Guide to Avoid Getting Booted Off of Domestic Flights (U.S. Only) (airplane, airport)

[Marie Joseph]

Originally Posted by veuvegirl

A couple of weeks ago I was on an American flight. We boarded the plane and shortly after were told the plane couldn’t take off. I went to the counter, got rebooked in the next flight. I upgraded my seat and went to the gate.

Suddenly my digital boarding pass changed. No notification, just booted off the flight. I went to the agent and no apology, nothing. Just a shrug of the shoulders and a too bad. Literally. I was fuming and lost it.

I 100% didn’t handle it well, however had the agent apologized and made an attempt to rectify it I wouldn’t have been upset. It’s amazing how they can put fuel in the fire.

So to answer your question, frequent flyer and upgraded. Didn’t help.

I've had the re-booking then the sudden booting happen; it's frustrating

Sorry this happened to you.

The airlines do not make it any better since they generally just give you the "oh well" or the dull look. I didn't lose it but was on fire inside, lol.

This would be one of the reasons that I drive everywhere

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by james777

During this time, I have NEVER been bumped, had a problem with a flight attendant, ticket agent, or crew member of ANY airline, nor have I ever had any problems with other passengers. That's right, NEVER!!! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!! What's my secret? Be polite to everyone, treat others as you would like to be treated, and shut up and do as you are told. If everyone did this, there would be no problems.

Same here. I never even lost a bag although a couple have disappeared for about an hour ... and I was well compensated both times.

[StealthRabbit]

thousands of flights for me (11 in the last week)
1) I have never seen anyone 'booted off' from a flight (after boarding). Have had an air marshal intervene once, but flight continued. Once in LAS they pulled a very drunk gal out of the jetway (After check-in)

2) Bumped ? That is my preferred way to travel (giving up my seat for $$$), but no longer happens, not even on Mondays and Fridays (which I intentionally book with hopes of being Bumped!) As a home-school family, bumps paid for 80% of 12 yrs travel for frequent 'field-trips'

3) Seat assignment? Who get those..? really a BAD idea if you find a behemoth next to you in assigned seat... better to 'take a pass' and find a better seat. Drunk / stinky people? It's nice to be able to move.

4) Getting removed from flight to make room for crew? Never happened, but I would be PLEASED to give up my seat for someone who has a more urgent business need. My trip can wait, I might meet someone really interesting while waiting! And airlines are very happy to accommodate me for volunteering. (got a $500 voucher last week for no reason that I can remember)

5) Lost damaged baggage?, once damaged, once one flight delayed. Each time they made it up to me. Round the world + 11,000 mile flights to bizarre places hundreds of times without issue.

Guide to Avoid Getting Booted Off of Domestic Flights (U.S. Only) Just be a knowledgeable and responsible consumer / traveler and you should be fine!

[cebuan]

Are you talking about being kicked out of your seat on the plane, or being told at the gate that they are overbooked? In the latter case, don't they make an announcement to seek volunteers to rebook? And offer compensation for the inconvenience?

[OHNot4Me]

Originally Posted by james777

Be polite to everyone, treat others as you would like to be treated, and shut up and do as you are told.

Best advise on this thread so far. Especially the "shut up" part.

[elnina]

Guide to Avoid Getting Booted Off of Domestic Flights (U.S. Only)

Right. Sadly, most US airlines weren't great at looking after passenger rights when it came to overbooking.
In the EU you're entitled to be given up to $900 if you arrive at your destination more than three hours after you were supposed to (with extraordinary circumstances like weather excluded).
You can then get meals, free phone calls or emails, and hotel accommodation if needed.
Overbooking happens almost everywhere. Airlines have got into the habit of building the "no-show" problem into their planning.
The point is that in the US the police is allowed to drag a bloodied, screaming passenger from an overbooked plane.
We should have better rules how to handle such situations - more discretely, sensitively and sensibly.
We shouldn't be plotting "stratergies" how to avoid a bloody mess on a plane or be a reason for such global outrage:
https://www.travelandleisure.com/air...oking-response

[Cantabridgienne]

Originally Posted by MechaMan

I am surprised this thread does not exist. These days it seems people are getting kicked off flights for any reason now.

Except they aren't.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

Flight attendants have no clue what your frequent flyer status is or what company you're with. And your company carries no weight with the airlines, unless perhaps you're the CEO of Amazon (and I'm guessing he doesn't fly commercial)

That isn't true, the steward & gate agent have the passenger list and it has passenger names, flyer status and affiliations on it. Flyer status does carry a slight bit of weight, they will bump a non-member over a member.

I usually book early, get assigned seats and then I check the reservation on a regular basis to make sure it hasn't been changed. United was going through a fleet upgrade last I went to Europe, and the type of plane (and seating configuration) changed twice and both times I was able to fix our arbitrarily assigned seats on the new plane. (I use the SeatGuru website to pick seats.) Since I am just shy of 6 feet tall with one bad knee, even on short flights I try for an aisle seat that lets me stretch out that leg.

Mostly I find that by being prepared for the process and pleasant to all the airline employees means I don't have problems, even when I see other people around me having problems. I've had luggage delayed twice in 40 years of flying, which is a surprisingly good record.

My biggest pet peeve centers around San Francisco Airport - SFO is frequently cut down to one runway because of fog and the line at the United customer service center can be 300+ people, all trying to rebook because of cancellations and extreme delays. The agents need to be able to help you at the individual gates, spreading the line around, instead of herding all those pax into one place. I rebook either using my phone or opt for the upgrade to the United Lounge and the much shorter line there. My home airport is small with few direct flights to the eastern US and connecting via SFO is pretty much a given, so I see it a lot.

[hertfordshire]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

That isn't true, the steward & gate agent have the passenger list and it has passenger names, flyer status and affiliations on it. Flyer status does carry a slight bit of weight, they will bump a non-member over a member.

They may have a list, but when they are interacting with you in the cabin, they do not know who you are or what your status is. They deal with too many flights each day to be able to recall from memory that the passenger in 8C is Premier Gold and works for IBM.

I do agree that they will bump a non-member over a member in the case of overbooking, but that's not the flight attendants doing that.

[MechaMan]

I am sorry I have not checked in to this thread - What I got though is I should keep my company Travel hotline on speed dial because there is no prioritization in re-booking based on the class of the airline ticket in the event we can't take off for whatever reason.

I tend to err more on the side of caution. Some are saying this is less than 1% of flight experiences. However, in my mind these news events could be the TIP OF THE ICEBERG - In that's the ones that made the news. From my perspective I would be willing to wager this happens MORE OFTEN THAN IS REPORTED.

The guy from the Young Turks documented just a regular ordinary trip he was stuck somewhere for 24 hours no hotel no nothing everything was on his dime when they decided no more planes for the day. I think it was SFO but not sure about a year or two ago. Things have definitely gotten worse.