mike.macrone

That is very true. I just wish the airlines wold wake up and take accountability for their actions more. In this circumstance it is just ridiculous, especially to someone with status

spin88

Flying 300,000 miles on DL starting in 2013, part crediting to my AS account, and part as Gold/PLT, I have had one bad apple (during borderline IRROPs on oversold flight, agent off loaded my paid F ticket w/o telling me, call me up to the gate, and tried to stick me into Y on replacement flights, claiming my P did not allow her to give me an F seat) and luckily a good GA stepped in and fixed the issue ( putting me on replacement flights in F on both legs, and called over to the gate to let them know I was coming).

Flying 200,000 miles on VX and now AS starting in 2013, as a Gold, I have had one notable CS issue (my AS upgrade disappeared, and I got booted back to an aisle seat in Y-) which no one could explain, but which everyone was very apologetic about. The GA then told the FAs and they plied me with free drinks and JoCoCo chocolates.

Flying about 300,000 miles on UA/CO since 2012, as a GS, then 1K, and now MM gold, I can not count on my fingers and toes the number of customer service fails/face plants I have had.

I have no relevant experience on AA, but I don't think there is a 2:1 ratio, its more like about 15:1 IMHE.

minnyfly

How was it clear that she was a non-rev?

I think it's more likely you came to the wrong conclusion than it is that an FA was trying to play favorites to a non-rev.

MrWilliamston

well, she and the working FA(the one who kicked me out of my seat) were discussing their schedules for next week and I distinctly heard them saying about hoping to be working on the same flight to Miami(so they can hangout after)....

by the way, if anybody wants to examine my bruise, they can come to the UC at EWR right now... I'll be here for the next 5 and half hours. I'm wearing a long sleeve light grey shirt with white collars so nobody will notice my bruise for this evening's UA flight to Europe. (yes, I got another emergency exit door aisle seat again) I'll be easy to spot.. the AC in the UC is not working right now and I'm the only person wearing long sleeves. (if not, look for the old geezer playing on a big ... red Acer gaming laptop. Yes, it's 86 degres inside the UC!!!!!

minnyfly

Okay....Because your original post said she was talking to another FA--not the one who asked you to move. And you also said you watched this conversation, not overheard the conversation such to clearly hear what they were talking about. Why not say that right away?

If what you're saying is true, write in and complain. Keep the filler out of it. Stick only to what's important. But since your story is so strange, rambles, and doesn't follow the tracks, I find it very hard to believe in its entirety.

MrWilliamston

I don't think there's really a reason for me to write a complaint to UA. What would be the benefit for me if my complaint cause the FA to be disciplined or worse, lose her job? It's not like she threatened me personally or dragged me out of my seat physically. I believe in karma and maybe she'll get what she deserves some other day. I don't wish to be the cause of her losing her job. What if she has three little kids to feed at home or something? I think ranting about it here is as far as I'll go.

notquiteaff

Well, what can I say... our experiences with UA are clearly different. Perhaps because of pure luck? Or expectations? (I was never GS, flew a lot of coach, almost always on my own dime). Or because we flew different routes with different legacy crews (based at SFO, most of my travel was with PMUA, but I personally didn't see any real measurable difference when I flew with a PMCO crew).

I am definitely not claiming that 2:1 is the right ratio; my point merely was that experiences like the OPs are in my personal opinion and based on my personal observations are so rare that I don't expect to fare significantly and measurably better on Delta. But I would have had to deal with a much worse experience based on their network and my routes.

minnyfly

So what's the point of making this thread? Just for kicks and giggles?

spin88

I am SFO based as well, and was quite happy pre-2012 (check out my old posts. ). I will admit that my expectations of United were much higher, as I was GS before bailing, but I think my UA experiences are much worse than what I have had on OALs. This said, I do have status and on longer flights will usually buy discounted F, so I am protected to some extent.

raehl311

This is way easier than everyone makes it out to be.

On ##/##, I was seated in seat ##. The FA asked me if I would switch seats, and I declined. The FA later said that because I had a small bruise on my arm (picture attached), I was not qualified to sit in the exit row, and demanded I relocate to middle regular economy seat ##, and moved the non-rev passenger from seat ## into my seat, next to his/her boyfriend/spouse.

As a long-time UA elite flyer who picked this seat well in advance of my flight, I am beyond mortified at the treatment your FA subjected me to. I am not seeking compensation, but hope that you may act to prevent this person from treating your other loyal paying customers so poorly.


Hopefully, UA looks at the seat record, notices there was a pass rider in the seat that you ended up in, and fires the FA and the pass rider for stealing E+ seats from the airline.



Because that's how we all get better service. If she has three little kids and really needs the job, then she should act like it.

When someone does something egregious (and this was egregious), speak up. Otherwise, you lose your "rant on the internet" privileges.

If you're not willing to subject the FA and (more importantly) the pass rider to a complaint, don't subject the rest of us to your rant.

riphamilton

perhaps a "consolidated negative experience with non-revs aboard UA" thread is in order for this forum. i have a handful of experiences that could be added.

notquiteaff

Agreed. It is doing everyone here (including United) a disfavor if the OP doesn't submit a complaint. It's not my decision on whether an incident causes a termination of an employee (I don't know the employer's rules and the history of said employee), but as a manager myself I believe the employer should be made aware of severe service problems. Otherwise there is little opportunity for them to prevent future reoccurrences.

OP, please submit the complaint. The wording suggested by raehl311 is perfect.

LordHamster

Agreed. The reason this kind of thing continues unabated despite severe consequences, is precisely because so few people ever follow through on documenting and reporting the bad behavior. Allowing bad apples to continue benefits nobody.

I have PERSONALLY witnessed an GA bypassing people on the Upgrade standby list to put their Non-rev friend into a first class seat. As with the OP here, I know it was a non-rev because they were gossiping about schedules, other FAs and United management loudly in the gate area. I wish I had reported it then, because clearly people continue to get away with this stuff.

gcashin

+1! Yes, please submit your complaint! Most of the FA's are fantastic, but the few bad apples shouldn't be getting away with this sort of stuff.

exwannabe

In most all posts of this general nature I suspect the other side might be very different.

But here? I do not see it.

Unless the OP totally fabricated the story there is simply no exaggeration or alternate version that could explain it. He was yanked out of an exit row for being injured while certainly more able to handle his duties than most others who claim the seats.

I am not asserting any cause to why the FA did as she did. But I see virtually no possibility that it was a proper seating action by her.