime in New York? Is the NY state section on battery similar to what we have in CA?

l etoile

Since the OP is asking a question about his privacy/security that is not specific to UA, please follow this in the Travel Safety/Security forum.

l'etoile
UA moderator

LilAbner

SIGN POSTED ON EVERY CAROUSAL-EVERYWHERE! "Please check your luggage tag, as many bags look alike (or something close to that)!

Besides, what's to prevent someone from walking into the baggage claim area and walking out with anyone's bag. ----- Answer --- The guy with the red coat!

Some airports/airlines DO NOT provide this verification process and are rolling the dice that the cost of stolen baggage claims will be less than paying these employees.

Instead of getting pissed at the guy that was only doing what he was paid to do, and that was to make sure that someone else was not on the slopes the next day with his skis, the OP decided to tell him to "F" off!

We determined a month or so that someone can get your name and MP # off of the luggage tag that goes round & round, but the odds are a zillion to one that the guy in the red coat ain't your "perp"!!!

"Perp" is a shortened version of "Perpetrator".

Every police department in the world calls the bad guys suspects, except N.Y., and there they are referred to as "Perppatrataa's"!

So when contacting UA Customer Service with a MUCH NEEDED complaint about this employee @ LGA, it makes their investigation much easier if the description of guy your beefing is described as being a perpetrator dressed in a RED JACKET!

Flyer420

+1!! I recall when airlines had claim check inspection at most major airports. It was all a pain, but I didn't have the experience I had another time and place where my suitcase went home with someone else because it looked a little like his suitcase.

As for dropping the F bomb and other linguistic treats, I think it is a deplorable benefit of the general coarsening of American public culture. Don't feel bad OP, you are right in synch with the muddle-headed adolescent style of many who are young and stupid--or at least look that way.

Flyer 420
who wonders what word the F-word users use when they really are upset.

sogboulder

Likewise, but that went the way of meals in Economy at most airports. I was surprised to see them still doing this at LGA, they must be the last airport in the country to do so. It used to be universal practice, and I certainly would rather have the temporary inconvenience than have my baggage stolen.

No offense, but I'm kind of surprised he didn't call the cops on OP.

javabytes

Stores get shoplifted from all the time. Doesn't mean I'm going to show my receipt on the way out the door there either. Sometimes I'll play a little game... I ask if it's required. If they say no, then I'll show it to them. If they say yes, I keep right on going.

^ to OP for standing your ground. These guys need to learn that there's nothing preventing them from asking to see a receipt, but that they can't get violent when someone says no.

cordelli

At LGA if you can't produce a bag check (say you used it as a bookmark and left the book on the plane for example), they will ask for an ID and check the name on the ID to the name on the check to make sure it's you.

They just want something to actually believe those are your bags for those who can't produce luggage claim checks.

gobluetwo

LGA is kinda weird. They have the redcoats checking your BP to see if you can go down the premier/elite or regular line (at the AA concourse, I had to convince him I was precheck eligible before he let me down that line); they still check baggage tags (every time in the CTB, for UA and AA); they always ask your name when checking IDs at security. They used to do that thing where they'd give you a green laminated card if you had a mobile BP... Just weird.

So you purposely antagonize someone doing their jobs because you can or to teach them a lesson in dealing with a-holes? real fun...

Travelsonic

To be fair, some of those people [not all, obviously] do go too far - how many times have you heard stories about the receipt checkers in stores acting like the request can be used as a demand/reason to detain? When you're not legally required to show a receipt at a store on your way out [though you may face consequences in the way of being / not being allowed back in that store]?

cdn1

How is the OP supposed to know that he's REQUIRED to show his receipts ?
Most airports in the world do not have this procedure. Imagine if you had to do that in North America or other hubs in Europe.

They should first put up signs for pax so that pax are not suspicious/alarmed when some minimum wage goof shows up and starts demanding. How does the pax know they are genuine and not trying to scam the incoming pax ??

I thought they did this in 3rd world, I guess LGA is also considered such now?
I guess the airport manager must be really dumb at LGA

Allan38103

I may not be DYKWI, but I sure can act like one.