dog3

Hi everyone,

I am curious about my rights and responsibilities as a passenger when it comes to checking in. I am thinking this is something that ought to have some obvious answers and really is kind of a basic question, but I'm stumped.

The basic question is: when the airline says that a passenger "has to be checked in by 60 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure time" (or similar language), what does that *precisely* mean in terms of the passenger's responsibilities?

Over Christmas, there was, as most of us probably remember, a terrible blizzard throughout the middle of the US. Well, I was at Newark...

My departure was at around 0730, for St Lucia (UVF) from EWR. I took the first train out of Penn Station from Manhattan to Newark. I got to Newark's air train about 2 hours before scheduled departure. So far so good.

This is when I started having problems. It was bitterly cold that morning, in the single digits (Fahrenheit) after a 40-degree drop (55 to 15 F) in a few hours the previous afternoon. A little snow, but not too bad. In any case, it seemed the air train was having technical problems, because it was running at a very reduced schedule. It took about half an hour-+ to get to the check-in area instead of ~10 minutes. Normally I would have had ample time, arriving 1:20 before departure. I am a United 1K and have every conceivable "cut-the-line" pass (Nexus card, CLEAR, and whatnot). Well, not Christmas Eve. There were literally hundreds of people standing in the 1K/Polaris line, alone. I have no idea what it looked like in Economy check-in...

I spoke to one of the staff doing "triage" at the velvet rope, although to be honest that day it wasn't so much triage as "oh you're screwed"... but got myself sent to the check-in machine, maybe 1:15 before departure.

Great! I key in my info, scan my passport or whatever it needed, get my seat assigned, and key that I have 1 luggage. This takes a few seconds.

A uniformed gentleman appears to help me with my bags---at this point the normal procedure is, they check your ID, apply the baggage tags with the little "priority" sticker, and send you on your way.

Well not this Christmas Eve. There is some sort of check-in exception. No one really explained what. It's international travel and my documents were flagged for an extra check, maybe? Or some other exception? Who knows.

Nothing grave, I think. The problem was: there was only ONE person working for United who appeared to have the power to clear whatever the situation was---it was somehow above the pay grade of the person who had stepped up to help me, and above the pay grade of everyone else who was working there, except the one lady with a line of a dozen people.

I try to interject that hey I am missing my flight and those folks already have missed their flights, if you help me you will have one fewer to deal with later. To no avail.

My flight to St. Lucia was maybe one of the very few flights that actually left on time that day. Without me, of course!

This is really the end of the story as far as I my original question goes, but I will fill in a little bit more in case someone thinks it might be relevant. I am given a boarding pass for a flight from EWR to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) later that day and from Miami (MIA) to UVF on American the next morning. I am left to figure out how to get myself from FLL to MIA (Lyft) myself and a hotel room (in MIA) myself. I am not offered any assistance with any of this on the spot.

It gets worse. UA has (I think) four flights to FLL that day. Mine was the one that was cancelled. It was cancelled at 0200 the next morning. I sleep at EWR and am on the first flight out of EWR Christmas morning and get to FLL too late to catch my flight to UVF that day. I get rebooked on American for Boxing Day and get another night's hotel. Of course I miss out on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as planned in St. Lucia... And yes my Christmas night hotel was forfeited because I didn't arrive to check in (being stuck at EWR). In total I guess my direct additional costs came to ~$600.

United told me that they would not reimburse the costs because it was "weather related". I don't see how their lack of staffing is due to "weather"? But I wonder whether they are being "nice" to me, because it is after all my responsibility to be checked in an hour before the flight's departure, and I wasn't. (They subsequently gave me $150 travel credits and 10K miles, because well, I whined a few times, and I am a 1K + 1MM... I think?)

I think they really dropped the ball on the flight I had to FLL, since they could have put me on an earlier flight, even had me go standby, even fairly late in the day, but there was an almost total breakdown at United that day (not as bad as Southwest of course...). I did call them several times that day---the 1K line had waits of 1-2 hours so I spent multiple hours just listening to hold music, but they didn't really do anything except advise me to take my booked flight. So yes while this action or lack of action really made a bad situation worse, I can't really blame anyone for it given how chaotic the day was.

What I am really wanting to ask the forum is this... does anybody know what my responsibility as passenger is with respect to check-in?

I have to be checked in by 60 minutes in advance of departure. But I am standing at the check-in machine, with all my details keyed in, frantically waving my passport around, 75 minutes before check-in, and United simply refuses to complete the check-in. Is that not on them? But if it *is* on them, just how far away from being checked in can I be? What if I say I was in the building 61 minutes before departure? Or in its general vicinity? Or just somewhere in New Jersey? That makes no sense either? But does it make sense that the airline can refuse to check someone in and say you should have been there earlier, even though you're actually "done" on time?

Surely this comes up fairly often? When you arrive at the airport and miss your flight because the check-in line is extremely long, you have a variant of my problem. Is there a concept of a reasonable handling time in the check-in lobby?

By the way what made this such a mess is really that United only has a single flight a week from EWR to UVF. "waiting for the next flight" would have meant flying on New Year's Eve.

WineCountryUA

The strict rule is checked-in by the cutoff -- not partially checked , not almost at check-ed in --- checked in and that is a clearly defined condition. However, usually if you are in the process of doing check-in, a supervisor can override and get you finished. The chaos of that day may have prevent that and for the same reason you had trouble getting to the check-in counter also impacted some employees, leading to the short staffing.

jsloan

It is on you. You failed to provide enough time to complete the check-in process.

I’m not really pointing fingers — under those conditions, I probably would have missed the flight also. But having UA offer you an interline connection, even with the crosstown transfer, was IMO a fantastic result.

bmwe92fan

When I was young I prioritized time efficiency over all else - and given my status with the airlines it always worked.... Fast forward 20 years and now I am the opposite -- it's not about managing my time -- it's about managing my stress -- and even as a GS on UA (and the highest level status on multiple airlines) - service just isn't what it used to be - so I allocate a few extra hours that I can spend in the PL -- and I have a much more enjoyable life experience....

OP -- you are both right and wrong -- in a perfect world you were right... In the real world -- you missed your holiday.... To me it's a simple choice these days -- travel isn't what it used to be -- or what it should be -- so I allocate a few extra hours per flight - but I realize that I didn't always feel this way....

eng3

I'm pretty sure it's in the computer. Once you pass the time, they can dump you from the flight. I've heard GA's discussing this and they sometimes will take many factors into account to decide when they dump you to clear standbys or when they wait. ("He's GS, I'll give him a few more min", "He's local and still hasn't checked in? I don't think he's coming", to me: "I have to give him 1 more min to checkin, then I can give you the seat", etc). Either way, 100% your responsibility. Ofcourse you can complain to UA about anything and they're probably throw you at ETC eventually just to make you go away.

I'm curious what the exception was that didn't allow you to check in? . 99% of people (not flying basic economy) can just check in online so they don't really have the issue you speak of. Maybe they are delayed boarding ontime or getting to the baggage drop but not actually checking in. Ideally, you would have been able to checkin online but something prevented you from doing so.

What you describe at EWR doesn't seem too much different from a typical day. Poor line management, seemly only one person able to fix your problem.
This happened to me alot during covid trying to get my passport or test docs checked to be allowed to checkin. Even if I was already checked in and just wanted to print a boarding pass, same issue. There would be a huge line in the 1K/Polaris area and the guy would say that was the only area for intl flights. I'd ignore him and goto another area and find an agent to help clear me. The one agent didn't go in order of who's light started flashing first, she would just goto whoever was closed. Being more proactive/aggressive was required to get her attention. And that's just checkin, don't get me started about CLEAR.

DJ_Iceman

OP, I think you're focusing too much on the "check-in 60 minutes before your flight" thing. While it certainly sounds like EWR was a slopshow that day, I would have expected that given it was 12/24 and the weather was bad. I know I often get those "it's going to be busy at the airport so we suggest you show up 3-4 hours before your flight" emails from UA, which for the most part I promptly ignore. Like you (and probably 90% of Flyertalkers), I know my way around most any airport and have all the cards and statuses that help expedite things. The only time I prioritize low-stress over max-efficiency (as bmwe92fan so aptly described) is when I'm traveling someplace like a vacation that has either limited flight options to get to and/or a big consequence to arriving late. The other thing I avoid whenever I can is checking a bag, but again it's those special vacation trips when I'm most likely to need to.

It sounds like the only thing you could have done would have been to spend the night at an EWR hotel so that you could have gotten to the UA check-in desk even earlier. UA rebooking you through FLL and on a competitor's connection seemed like a good accommodation, and it was just dumb bad luck that your flight to FLL got cancelled and you ended up stranded. And them giving you $150 travel credit and 10k miles seems like a very nice gesture.

If this had happened to me, I'd be frustrated too and probably wanting more. But sitting here as an impartial observer, it seems UA did enough and you probably should have gotten to the airport sooner. I see shared blame, and the way things stand, shared responsibility.

dog3

Ah I am not really thinking they owe me anything, as we can see, the only thing I really could have done is spend the previous night at EWR (instead of the next!)
@eng3 : I can usually check in online, definitely on domestic itineraries it's never a problem. Now international, I usually fly connecting flights on multiple airlines, and I'm used to there being all sorts of problems checking in. It worked last time on ARN-MUC-SFO-LAX but that was a surprise. First time in years. I have several odd documents (green card holder, my name isn't an exact match between various documents (in ways that are hard to fix)), and maybe checking my passport against St. Lucia visa requirements... ? No idea, really. I get a different story every time there is a problem and I ask, and it always seems a bit made up on the spot.

I am very spoiled by my home airports (BUR / LAX). Things are always super smooth for me there---especially since COVID! I usually avoid EWR like the plague but going to UVF, it was the only reasonable choice.

In any case, UA did send me an email that said that their staffing shortage itself was "weather related" and it seems my credit card insurance is willing to take that as a "weather-related delay". I'd rather not have missed Christmas but ah well. Actually, come to think of it, oddly United hasn't spelled out (like you have here) that they have no responsibility for providing adequate check-in staffing. But I suspected that was the background based on the response that I did get, and yeah, the travel credit and miles were because I'm a whiny 1K and not because I am actually entitled to anything.

A little odd to me though that the airline can require that we passengers do something specific, not provide a reasonable level of support to get it done, and then say it's on us. I don't think that would, ahem, fly in most areas of contract law. What if they had had zero check-in staff? Would everyone flying that day be SOL?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I travel only w/ carry-on if I can. Just sayin"

The cutoff for checked bags is when one can no longer print the tag out at a kiosk, so time needs to be allocated to actually be in front of a kiosk by that cutoff time. Certainly can't blame OP for results - just ran into a couple of annoying (and time consuming) hurdles. Seems to me the AirTrain at EWR has hiccups during the winter more so than other times. A couple of Decembers ago, they were using buses between the rail station and the terminals because the AirTrain was kaput - that's one factor I put into my calculations now when arriving to EWR from NYC. OP took 1st train out of Penn, so outside of cab/Uber did best he could.

Hipplewm

I mean you didn't help yourself by any stretch. Arriving to the airport in the nick of time where everything had to go perfect in EWR on Christmas eve with sub zero temps etc - that is a LOT optimistic. I mean i like your optimism, but this time it bit you.

I am at a small airport and I can generally get from my parked car, check 2 bags and be sitting at the gate in 12-14 minutes. I still arrive 2 hours early for domestic - just in case. Maybe that is the military "If you aren't 15 min early, then you are late mentality" but I would rather be early than try and explain to someone why I couldn't be on time for something.

mduell

I don't really see a 15 minute wait for checkin as being a sign of inadequate staffing, especially in one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. Presenting yourself at checkin mere minutes before the cutoff time during that season doesn't really make for a sympathetic case, when the general industry guidance is arriving at the airport 2-3 hours before scheduled departure.

dmurphynj

Sorry to hear about this — it’s kinda every traveler’s nightmare. I always think “what would my parents do?” in these scenarios — they’re smart folks but don’t know “the game” so to speak. At least you’re a well seasoned traveler that knows how to get around and deal with travel adversity.

unfortunately EWR is an airport that runs near capacity on a good day. All it takes is one thing to go wrong and it snowballs fast. In your case, the broken airtrain and the lack of staffing (which I guess is to be expected on a holiday) combined for a bad day. EWR is my home airport and I usually play the “how late can I arrive?” game when I’m on less-urgent biz travel and such. But when it matters, when it really matters, I’ll be there 3 hours before a flight. Thankfully it’s got a nice Polaris lounge and UC, so depending on where I’m headed, I’ve got somewhere to wait. Heck, if I’m thinking about it, I’ll use it as an excuse to book a reservation at Classified.

So yeah, it’s not pleasant but given that a) it was an important holiday trip for you; b) you know you have paperwork snafus frequently; c) you were dropping a bag; and d) it’s a holiday at EWR …. That’s a solid calculus for “get there really early.”

Lesson learned.

I also wanted to say thank you for taking it in stride. I’ve seen enough DYKWIA meltdowns over the years to really appreciate it when I see folks who handle things calmly and with their wit about them. So thank you!!

jhayes_1780

Yea, that was quite a storm, the waiver was actually issued on the 19th Travel Waiver: East Coast Winter Weather (December 22, 2022 - December 25, 2022)

I really echo most of the comments above. You rolled the dice, and unfortunately crapped out.

Only 2 things I may have done different:

1. I would have dumped the baggage and went carry on only, like literally left the bag at the curb (well, told staff I was doing it, don't want a bomb scare ).
2. I would have been more proactive on getting to MIA (via UA or ANYONE) in the region (NYC, PHL, etc). Especially traveling solo.

HNLbasedFlyer

Without going thru the very long winded post. At least at SFO I’ve found the 45 minute checkin for bags to be very strict.

nexus7556

EWR was a mess that week. I missed a flight to STT on Dec 22 after waiting 75 minutes trying to check-in a bag at the 1K line. Well, there was no dedicated 1K line, it was combined with the Premier Access line and as OP described there was about 100 people waiting. Bag drop shortcut was no better. Fortunately there are daily flights to STT and they were able to book us on the flight the next day.

physioprof

I have always been inclined as you in your old age... One of my good friends, to the contrary, travels by the metric that if he doesn't miss at least one or two flights per year, he is wasting too much time waiting around in airports...