Dear UA Community,
On September 16, 2012 I was IDB on the last flight of the day from Pittsburgh to NYC on a UA Express flight. My friend and I checked in 1 hour (at least) prior to departure at the ticket counter. Our travel agent had assigned seats for us (mine was 15B), but when we got our boarding passes we didn't notice that we did not have seats printed on the boarding passes.(I've never seen this happen before). When we got to the gate the agent said we did not have assigned seats, but we did have confirmed space. We needed to hope some people did not show up. It was after a NY Jets -Pittsburgh Steelers game. Unfortunately, everyone showed up. I told the agent very specifically that we were IDB and I wanted a check for it. She said her supervisor had left and I told her to call me the next day and let me know how much the check would be for. She gave me the number in Pittsburgh, but after numerous attempts at calling and getting voicemail and leaving messages, I never received a return call. 10 days later, I received a voucher for $500 which is what they gave people who voluntarily gave up their seat. I've emailed various people at the local Pittsburgh office and while they have been pleasant, they seem to be unwilling to do anything about it. The gate agent has left the company and I think UA express is now a different company (it was Expressjet I think and now it is Commutair). I've got about 500K UA miles (99% "butt in seat") so I am not a rookie traveler. I'm not so much hung up on the check issue now, but feel I deserve more than what people who voluntarily got off would get. Is it too late to pursue this with UA corporate or the DOT? Should I just forget about it and use the voucher?
On September 16, 2012 I was IDB on the last flight of the day from Pittsburgh to NYC on a UA Express flight. My friend and I checked in 1 hour (at least) prior to departure at the ticket counter. Our travel agent had assigned seats for us (mine was 15B), but when we got our boarding passes we didn't notice that we did not have seats printed on the boarding passes.(I've never seen this happen before). When we got to the gate the agent said we did not have assigned seats, but we did have confirmed space. We needed to hope some people did not show up. It was after a NY Jets -Pittsburgh Steelers game. Unfortunately, everyone showed up. I told the agent very specifically that we were IDB and I wanted a check for it. She said her supervisor had left and I told her to call me the next day and let me know how much the check would be for. She gave me the number in Pittsburgh, but after numerous attempts at calling and getting voicemail and leaving messages, I never received a return call. 10 days later, I received a voucher for $500 which is what they gave people who voluntarily gave up their seat. I've emailed various people at the local Pittsburgh office and while they have been pleasant, they seem to be unwilling to do anything about it. The gate agent has left the company and I think UA express is now a different company (it was Expressjet I think and now it is Commutair). I've got about 500K UA miles (99% "butt in seat") so I am not a rookie traveler. I'm not so much hung up on the check issue now, but feel I deserve more than what people who voluntarily got off would get. Is it too late to pursue this with UA corporate or the DOT? Should I just forget about it and use the voucher?