magiciansampras

Where? What airline? What were the details?

fastair

What I do if a) inventory on the alternate flight is tight, or b) time is a critical variable is to 1) rebook the passenger on the next flight (early) but not process them, 2) notify those that need seats that I have enough people willing to give up their seats to get them one, but not until t minus 10 min, 3) notify the VDB that as time is tight, I have already processed some of the steps and will quickly process them if they are needed.

If I am working a gate by myself, though, at times I have to run and close the plane up and that takes anywhere from 3-10 min, and the actual processing of the cert will come after I have pulled the jetbridge. Depending on the alternate flight, that could cut into the time to get the VDB to the next flight. Processing them before pulling the bridge (while waiting till the last second to determine if he/she will be needed) would jeopardize the on-time dptr of the current flight. One cannot process the VDB (issue certs) until one offloads the passenger, so preemptively printing the certs and holding them until the end is not a realistic solution.

I know of MANY agents that routinely panic and remove people too far in advance, and compensate them only to go out with open seats, or to fill them with standby passengers. The "game" used to be easy, prior to webcheckin, but now, there are people who are not on connections that have checked in and never show, and we have to assume they will show up, until the 10 min cutoff.

I wish they had a machine or 2 in the lobby (or on every ezcheckin) that if you webchecked in, you needed to scan to show you were at the airport. If you don't scan, we can give away your seat earlier.

SEA1K4EVR

That's a good idea and it seems to me it could easily be accomplished using equipment that's already there... the scanners at the TSA stations. It could be part of the screeners job to barcode scan every BP as they do with a mobile BP. Hardly adds any time..and the info could be transmitted back to any airline that wants to receive it. That way it's not up to the pax to scan it and you'd be sure the pax is at least to the front of the security line.

The screeners spend a lot of time looking over the BP checking the date, making sure the departure airport is correct, etc. The barcode scanner could do that work and simply flash a green light for all OK, and then the agent could ignore the other details and just match up the name with the photo ID. That time savings would make up for the time it took to scan.

PDXPremier

My wife and I volunteered to VDB on a Sunday evening flight from ORD-PDX and they ended up only needing one of us so I let my wife go (in F) and got booked on a flight about two hours later. Before the doors of the plane were shut, I had my new BP and VDB cert in hand. After meeting up back in PDX, my wife told me that she was chatting with a lady in the back of the plane who I think was pleasantly surprised that there was an empty seat next to her...didn't even get taken by standbys. I agree with fastair, I think a lot of folks get VDB on flights with open seats...probably good for us VDBers but bad for UA. On a side note, is Sunday night at ORD turning into a bumpfest for all routes, or is it just ORD-PDX flights that seem be consistently asking for volunteers lately on afternoon/evening flights? I have another one of these coming up next month that already looks like it's approaching overbooked status.

justhere

I was flying CO out of FLL. They knew they might be in an oversell situation and asked for volunteers. After going through the "where are you going", "how flexible are you" type questions, the GA asked if I would be willing to take a taxi down to MIA for a flight that left about 90 mins after the FLL flight. It was early so there was potential for rush hour traffic but I was game. She said, "I'll print everything, have you sign and have it all ready so if I do need your seat, you can just exit the airport and get the taxi." She printed, I signed, I sat tight, and at the last minute she said that they had a seat for me and I gave everything back. No drama, no ire, no anger, just IMHO good, proactive customer service.

hobo13

And a completely different scenario than that described by the OP.

magiciansampras

And you think this is akin to what the OP's son experienced?

lazy_flyer

Clearly, airlines need to start issuing different types of VDB voucher.

Type 1: Value $300. On-sale VDB. May not be cancelled by the airline at any time, for any reason.

Type 2: Value $500. Regular class VDB. May be cancelled by the airline a minimum of 30 mins prior to departure with a penalty of $100 payable from the airline to the passenger if they get on the flight after all.

....

Type Y: Value $1000. Fully-flexible VDB. May be cancelled by the airline at any time for free.

Sound familiar?

izzik

Agree.
Totally a non-issue. Although I wouldn't mind seeing a sample draft of a complaint letter to United, as someone suggested earlier. Perhaps something like this:

Dear United Customer Service,

I was recently selected out of a pool of willing volunteers to give up My Seat (yes, it was mine! It belonged to me, me, me!!) in exchange for a paltry flight voucher. I felt so special.. so very special when my name was called from the podium. Possibilities of future travel and mileage runs danced in my head. The notion of bragging online about getting a mileage-accruing travel voucher made my toes tingle. Thus, you have to understand the sense of betrayal and subsequent heartache when I learned that My Seat was no longer needed.

The rejection,.. oh, the rejection!

In a flash, my ultra pseudo travel guru wannabe status dissipated like a cloud at 35000 feet. As the gate agent pried the voucher from my cold, numb hands, I was banished to board my original flight in utter shame and embarrassment. Not to mention a lack of bin space for my 28" carry-on. The flight attendants were clearly mocking me as they did not save bin space for me! Don't they know who I am?? The nerve of those people!

I hope you are satisfied, as I have never been so thoroughly humiliated in my entire traveling lifetime. Well, there was that one time in the First Class lavatory but that doesn't count. I intend on airing my grievances in public, vowing never to fly your airline again (until you have a triple-EQM promotion in my hometown).

Sincerely,

X

hobo13

So, to all those defending the GA's actions:

What happens if the pax was originally seated in F (UDU), but is now assigned Y at the last minute? Do you think this is still acceptable?

aisleorwindow

No.
But that isn't what happened.

magiciansampras

How about E+ --> E-?

entropy

Presumably, someone who web-checked in could arrive at the airport 15 mins prior to flight, hit the 1K/GS line and make it by the 10 minute cutoff. Not in a place like DEN, but SFO, ORD (B) are doable for sure. You probably also have a fair # of people who like to hang out in the club as late as possible, surely for this group, the fact that they're checked into the club could be captured.

I find UA to be very good with boarding on time, and efficiently. By T-15 almost everyone has been scanned.

fastair

True, and the requirement to be in the gate 20 prior to dptr would allow me to reallocate those passengers seats. As of now, I don't know of stations that enforce that rule, but it would solve my problems and situations like the OP's would happen less.

Connections are one thing, but non-connecting passengers not being where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be is when there are unforeseen variables.

WineCountryUA

the point under discussion was No Harm, No Foul. The original traveller got what was purchased/promised (without going into if one E+ aisle seat {or whatever the case was} is better than another). If either the above happen, it is a different story.