SocietyFlyGirl

Oh, you know the girl got her bag in the end? That it wasn't delayed or lost? That it wasn't stolen by one of the bag carousel thieves? That something valuable in it wasn't stolen or broken? And since it's checked luggage, UA isn't responsible for a broken camera, laptop, or other non-covered item??

The girl was an a-hole and it would have been an excellent story if the FA had been notified, FA pulled and checked luggage and gave girl the bag checks. Instead, the busybody in F went a little too far with his vigilante justice.

DeaconFlyer

Guts? How much guts does it take to lie to an FA instead of confronting the offender? Zero.

And pranks are jokes you play on your friends. Not a passive-aggressive way to get back at someone because you don't have the stones to say something to them yourself.

AGSF

She abandoned it?! I don't think so. When you place your bag in an overhead bin on a plane you are flying on, you are certainly not abandoning it. You are releasing the airline from liability if someone steals the bag (like the 1K did here), but you certainly are not abandoning it. And just because you put the bag in the wrong overhead bin on the plane you're flying on, does not mean you are abandoning it. There is absolutely nothing in United's contract with the passenger or in the law that supports this theory of abandonment.

This guy stole it. He bailed the bag with the airline, and took a claim check for the bag into his own possession, which is just like taking the bag into his possession. In criminal law, the taking (or possessing) of another's property without their consent is theft. No matter what a jerk the owner of that property is. He bailed a bag, took the claim check, and that is theft.

Edit to add a definition:
From Black's Law Dictionary:
abandomnemt, n 1. The relinquishing of a right or interest with the intention of never again claiming it.

flavorflav

No harm done? Well, we don't know, do we? For all we know, Mr. 1K is home sniffing Gen-Y panties as we speak. If I were UnitedPR, I'd forward this thread to the security department and have them decipher what flight this was to make sure the girl got her bag back.

As for whether a crime was committed, he certainly exercised enough unauthorized control -- removing the bag, giving it to someone else as if it was his own, pocketing the claim check -- to be charged with theft. What his intent was or whether he would be convicted is another story. I would strongly counsel FTers out there from trying the same stunt. As I said earlier, it's a good way to spend the afternoon in the airport security office -- at the minimum.

futureacnp

I'm sure we all have the well-known "Please don't leave your bag unattended. Unattended bags may be destroyed or damaged" announcements echoed in our heads.

In agreement with a couple of posters above me, I think these bags were left unattended.

Oh, ps, if I was diabetic and seated in row 37, I sure wouldn't want to leave my insulin in a bin above row 1

unavaca

Are there more customers out there who would pay extra to be jerk-free or are there more jerks out there? I suspect the answer is the latter and it's in UA's interest to court the larger crowd that's going to bring more revenue.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you guys are missing out on the sanity that is WN.

mrswirl

x1000

danville 1K

I think it all depends on who's ox is being gored. On this flight my calculation is there were two jerks, one in row 2 and 1 way in the far back of the plane. Both clearly out of line.

RS250Racer

Maybe....but the one in row 2 would not have been a jerk if not for the one in the back of the plane!

MrSydney

If she was diabetic surely she would have placed her carry on in the locker above her seat?.

Is this carry on business uniquely American? I fly on NZ often enough and have never once seen a drama with overhead lockers but I think the amount of carry on is strictly enforeced in both Australia and NZ.

I was pleased to read they were spoken to sternly by the SFO PD.

Loren Pechtel

Yeah, that announcement was in my mind, also.

AGSF

Unattended? My bag in an overhead bin of an aircraft I'm flying on is unattended? Seriously? So you always attend to your bag at all times when you're on a plane? You take it to the bathroom with you? You keep your hand on it while you're sleeping?

A bag left on a chair in the boarding area while its owner goes to get a burger is unattended because the owner of the bag could have left the airport, got on a flight, etc. A bag placed in an overhead bin -- even 30 rows ahead of you -- is not unattended when the owner is sitting in the same metal tube no more than a few dozen feet away. Common sense, please.

What if you are sitting in row 61 of economy on a United 747 to Frankfurt, and the only space for your bag was above row 34 in economy? Is your bag unattended, and subject to being destroyed or damaged? I really don't think so.

expatinglasgow

Criminal or not, the 1k's actions are certainly stupid. Those women could easily have turned this one around on the OP while talking to the police. A quick mention that they think someone might have taken their bag for some illicit purpose would have made the end of the story a lot less funny, methinks. There is no excuse for profanity towards strangers, but as the old saying goes, two wrongs don't make a right.

And as a Gen Yer, I would like to add that we do not all fit neatly into the OP's stereotype. Some of us are quite successful and make a fine living dealing with holier-than-thou types from older generations.

RI2KH2SU

One of the rudest and most foolish things I have ever heard about someone doing on a plane. Not at all "funny" to me.

Mark_K

Are you sure the sense of entitlement is not by exhibited by the people in first? Perhaps, you could reference the policy stating that people may only use the bins in their assigned cabins.

Not frequently, but I have seen people in coach do it in plain sight of an FA and nothing was said. I've also seen F/C passengers use E bins. I've always assumed it was more of a common courtesy issue than a rule, kind of like stowing your item in the bin above where you're sitting, unless there's not room.