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Boarding door closed and seat given away 25 mins before departure. Any recourse?

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Boarding door closed and seat given away 25 mins before departure. Any recourse?

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Old Jan 2, 2016, 2:10 pm
  #136  
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Originally Posted by LaserSailor
Not if the same passenger is duly boarded by reopening the door. This happened to me three times in 2015.
But that's not what happened here, nor what's being debated here.
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 2:11 pm
  #137  
 
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Originally Posted by LaserSailor
Not if the same passenger is duly boarded by reopening the door. This happened to me three times in 2015.
Well, not to you personally, as you're at the gate at least 30-minutes early.

But, if, if, and another if...in this case the if really is irrelevant, since the door wasn't reopened and the passenger wasn't duly boarded.
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 2:38 pm
  #138  
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Originally Posted by raehl311
Well, we should note that it's actually whichever UX carrier that serves Lincoln that didn't fulfill their legal obligations and would be on the hook for the fine.

But I agree that, unless EQM are the most important thing to OP, he should go straight to DoT complaint. The airline relies on passengers not knowing their rights and DoT needs to know when airlines are doing that so there is enforcement action and the airlines fulfill their responsibilities.
I think it would also help if the penalty went up if they try to play games.
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 7:11 pm
  #139  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
I think it would also help if the penalty went up if they try to play games.
In which case the airlines will move T-15 deadline to T-30 -want to rethink that strategy?

I strive to arrive by T-30, and if I don't, I'm late. The times I've reached a pushed back plane has been between T-30 and T-15. The difference between reasonable and DYKWIA behaviour is the absence of toddler chest beating if I failed to get on the plane.

Something to consider about T-15....if the entire plane shows up at T-15 the plane goes out late. It's the last opportunity to board and should be used as a cushion for flat tires, accidents, acts of God, black holes - not the time that I want to spend watching my football team in the bar
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 7:20 pm
  #140  
 
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Originally Posted by LaserSailor
In which case the airlines will move T-15 deadline to T-30 -want to rethink that strategy?

I strive to arrive by T-30, and if I don't, I'm late. The times I've reached a pushed back plane has been between T-30 and T-15. The difference between reasonable and DYKWIA behaviour is the absence of toddler chest beating if I failed to get on the plane.

Something to consider about T-15....if the entire plane shows up at T-15 the plane goes out late. It's the last opportunity to board and should be used as a cushion for flat tires, accidents, acts of God, black holes - not the time that I want to spend watching my football team in the bar
If United told flyers they had to be at the gate 30 minutes before the flight, or have their seats cancelled, the result would be (a) very angry passengers, (b) a need to only book much longer connections, making United less competitive, and (c) a loss of traffic from those with options.

The system works, the passenger did nothing wrong here, the fault is a rogue agent.

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jan 3, 2016 at 2:20 pm Reason: unneeded commenting on other posters deleted
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 7:45 pm
  #141  
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Originally Posted by LaserSailor
The difference between reasonable and DYKWIA behaviour is the absence of toddler chest beating if I failed to get on the plane.
Wow.

Expecting United to follow their published rules and regulations and not shaft a customer is now considered "DYKWIA behaviour"? Explaining the details in a detailed, rational, manner is suddenly "Toddler Chest beating"?

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Old Jan 2, 2016, 9:58 pm
  #142  
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Originally Posted by spin88
That said, if United told flyers they had to be at the gate 30 minutes before the flight, or have their seats cancelled, the result would be (a) very angry passengers, (b) a need to only book much longer connections, making United less competitive, and (c) a loss of traffic from those with options.
Tell your business travelers they need to be at the gate 15 minutes earlier than every other major airline requires? Competitive suicide.

Originally Posted by spin88
The system works, the passenger did nothing wrong here, the fault is a rogue agent.
Exactly. There is no broader lesson here.
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Old Jan 2, 2016, 10:08 pm
  #143  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Tell your business travelers they need to be at the gate 15 minutes earlier than every other major airline requires? Competitive suicide.



Exactly. There is no broader lesson here.
GA didn't follow procedure. Period.

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jan 3, 2016 at 2:19 pm Reason: commenting on posters deleted
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 1:04 pm
  #144  
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Originally Posted by LaserSailor
In which case the airlines will move T-15 deadline to T-30 -want to rethink that strategy?

I strive to arrive by T-30, and if I don't, I'm late. The times I've reached a pushed back plane has been between T-30 and T-15. The difference between reasonable and DYKWIA behaviour is the absence of toddler chest beating if I failed to get on the plane.

Something to consider about T-15....if the entire plane shows up at T-15 the plane goes out late. It's the last opportunity to board and should be used as a cushion for flat tires, accidents, acts of God, black holes - not the time that I want to spend watching my football team in the bar
No--I'm saying that if they try to deny an IDB happened that they owe the passenger more than if they fess up at the time.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 2:46 pm
  #145  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
No--I'm saying that if they try to deny an IDB happened that they owe the passenger more than if they fess up at the time.
That makes sense to me. If a passenger breaks a rule, we've heard of hundreds of thousands of miles revoked and frequent flier accounts closed. But if an airline is caught breaking a rule, it might be fined, but maybe some portion of the fine should go to the passenger as well...something like they owe the passenger double the IDB comp in this case.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 6:35 pm
  #146  
 
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
No--I'm saying that if they try to deny an IDB happened that they owe the passenger more than if they fess up at the time.
Gotcha. Yes, I agree if they are weasly about it they should get lashed.
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Old Jan 3, 2016, 7:19 pm
  #147  
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Theoretically, if DOT determines that UA not only did not properly pay IDB, but also violated the IDB rules, e.g., did not seek volunteers and did not off-load in a pre-determined order, DOT already has ample authority to impose eye-popping fines. It just doesn't.
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 9:25 am
  #148  
 
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Here's something I have never really understood about airline scheduling.

Why don't the airlines simply publish the "boarding end time" for flights, instead of the departure time? For other time specific events, the published time is usually the time that you need to be in your seat, not some variable time after you need to be in your seat. In some cases (movies are a good example), the published time is well before the time that the show actually starts. I really can't think of another industry that routinely publishes a time that is after the time that you need to be there and settled in your seat.

I know that people can and do adjust, but it just seems like this change would make air travel much more intuitive, especially for the occasional traveler.
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 10:05 am
  #149  
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Originally Posted by Soccerdad1995
Here's something I have never really understood about airline scheduling.

Why don't the airlines simply publish the "boarding end time" for flights, instead of the departure time?
United does. In fact they print it on your ticket.

In this case United chose to unilaterally change this time without notifying their customer. The customer arrived at the gate prior to the deadline, with plenty of time to board, but was stranded due to the GA actions.
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 11:47 am
  #150  
 
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Originally Posted by Surftel
United does. In fact they print it on your ticket.

In this case United chose to unilaterally change this time without notifying their customer. The customer arrived at the gate prior to the deadline, with plenty of time to board, but was stranded due to the GA actions.
Yes I know. And I am in agreement that UA screwed up here.

What I was suggesting is a change to the times that are listed when searching for a flight. For example, I am looking for a flight home after a business meeting. The meeting ends at 3 pm and I know that I can safely plan on getting to the airport, clearing security, and being at a gate by 4:30 pm. It would be much easier for me to just use that as my starting time for a search instead of also needing to factor in another 15-30 minutes of cushion for a "boarding end time" that is earlier than the published flight time.

Yes, this would require some adjustment, but it should be easy. And if anyone is uneducated on the change, they will just show up early for their first flight post change.
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