I made the mistake of flying United recently from LA to Denver. On the return flight, we checked in at curbside. We checked in several hours prior to flight time. As we walked into the terminal we noticed that we did not have seat assignments. So we went to the counter and waited on line. And waited. And waited. When we finaly got to an agent, we were informed that, once you have checked in at curbside, you cannot get a seat assignment anywhere but at the gate. And, of course, there are no gate agents until about 1/2 hour before flight time. When a gate agent finally decided to come to work, I was able to get seats for my two companions, but I was informed that there was at that time, no seat for me. He wasn't even very nice about it. On top of the whole mess, there were three of us travelling together, and my companions, a married couple, were spread all over the aircraft. I decided to swallow my tendency to yell and scream at bad service, opting, instead, to be nice in the hope that I would get a seat. It worked. Fortunately, one passenger was willing to take a later flight, so I got a seat and made it home. But the lack of communicatio at curbside and the insane policy that prevents a ticket agent from issuing a seat assignment have led me to the decision that United is off my list of acceptable carriers.
0 comments