GA gave away upgrade at gate to PAX lower than me on upgrade list
#1
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GA gave away upgrade at gate to PAX lower than me on upgrade list
1K here, playing the CPU game on DEN-SLC tonight. I was #1 on the upgrade list with one spot left. Flight was delayed (as usual—at least this time not because of crew scheduling), so I sat at the gate with music on my headphones, checking the upgrade list every ten min or so to see if I cleared.
Right before they started boarding, I looked at the standby list and they gave the upgrade to the #2 person on the list and skipped me. I asked the gate agent about it — and she said she called my name for an upgrade verbally without clearing me in the system, and since I didn’t come to the desk she gave it to the #2 person on the list.
From a process perspective, is this the new normal? I really don’t want to have to crouch by the gate in the blind hopes that the gate agent doesn’t give my upgrade away to a non-Rev. I’m obviously fine being outranked by a GS or someone on a GPU or RPU, but to lose an upgrade because I wasn’t apparently listening for my name to be called just seems weird. Anyone else face this?
Right before they started boarding, I looked at the standby list and they gave the upgrade to the #2 person on the list and skipped me. I asked the gate agent about it — and she said she called my name for an upgrade verbally without clearing me in the system, and since I didn’t come to the desk she gave it to the #2 person on the list.
From a process perspective, is this the new normal? I really don’t want to have to crouch by the gate in the blind hopes that the gate agent doesn’t give my upgrade away to a non-Rev. I’m obviously fine being outranked by a GS or someone on a GPU or RPU, but to lose an upgrade because I wasn’t apparently listening for my name to be called just seems weird. Anyone else face this?
#2
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Right before they started boarding, I looked at the standby list and they gave the upgrade to the #2 person on the list and skipped me. I asked the gate agent about it — and she said she called my name for an upgrade verbally without clearing me in the system, and since I didn’t come to the desk she gave it to the #2 person on the list.
#4
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Sounds like she wanted to hand a F boarding pass out ASAP so she wouldn’t have to deal with it later. Not the way to do it, but you can count on UA’s inconsistency. As such, I personally am listening to GA announcements in precisely situations like that. At least it wasn’t a long flight...
#5
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It a bit old school, but some agents will use the PA to page folks for upgrades before clearing the passenger. You are required to be in the gate area by T-15 and the agent knows if you have boarded. So not boarded and not responding to a page, the gate agent might assume you are a no show and to move on to the next passenger on the list
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Oct 16, 2018 at 12:24 am Reason: typo
#6
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Nonsense. You're required to check in by T-30. You're required to be at the gate by T-15. There's no reason whatsoever that a gate agent should be processing upgrades out of order. If somebody no-shows at T-15, upgrade the next person.
#7
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Again, not saying GA did best she could - just sayin’ I would have been listening. Can’t say OP wasn’t offered the upgrade.
Last edited by IAH-OIL-TRASH; Oct 16, 2018 at 12:34 am
#8
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#10
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#11
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GA is supposed to process the list. If the upgraded pax misses the boarding cut-off, GA upgrade the next in line. There is absolutely no requirement you wait at the gate for your upgrade.
This sounds like a shenanigan.
#12
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Whose assumption? I just need to be at the gate 15 minutes before scheduled departure.
GA is supposed to process the list. If the upgraded pax misses the boarding cut-off, GA upgrade the next in line. There is absolutely no requirement you wait at the gate for your upgrade.
This sounds like a shenanigan.
GA is supposed to process the list. If the upgraded pax misses the boarding cut-off, GA upgrade the next in line. There is absolutely no requirement you wait at the gate for your upgrade.
This sounds like a shenanigan.
#13
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It might be in theory under some circumstances, but in this case, the flight had not even started boarding yet. And OP was in the gate area. So while we can discuss T-15 in the abstract all we want, the bottom line is in this situation, the GA did not follow the rules. She wasn't even close. I'm willing to bet she didn't call OP's name, either.
#14
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As I have seen the GA's use the paging approach, that is a high speculative statement. While we can agree the GA may have done this in a non-standard method, that is no reason to believe it was done for underhanded reasons.
#15
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Let’s say flight is originally scheduled for 7pm. T-15 is 6:45p. Flight gets delayed a bit. UA often will tell passengers to stay in boarding area as estimated departure time may change. I think the concept of T-15 is a bit vague at that point. Again, not saying GA did job right, just saying concept of T-15 is a bit foggy.
It is not an instance that the GA eventually offloaded OP. I believe the T-30/15 or whatever is irrelevant for this case.