halls120

Repooc17

Previous person(s) stood on the wrong line, so the agent made an assumption.

The agent was having a bad morning, so dismissed the flyer with rudeness.

Could have been a number of reasons, but w/o substantiation, best not to play the race card. File a report for sure, for bad customer service.

StuckinITH

My wife did experience this when in reality she needed help from an agent. You would think that when you deplane from Polaris Business in ORD and have some problem, the person manning the line would let you talk to an agent.

But, then, things like this happens in every airline. Three years ago, my wife managed to get a First Class ticket from LHR to PEK on BA in First Class. She arrives at LHR near the Business Class check-in. Even though there was a line there, a BA employee tells her here is where she needs to go. My wife points to First Class check-in way to the right, the BA person says no, here is where you need to go. That day my wife chose to ignore the BA employee and went to the First Class check-in. Coming back from it with her boarding pass in her hand, she had to pass again near that BA employee. He did apologize.

username

Well, being a visible minority myself, I understand this...and there is some sensitivity on our part in these situations. In the 90s, we ran into this sending off my father on an AC flight in Montreal - the agent just told us to line up in the Y queue when we had a J ticket.

I have had a case where the FA only did half of the exit row briefing "you are sitting at an exit row" and expected me to say yes. When I hesitated, waiting for the question, she asked me if I understood her.

Then some time later, I ran into some UA employees who had "Diversity and Inclusion" polo shirts on. So, I wrote to 1kvoice and asked them to follow up with that group

UA should definitely train their employees to be better on this front. It is a global airline and they should act accordingly. Another thing I think they need to fix is how fast some FAs speak on the PA. How do you expect those whose first language is not English to follow?

ExplorerWannabe

Sorry but from where I'm sitting, assuming it from the start is what's nonsensical. There are a number of factors that could have led the GA to assume the OP wasn't in the right line. Not having been there, I don't know if any of them fit the case but it's a possibility.
Immediately after 9/11, I was active duty military with a bunch of guys who would travel internationally frequently. They all told me that they were selected for secondary security checks about half the time they were traveling on military orders. Of course, the fact they were traveling on military orders shouldn't have shown on their tickets or boarding passes. The guys who looked Scandanavian or Celtic were picked no less frequently than the ones with darker skin.

Of course, the best policy for anyone -- customer service or not -- is to just not assume but there's no reason to immediately jump to racial profiling as an explanation.

laxmillenial

Beltway2A

I've never seen the phrase "the race card" used outside of a Fox News-ism for "You're making people uncomfortable by recognizing race exists." I agree that OP should file a complaint, but see no reason not to include the basis for what he perceived as the issue.

I get it about 8 times out of 10 at any US airport, despite precheck. Never had it at SFO though. But mentioning I'm a brown guy of South Asian descent makes some people uncomfortable.
Yes, though I don't think it would hurt to drop them a line on Twitter as well, if you use the platform.

flyerbaby19

agree. let it go and move on.

halls120

Sheikh Yerbooty

I'm a middle aged, blue eyed, pale skinned Scandinavian. I used to travel upwards of 100-150 days a year, mainly long-haul and always in J or F (if I had miles to burn on upgrades). My first and only priority when travelling is comfort, and I therefore dressed as comfy as possible; jeans, t-shirt, sneakers and sweater. I've lost count of times I was 'mistaken' for monkey class riff-raff, having experienced attempts to turn me away from F/J check-in, priority security, lounges, priority boarding and even from turning left when entering the aircraft. Not once did I link this with racial profiling, regardless of whether it took place in Africa, the Middle East, SE Asia or the Far East.

halls120

lamphs

UA Premier Access at IAD is particularly aggressive about ensuring that a passenger belongs there to the point an agent will block a passenger's path and ask several questions to determine eligibility. I have seen this occur with all kinds of passengers. It is irritating, but on the other hand the practice keeps the area open to those who belong there.

halls120

I support this practice. CSRs should monitor access to premier/1K, and they have been aggressive at IAD for a long time. I've been challenged many times there, and all I do is show my MP card and I'm let in. That's fine. Making assumptions based on appearance is not.

username

One important thing is when they challenge, they should really ask the right questions. Some just ask "First? Business?" and I usually play along and say no. Then when they are ready to re-direct me, I say 1K

Two Bee

I personally see NOTHING in the above encounter that would indicate that the t/a was raciest, although she just might be one.

When I brought my son over here 7 years ago from Thailand, being very dark complected, he was also super self conscious, and mentioned to me several times that he was different, and I could tell that he was extremely upset about this fact, and it bothered him a lot. As time went on, and he went thru high school, and starred on the soccer team, he adjusted and fit in very well. There was a small group of affluent punks that continually ganged up on him, but he ignored them and things moved on without a hitch. He didn't report them to the dean, he just took the high road, and now he is in college, and has adjusted to America very well.

The OP just needs to blow off little things like being told to move to another line, and quit assuming that it is because of his race that he was dissed. ...and as others have mentioned, these agents are lazy, and it is their m.o. to automatically direct EVERYONE somewhere else so that they can just "Hang Out!"

Naw! The OP was treated just like EVERYONE else who gets assisted by this t/a, so in that respect he is just a regular UA pax, and he should feel honored that he gets handled just like the rest of us!