Comments on: This could have turned out very badly

By: Meredith Putvin

Meredith Putvin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:23:18 +0000

Chris,

I have to call bullshit on the Airline. The ticket did have to be scanned for the child to get his boarding passes to get THROUGH TSA.

The Airline was caught with their pants down and made up an excuse to try and cover themselves.

By: Raja Gopalan

Raja Gopalan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:54:36 +0000

If even one child and one family is saved a nightmare as a result of Mr Elliott’s story, that will be a blessing. I will certainly NEVER send my son unaccompanied again. As for US Airways, they can just join the long list of faceless corporate entities that will do anything to make an extra buck without bothering to understand that a human child may be at the other end of their business transaction.

By: Kathleen Pierz

Kathleen Pierz — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:53:48 +0000

My son spent the summer in Panama with relatives. We took him there and returned after a week’s visit. At the end of the summer he called to confirm his flights and had none. This was a rare occasion where I’d actually used a travel agent to book the flights. I had my original printed itenerary from the travel agent showing his correct flights. The travel agent booked the wrong flights and booked one month too early. I was in a dead panic. I had to purchase a one way first class ticket a week LATER. I had to find a place for my son to stay and he was a week late starting high school(it was school break in Panama; all flights were booked and my relatives were going to California the next day). It was a nightmare and the travel agency never paid for the return flight and only after many letter agreed to return half the price of the original ticket. ALWAYS have a backup plan if kids are traveling alone.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:54:47 +0000

Why is everyone missing the fact that on his flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco the 11 year old wasn’t unaccompanied – his parents flew with him. He just flew back on his own. So this isn’t an issue of problems with unaccompanied minors (a friend just had their child on US Air and DID have problems but that’s another story), it’s an issue with a boarding pass not being scanned to register that they took the flight.

As someone said, keep your boarding pass stub until the end of your trip (and if you are a member of the frequent flyer program, until after your miles have posted). Even if it looks like it scanned, computer errors, not to mention human errors, can happen especially if people aren’t paying attention.

By: DN

DN — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:27:32 +0000

Actually, I forgot that this is a US Airways flight. If you check in and print your boarding pass away from the airport, they request that you tear the top portion of the boarding pass prior to boarding at the gate, present the top part of the boarding pass to the gate agent, and keep the bottom portion for your records. Extremely full flights where the plane needs to take off on-time (and US was very boastful of their on-time departure record from major hubs recently) mean that the gate agents are forced to board the plane faster and they don’t always scan the top portion immediately. PHL is a major hub for US, and I could see this happening on the outbound flight by accident. I am by no means condoning US’s actions, but as Josh mentioned, airlines are very quick to cancel regardless of whose fault it is.

The fact that US reinstated without a fee means that Mr. Gopalan was very persuasive, US eventually realized that it was their fault and that they weren’t going to claim a substantial penalty fee.

By: DN

DN — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:14:45 +0000

I concur with the opinions that the Gopalan family was very fortunate that they reconfirmed with the airline and had enough time to fix the problem before the return flight. Trying to do this at the airport is at the very least, excruciatingly painful.

@Jane: Where are you flying that airline staff verify your identity with a picture ID at the gate? The only time I am aware of this is when you are flying international and they need to verify your passport information, or if you are making some sort of change at the gate.

@Michael: This is pretty common; about 25% of the time that I fly, the gate agent rips the end of the boarding pass and hands it to me without scanning the document. I think you are correct that the gate agent would be extremely offended that you were trying to tell them how to do their job.

@Bob: Scott is correct; you can toss the second half of the ticket if you want, but the airline frowns upon it and it’s highly recommended NOT to use your frequent flyer number on this particular ticket so that it can’t be tracked-back to your account. I believe repeated offenses is cause to cancel your frequent flyer account and the automatic loss of accrued miles in said account.

@John: I guess Chris will let us know, since ORD’s computers went offline on July 2nd and they weren’t able to check people in using the computer.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:27:11 +0000

Jane…. In the last 6 times I have flown, ONLY TSA checks the IDs at security, the gate agent never does more than swipe the boarding pass over the laser reader and doesn’t look at photo ID at all.

By: ajaynejr

ajaynejr — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:26:14 +0000

Messing around with paid unaccompanied minors is not a good idea for the airlines. Once the problem was resolved they would have to put the UM on the flight even if somebody else had to be bumped. In any case, ompensation would also be in order if other expenses were incurred as a result of the airline’s mistake.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:33:36 +0000

@Scott: DUH!! Airline staff (not TSA security) scan your boarding pass and confirm with your picture ID that it is you and the same name on your boarding pass when you are AT the gate BEFORE being allowed to board the aircraft. They won’t let you on the aircraft if your boarding pass doesn’t get confirmation when it’s scanned. Use YOUR brain!

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:25:09 +0000

There are a few different issues going on here. The unaccompanied minor program and the reservation issue are SEPARATE. Chris, your summation is unnecessarily inflammatory. You asked how could an unaccompanied minor’s boarding pass not get scanned? In fact, the child was NOT unaccompanied at that time. I would surmise it — unfortunately — is more likely for an unaccompanied minor’s boarding pass to not get scanned accidentally since they are escorted down to the aircraft separately from the rest of the customers.

@Sir Wired: exactly

@Bob: It is their business because you entered into a contract. If you purchase a Saturday-night stay round trip, and ignore the outbound to fly a (more expensive) one-way flight, you have violated the agreed upon contract. Now, there are ways around certain things but some customers get stupid. If you want to buy the round-trip because you are only flying one-way and want to pay less, then make sure you are flying the OUTBOUND. And don’t then compound your problems by trying to use the return 6 months later. Use your brains, people!

@Jane: HUH? A boarding pass not getting scanned has NOTHING to do with the person obviously going through security earlier. Talk about trying to incite b.s. security issues about nothing.

To all: KEEP YOUR BOARDING STUBS until your itinerary is complete!!! This is your receipt. This is what verifies that you were on the flight, even if something in the automation went wrong. Sometimes there is problem with automation, tickets, reservation systems, etc. If you have that boarding stub, that allows you to prove to the airline that you traveled. If you throw it out? Well….don’t say you weren’t warned…

By: Carrie Charney

Carrie Charney — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:05:10 +0000

I usually get excellent service on Continental, but in 2003, I was meeting my daughter and family in Newark for a flight to Paris. They were originating in Baltimore and I met their plane. At our connecting gate, we tried to check in, but the agent brusquely told us we didn’t need to.

There was no preboarding for families with kids (in our case, aged 3 with a seat and 10 months, a lap child,) so we just got on line when our row was called, last, because it was at the front of the economy section. That’s when they told us that my son-in-law and my granddaughter (not my daughter) had not flown the first leg, and therefore their seats had been cancelled.

With the plane literally waiting for the outcome of our dilemma to close its doors, we argued back and forth. Presenting the used boarding passes didn’t seem to be doing the trick. In the end, they relented and allowed us on, but our good seats had been given away and we were each given a middle seat away from the others, including the 3-year old. Luckily, some kind travelers moved so they could sit together. I kept the middle seat they had moved me to.

As soon as we got to Paris, we had to haggle all over again for them to get return seats. It was the only nightmare I’ve ever had (knock on wood) with Continental, but it was a doozy!

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:41:22 +0000

Hmmm…If his ticket/boarding pass wasn’t scanned on the outbound flight according to US Airways, then how did he get on that flight from Philadelphia to SF? BIG Security flaw here.

By: Bunny

Bunny — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:33:46 +0000

Traveling from FL to El Paso with my 5 yr old daughter, we changed planes in Albuquerque. After sitting on the runway for an hour,the flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. The only assistance the airline (don’t remember which one) offered was to announce the flight cancellation at the El Paso airport so those waiting for us would know why we weren’t there (this was pre-cell phone, the dark ages!). We had to rent a car and drive to El Paso. Turns out they did NOT announce the cancellation and it took 3 hours to reflect the flight status as cancelled, so there were many worried people waiting in El Paso. When we boarded and took our assigned seats for the return flight home, a very well-dressed business woman came up to us and told us we were in her seat. I showed her my boarding pass which had the same seat number as hers. She went and got the flight attendant who told us our tickets had been cancelled since we didn’t take the last leg of our outward flight – the one that the airline cancelled for mechanical problems. Fortunately, the flight wasn’t filled so we all got seats but it sure made me wonder about the screwy system the airline used to track passengers. Thought it might have gotten better with advances in technology, but it seems it’s the same old same old.

By: Marilyn D

Marilyn D — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:36:34 +0000

I have been through the Philly airport many times and I must say that I have observed several occasions when the US Airways staff and ground crews were more involved in social contact with each other than they were in processing travelers through the jetways. It is in situations like these that boarding passes can get missed or not scanned at all. And then sometimes if the passes are scanned too quickly, they do not register on the machine. I have been line to board when that has happened and they have had to call passengers back from the jetway. The industry needs to monitor gate attendants to make sure there is less ‘visitin’ and more attention to task. BTW, one morning when I had a very early layover in Philly, I observed a group of about 8 US Air employees having a delightful ‘visit’ in the middle of the concourse; this went on for almost an hour. Visiting on company time. No wonder the company is struggling.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:48:14 +0000

I think it’s pretty naive to say “Make sure your tickets get scanned before you board.”

I’ve often boarded flights where the gate agent doesn’t scan the tickets, but merely does it like they did before in “the old days”… where they tear apart the boarding pass and retained their part, leaving you with the stub. Do you really think they’d take kindly to you telling them “Hey, I insist you scan my ticket!” in such a situation?