<p>In our case, we were there ON TIME! But we didn’t have seats assigned ahead of time - online it said something like, “Seats will be assigned at gate.” One of the times, my husband and son had to wait a day to fly to Colorado, making their already-brief ski vacation even shorter.</p>
<p>I’ve had several people tell me if you have confirmed tickets and you’re at the gate on time, you won’t be bumped. That’s not true!</p>
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<p>That sure sounds fair to me. The airline has no idea if you’re on your way or not, and they have the right to fill all the seats if there are people who want to sit in them. I can’t imagine cutting it that close, myself. I’m always there well ahead of time. IIRC, the boarding pass says you need to be at the gate 30-45 minutes prior to take off.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between a confirmed booking and a boarding pass.</p>
<p>What I should have asked above is: Are people getting bumped if they have a boarding pass and are at the gate on time?</p>
<p>Yes, people get bumped with a boarding pass. the airlines like to change the rules on what’s “on time”. Just be sure of the rules.</p>
<p>My sister was in the navy reserves and was flying for her yearly active duty stint out of the Kalamazoo Airport. They refused to let her and 3 other reservists board the flight because they had not arrived 30 minutes in advance. However, the small plane was still right there at the gate in front of them (right outside the big window of the uncooperative airline employee), and the whole airport was completely empty with no lines.</p>
<p>(So she had to take command as the senior officer present and arrange new flights for them).</p>
<p>United will never get another dime of my money. It is simply the worst airline on every front. I’ve watched that airline go from being one of the best to the shambles it is today. I have many friends who have worked for them and have left for better airlines. They treat their employees as bad as their customers. </p>
<p>I have a friend who flies a west coast flight at least once a month and he is delayed every time.</p>
<p>Good old United.</p>
<p>When my D was flown on 2 occasions from the Midwest to California schools recruiting her, both times she was put on United, and both times her luggage was lost, only to be returned to her about 1hr. before she was to leave, but after the schools had spent money to buy her stuff for 2 days. She liked one of the schools, but decided California might not be for her.</p>
<p>I have a friend who worked in management for Continental. Part of her department’s responsibilities included making contingency plans for alternative flights for passengers ahead of time for possibly cancelled flights. I’m not sure if this was for every passenger on every flight (a seemingly overwhelming task timewise) or for flights likely to be cancelled. When United took over Continental she was astonished because United did not do any contingency planning whatsoever. She was hoping if she stuck it out long enough she would get a buyout offer as United is terrible to work for.</p>
<p>I believe it would be very unusual to be bumped if you had an actual seat assignment, not just a boarding pass with the seat to be assigned later. Unless of course, they had an equipment change and your seat went away. All the travel I do, I have never, ever been involuntarily bumped. Then again, I almost always fly just Delta and Alaska Airlines, with whom I have status on. That seems to help. If their flights are delayed and I’m going to miss a connection, they will generally have me booked on another connection or even another airline before I even realize the misconnect.</p>
<p>Busdriver11- no status here, and Delta has done the same for me.</p>
<p>As to the security at airline customer service desks, I think that it has become customary for staff to call them if there is any dispute being discussed and people are emotional. I witnessed a heated service complaint at JetBlue this summer (apparently an individual’s issue, not a group one) and though I heard no threats, 3 airport security offers showed up. The woman complaining was clearly surprised that this was the case. It did seem to cause her to lower her voice and behave in a more conciliatory manner. It can seem like overkill, though the process of flying has become a nightmare in so many ways and I wouldn’t want to be at the desk trying to do a differential diagnosis on who is really going to lose it vs. those who are trying to resolve the issue in more traditional ways. It’s a catch-22.</p>
<p>Ever heard the airline person lose it? We were boarding and she just about yelled “I’m missing 45 people!! Where ARE they???” Someone replied “They are in security lines,…TSA is making a career of it…” Everybody laughed–it took FOREVER to get through security that day for no apparent reason than slowness.</p>
<p>I only have 2 airlines that serve my airport - United and US Air. I used my remaining miles on United to book d’s flight back to school but it was a codeshare flight so she flew on US Air. At our airport they were asking for people to volunteer to be rerouted as the flight “may” be oversold. We sent our d through security early to make sure she made it on the plane - and she did. At her connection in Phoenix they mysteriously put her in 1st class. She loved it.</p>
<p>On another US Air flight my 2nd d got delayed by weather and being underage (boarding school student) she couldn’t go to a hotel. She also didn’t have a cell phone but one of the US Air employees loaned her their personal cell phone so she could call us several times and call classmates who lived in the area and she was able to get someone’s mom to pick her up and she stayed with them overnight to make a new flight in the morning. So its not always bad service - although again this was US Air - but they seem the same to me and codeshare most of their flights</p>
<p>Travelnut, if it has become derigeur for the airline customer desk staffers to call in the marines every time a passenger asks for help and a disagreement results, then the industry is in shambles. Yes, people will become annoyed when problems arise. But last time I checked, being disgruntled is not a federal offense. Sorry if I sound biased but we, the taxpaying public, saved these guys collective cabooses back in 2001-2002 when the airlines (including United, prominently) begged Congress to bail them out, since they sustained huge losses as the public was afraid to fly for weeks if not months after the WTC attack. We bailed them out, and look what we’ve gotten in return. Crummy service and a “to heck with our customers” attitude.</p>
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I was once bumped to first class on a full/delayed flight from Europe to the USA. I didn’t argue at all - I only said “okay” followed by “thanks”.</p>
<p>My kids were bumped from coach to first class too, it was a very nice surprise! Especially since they’d been staying at hostels and pinching pennies.</p>