Checking in today at a mr chicken and next to me was an older Asian couple using the machine and being assisted by the on checkin agent as they were having a bit of trouble it seemed, my chicken decided it didn't want to print my BPs so I had to wait for her to finish with the couple, no biggie I had tons of time. As I waited watching her help them they got to the checking bags section, and the gentleman said he wanted to check 3 bags, she informed him of the fees and suggested he might want to carry one bag (one of their bags was a carryon sized roller) since it was $20 for the first bag and they could each check one for $20 but if they wanted to do 3 it'd be $50 for the third bag. All very nice and reasonable, he agreed and so she hit back, changed the bags to "2", then asked "OK so how do you want to pay for the baggage fees, its $40" he replied "Cash", and this is when it got interesting, she replied, "Oh, cash, OK" hit back, changed the checked bags to "0" hit next, took his $40 cash, mr chicken printed his BPs and she sent him on his way then proceeded to check my bags and print my BPs for me, cash in her pocket.

I'd like to think it wasn't what it looked like but I couldn't help but think I just saw the implementation of a new employee bonus program. I can't think of anyway to balance the books there if she were to put the $ in the drawer since the record would show zero bags, thus zero $ so even if it was put in the cash drawer it'd be off (+40).

Before sending them on their way did she print out baggage tags and claim tickets and give them to the pax along with their BP's? That would have been the time where the bags were entered into the record and the fees charged (unless the employee overrode the fee and pocketed the cash). It does seem odd that cash would end up in her pocket..but it's hard to cast any kind of judgement on the situation without knowing all the details.

Where else would she put cash? It's not like they have cash tills behind the counter.

I too hope this is not the case. Unfortunately, if it looks like a duck.....

IME, yes they do.

in the cash tills they do have behind the counter.

What station was this? At ORD, they have to go deep in the bowels of Terminal 1 to submit cash.

While it does strike me as a potential problem zone, I think a presumption of honesty is legitimate, and what you observed was a better response than a reply that United is cashless on baggage as it is on drinks and snacks in the air.

United seems to hate it when I add segments to refundable tickets because my CC (and everybody elses) is declined. It is something screwy on their end.

Anyway, I have had to go to the airport to pay the measly segment fees of $3.60 in cash. UA seems very lazy with the cash situation and kinf of end up throwing it somewhere on the counter. However, they seem to like the accounting because they wouldn't accept a 5 for the 3.60. They make me go and break it at a snack bar and go count it out down to the penny. VERY Annoying.

Just my two cents

I have personally seen them at MBS, MCI, DSM, CLT, MIA, MCO, DEN, LGA, and SAT.

Can't speak for ORD, as I have actually never checked in there.

Stations are either on a cashier system, like at ORD, where cash is NOT handeled by the agent without finding the cashier 1s, or they are on a cash drawer system, where they have a drawer. The accounting software we use is signed into differently depending on what station you work at, and if you can accept it or not without a big hassle. In an industry and economic time where "cash is king" (and there is no CC fees on cash,) UA sure makes it difficult to get it or take it.

Potential theft aside, even this is incorrect... a second bag costs $30, not $50. The third bag would only be a second bag for one of the passengers.

As for the 0-versus-2 checked bags... if she hit "0" for checked bags, how did she tag the bags and check them? Did she print out the bag tags manually? If so, it should be easy to check this for fraud, no? (As in, look up the reservation, see that there were 0 checked bags upon check-in, yet 2 tags were printed attached to that ticket. Or is this not how it would work?)

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

I know that's where I put it when I got cash. When I'm responsible for it, there's no way I'm putting it anywhere else.

Reading this carefully, what I get from the initial transaction is that the couple originally wanted to check three bags.....they ended up checking two bags @ $20.00 each/ total $40.00.

The agent was not saying that the third bag was $50, she was apparently saying that if they checked in a third bag the charges would be as follows - Passenger #1 - one bag = $20.00.
Psgr #2 - two bags = $20/1st bag and $30/2nd bag = $50.

As it turns out they checked in a total of two bags so that was $20 each psgr = total $40/correct. Also there is no way to override the EZCkin to print bags tags without showing that money was collected and cash cannot be collected at the EZCkin. The agent would have had to been interacting with a cashier on the counter. Lobby agents do not have a cash (locked) drawer. Some stations maintain cash drawers for each agent (behind the counter) and some have 1 or 2 agents with a cash drawer but never if one is working as a lobby agent.