lhrsfo

Since when have they applied this? My last few departures from the UK have all been upraded, either as an op-up (presumably not subject to the tax??) or the last two were using SWUs - I wasn't charged.

MODS - Is this worthy of a topic in itself?

Unfortunately, the lot who are likely to replace them are unlikely to repeal this - they seem to lap up all taxes as well.

I'm not sure that £45 saving would cover the Eurostar costs to Paris. More sensible would UA doing a deal with LH, whereby an upgraded ticket could be Y to FRA and then C onwards to the US - this should avoid the tax altogether.

Silver Fox

I may have misread it from other threads but some chap was charged £440 for his family if he flew to Thailand from the UK, and if he flew from France he could save that money. And of course I cannot find the thread again. I so hope I am wrong in my interpretation of this "green" tax (I think that was how Gormless Broon "sold" it!

PS. from your screen name it looks like you may do the LHR-SFO thing like I do.

lhrsfo

I recently used miles to go to CPT in C and was charged the tax. What's new - and very worrying - in this is the application of the tax to an upgrade, as opposed to a purchase.

Yes, the LHR-SFO run is a very common one for me and I can't wait for 931 to return!

RichardInSF

Supposedly the "one carry-on bag only" rule from Brussels ended on January 8, can anyone confirm or contradict that?

2358

Does this mean you don't pay the tax if you don't get upgraded until the gate (oh how wonderful that beep sounds! ), do you have to pay it for an Op Up?

or maybe there won't be so much competition now for upgrades

dgcpaphd

Actually, the jet way searches at GRU & GIG have gone on longer than four years. The nonsense began after the 9-11 disaster.

Infraero recently sub contracted with a new company that have a lot of trainees doing the searches.

The search process is so unprofessional and aggravating. It is a sad commentary to see little children and old people (and in between) pulled aside and told to put their hands in the air so that one of the searchers can run a metal detection wand around them. Then the search of their carry-on begins.

The search process is senseless considering that all passengers and their carry on have already gone through the metal detector and x-ray located at security.

Skymonster

Not on 13th they weren't - I was NC LHR-LAX on 13th and didn't get charged any extra at checkin or gate

Andy

unavaca

While not quite helpful for the HKG-SFO situation, my friends were forced to chuck a bottle of duty-free liquor at AMS on the way back to IAH on KL. They were none too happy about that.

kenhawk

I hope they broke the bottle in the trash can so that it did not become a gift for the "security officials"!

kaboom36

I flew from EDI-LHR-IAD-IAH on Friday.

EDI-LHR - With BMI, told them my final destination is gonna be at IAH. Standard questions: Has anyone given you anything? etc... However, they could not print UA boarding pass for me from (LHR-IAD, IAD-IAH). But I told them I already obtained my boarding pass through UA online checkin.

LHR-IAD - *A lounge reception agent advised me not to use my paper boarding pass to board since I did not check in at London and direct me to UA connection to obtain UA boarding pass with security sticker.

Monitor displayed "go to gate" status at 10:15am for departure time of 12:05pm. Before getting to gate sitting area, security people searched all bags and everyone was padded down. After I sat down, sure enough, gate agent announced "If you did not check in at London, please go to the desk for passport check". Since I got my UA boarding pass at Terminal 1 UA Transfer desk, that qualified me as checked in at London so I did not need to get my passport check again at the gate.

Got onboard, IFE was working normally with flight map, but no channel 9. We arrived at IAD earlier. Everything was usual, 20 to 25 minutes before landing for landing preparation etc..

Couples changes I experienced, bag searched, padded down, and origin of your check in (additional question). Otherwise, everything else was normal.

dawg1k

I fly the LAX/LHR route quite a bit and I dread the fact that we're back to a single carry on. Does anyone have any current experience with alternative routes on UA that allow two carry-ons back to the US? I see AMS, BRU, and LHR all show only one bag is allowed on united.com

gabrielz

From CDG to IAD on 1/1 I was allowed 2 carry ons in C

actonma

Flew back from on LHR on Friday and agent said that LHR was now allowing 2 carry-ons (carry-on + personal item) provding that the carry-on was small, although she said small was defined and suggested/requested that I check mine (which I did) but others (non UA) had full size Rollerboards and weren't stopped at security.

RichardInSF

I understand FRA allows 2, about to find out for myself in two days!

Regarding the above post, if they are going to stop you, wouldn't it be at the gate when they do a secondary search? Lots of people passing through security aren't flying to the US, although I guess it could be enforced by the boarding pass checker if need be.

vandalby

I can also confirm no problem with multiple carryons out of LHR. Just the week before last was LHR-ORD. Not only was I not subject to any screening at the gate, but there were no issues getting a rollerbag and shoulderbag / briefcase on board. In fact, I even managed to get a small 3rd bag - a shopping bag with a gift for the kid. Granted, I was a 1K in C so maybe that helped for a bit of a blind eye, but really it was an absolute breeze.

I should add that the first round of security screening - right after checkin was not as pleasant toward my rollerbag. The bag is a standard roller that fits without problem into every mainline UA aircraft in the states. BAA at first tried to prohibit the bag, then forced me to try the template. I have to say, the UK template is a bit smaller than the US template, so beware that you may get some flak through the first round of security.