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Originally Posted by Often1
(Post 25407028)
Impossible to tell whether the GA was correct without knowing the carrier and the fare rules for OP's ticket.
While it is true that many tickets lose their value if you no show (which OP was effectively doing), others may be changeable, changeable on the day of (SDC) (with or without smallish fee), or changeable for a fee + fare difference. No way of knowing without knowing the rules for OP's ticket. In fact, if they did, as OP says, cancel his ticket as a no show in between denying boarding and his eventually ending up back out at the ticket/check in counter then they've probably committed criminal fraud in that they've altered a document for pecuniary gain. As to the specific issue, the FA was wrong and on most carriers has no authority to handle ticketing. The GA was largely correct if correct about the fare rules. Not only unworkable to allow individuals to decide which rules they must obey, but it would become the immediate FT scam of the week (show up last to board with a bag and they will rebook you for free).
Originally Posted by B747-437B
(Post 25408851)
The "solution" to this is to agree to gate-check the bag, but to request your right to declare "excess valuation" of the contents to increase the level of carrier liability (and to pay the relevant fees mandated in the Contract of Carriage for the excess valuation). The airline is obliged to permit you to do this at the point of luggage check-in.
In every single case I've requested to do this, the agents back off pretty much immediately. It's easier to let you carry the bag on board than to deal with the paperwork for the excess valuation, which would almost certainly either delay the flight or wind up with the flight departing without you. Note that this only works if you are within your baggage allowance and passage is being denied purely because of "space on board" and not due to non-compliance on your part. If your bag is too large or too heavy, I would not suggest you try this. |
Well there's always this difference between de jure and de facto.
The part which rings really true to me is OP getting sloughed off by the FA onto the GA, who has no interest in or knowledge of what transpired onboard. At that point, you've lost all of your rights (de facto) and you're just another nuisance. Not right, not fair, but it rings true. Most of us have to live in the real world, and plan accordingly. Very very good advice about bag-in-a-bag. |
Air travel is one of the few businesses where we pay to get treated poorly.
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Clearly we're in a gray area in the midst of a bunch of different rules: UA doesn't spell it out clearly on their website. "Excess valuation" is a good idea but not one all travelers are well-versed in. The official IDB rules are probably unclear as well - and probably wouldn't apply since UA would say the passenger was allowed boarding, only the bag was denied boarding.
IMHO, the right and human thing to do would have been to allow the OP to rebook a later flight. We're talking SFO-LAX here. Aren't there a bajillion UA flights on this route every day? In the future, OP should maybe consider one of the other airlines that flies that route a bajillion times a day (Southwest? Virgin?), or do the bag-in-bag thing. But I also believe that UA reacted in the least client-centric manner possible here, proving again why they are such an awful organization on the same level as cable companies and wireless providers. |
Originally Posted by cbn42
(Post 25406454)
Hello,
I would appreciate any guidance Flyertalkers have about a situation I experienced recently. I was flying domestically in the US with no checked luggage and a carry-on roll-aboard bag that is well within the legal dimensions. However, the flight was full and the GA was making announcements encouraging people to gate check their bags free of charge. When I was in the jetway, the FA announced there was "no more space" on board and all remaining bags would have to be checked in. A couple of people ahead of me complied. I had valuable and fragile objects in my bag that were not packed appropriately to be checked in, and I explained this to the FA. She was understanding, but said that she couldn't do anything about it. When I refused to check in my bag, she eventually said that my only other option was to wait for the next flight. I said that would be fine. It was Friday and I didn't need to be home until Sunday, so no problem as long as they could get me on another flight within the next two days. She told me to go back outside and re-book. The GA, however, was having none of it. She immediately told me that if I didn't hand over my bag to be checked in and board the flight before the doors closed, I would "forfeit" my ticket. I asked if there was space on another flight that day, and she said yes, plenty of space, if you buy a new ticket at the walk-up price. She obviously didn't want to deal with me, so she told me to go outside and talk to the folks at the ticket counter. They weren't helpful either, and basically told me that I was a no-show and my ticket had been canceled and I could buy a new one. Eventually, I decided to hop onto the BART and took a Megabus down to LA instead of flying. What are the policies regarding this? Can you be "forced" to check in your bag? If you refuse, are there any other options? The Gate Agent could have handled it differently. They have leeway to rebook someone. They were just being difficult. You could head to customer service or see a manager. Write them and complain about that person specfically. It's not like these folks are getting paid NFL money, they're low on the totem pole and complaints have an impact on them. |
Originally Posted by IceTrojan
(Post 25411918)
In that case, were you not offered the option of standing by or even pay for a confirmed flight change? How hard did you push them?
I think UA did you wrong.
Originally Posted by ou81two
(Post 25425007)
Write them and complain about that person specfically. It's not like these folks are getting paid NFL money, they're low on the totem pole and complaints have an impact on them.
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