DoubleWidesFly

I am MORE than happy with my 200 TCV. Not complaining. Just wanted to share my experience with you other flyers. I agree US Airways messed up. When I talked to them at the airport, their reasoning was there was no F space available at time of rebooking

gobluetwo

I did that a couple weeks ago. Flew AMS-IAH-ORD so I could take the 787 IAH-ORD. Should've taken a picture of the map, but we literally flew right over Chicago to get to IAH, before I flew back. Paid C the whole way.

AMLFlyer

The UAL gate agent was in a bit of a catch-22 situation. He sees a ticket that is not upgradable and he could get in trouble with management for upgrading someone that shouldn't be upgraded. He also gets in trouble with management for the flight going out late while he works with the customer to fix the problem. Lastly, he gets in trouble when he does nothing and the seat goes out empty and the customer is angry.

fastair

Exactly. UA piad US to fly you in 1 class of service. US then paid UA to fly you in Y class of service. US couldn't book you in your original class of service as it was not available on UA. UA is now only getting paid for Y. US downgraded you , instead of making you wait for the next flight that was available in your original class of service. US wins financially, but IMHO, "did the right thing" (unless of course you were willing to wait for the next flight that have availability to book you in your original class.) UA comes out even, you ended up loseing.

There was no "win/win" scenerio, unless there was availability for US to book you in your original class of service on a flight that would meet your other needs.

gobluetwo

Nice explanation. I think the broader issue is that none of this is apparent to the passenger without one or more employees actually taking a few moments to explain these things. Otherwise, the passenger is left confused and upset, which reflects poorly on the airline(s).

tuolumne

The real story here is the unprofessional behavior of the flight attendants up in the air. They seemed successful in getting the OP to buy into the "us v. them" nonsense.

And sorry, but this was US's fault, not UA's. The gate agent could have been more cordial and clear in explaining his reasoning, but he did absolutely everything right in accordinance to the rules. You can't expect him to get in trouble for upgrading you. As for him not upgrading any elites, that's a difficult claim to make as you lack the necessary facts to make that assertion.

DoubleWidesFly

on my outbound flight I flew san-iah-ord-lga/jfk-gva-fra, JUST so I could fly IAH-ORD on the 787. So I completley understand going out of your way for an airplane Also the jfk-gva segment was swiss air and I really wanted to try out their product (review here). So sometimes going out of the way is 100% worth it!