Phantom Baggage Allowance?
 

Hi, I'm seeing mismatched baggage allowance on my bookings and wonder if anyone has run into this?

Booking A is MileagePlus award booking with 1 pax, direct United flight from Hawaii to contiguous US

• When booking the ticket, it was showing first bag $0, second bag $45
• "Your United reservation for ... is processing" email showed first bag $30$0, second bag $45 (yes, $30 is crossed out)
• E-Ticket email and baggage calculator had first bag $35, second bag $45
• Reservation page showed Bags Prepaid with green check mark, and 1 under "Checked bags included"

but this direct flight got cancelled and I was moved to a connecting flight, still on United, and

• New "Your United reservation for ... is processing" email showed first bag $30$0, second bag $45
• New E-Ticket email had first bag $35, second bag $45
• Reservation page now no longer showing any bag included
• United agent says they can't see any indication of free bag on my booking and on the flight change paper trail

Booking B is cash fare (Break from Business, if that matters) with >2 pax in the other direction, United flight

• I forgot what was showing when booking the tickets
• E-Ticket email and baggage calculator both show 1st bag $35, 2nd bag $45
• Reservation page shows Bag Prepaid with green check mark, and 1 included under myself, 1 under P1, and 0 for remaining people

Which figure should I trust? I don't have status with United and I no longer have their credit card, so I was surprised that somehow I got baggage included, but the fact that it was gone after moving to a new flight makes me question if those were really there. I also tried to dummy book both routes (cash or miles) just now and they are still showing first bag free during checkout.

It's come up sporadically on the board, yes. Your correct baggage allowance is zero. The "processing" email probably isn't going to help, as it's neither the receipt nor presented during the purchase flow. However, take a screenshot of it showing the first bag free during checkout, and look to see if there's any explanatory text related to being a credit card holder.

Assuming there's not any, you can try your luck with the check-in agents, but expect to have to pay the fee. After travel, you can request a refund, which will likely not be granted, and then file a DOT complaint. The DOT rules are simple: both the price displayed during the purchase process and the receipt have to be correct. I can't promise, but I'd expect that UA would refund the bag free quickly rather than try to press a case that looks very much like bait and switch.

Pretty sure they have it disclaimed now on both the booking path and in the eTicket receipt that charges displayed are correct for these scenarios only if your situation is the same at check in as it was when you booked.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3572007e25.png
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...16c3a7dc89.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8138c34faa.png

Irrelevant unless the actual charge is shown too.

$35 $0, with an obvious disclaimer explaining the situation, fine.
However, at some point UA switched to receipts that only show the lower amount — just the $0, without the struckthrough amount. I cannot see any way that’d be valid under the law, since the amount to be paid isn’t printed on the receipt.