Need advice re: denied boarding
 

I was flying MKE to ORD to CID this morning. I got to the gate for my 6:00 flight to ORD as the 5:30 flight was boarding. I asked the GA if there was room for one more and he said probably in a couple of minutes as there were several no shows. I received a boarding pass, ramp checked my bag, and boarded the plane. A few minutes later, just as the doors were closing he entered the plane and said I had to deplane. When we got back to the gate he said he had to pull me off because they had "weight and balance issues" and I was the last passenger to board. I asked for a IDB voucher and was told "no way" because "standbys" don't get them. Is this correct?? I thought that once I received a boarding pass and boarded I became a ticketed passenger, not a standby.

To add injury to insult, he then announced that the 6:00 flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and that we would be bussed to Chicago. The GA assured me that I would make the flight from ORD to CID. Needless to say, I missed my connecting flight and half of a day of work.

I will write 1K Voice; what should I request? Also, how could I have responded better at the gate? Thanks for your input.

You were not IDB'd on the 5:30 flight. You were a standby. This would not have been a big deal were it not for your ticketed flight getting cancelled.

I would focus the communication to 1K Voice on the missed connection due to the cancellation. The earlier flight is irrelavent.

Also, rules for IDB compensation don't apply to aircraft with 60 or fewer seats.

Really? That's good to know for future reference.

LAX

It doesn't apply to aircraft with 60 or fewer seats ONLY if the IDB is due to a safety or a weight issue. It would still apply in the standard case of an IDB due to an oversell.

True, but there was a seat, it wasn't over full, and they had weight issues, as mentioned in the OP, so the point of 60 or less would have applied had he been confirmed on the flight. (although I believe you were just clarifying the rule for other future situations where weight is not an issue).

No, regardless of the weight, oversales, or size of the aircraft, you were not ticketed, nor booked on the flight. As such, you had no legal right to be on that flight, and no legal repercussions for not being on said flight. One becomes confirmed when one has a reservation, and ticketed and confirmed when one has both a ticket and a reservation. This is when rules regarding passengers ticket rights come into play.

Sorry that the rest happened. You ALMOST lucked out and dodged the bullet by getting on that earlier flight, but in the end, your destiny was already pre-written for you, and once the Oracle at Delphi decrees your future, you must follow it. (just ask Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus.)

can one help explain how one becomes ticketed? i was always under the impression once you had bp in hand you were ticketed & confirmed. obviously, i was wrong. what is the defining point? if i do same day confirmed change am i ticketed and confirmed? or can they still kikc me off and say i was standby?

ouch

Herodotus may disagree

By buying a ticket :p .

Or paying for the the same-day-confirmed-change.

They should then change your reservation and revalidate your ticket. You would then be covered. They can still kick you off, as the last person checking in/getting a seat is the 1st off, but you would then be entitled to the full protection of the rules (including denied boarding compensation.)

Thanks for all of the good info. I'm glad I checked in with flyertalk before sending off an email with inappropriate demands.

Although I prefer William Jennings Bryan's "Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved", perhaps in this case I must defer to the French proverb, "One meets his destiny often in the road (or the plane?) he takes to avoid it".

And how many gate agent would do that in the midst of trying to get the flight out?