A few weeks ago at IAD, I asked the at the CS desk why I wasn't on the upgrade waitlist:

"Only Platinum members or higher are qualified for complimentary upgrades. Gold and Silver members aren't eligible"

Which was followed by: "I can't add you to the list manually. Only the system can do that." Which was then followed up with "You could try asking the gate agent. I'm not going to have my ID number on that."

A tip to any pmCO customer service agents who don't know what the policies are, one lie is better than two. Telling me that you're unable to do something in the system and then saying you don't want to is inconsistent.

Except you are ignoring that those passengers were quite likely told by UA employees (or misled by ads or the website) that they were actually entitled to those things.

Captain: "Too upset to fly"
 

About 3 years ago I was flying PMUA SLC-DEN. Arrived at the gate close to departure time and saw a captian engaged in a heated call on his cell phone. We boarded, then sat for 45 minutes with no announcements. Then the captain came on the PA and said, parapharasing, "that some of you may have witnessed a confrontation in the gate area before boarding." (I had arrived too late to witness the event.) He want on to say that
"he was too upset to fly the plane safely to Denver" and that he was cancelling the flight. A gasp of amazement went up in the cabin and we all deplaned.

USA Today picked up the story, and according to the paper the pilots were refusing to wear their hats as a sign of solidarity over some dispute with management. The arriving cockpit crew had caught our pilot wearing his hat, and conflict ensued.

In ORD, in F to YVR: I have a rollaboard with a tote attached and my purse. Husband has a rollaboard. As we are on line, ready to board, one of the GAs said to me I can not bring these items onboard as I have more than 2. I told him this is my first UA flt since the merger and CO always let me. He said that they did things wrong. Not wanting to argue, my husband said to give him my tote. As I am doing that the GA said I cant do that. When asked why he said that the tote had not been in my husband's possesion and he was excepting something from someone that was not his.....Then he goes on to say that he will have to call TSA....I couldnt freakin believe it.

I ended up shoving my purse into the tote (obviously not a big purse if it fit in the tote) Before I get flamed for briging on too much, rollerboard allways fits in overhead, tote and purse underseat.

Hey Zach,
if only, we were on a 319.
Even the Kettles on the plane laughed

He was serious unfortunately

Your handle here is "Flavorflav", you're not serious?
You start a thread, didn't you notice the smiley face?

Are these really whoppers? The first one sounds like the pilot telling the absolute truth, probably after saying "Are you @#$% kidding me?" to himself, and if the second dude really was still all jacked off, he probably made the right call. There have been times when I've been so bothered by an argument, even 45 mins later, that while I can safely sit at my desk and fume, I probably shouldn't operate an airborne metal tube at 600 mph with hundreds of lives at stake.

"The rules don't apply to me"

I FA told me that he had been part of the UA group training CO FA's on the 744 becasue IAH-AKL was becoming SFO-IAH-AKL on a 744 due to the delay in the 787.

It would have been nice to hop a 744 SFO-IAH :D

While the GA was correct on what you can bring onboard, the idea that a husband accepting a bag from his wife is a security risk:D

BING!!! "SEAT BELTS - PLEASE!!!" Then cruising along for upwards of 3 or more hours, without a single bump, all the time with the seat-belt light on continually and not turned off until the good Capt finishes his crossword puzzle. Watching people belly crawl to the lav's so they don't get yelled at, over the PA, does make the time pass more quickly!;)

Mostly in relation to turn around times. Flight xxx is supposed to come in at 2:30 now showing 3:05. Flight yyy using the same aircraft is supposed to leave at 3:15. I ask the agent what time our new departure time is going to be. "Oh there won't be a delay, we can turn it around fast". Yeah, right, especially when these were Ted 320s :rolleyes:

Clearly, Smisek's original position had "evolved" and he thought it was a change you would like!:D

I don't really have a "whopper", but I have several "whopper juinors":

ICC: "Sir, LAX is only for our international flights, you will need to fly into SNA"

FA (on a flight where we were stuck in the PB without a gate): "anyone with tight connections, please don;t worry, they will hold the flights for you"

GA: "sir, I am sorry, but we do not allow standby on regional jets"

GA: "Thanks for volunteering" ME: "No problem, can you do travel credits or do I have to take the VDB voucher?" (*PMUA days) GA: I am sorry sir, we don't so that anymore we can only accommodate volunteers on the later flight"

Doubt it. United will have a few 787s in the fleet long before CO FAs are able to work on UA planes and vice versa. Union issues.

All flights from IAD-ORD, including yours, are cancelled
 

Due to high winds...a full 18 hours before scheduled take off. This one worked out in my favor because apparently the plane scheduled to leave an hour earlier wasn't an "all flight" :p