Before I start praising United for how awesome they were yesterday, I wanted to mention what happened to me this morning (March 1) on UA7679 from JFK to IAD. There were five other FlyerTalkers on this flight (all 1K and Global Services), and while I originally wasn't going to upgrade, the fact that there were…
Continue reading: Just to be fair and balanced….
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Lucky -
I don't understand what happened? Was this guy an employee? Was he commuting? Did the gate agent hold back a seat just for him, you think? And did he not get back on because he didn't want the heat on him?
Just trying to sort out what was going on.
Eric
Ben,
Great post! It will be interesting to read the feedback! Thanks again for an awesome time!
Yes Eric, the guy was an employee. I have no clue whether he was commuting, deadheading, traveling for fun, etc. Either way, he wasn't a pilot (based on his bags), so I assume he was a ground agent of some sort or worked in another department.
I'm thinking the gate agent upgraded him instead of me (the whole "taking care of our own" mentality), and thereby didn't go by the upgrade priority list.
I'm not sure why he didn't get back on the plane. The flight was sold out, but I figured we would have at least swapped seats, but instead they put someone else in my old seat.
My guess would be that this was a JFK ground agent that was flying non-rev and the agents confirmed him for the flight earlier than they should have, given that they didn't know that the earlier flight would be delayed. Then when this guy realized I'd probably be writing to United he went to talk to the GA, and the GA probably said he was out of luck since he was a non-rev. That's just a guess.
The only thing I know with (near) certainty is that he should *not* have been in first class until all upgrades were cleared (per United policy).
Regarding the hot towels, maybe you looked like you needed to clean up after a long travel weekend? 😉
Are you sure it wasn't me? Just kidding!
Funny thing is, he came storming off all pissed like, then he was on my flight to IAD, and kept giving ME dirty looks. So now I know why... 😛 It all makes sense now!
Oliver, I can assure you that I did! How nice if her to notice.
Very interesting, Abdul. Did you overhear what he told the GA? I guess since you were standing with us near the gate he knew you were part of the group, heh.
Well both Gate Agents were inside the jetway at the time so im sure he told them while he passed them. He just stormed away and continued to pace around the gate area after that.