Tag: DENIED BOARDING

Delta Air Lines rejected me and my valid travel documents!

By Michelle Couch-Friedman |

Lin Wang takes the domestic leg of her Delta Air Lines journey to China without incident. The problem comes when she tries to board the international portion of her trip using an expired Chinese passport and a notice from the Chinese embassy. She explains that these are valid travel documents for her to enter China, but the gate agent is unconvinced, and she’s denied boarding.

Now she wants to know who is responsible for this travel fiasco. Read more “Delta Air Lines rejected me and my valid travel documents!”

Bumped from my flight to Palm Beach — why won’t American pay up?

By Christopher Elliott |

After Samantha Gomez is denied boarding on a flight from Philadelphia to Palm Beach, Florida, she asks her airline for compensation. Why won’t it pay? Read more “Bumped from my flight to Palm Beach — why won’t American pay up?”

Alaska Airlines bumped a real American hero – should I get involved?

By Christopher Elliott |

Chris Parypa Photography / Shutterstock.com
Chris Parypa Photography / Shutterstock.com
It’s not every day that you hear from a real American hero like Chuck Yeager. Yes, the Chuck Yeager. It turns out he and his wife, Victoria, catch my syndicated column in The Sacramento Bee.

They contacted me after running into some trouble on two separate itineraries to Anchorage, and despite every effort to get things sorted out with Alaska Airlines, they couldn’t.

By the way, if you don’t know who Chuck Yeager is, look up the word “hero” in the dictionary. You see that guy? That’s Gen. Yeager.
Read more “Alaska Airlines bumped a real American hero – should I get involved?”

Help! United left my 13-year-old daughter in Syracuse

By Christopher Elliott |

What does United Airlines’ unaccompanied minor fee cover? Katrina Cichosz wants to know, and after reviewing her case, I’m kind of curious, too.

Let’s go right to the textbook definition, which is on United’s website. When her 13-year-old daughter, Gabrielle, flew home for Thanksgiving on Nov. 21, she had the option of paying the $99 fee to cover “the extra handling required” for managing a child’s travel, but technically, she didn’t have to.
Read more “Help! United left my 13-year-old daughter in Syracuse”

Holy water! Did Southwest mistreat passenger on a pilgrimage?

By Christopher Elliott |

There isn’t much Val Maswadi and Southwest Airlines can agree on.
Read more “Holy water! Did Southwest mistreat passenger on a pilgrimage?”

Denied boarding because I didn’t pay a change fee

By Christopher Elliott |

Always read to the end. The very end.

That’s my takeaway from today’s failed case, which involves a woman who was denied boarding on a United Airlines flight because she hadn’t paid a mysterious fee.
Read more “Denied boarding because I didn’t pay a change fee”

Case dismissed: No ID? No flight

By Christopher Elliott |

J. Gillula had a Southwest Airlines ticket from Oakland, Calif., to Baltimore last year. But he didn’t have his ID.

That shouldn’t have been a problem, at least according to the TSA. It allows passengers who don’t have identification to undergo a secondary screening.

But it was a problem.

After a long wait, and an interrogation by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, a Southwest airlines employee approached me and told me that I would not be able to fly that day.

When I asked who it was — the TSA or Southwest — that was denying me the right to travel, she clearly indicated that Southwest was denying me boarding, in the presence of several TSA employees who made no attempt to correct her.

I was then escorted back to the ticket counter, where the Southwest employee processed a refund for my round trip ticket; she did not, however, make any attempt to re-book me or provide me with alternate transportation.

Read more “Case dismissed: No ID? No flight”

What to do when an airline doesn’t follow its own rules

By Christopher Elliott |

Can you force an airline to follow its own rules? Phil and Margaret Warker wanted to know after a disastrous return flight from Nassau to Washington via Miami. US Airways blamed the weather and offered them a $100 flight voucher for the trouble.

But the Warkers saw things differently. They believe they were involuntarily bumped from their Miami flight, and claim the gate agents in Nassau promised them more compensation. Who’s right?
Read more “What to do when an airline doesn’t follow its own rules”