Did I do something wrong?
 

To achieve gold by the end of August, I made a MR on NW by flying BWI-MSP-MEM-MKE-DTW-MSP-BWI a few days ago. I got upgraded in the silver window for all segments but MKE-DTW (A319, tuesday morning). However at MKE when I checked in, the agent looked at my record for a few minutes then asked, "You are flying to DTW, then to MSP, then to BWI?" I said "Yes". Then she said with a strange expression on her face,"Why are you doing this?" I said "for a few more miles to hit gold elite status". Then she said,"sorry, sir, but I have to discuss with the supervisor to give you boarding passes". She then went back to the office and spent a few minutes and then gave me the boarding passes and said "Have a nice day". Is it really worth her to discussing it with her supervisor? Is my itinearry so unnormal? I wasn't asked when I checked in at BWI for BWI-MSP-MEM-MKE.

What happened later is that my luggage didn't arrive at BWI on the flight I was on due to short connection time (51 minutes in DTW or 30 minutes in MSP). When I filed a claim for my mishandled luggage, the luggage agent refused to give me a travel voucher saying that this is not their fault because the connection time is too short. Is this right? I didn't say anything but said I would like to pick my luggage up when it arrived. Later when I picked my luggage, I told the other luggage agent that I did not get a travel voucher for this; she said "I could give you one" and handled me a PD800 for $25 off for any >$75 fare.

You did nothing wrong. You checked in for an itinerary that the company had sold you. If anything that agent was on a power trip.

You could have told her that if she didn't like the itinerary, she was welcome to re-route you through Anchorage. :D

If it's a legal routing and NW issued you a ticket , then they shouldn't hassle you!
 

You did nothing wrong!

You bought as ticket on a legal routing (albeit, not a routing someone would take that was short on time) and you were just checking in for your flights.

I wouldn't worry about the agent.

The agent should not of challenged you about your routing.

RC

Almost all of the NW people at MKE are pretty cool. There's one or two who conduct themselves as refugees from Aeroflot.

You have to admit that it was an odd itinerary and it was bound to raise eyebrows. In fairness to NW, it is hard to ensure efficient baggage transfers from nonstandard connection points. With NW adding flights to MKE, we've seen a lot of strain on the NW baggage handling here.

There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as it is a legal routing and within the allowable connections per the fare rule.

On a triple connection you are almost guaranteeing that if you check luggage it will be lost. It is best on these types of itineraries to not check luggage.

There has been some speculation on the board that the lost luggage rate on triple connections is the reason that NW limited the number of connections on low fares to one or two. Fewer connections = fewer chances to misconnect the luggage.

Basically it boils down to the fact that if you followed the rules of the fare then you are perfectly in your right to book that route and to fly it with out scrutiny by the agents. Most agents are under a lot of pressure to minimize "revenue leakage" so they are checking with supervisors more often when they are unfamiliar with something.

It could be just a MKE thing...last year I did a few MR for segments to get CO Gold to MKE. I flew Saturday mornings BWI-CLE-DTW-MKE-DTW-CLE-BWI on a cimbination of NW and CO (before CO changed their program). I would have to get my return boarding passes in MKE and I was questioned a few times but nothing more. Like your experience, I told the truth that I was doing it to get a higher elite status...

On the other hand the BWI agents who checked me in thought it was amusing that I was doing...never any questions or concerns.

The agent may have been concerned about "security," e.g., you did not fit the normal traveler profile who likes to go from
A to B with as few connections as possible, and perhaps she wanted to check on the legitimacy of your reason for doing something different.

Maybe it had to do with the topic of this thread.

I believe that's outside the scope of her job. She is supposed to check in the passenger, check the luggage, and print boarding passes.

"Security" is allegedly checked by the TSA at the checkpoint.

Security should be everyone's business -- I've got to disagree there.

That said, I don't think this had anything to do with "security."

I'm surprised they even blinked. This kind of bizarre routing just isn't THAT uncommon even if you aren't looking for miles -- sometimes it's just the lowest fare.

Steve

Clearly it shouldn't be, as this incident points out that not everyone is properly trained in what constitutes a risk or threat. The original poster was taking the long way home, on a ticket sold to him by the company, in an attempt to rack up points in the loyalty program created by the same company. What "threat" to security is that?

And, if there indeed were some correlation between routings and security risk, then the company would have flagged the itin at the time of purchase, or sometime before checkin. They spend millions of dollars on information systems, and certainly can flag something if there is a bona fide threat if it meets whatever criteria are established. Again, that would be the responsibility of someone who sets the risk algorithm in the computer, not some power-hungry agent in Milwaukee who happens to look out for anything she personally doesn't think is "normal."

A chuckle or comment by the agent? No problem. A curious question? Fine. But scrutinizing the ticket that her very own company sold him is nonsense. To do so under some belief that doing so will somehow increase safety or "security" is even a bigger load of crap.

Keep in mind, MKE has several new agents. I am guessing that is she is a new employee, she thought it weird to see a routing like that and didn't want to make a mistake. I will give her the benifit od the doubt untill I see more facts to think otherwise.

You couldn't be much more wrong. It is always the job of airline employees, from the captain on down, to worry about security on that airline. Asking about a very strange routing, and double-checking with a supervisor to determine if she needed to follow up on any concerns, is exactly what an agent checking you in should have done. She returned and gave him his boarding passes. Sounds like a perfect job to me.

I agree with you. Spending days looking at routings A to B to C a routing like this one must really stand out. That's a flag for all sort of things, not only security. If it wasn't none of us would have funny looks when we do a MR. This agent saw something out of the ordinary and double checked. I would expect the same from the people that work for me. Since you were allowed to proceed without further delay I do not see what the issue is.

BTW, MKE-DTW-MSP-BWI is not a usual routing!

But where do you draw the line using this approach? If someone wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts in Buffalo in December wants to get on a plane, should the employee ask a supervisor if it's ok to let him board? It's certainly out of the ordinary to wear that kind of clothing in Buffalo, let alone in December, but that doesn't make him a risk.

He has a ticket for the flight. He wasn't saying anything that would make someone believe he's a risk, he wasn't carrying anything that could be harmful. The only thing you have against him is the route he's taking home to earn a few more freaking miles? You got nothing.

This mentality where anything "out of the ordinary" is a potential act of terrorism and should be questioned is simply ridiculous, and it goes against the fundamentals of this country.