seacliffs

Hi FTers -

Wanted to share my latest adventure with travelling on UA and also get your input on what, if anything, you think United might do as a, 'Sorry - we should have done better.'.

Here's the bullet point version of the story:

*Requested upgrade using miles/copay in Oct for MEX-IAH-SYD-BNE flight in Jan.
*Not on upgrade list two days before flight.
*Called and placed on upgrade to list: #1 for MEX-IAH, #4 for IAH-SYD.
*Voluntary bumped to new flight. Told I would be re-listed on upgrade list.
*Not relisted despite multiple requests on my side to multiple people in multiple cities / on phone
*Six people upgraded from list
*Baggage delayed - still waiting for it!

(There was a multi-zillion paragraph version of the post - but I have archived that to the, ‘don’t write while extremely jet lagged and highly caffeinated folder... if you would like a copy - it’s 7432 pages long.)

united 1k flyer

This story seems like a lot of agents just didn’t want to deal with the mess so they just pushed it off. Good luck with United!

Imstevek

Way way way tl; dr

happy new Year!

nancypants

Just FYI for anyone reading this subsequently (and OP for the return journey), Qantas carry on allowance is now 14kg, 10+4

seacliffs

I had totally missed that change! Qantas international is still 7kg - but domestic is now 10 (+4)!

Thanks!

That’s why I made a bullet point version - for those people who would rather do something else on their weekend. 🤪

mctaste

I will be downloading this post to read on my own ride from LAX to SYD. Hope I have enough time!

seacliffs

if not, let me know - I was afraid I had cut out too many details... 😁

WineCountryUA

Other than the bags, don't see anything that is likely to get compensation, suggest skimming
Consolidated UA Lost/Delayed Baggage Issues

A Gold (is that right?) has poor upgrade chances on any of those flights (except maybe the MEX-IAH), so the damage here is speculative -- and 6 GS/1KS/Plats on LAX-SYD waitlist actually sound low.

FYI, the published waitlist issues have been well discussed in this forum, Upgrade waitlist / display / clearing issues since PlusPoints changeover

You might get a small response for the non-bag issue (if anyone reads the novella, a couple of thousand miles, but don't set higher expectations). There is really just one issue here -- delayed bags.

jsloan

And here I was about to reply the original version.

Unless the people who were on the upgrade list were also on the standby list, or seats flew empty, you probably wouldn’t have cleared.

That said, if they needed people badly enough, they could have put you directly into J on that flight without requiring an upgrade,. (Or, just cleared it automatically for you).

As for the baggage — you need to follow up with Qantas about that. The carrier that delivers you to your final destination is always responsible for luggage, even if it’s another airline that lost it.

seacliffs

Jsloan - did you read the whole novella?! If so, I have a copy of War and Peace you can have (might be a little short though by comparison).

I thought the same thing about Qantas - but for whatever reason, it’s still United’s problem. Maybe because I was supposed to have physically moved them and rechecked them to Qantas at the border?

At least I know that they are in the country now.

jsloan

Admittedly, when I got to the middle, I started to skim.

It doesn’t matter, unless maybe UA unloaded the bags and you simply neglected to pick them up as you walked past baggage claim to get to the domestic terminal. I mean, did QF expect you to sit in Sydney and wait for your luggage to arrive so that you could hand-carry it over to their check-in counter? And, even then, I’m not sure what they’re expecting you to do about it from BNE.

UA isn’t going to charter a flight to deliver your luggage. QF needs to work it out, and if they want to bill UA for the inconvenience, that’s on them. A strict reading of the Montreal Convention would show that you also have a claim against UA, and that they are jointly and severally liable for replacing the contents, but IATA policy is that the last delivering carrier is your primary point of contact, since they are assumed to have local facilities at your destination.

seacliffs

JSLOAN - how interesting. I definitely didn’t walk by them! Apparently they were offloaded in Houston and then just sat there 24 hours. Given all of what you said - I wonder why United took the claim in Sydney instead of pawning me off to Qantas. (At least with Qantas my amenity kit would have included some pajamas!). Food for future delayed baggage thought.

Have subsequently had several conversations with different baggage people who all say something different. The good news is that the bags have now made their way into a courier’s hands and he has said he hopes to deliver them tomorrow. He said one of the bags looks a little worse for the wear. I hope that is not code for, ‘totally destroyed’.

seacliffs

JSLOAN - I had an idea. Maybe when United redid my itinerary and dropped my Qantas leg - that absolved Qantas of all responsibility? (Even though the bags were originally through-checked with them? And even though I was subsequently added back onto Qantas.)

Who knows?

jsloan

Ah; I didn’t think about that. Assuming the bags were tagged through to your final destination, the UA agent should actually have told you to file the claim with QF at BNE. That probably would have been the most expeditious route. Since you’re working with UA now, though, I’d continue working with them. (I.e., if you have any receipts to submit for reimbursement, I’d send them to UA, since they accepted the case).

UA would be on the hook to repair damage and replace missing items up to a total of about $1550 per passenger with affected luggage. (This also includes whatever you’ve spent to replace items you’ve needed in the interim).

I mean, I assume you’re in BNE, right? Whoever got you to Brisbane would have been responsible to get your luggage to you, no matter what may have happened with the ticket during your volunteer rebooking. If it seems unfair — QF could have to reimburse you for things entirely out of their control — keep in mind that they can follow up behind the scenes if the scales don’t balance at the end of the quarter. Having one well-defined point of contact is supposed to help avoid the endless game of he-said, she-said where each airline blames the other and nobody will help the passenger.

ExplorerWannabe

From what you've posted it sounds like you bought the ticket as a 016 (US-based) ticket, flying UA to IAH and QF from IAH to SYD and SYD to BNE. If you checked your bags through but they sat at IAH for 24 hours, that sounds like an interlining foul-up. Having said that, you do need to pick up your bags at Customs in SYD and then recheck at the domestic terminal for your connection to BNE. IME, you don't have to do this on your way out. Perhaps the UA agent you spoke to aomehow assumed you were on the UA flight IAH-SYD, perhaps they felt it was a UA problem to fix since your bags sat at IAH instead of being transferred to the correct flight. Either way, QF will hvae to deliver them to you in the end but at least they are in country.

Good luck with the rest of your travels!