jsloan

FlyerTalker70

There is a time and a place for airport swaps. Having flown recently from HKG to YOW, I had to swap airports in Tokyo (going from HND to NRT). The itinerary gave me 11 hours to make the swap which was perfect since it allowed me to explore Tokyo for a few hours before catching my UA flight in NRT. I grant you that these instances are rare, especially for domestic travel where the connection times are often much tighter and traffic in major cities like NY and Washington can be insane.

The cardinal sin that UA committed here was not disclosing this important piece of information at the end and even then it didn't really call out this important fact. I don't know about you, but when I search for flights on UA or elsewhere, I first want to compare the fares and itinerary before determining which option to go with. Disclosing these details at the very end does not match the way people book flights and is misleading if I were giving UA the benefit of the doubt.

That being said, I'm probably one of the rare millennials who don't use mobile phones for travel booking at all. The mobile travel booking experience always feels rushed and I'm worried I'll make a mistake along the way which I wouldn't make if I was at a desktop and had the time ( and screen real-estate) to carefully deliberate over it. Also, is it just me or is the UA Mobile experience not as good as the desktop experience (i.e. certain functionality doesn't always work properly on the UA Mobile app like checkin)?

Safe Travels,

James

raehl311

For the record, the airport change wasn't really disclosed at all - but the one hint that there was a change (IAD instead of DCA on one leg right above where it says "Stop in Washington, DC (DCA) / Change Planes" was the screen in the middle where you selected class of service. The itinerary selection screen and the purchase confirmation screen had no indication of the airport change at all.

It appears this is a case where routing rules, often quite relaxed on mileage tickets, might also "help" out - the itinerary with the airport change only comes up on mileage bookings, but not searches for revenue tickets.

lincolnjkc

I stand corrected/informed; I agree it (i.e. the 2nd bag fee collection) would appear to violate 14 CFR 399.85 and thus by definition would be considered a deceptive practice since only one fee is disclosed. (There's also a potential tag on in that regard the receipt indicates the "origin and destination" and doesn't mention any WAS airport in there, implying that the baggage will be through-checked [despite the explicit contrary effect in the CoC] but that seems like more of an uphill interpretation battle)

I also agree that it's a symptom of a different issue than the original minimally-disclosed change of airports -- but at the end of the day if you run a red light the "why" isn't terribly relevant.

Unfortunately, my reading of 49 USC 41712 would seem there's no real enforcement teeth for a single traveler.

aresef

Fair enough. But I think there's a difference between getting between NRT and HND (where there is door to door transportation available) and between DCA and IAD. But I think that messaging needs to be clear, yes, and that United also needs to proactively offer passengers information on how to get to that other airport. Furthermore, selling some of these fares hides some of the cost involved in getting from airport to airport.

drewguy

This disclosure seems entirely adequate. Not sure why United can't make such a disclosure on the mobile app as well - booking a ticket shouldn't be a trap for the unwary.

lincolnjkc

I thought when the Silver Line is completed there will essentially be a door-to-door connection between the two airports.
I can see though why both a cross-town connection would be beneficial in some cases (e.g. JFK for a *A partner to EWR or LGA; or even EWR UA INTL arrival, spend the night having fun in NYC and come home via LGA -- an itinerary I've seen multiple times and considered booking if not for the fact that both Ms. LincolnJKC and I have blown all of our vacation time on the "international" side of the trip so don't have an extra day so spare) and also why UA would want to avoid making specific transfer recommendations ("It's your fault the we in a wreck -- you suggested Uber" or "Your fault we missed our connection because the shuttle driver was slow" -- even if no actual liability was attached to either situation)

drewguy

It will be about as door to door as Uber. It will require a walk to the Metro station, a change of lines, and a walk from the Metro station (which, at IAD is rather long). The overall time will be similar, depending on delays.

aresef

Nah, it's gonna be a haul between that station and the gates, and you underestimate what a mess WMATA is.

I think UA can protect itself from liability by saying these are just recommendations, that you're still responsible for getting to the other airport on time. It isn't a gamble to offer general guidance like "this bus runs every 30 minutes, take it then get on this train etc etc."

Sykes

The lack of "Enforcement teeth" in the statute for a single traveler doesn't really matter because, once the OP reaches the right person at United, United will make good on the bag fee anyway. Having said that, if he does run into difficulty reaching that person, this is exactly the mechanism for which DOT complaints were created. DOT complaints serve two purposes:

1) Airlines are required by law to provide a substantive response to the complaint within 60 days. This means that someone (usually much further up the food chain than you'd typically interact with) has to actually read the complaint and address the specific issues that arose.

2) It creates a record of the issue that can be used by the DOT to pursue enforcement action if there are systemic problems.

Because of #2 , it is pretty much always in the airline's best interest to resolve the issue in the consumer's favor in situations where there is genuine ambiguity. The bag fee is a clear example of this. The Uber fare is a bit of an uphill battle, but it's worth asking for it. I don't think that a refund of the miles themselves is a worthy claim, though, since they did get you to your destination.

pfpdx

Yep. Clearly a failure. Need the same warning flag that the mobile APP has. And given how rare it is, and how few people would actually want to book it, a BE style pop up would be warranted on both mobile and desktop.

I'd reach out to united first, with a clear ask of what you want, and then escalate.

Again, give united a chance to make it right. But could be interesting to drop a note to DOT/Conde Nast, since once complaint to CR probably wont change the software.

Hope so


I've wondered about that. Gotten away with the under 7, within 24 before.

Yaaaaa. Good to know, that should be a MAJOR FT thread when it changes....

JBerger

United did disclose at time of booking they were charging us two checked bagged fees per person due to their scheduling of endurance flight times because of connecting flights. To avoid this we booked Southwest (no baggage or change fees) to the connecting airport ; then United from there to our destination (which was not serviced by Southwest). The savings on checked bag fees alone paid for a restful overnight break. On the return United changed our layover from 31/2 hours at LAX to 6 hours. So in that case I insisted United reroute us through IAD with a 1 hour layover.

drowelf

I've seen 2 instances of this happening in the last 2 years. Once at Check-In and once at a Gate in Dulles. The first instance, when the passenger noticed that her bag was only tagged IAD, she asked what was up. At the point the agent informed her that she would need to retrieve her luggage at IAD and proceed (on her own) to DCA for continuation of her flight. A small tantrum resulted from this conversation, but as I left I did not get to hear the resolution, if any.

Second time was at my departure gate at IAD when a deplaning passenger asked a GA where gate xyz was from here. After a moment of confusion, GA asked to see boarding pass, upon which the passenger was informed that her gate was at DCA. This one got lucky though. as the flight was about 45 minutes late landing, there was no way she could get to DCA in time anyway. Passenger had no checked baggage, so GA told her to go see service desk and get rebooked to her destination, which happened to have a departing IAD flight.

flyerCO

I believe the wording is meant for those times you check a bag in at a connecting point. Ie family brings bag to you at connection airport, and you check it in there instead of at start of trip. I've never been charged by any airline, including UA when forced to recheck bags due to co-terminal connection. By your reading UA would be in its rights to charge passengers again after exiting customs when rechecking the bag.

If UA refuses to make passenger whole, I would file a DOT complaint. This is misleading by any definition. The fact OP was charged bag fees twice, especially when fees are clearly laid out in receipt, makes it only that much more of an egregious case.

uastarflyer