Boarded wrong plane
 

A co-worker was flying IAD-CAE (Columbia, SC) on Mon. (a CRJ flight)
He went down the stairs to the tarmac, and was pointed towards a plane.
He boards, takes his seat and settles in. After takeoff, he is shocked to hear that the flight to Savannah will take 1:45 minutes.
His one way car rental to Augusta cost $350 .
He called India today to ask about how he was allowed to fly someplace he didn't have a ticket for and to ask for some compensation for the rental car.
He was offered a $100 voucher.
Any advise I could pass on would be appreciated.

The IAD UX boarding area is very confusing. A bunch of flights board at the same gate, then once you go into the "gate," there are several UX planes parked next to one another with no signs whatsoever.

That's why I always ask the other person standing right at the door (after you enter the gate) where the plane is headed.

Me too! I don't ever recall them checking my boarding pass at the plane.

Ouch! Usually they still do a headcount aboard, so let's hope someone else wasn't swapping places with him!:eek:

dispute with the credit card company for the flight ticket or get the reimbursement from United directly - they did not provide the service for which they were paid.

also, contact the FAA. that has to be a violation of several rules - baggage without passenger, no cross-check of headcount vs manifest, etc.

Did he bring the issue to UA's attention upon arrival at SAV? Did the agent refuse to re-route him to CAE?

I cannot remember an express flight where the flight attendant did not mention a few times the destination. I just find this hard to believe.

Not sure why the credit card company should get involved... it is the passenger's error.

William

Its been happening to me ALL THE TIME at F11, F10 and F4 at ORD (the multi boarding gates)

Most of these "FAA rules" are urban legends

When UA started to UX-ize COS, the Air Wisconsin FA would always check BPs. I realized after a few tarmac boardings how good an idea that was, and always ask the dudes and dudettes on the tarmac which plane when there is any doubt.

But you are right, they don't ask any more, probably cuz some 1K complained. :td:

Same experience here. It's kind of a pain because when the GA scans my BP, I'm conditioned to put it in my pocket. Although it makes sense to do a double-check given the topic of this thread. :)

I have been on a few flights where some older folks have gotten on the wrong plane. Luckily they heard the announcements before we left. I always ask the person pointing me and then I as the FA too when I board.

But seriously, are there ever any simultaneous boardings at COS? All ~10 flights/day? :D

First off, positive bag matching is only required on international flights. Second, who checks bags on a CRJ?

I think you are out of luck. It was your error getting on the wrong plane, even though I can understand it somewhat at IAD. You can always write a letter to United and say someone pointed you in the wrong direction, see what you get.

As a very minor side point, there is no required positive bag matching for domestic flights, so no reg is broken carrying the bag w/o the pax on the correct flight. And if the headcount is wrong, that's an economic issue for the carrier -- they may be carrying a stowaway -- but again I don't think violates any regs. (And you can probably guess why UX doesn't care -- they are usually paid per flight, not per pax, by UA!).

Like many of the other posters, I usually find UX ops such a total zoo that I always ask the FA on boarding where they are going.