Did a search on "PWM" and Ticket Counter Closed -- no relevant results...
On Memorial Day, I was ticketed and (electronically) checked-in to the last PWM-ORD flight. Flight was off schedule because of mounting aircraft delays over the course of the day. Original scheduled departure: 4:45pm. I checked in online at 2pm, but had no printer and therefore no boarding pass. No electronic boarding pass was sent, so I mentally planned to have it issued at the ticket counter.
Watching the flight online, I saw the departure time updated when the aircraft to be used finally departed Chicago, around 5:30pm. Departure time was set to 7:08pm. PWM is a tiny airport, takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. However the gates are upstairs and the ticket counters downstairs, and are physically separate and not visible to one another.
I arrived at the airport at 6:25pm, and the ticket counter was abandoned -- no one in sight. The kiosks were not functioning -- one had a post-it note stating it was broken, and the others did not produce a boarding pass. One seemed to freeze, and a third appeared to have a broken screen.
I asked the next airline's counter staff (JetBlue) to see if a United rep was "backstage." He returned a few minutes later, stating the United door was locked and no one answered his knocking.
I proceeded upstairs to TSA (circa 6:35pm now), and asked about getting through without a boarding card. No luck. I asked him to ask the supervisor, and he advised me to have United paged throughout the terminal, returning downstairs to the JetBlue rep.
I returned to the JetBlue counter, and we paged (twice) a United rep to the United ticket counter to help awaiting passengers (there was another passenger who had since arrived). I tried the kiosks again, but still no boarding cards -- too close to departure time was the message now.
After another 5 minutes I returned to the TSA, who stated they heard the page, and the supervisor spoke with me, adding that this happens all the time with the last flights, that the ticket counter rep leaves (goes home or goes to the gate) and people cannot get through the checkpoint. He stated he would send someone to the UA gate. At this point, I heard the arrival announcement of the inbound Chicago flight over the PA (it had just landed -- circa 6:45pm).
I proceeded downstairs and got a UA representative (via the 800 number) on the telephone. I asked them to get someone from the gate to come to the ticket counter (they stated they could not contact the gate), and I asked what to do. She tried to send me an electronic boarding card, but stated that her system disallowed that as we were now too close (now 15 minutes) from departure time. I tried the kiosks again and the same message (too close to departure time). The telephone rep looked up the PWM ticket counter hours and stated that it is listed as open until 7:30pm. It was now about 6:55pm
She rebooked me on a flight for the next day, and I waited until my flight departed at 7:15 to see if anyone from UA would show up. They never did. At about 7:10, I heard the names of those of us at the ticket counter being paged for departure. Very frustrating. Took a taxi back to the cottage and flew the following day.
This is a vent more than anything else, but I am interested in opinions.
On Memorial Day, I was ticketed and (electronically) checked-in to the last PWM-ORD flight. Flight was off schedule because of mounting aircraft delays over the course of the day. Original scheduled departure: 4:45pm. I checked in online at 2pm, but had no printer and therefore no boarding pass. No electronic boarding pass was sent, so I mentally planned to have it issued at the ticket counter.
Watching the flight online, I saw the departure time updated when the aircraft to be used finally departed Chicago, around 5:30pm. Departure time was set to 7:08pm. PWM is a tiny airport, takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. However the gates are upstairs and the ticket counters downstairs, and are physically separate and not visible to one another.
I arrived at the airport at 6:25pm, and the ticket counter was abandoned -- no one in sight. The kiosks were not functioning -- one had a post-it note stating it was broken, and the others did not produce a boarding pass. One seemed to freeze, and a third appeared to have a broken screen.
I asked the next airline's counter staff (JetBlue) to see if a United rep was "backstage." He returned a few minutes later, stating the United door was locked and no one answered his knocking.
I proceeded upstairs to TSA (circa 6:35pm now), and asked about getting through without a boarding card. No luck. I asked him to ask the supervisor, and he advised me to have United paged throughout the terminal, returning downstairs to the JetBlue rep.
I returned to the JetBlue counter, and we paged (twice) a United rep to the United ticket counter to help awaiting passengers (there was another passenger who had since arrived). I tried the kiosks again, but still no boarding cards -- too close to departure time was the message now.
After another 5 minutes I returned to the TSA, who stated they heard the page, and the supervisor spoke with me, adding that this happens all the time with the last flights, that the ticket counter rep leaves (goes home or goes to the gate) and people cannot get through the checkpoint. He stated he would send someone to the UA gate. At this point, I heard the arrival announcement of the inbound Chicago flight over the PA (it had just landed -- circa 6:45pm).
I proceeded downstairs and got a UA representative (via the 800 number) on the telephone. I asked them to get someone from the gate to come to the ticket counter (they stated they could not contact the gate), and I asked what to do. She tried to send me an electronic boarding card, but stated that her system disallowed that as we were now too close (now 15 minutes) from departure time. I tried the kiosks again and the same message (too close to departure time). The telephone rep looked up the PWM ticket counter hours and stated that it is listed as open until 7:30pm. It was now about 6:55pm
She rebooked me on a flight for the next day, and I waited until my flight departed at 7:15 to see if anyone from UA would show up. They never did. At about 7:10, I heard the names of those of us at the ticket counter being paged for departure. Very frustrating. Took a taxi back to the cottage and flew the following day.
This is a vent more than anything else, but I am interested in opinions.