YSK that United has significantly escalated their war against basic economy passengers
YSK that United has significantly escalated their war against basic economy passengers
So I went to check in online, and it asked me to check some boxes for what luggage I wanted to bring on board. I did, and it told me that to carry on both a backpack and a roller bag it’ll be $45, or $65 if I try to play games and they have to check stuff at the gate.
I said fuck that, and unchecked some boxes. It said I couldn’t check in without putting a credit card on file, that they would charge if there were any issues and they wound up needing to charge me for my luggage. It wouldn’t let me continue without putting a credit card on file and checking a box that said they could charge me for my luggage, if they felt it was excessive.
I said fuck that and decided to check in at the airport. I threw all my stuff in a backpack to remove any wiggle room, and the kiosk said the same thing. I talked to one of the people, and she said it’s a new policy. I pointed out that I paid for my ticket, she could see I had only a backpack, and I wanted to get in the airplane. She told me to go talk to the guy at the end.
I talked to the guy at the end, politely, and eventually he printed a boarding pass for me. But you should know they’re up to some bullshit.
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Haven't there always been rules about only 1 piece of carry-on, and there were limits for its size? It was simply never checked. Resulting in overhead boxes being full because some people brought multiple bags, resulting in some people being unable to store their stuff overhead. They're just enforcing the rules now right? Or has something actually changed?
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You used to be able to carry on one reasonable size bag, and they didn’t stress about it because the total load of luggage / purses / backpacks and so on was fine. You could do what you wanted and they’d fly you where you were going.
Then some genius realized they could charge people $40 for checked bags, so everyone started carrying everything on, so it became a problem and they had to start checking everything at the gate for everyone who didn’t feel like paying the $40 extra for no reason fee, which was the majority of people.
This is just the natural end point of that evolution, where they initiate open hostility to the customer and try to force you into paying $45 more than the ticket price and actively fuck with you to try to bully you into submitting to it.
It’s partially the fault of everyone who just goes on Kayak and hits whatever is the cheapest option. That’s what I do, anyway. Or did, until this week, when I learned my lesson about it.
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It’s partially the fault of everyone who just goes on Kayak and hits whatever is the cheapest option. That’s what I do, anyway. Or did, until this week, when I learned my lesson about it.
I guess that's true. When you go through the website they have many warnings when you select basic economy about the carry on not being included, I have to basically budget +$60 each time I'm looking for flights because they always show the basic economy first
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Sorry you unknowingly took a stress bullet for the team! However I really appreciate the heads up.
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They used to say "one carry-on and one personal item" (which included things like a purse or a backpack). On my shorter trips, I could travel without checking a bag under this policy.
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Something actually changed and now there's a carry-on not included tier ticket. I wrote more in my other comment in the thread.
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- Make the gangways longer
- Make them hell on rolly bags
- Deny the use of carts on the gangway
- Make sure every piece of luggage must stay with the passenger
- Fuck it. Put stairs (and a key-op elevator for wheelchairs) at the very end
There - I just solved the carry-on issue. If you can bundle all your shit into one bag and carry or drag it 700feet and up a flight of stairs, then, you sir can carry it on.
... IF it fits in the sizing thingy they only put AT the hatchway and enforce harshly. If it don't fit, you must go back and check it. They do that ONCE and noone will be hogging the overheads again.
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