I am confused how the computer would have upgraded two people NOT on his PNR with his e-500's in advance. Technically, as we know, you can only upgrade 1 passenger on YOUR PNR.

to the OP:

So everyone followed the rules - you got $250 and you are complaining ?:td:

[QUOTE=gumnaam;10100330]Hi,
This complaint is two part:

a. Issue with not upgrading to First
based on the E-upgrade certs available and upgrades cleared
b. No
pre-boarding with kids.


For the first point:
I was travelling with my
family from BOS to SEA on July 20, 2008. The record locator for these
trips are
****** 2 pax
****** 1 pax (myself)
I had requested upgrade
for IAD-SEA leg only for all 3 pax and had requested to use my 500-mile
upgrade. I have 16 certs in my account. The distance with IAD and SEA is
2306 miles and should be covered by a total of 15 certs.
Nonetheless,
while checking in at BOS airport I was told I was upgraded (******)
using 5 certs. But for my family the agent incorrectly requested 6 certs
each. This made my account short by 1 cert. Instead of listening to my
argument that the IAD-SEA leg which is 2306 miles requires only 5 certs,
the agent wanted to sell me 4 certs for $200. It was like a used car
salesman
s opening salvo.
Of course after spending close to $2000 for
the trip I was not interested in spending more to cover up the agent’s
ineptitude. Not being able to upgrade because of the agent’s apparent
lack of interest to help a pax out was the first insult; which I may be
able to forget because of the amount of traveling I have done with
United and other airlines.
But the second point which I am about to
illustrate completely appalled me.
At IAD, I was with my daughter in a
stroller and patiently waiting to be pre-boarded. I was in line behind
another parent with a stroller. The gate agent let the parent (6A with a
child) in front of me pre-board and then had the temerity to tell me
that there is no pre-boarding and United does not do this. Before I
could reply, she quickly announces that all First, 1K and GS are invited
to board and directs me to the back of the line. I did board soon and
would not have complained about not being able to pre-board. But the
agent’s attitude and sheer discrimination has led me to complain about
this.
I understand these are trying times for the airline industry and
there is a need to sell upgrades and differentiate the elite customers
to retain and drive business. These are great strategies and much needed
in the business world but the agents are clearly not getting the right
message and treating the non-elite and mid-elite customers like
inconsequential eye sores.
The incidents, were they isolated, would have
made me fret and fume a few minutes. But the combination to both in the
same trip leads me to believe of shift change a higher magnitude.
I have
been a loyal customer of United for several years and have flown several
thousands miles in just 5 years. The loyal customer base is the key to
survival in the tough times and you will be a losing one soon.

================================================== =====
your story doesn't make sense. one is allowed to pre board but u are not...asking for more ecerts than needed...discrimination...please. get over it.

once again, i never fail to be amazed by how harsh the audience is here...

first, while it's true that upgrading two companions using 500 milers is not normal, if UA did it for him (i have certainly had it done on a lightly-loaded flights before), then they shouldn't ask for more certs than needed. looks like the GA wasn't having any of the OP's reasoning and essentially forced the OP to buy more certs or downgrade--on principle, i'd probably have chosen to go back to coach as well and probably been pretty upset about it as well.

second, i have very little difficulty believing that an IAD gate agent arbitrarily let one passenger pre-board with children but not another (this is IAD, after all, and i think many of us can recall one bad experience or another with GAs there). personally, i don't think this is something to get too upset about but if you're travelling with kids, etc., particularly after the prior incident with the upgrades, you might get pretty upset too.

harsh audience...spare me...take a look at the vast majority of posts..United is the worst..they didnt treat me well...wah wah. the complaints are so trivial in the grand scheme of things...the amount of complaining and woe is me attitude is seriously painful. fly another airline if you don't like the way United treats you...and no, I don't work for them and yes, I've been a 1K for 6 years and have had some not so great experiences but that's life. get over it.

I agree with KV99. The audience on FT can be brutal. This has nothing to do with complaining. Just because someone complains doesn't give anyone the right to trash that person, especially so cowardly through an alias on a forum where they will likely never meet the other FT'er. Whatever happened to the golden rule.

GO ahead and flame on, I wouldn't put it past any of the "holier-than-thou" FT'ers that use their wonderful status and knowledge as a club on other FT'ers heads. :td::td:

FB

Good grief. As a 1k for 6 years, have you never complained to UA about anything? Yea, the OPs issues were very minor (perhaps silly), and overly compensated, but maybe you don't know that this is a forum to share travel experiences? :rolleyes:

Not the best approach, IMHO. When I meet an agent demanding payment for something that I know is wrong, I tell the agent, OK, I'll pay it now and dispute it later. This serves multiple purposes; 1) Let's them know the airport interface won't be the last word 2) Gives them an idea of how sure you are that you're correct and 3) puts them on notice that the payment is being made under duress.
It's never been particularly difficult to have an airline CS desk issue a refund for the bogus charges, even with the notoriously unwilling to refund US Air.
In the ~ half dozen times I've had to do this, I've never even pulled out the final weapon, disputing the payment on the CC. Of course, YMMV. :D

My lack of $250 in certificates does not lessen the pain I feel at hearing that the OP got $250 in certificates for whining about nothing. I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease, even where the squeaking is entirely fabricated.

I would agree with others in suspecting that the pre-boarded passenger with child was a United employee. Employees (with or without children) typically seem to have the option to preboard, which seems entirely fair to me.

OP - while I understand you were upset with the GA in BOS, in your place, I would have stopped arguing and simply purchased the extra certs to obtain F from IAD-SEA. That would have taken care of your preboarding problem in IAD, because as a passenger in F, you would have been allowed to get on first AND use that fancy red carpet, which seems to be very important to many.

You could have asked for a refund later; it probably would have been easy to get as you got $250 in e-certs for what I feel is a nothing complaint.

It isn't anyone's concern why someone else got preboarding, as we don't know anything about what their situation was. As pointed out, there is not supposed to be preboarding with children at UA and I think if so many people, in the past, had not taken advantage of preboarding (like the family groups of 10 people boarding with a ten year old!), those with children would still have this. I don't understand, and I have several children myself, why one needs preboarding anyway with a child.

I would be grateful for my compensation and move forward.

I assume you already submitted this complaint to UA? If not, I would suggest doing some heavy editing to your letter for clarity and length.

He even already got a compensation :D

1. I'm always careful jumping to conclusions on who preboards and why ahead of the normal list. I recall recently this older passenger had to preboard, reason was some sort of personal oxygen tank in the overhead bin above his seat.

2. I don't think even Southwest preboards families with kids these days.

3. Every day I give a silent prayer of thanks to the UA gate agents. I could not do their job.

^

Yeah, even the "bad" GAs probably do a better job than I ever could! :eek:

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't read anything harsh or brutal. It's of little consequence since it seems commonly agreed that petty whining is not suffered well by FT'ers by and large. But I could be mistaken.

I hear they still sing "Kum Ba Yah" at campouts... maybe that would be a better venue to seek blanket affirmations? Otherwise, if somebody puts it out there, they should know not everyone will agree with them. Deal.