United Airlines removes engaged couple traveling to wedding from plane

[Rob13]

2 hours ago, speckio said:

you guys realize this happened over 2 years ago right??

The photo's from over 2 years ago; the story is recent.

[Jonmarleesco]

United seem determined not to learn.

[Jonmarleesco]

53 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

Common sense seems to be entirely lacking among the staff and passengers. When I fly, the staff insist you sit in the allocated seat for takeoff and landing, but if you want to sit later with friends elsewhere or stretch out in an unoccupied row in your fare section, no one cares. Sneaking into a higher class/cost section is resisted globally, as it should be. Get what you pay for, unless upgraded to suit the airline. Simple.

If the couple are to be believed, they offered to pay extra; the crew refused it.

[Basil B]

9 hours ago, colinneil said:

If passengers do not follow legitimate instructions from cabin crew they deserve to be thrown off the flight.  Somebody in your seat, you ask them to move or speak with cabin crew to get them to do it.  No way was anybody sprawled over seats before take off cabin crew would not allow that to happen.

Agree, Cabin Crew would want him seated upright and strapped in for take off, doubt he would be able to spread across 3 seats until all passengers are boarded, though some do try it on hoping the cabin crew might sit the passengers ticketed for those seats elsewhere,

[mesquite]

I'm with UA on this one.  After a flight takes off, I see people try to move into the Air Asia "hot seats," which are premium seats that cost more, from standard seats.  The AA crew always gets them to move back.  Anyone can have a hot seat or a premium economy seat or even first class provided they buy it.  Sounds like the couple felt privileged because they were flying to their wedding and were owed the upgrade.

[stevenl]

I'm with UA on this one.  After a flight takes off, I see people try to move into the Air Asia "hot seats," which are premium seats that cost more, from standard seats.  The AA crew always gets them to move back.  Anyone can have a hot seat or a premium economy seat or even first class provided they buy it.  Sounds like the couple felt privileged because they were flying to their wedding and were owed the upgrade.

They apparently offered to buy it.

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[Gillyflower]

7 hours ago, speckio said:

you guys realize this happened over 2 years ago right??

Where did you get that from?

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, mesquite said:

I'm with UA on this one.  After a flight takes off, I see people try to move into the Air Asia "hot seats," which are premium seats that cost more, from standard seats.  The AA crew always gets them to move back.  Anyone can have a hot seat or a premium economy seat or even first class provided they buy it.  Sounds like the couple felt privileged because they were flying to their wedding and were owed the upgrade.

In the article - Soon after moving to other, empty seats in the economy cabin a few rows up, flight crew denied their request to pay a supplement for the seats, which United sells as "economy plus"

Apparently United doesn't want to sell seats. Great business model for an airline.

[hawker9000]

The issue is not about the attempted seat jumping.

 

The issue is what point did the exchange with the crew require the couple tobe escorted off the plane and detained by federal authorities , only to be released in a few hours with no charges.

TH 

No. It actually IS about their attempted seat-jumping. And if you do it, you deserve the same treatment this couple got. It's VERY simple. Sit in your assigned seat! If somebody else is in your seat, THAT'S what the cabin crew is there for. It's NOT an excuse to upgrade yourself!

[Damrongsak]

"Fly the Friendly Skies of United".  Remember the jingle? 

[mesquite]

5 hours ago, Srikcir said:

In the article - Soon after moving to other, empty seats in the economy cabin a few rows up, flight crew denied their request to pay a supplement for the seats, which United sells as "economy plus"

Apparently United doesn't want to sell seats. Great business model for an airline.

Kind of like intentionally leaving a restaurant without paying and then offering to pay after being caught.

[mesquite]

13 hours ago, speckio said:

you guys realize this happened over 2 years ago right??

Nonsense.  "The removal comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the airline's approach to customer service after a video emerged a week ago showing security officers dragging a bloodied passenger off an overbooked United Express flight in Chicago".

[metisdead]

Posts not related to this topic have been removed, there is another topic running about the Vietnamese doctor being removed from a flight in Chicago.  Please continue in that topic. 

[stevenl]

22 minutes ago, mesquite said:

Kind of like intentionally leaving a restaurant without paying and then offering to pay after being caught.

Not at all. In your example the services of the restaurant have been used, here no service whatsoever has been used. Would be more like changing an order.

[mesquite]

7 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Not at all. In your example the services of the restaurant have been used, here no service whatsoever has been used. Would be more like changing an order.

The point is they offered to pay up AFTER they got caught.

[stevenl]

2 minutes ago, mesquite said:

The point is they offered to pay up AFTER they got caught.

Before the service was used.

 

You simply gave a very bad comparison here.

[dazzz]

22 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I have changed my seats many times when traveling long haul and the plane wasn't full.

I have never been asked by the crew to not do so, even when I am stretched out across four seats for a sleep..

At a time when they are under public scrutiny, I would have thought United could have done a far better job of resolving this issue.

Same here done it myself and have seen lots of people do it very often . Seen lots of flights where after take off if there are empty seats people lie across them to sleep .Same on buses and trains . Never seen anyone asked to pay extra . If the seats were empty should have just let them use them

[Rob13]

18 minutes ago, dazzz said:

. Never seen anyone asked to pay extra . If the seats were empty should have just let them use them

 

Most people would change seats after take-off, sounds like these two did right after boarding and never sat in their assigned seats. Someone sprawled across 3 seats sleeping while the plane is being boarded, sounds like a lie to me.

[dick dasterdly]

Just now, Rob13 said:

 

Most people would change seats after take-off, sounds like these two did right after boarding and never sat in their assigned seats. Someone sprawled across 3 seats sleeping while the plane is being boarded, sounds like a lie to me.

Not necessarily a lie as its quite possible the passenger was pretending to be asleep across their seats.  At best its an excuse though as they should have gently nudged the offending passenger and asked him to move so that they could get to their seats.  If that didn't work, they should have talked to the flight staff about the problem, rather than just taking (more expensive) seats elsewhere.

[newnative]

I don't know if the passenger was asleep taking up all 3 seats.  Possibly if the flight originated elsewhere and he had already been on board he may have stretched out while waiting for the other passengers to board during the stopover and the flight attendants might not have gotten to him during the boarding while luggage is being stowed and passengers finding their seats and so on.  If the seats were in the upright position and he had his seatbelt on they may have let it go.  Who knows.  I've seen stranger things.   Regardless, the question of the sleeping passenger is not too important, in my opinion.  You're United Airlines. You've just suffered world-wide fierce condemnation of how you have treated a passenger.  If you had half a brain, wouldn't you have tried to resolve this very minor situation without resorting to throwing the passengers off the plane?  I think airlines, and especially US airlines, are way too quick to label someone a security threat for minor things like this that should be easily resolved by properly trained flight personnel.  Maybe they've just gotten too lazy and it's easier to call the cops and throw the passenger off.  In this case, the plane wasn't full, you've got a couple going to their wedding, you'd only be letting them sit  in Economy Plus, for goodness sake. One step up from Steerage. Big whoop!   Why not generate a little GOOD publicity for a change?  And, whatever happened to the occasional freebee?  Not just half a brain, brainless.

[dick dasterdly]

14 minutes ago, newnative said:

I don't know if the passenger was asleep taking up all 3 seats.  Possibly if the flight originated elsewhere and he had already been on board he may have stretched out while waiting for the other passengers to board during the stopover and the flight attendants might not have gotten to him during the boarding while luggage is being stowed and passengers finding their seats and so on.  If the seats were in the upright position and he had his seatbelt on they may have let it go.  Who knows.  I've seen stranger things.   Regardless, the question of the sleeping passenger is not too important, in my opinion.  You're United Airlines. You've just suffered world-wide fierce condemnation of how you have treated a passenger.  If you had half a brain, wouldn't you have tried to resolve this very minor situation without resorting to throwing the passengers off the plane?  I think airlines, and especially US airlines, are way too quick to label someone a security threat for minor things like this that should be easily resolved by properly trained flight personnel.  Maybe they've just gotten too lazy and it's easier to call the cops and throw the passenger off.  In this case, the plane wasn't full, you've got a couple going to their wedding, you'd only be letting them sit  in Economy Plus, for goodness sake. One step up from Steerage. Big whoop!   Why not generate a little GOOD publicity for a change?  And, whatever happened to the occasional freebee?  Not just half a brain, brainless.

I agree insofar as its very odd that the crew decided to call in security staff - when they must have had the last fiasco ringing loud in their heads! 

 

Perhaps the cabin crew are unable to take money/credit cards for seat upgrades and the wedding passengers were refusing to move back to their allocated seats?

[Srikcir]

8 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

Perhaps the cabin crew are unable to take money/credit cards for seat upgrades

United does accept credit cards for inflight purchases. However, I saw this on a United Airlines web site:

"Please note that Economy Plus seating is not available to customers who are traveling on a Basic Economy ticket." 

and

"Economy Plus seating is not available if you purchase a Basic Economy ticket."

https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/products/travelproducts/Pages/EconomyPlus.aspx

[dick dasterdly]

Just now, Srikcir said:

United does accept credit cards for inflight purchases. However, I saw this on a United Airlines web site:

"Please note that Economy Plus seating is not available to customers who are traveling on a Basic Economy ticket." 

and

"Economy Plus seating is not available if you purchase a Basic Economy ticket."

https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/products/travelproducts/Pages/EconomyPlus.aspx

It does appear from the web page that it is only possible to buy upgraded seating before boarding.

[Ace of Pop]

Gone are the days when one dressed nicely , and sitting in ones allocated seat came naturally. Liberal Slob Flyers outnumber reasonable folk these days.Or Force us into a more expensive section to avoid Sid Yobbo n Family .[emoji583]


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[JHolmesJr]

23 hours ago, DipStick said:

And they have just been voted the.no 1 US airline for Vietnamese  Takeaway

and they perform free tooth extractions for the price of an air ticket.

[Rob13]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

It does appear from the web page that it is only possible to buy upgraded seating before boarding.

But they maintain the right to kick you off after boarding if it suits them. They really need to work on their PR.

 

 

 

.

[newnative]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

I agree insofar as its very odd that the crew decided to call in security staff - when they must have had the last fiasco ringing loud in their heads! 

 

Perhaps the cabin crew are unable to take money/credit cards for seat upgrades and the wedding passengers were refusing to move back to their allocated seats?

Whether the cabin crew can or can't accept credit cards for passengers to upgrade seats, for me, is not germane.   I don't know what leeway United cabin crew is given to move or upgrade passengers for free or to make decisions on the spot depending on the situation but, in this case, the cabin crew should have had the authority and training to work out an accommodation with the passengers that defused the situation and left the airline with happy customers and not another round of bad publicity.  Perception is reality--and never more so than in this age of social media.  

[dazzz]

2 hours ago, Rob13 said:

 

Most people would change seats after take-off, sounds like these two did right after boarding and never sat in their assigned seats. Someone sprawled across 3 seats sleeping while the plane is being boarded, sounds like a lie to me.

yes sorry never read correctly . They would never allow you to change seats until after take off for safety and security reasons.
 I flew from bbk to london on kuwait airlines with 1 stop in kuwait . BKK to kuwait ok  but wailting in kuwait for 2 hours in the middle of the night with a young american woman was scary . Lots of bad looks and stares and i admit i was nervous . On the kuwait to london leg  i was surrounde by arabs who all stared at me constantly and were spitting and throwing food and rubbish  on the floor etc . I asked the stewardess if i could change a seat and was told not allowed until after take off .
 After take off she took me and the american girl to the back of the plane , lots of empty seats and we had a row each . So the rules are you have to stay in your designated seat until after take off

[dick dasterdly]

28 minutes ago, Rob13 said:

But they maintain the right to kick you off after boarding if it suits them. They really need to work on their PR.

 

 

 

.

I agree entirely re. the 'Dr Dao case', but we're reliant on the aggrieved parties' version of events at the moment in this case - which has a lot of 'holes' for the reasons mentioned previously!

 

Either the crew were in a very bad mood or the wedding passengers were refusing to move back to their allocated seats - not realising that the airline crew were unable to accept their offer of paying for the upgrade (once caught....)?

 

Perhaps a combination of both .

[dick dasterdly]

10 minutes ago, newnative said:

Whether the cabin crew can or can't accept credit cards for passengers to upgrade seats, for me, is not germane.   I don't know what leeway United cabin crew is given to move or upgrade passengers for free or to make decisions on the spot depending on the situation but, in this case, the cabin crew should have had the authority and training to work out an accommodation with the passengers that defused the situation and left the airline with happy customers and not another round of bad publicity.  Perception is reality--and never more so than in this age of social media.  

Yes, it would have been easy from the cabin crew to ensure that the wedding passengers had access to their booked seats.

 

I'm assuming that they did this and the passengers refused to move back to those seats - instead insisting that they'd pay more for the upgraded seats, which wasn't possible after boarding when their allocated seats were available.

 

In which case there is no "accommodation" other than allowing the passengers to (deliberately and successfully) take over more expensive seats without any redress.