Bumped from F (res) -> E+ (check-in) -> E- (board)
 

I booked a flight from SJC-DEN last weekend, and my upgrade to F was confirmed for the return on UA 723 on 9/8. When I tried to check in online, I got an error message. I called UA web support, who told me it was a "technical error", I still had my confirmed seat in F, and to check in at the airport. I went to the airport and learned that the equipment had been changed to a plane with no F cabin; my seat was the same (2D), but now it was E+. Oh well. I printed my boarding pass and went to the RCC for the drinks I would no longer be getting on the flight.

At the gate, I handed over my boarding pass and heard, "Hmmm, you don't seem to be checked in." While I was in the RCC, the plane had changed again--back to the original equipment, with an F cabin. However, instead of keeping my seat in 2D, they had cancelled my check-in, given my seat to somebody else, and I no longer had a seat on the flight. Fortunately, there was still one available: 22C.

End result: I confirmed a seat in F, was given a boarding pass in E+, and was finally seated in E-, all with no attempt by UA to contact me. The most important lesson from this experience: Even though the gate agents are always saying, "If you have your boarding pass, you do not need to check with us at the counter, just board the plane," I will now check my reservation EVERY TIME at the counter, even with my boarding pass in hand, and if the GA tries to explain why I don't need to, I'll explain why I do.

Hmmm . . . I think we need to gather more facts before passing judgement.

A 1K to E- with this sequence of events?

Something is missing.

i disagree... given UA's systems, i can see how this would happen, and how no one person the OP dealt with was at fault -- the downgrade from F to E+ on a ted swap sucks, but it is what it is, and that person did the right thing, leaving seat 2D alone. the non-upgrade from economy to first is the question.. i'm guessing the entire upgrade queue was wiped when the plane ceased to have an F cabin. and once the plane went to ted, seats in rows 1-3 were no longer special, so the person dealing with the second swap has nothing to go on. everyone in rows 1-5 suddenly had no seat assignment, and upgrades to the newfangled F cabin were processed as people thought to ask for them. digging deep into PNR's looking for previous upgrades that had been wiped would be nice, but i wouldn't expect it of UA. whether that's a comment on my expectations or on UA, i'll leave to you to decide. :-)

i don't talk to agents frequently, but i do check my reservation frequently after checking in -- i'll hit OLCI a few times and make sure everything still looks normal, especially if i fear an equipment swap. (fly 737 exit rows a few times, and you too will develop this habit -- any 737 or 319/320 flight is going to get checked often.. i've also seen my 757 become a 763. 763 intl become 763 domestic. i've had more last-minute aircraft type changes in the year i've been flying united regularly than i had in the previous ten with AA/NW/DL/CO.)

What's missing? The OP seems to provide a reasonable account.

I just went through a ted equip swap on m IAH-DEN flight yesterday. What sucked was that it was Paid F.

Initially the agent had no idea what to do, his coworker told me "this is an HUP fare so you're not entitled to anything". Fortunately, the SD realized what was wrong and offered me a CR1 or the $100 diff in fare.

Seems as if the *proper* compensation in this scenario is a refund of a difference between F and Y, in addition to a confirmed upgrade instrument (CR-1 in your case).

The difference between F and Y is an upgrade instrument; the OP never paid cash for F.

drummingcraig was commenting on fozz's situation, not the OP's. Fozz did pay cash for F.

Correct, but I was responding to fozz who stated his downgrade occurred on a paid F ticket.

Curious--do you continue to check OLCI once you're at the airport? And does it show your updated seat status? I'd much rather do that (assuming OLCI doesn't give an error message as it did this time) than keep checking with agents. That's a bigger deal to me than the problems with this one glitch, for which I did get compensated.

it works up until 60 minutes before departure. the kiosks also work until about an hour before departure -- whenever the gate takes over. on a connecting itinerary, as soon as your first segment departs, the second leg becomes available via OLCI. note that looking at the seatmap via the my itineraries page will not work -- that locks out six hours before each segments depart, and changes won't take after you check in.

Oops, sorry.

Since when did SJC have an RCC? OP says that they were flying SJC-DEN. Was there an unmentioned connection in LAX?

UA 723 is DEN-SJC. The OP specified that he/she was flying the return.

OP seems correct....a double plane change will cause people whose seats have changed 2 times to become unchecked in.

I don't know why or, which passengers...but it does happen this way, as I have seen it many times and have spoke with the people who automate the seat changes during equipment substitution.


Sorry OP...nothing I can say to make you feel better...a bug exists in this situation.