Bumped from UA flight, missed brother's wedding
Dec 27, 2016, 2:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 12
Bumped from UA flight, missed brother's wedding
On Saturday 30 July 2016, I was to travel with my wife and two children from Washington-Dulles Airport to Des Moines, IA via Chicago O’Hare Airport to attend my only brother’s wedding. We booked our flights on 27 April 2016 as soon as we found out about the details of the wedding. Ordinarily we would have tried to arrive a day or two before the wedding, however, my daughter was scheduled to perform in a play on the evening of Friday July 29. We booked far enough in advance to where weather or mechanical delays would be the only reason we would possibly not arrive on time.
Our first flight UA1585 was scheduled to depart Dulles at 6:38 am. Boarding started at 5:53 am; we arrived at the gate prior to 5:30 am. Upon arriving at the gate, I was notified that I did not have a seat on the plane even though I had already checked in online the day before and downloaded my boarding pass that contained my seat number. I prompted my family to go ahead and board the plane, as the gate agent assured me that there would be people willing to trade their seat for airline credits as well as potential no-shows and that I would get a seat on the plane. There were a few couples that volunteered to take later flights but other passengers were higher priority than myself for some unexplained reason and I was left without a seat as the plane departed. I am still completely baffled as to why my seat was taken from me in the first place.
The agent kept insisting that I did not have a seat on the plane despite my boarding pass, which included a seat number. My wife spoke to the lady that was sitting in my seat on the plane and this lady told my wife that she had only booked her flight two weeks prior (note that I booked my flight more than 3 months prior). My wife was crying and hysterical trying to explain our situation to the flight attendant, even asking if she could switch places with me, so that at least I could get to the wedding on time. The attendant, while sympathetic, did not offer my wife any other solutions other than for her and my children to get off the plane, at which point they would possibly forfeit their airfare due to the fact that the plane was about to depart the gate. My wife, in an impossible situation, decided to stay put, as she felt it would it would be more difficult to try to find alternate arrangements for the 4 of us, as opposed to just me.
In the terminal, I continued to debate with the gate agent about the validity of my boarding pass and I explained that missing the flight meant that I was going to miss my only brother’s wedding. I also explained that our father had just passed away a few months prior and as the only sibling, it was important that I be at the wedding. I was also supposed to be his best man. I was finally offered ~$400 for my inconvenience, which I promptly turned down, as they had been offering nearly twice that amount for people to take a later flight. Something just did not sound right about the story I was getting to include the explanation I received from the customer service representative I spoke to after leaving the gate agent. As you can imagine I was feeling extremely frustrated.
I had a friend of a friend that works for United Airlines investigate what could have happened. They said it is usually one of two reasons that a situation like this happens. – 1.) A last minute plane change, could result in the roster having to be manually changed over and rarely a seat can be sold in the time it takes for the roster to be moved and 2) My seat may have been given to a friend or family member of a United Airline’s employee. To make matters worse, on our return flight during our layover in Chicago, our flight (UA 225) was delayed for so long due to mechanical failure that customer service representative put us in a hotel overnight. I think he felt sorry for my kids as were noticeably bored out of their minds. The gesture was nice but it was another day of vacation time that I had to waste.
In summary:
My son had to purchase a new suit to stand in for me as my brother’s best man - $300
I had to get a second rental car upon arriving in Des Moines - $120
Missed day of work - $510
I missed my only brother’s wedding - Priceless
There is no amount of money you can offer to make up for missing my brother’s wedding. It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and I missed it, with no good reason/excuse and no real attempt to make things right from United Airlines. Honestly, the $400 offer was a slap in the face and insulting. Furthermore, it was appalling how each representative insisted that I did not have a guaranteed seat, as if the problem was created by me rather than a mistake made by United Airlines. Additionally, the situation caused much stress to my entire family, including my brother and his wife on their wedding day.
Our first flight UA1585 was scheduled to depart Dulles at 6:38 am. Boarding started at 5:53 am; we arrived at the gate prior to 5:30 am. Upon arriving at the gate, I was notified that I did not have a seat on the plane even though I had already checked in online the day before and downloaded my boarding pass that contained my seat number. I prompted my family to go ahead and board the plane, as the gate agent assured me that there would be people willing to trade their seat for airline credits as well as potential no-shows and that I would get a seat on the plane. There were a few couples that volunteered to take later flights but other passengers were higher priority than myself for some unexplained reason and I was left without a seat as the plane departed. I am still completely baffled as to why my seat was taken from me in the first place.
The agent kept insisting that I did not have a seat on the plane despite my boarding pass, which included a seat number. My wife spoke to the lady that was sitting in my seat on the plane and this lady told my wife that she had only booked her flight two weeks prior (note that I booked my flight more than 3 months prior). My wife was crying and hysterical trying to explain our situation to the flight attendant, even asking if she could switch places with me, so that at least I could get to the wedding on time. The attendant, while sympathetic, did not offer my wife any other solutions other than for her and my children to get off the plane, at which point they would possibly forfeit their airfare due to the fact that the plane was about to depart the gate. My wife, in an impossible situation, decided to stay put, as she felt it would it would be more difficult to try to find alternate arrangements for the 4 of us, as opposed to just me.
In the terminal, I continued to debate with the gate agent about the validity of my boarding pass and I explained that missing the flight meant that I was going to miss my only brother’s wedding. I also explained that our father had just passed away a few months prior and as the only sibling, it was important that I be at the wedding. I was also supposed to be his best man. I was finally offered ~$400 for my inconvenience, which I promptly turned down, as they had been offering nearly twice that amount for people to take a later flight. Something just did not sound right about the story I was getting to include the explanation I received from the customer service representative I spoke to after leaving the gate agent. As you can imagine I was feeling extremely frustrated.
I had a friend of a friend that works for United Airlines investigate what could have happened. They said it is usually one of two reasons that a situation like this happens. – 1.) A last minute plane change, could result in the roster having to be manually changed over and rarely a seat can be sold in the time it takes for the roster to be moved and 2) My seat may have been given to a friend or family member of a United Airline’s employee. To make matters worse, on our return flight during our layover in Chicago, our flight (UA 225) was delayed for so long due to mechanical failure that customer service representative put us in a hotel overnight. I think he felt sorry for my kids as were noticeably bored out of their minds. The gesture was nice but it was another day of vacation time that I had to waste.
In summary:
My son had to purchase a new suit to stand in for me as my brother’s best man - $300
I had to get a second rental car upon arriving in Des Moines - $120
Missed day of work - $510
I missed my only brother’s wedding - Priceless
There is no amount of money you can offer to make up for missing my brother’s wedding. It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and I missed it, with no good reason/excuse and no real attempt to make things right from United Airlines. Honestly, the $400 offer was a slap in the face and insulting. Furthermore, it was appalling how each representative insisted that I did not have a guaranteed seat, as if the problem was created by me rather than a mistake made by United Airlines. Additionally, the situation caused much stress to my entire family, including my brother and his wife on their wedding day.
Last edited by Veteran flyer; Dec 27, 2016 at 2:52 pm Reason: providing more details
Dec 27, 2016, 2:29 pm
#2
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[note, I believe this is a duplicate of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...s-wedding.html , where there are more details]
That is really unfortunate and I would write to UA customer service for a more thorough explanation and compensation offer.
You should tell people here in more detail here about the flight, route, what exactly happened or what you were told, so that others can comment on what compensation or what situation would apply in this case. Were you late to the gate, when did you check in, did they say it was involuntary denied boarding, etc. ?
Not that it helps now, but for anyone else finding themselves in such a situation:
-- don't rely on any airline to tell you what to do - just get on the next flight even if you have to pay, given such an important event
-- if one of your travel companions has not been bumped, just switch tickets with them at that point...
That is really unfortunate and I would write to UA customer service for a more thorough explanation and compensation offer.
You should tell people here in more detail here about the flight, route, what exactly happened or what you were told, so that others can comment on what compensation or what situation would apply in this case. Were you late to the gate, when did you check in, did they say it was involuntary denied boarding, etc. ?
Not that it helps now, but for anyone else finding themselves in such a situation:
-- don't rely on any airline to tell you what to do - just get on the next flight even if you have to pay, given such an important event
-- if one of your travel companions has not been bumped, just switch tickets with them at that point...
Dec 27, 2016, 2:36 pm
#3
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Dec 27, 2016, 2:36 pm
#4
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Except that with further information in that thread (6 people called up and bumped), we don't know that it was really a friend of the GA that bumped him.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:42 pm
#6
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OP - Rather than getting this information in dribs and drabs, here is what we need for information.
1. What was the origination and destination of the ticket and were there any connection points?
2. How much did each ticket cost?
3. What type of aircraft was this? If you don't know the exact aircraft, do you recall it's approximate size and whether the seating in economy was 2-2 or 3-3?
Please supply that information and please also ask the moderators to close your cross-posted thread so that all of the information is in one place.
Note that whether you have a seat assignment is completely irrelevant to what order you are denied boarding and that the gate agents do not control the list for denied boarding as that is maintained for DOT review under DOT rules.
1. What was the origination and destination of the ticket and were there any connection points?
2. How much did each ticket cost?
3. What type of aircraft was this? If you don't know the exact aircraft, do you recall it's approximate size and whether the seating in economy was 2-2 or 3-3?
Please supply that information and please also ask the moderators to close your cross-posted thread so that all of the information is in one place.
Note that whether you have a seat assignment is completely irrelevant to what order you are denied boarding and that the gate agents do not control the list for denied boarding as that is maintained for DOT review under DOT rules.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:43 pm
#7
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Was this one of those SATO military leisure fares? Did you book through SATO? If so, what did they say?
Asking because I have colleagues who have been burned by SATO not properly issuing their military leisure fare ticket then arriving at airport to realize ticket not issued.
Asking because I have colleagues who have been burned by SATO not properly issuing their military leisure fare ticket then arriving at airport to realize ticket not issued.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:45 pm
#8
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Well, stuff happens with flights. Not exactly a big secret that things can go wrong. Work and daughter's recital held priority over making sure you were there for wedding. Were all of you bumped and did each of you get $400 plus refunds? That does seems not out of line, compensation-wise.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:50 pm
#10
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So, you get second-hand "truth" of a GA bumping a person (maybe 6) from a post on FlyerTalk? In the post, he was told by a CSA 2 potential reasons. It was not determined that a gate agent gave away the seat. You have zero proof to state that a gate agent gave away the seat. All you (we) know is that the OP was denied boarding.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:53 pm
#11
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[note, I believe this is a duplicate of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...s-wedding.html , where there are more details]...
I have requested that the moderators of The Information Desk Forum move the above mentioned thread into the UA Forum where upon that happening, it will be merged into this thread to keep all of the information regarding the OP's story in one place
goalie
UA Forum Co-Moderator
Dec 27, 2016, 2:55 pm
#12
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Then in another post the OP reveals that 5 other people were called up at the same time as him to be told they were being bumped.
Basically no one know really why, but instead of going with the fairly reasonable explanation of the flight was oversold, they've chosen to believe the explanation of GA shenanigans.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:57 pm
#13
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Bad assumptions. I can buy a ticket one-day before a flight and bump someone if UA decided to oversell coach..
Dec 27, 2016, 2:58 pm
#14
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I do not have proof the aircraft was not switched but my friend said that she would have been able to see this. Everything looked normal. She suggested I was bumped by an employee or friend/family of... She also said it seemed shady because while her family can fly standby, passengers are never bumped for her/them. They only get a seat if seats are open.
Dec 27, 2016, 2:58 pm
#15
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Otoh, in this case it looks like my post that you find objectionable suffered from being timed between one post that clearly implied it was a GA bump and a second which pretty much eliminated that implication.