I have flown a number of times on points (Star Alliance - Air Canada). When on AC, we are treated like any other passenger. However, we have flown 4 times on United, and Continental before that, and invariably, we are the last people allowed to board the plane. This even happened to us in Maui in March, flying to SFO on United.... First Class! They held us at the check-in area, awaiting a supervisor override, which we eventually got (25 minutes later) from a fellow that was there the whole time. We had to sprint to get to the gate; they slammed the door behind us.
Another time we flew through LAX, and were advised not to board when everyone else did, but when they called us. It was a jumbo, so we were very lonely sitting there, surrounded by 400 empty seats. They eventually called us, then SLAM!
I am not claiming any kind of discrimination, I just assume that these airlines are waiting until the very last minute, to see if a "paying customer" shows up. After all, we are not THEIR frequent flyer member.
Has anyone else experienced this, or have I just been in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Flying on Points, partner airline - treated as a 2nd Class Citizen?
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"have I just been in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
Might I venture to suggest, not entirely facetiously, that I'm not the only one who finds flying with United and/or Continental "the wrong place at the wrong time"...
I have had an Aeroplan account for about 11 years but live in the US, so most of my travel is on UA. During the last two years, I flew cashed in miles to fly first class ORD-IAD-FCO and business ORD-LHR on UA. I didn't have any problems boarding and didn't notice anything different from the other folks around me during the flights.
During the IAD-FCO flight, I even got a hello from the captain and a keyring because it was my b'day.
It is certainly true that United is the New Aeroflot, and has been for several years. As julia1 suggests, you weren't picked on because you were an Aeroplan member: United is an Equal Opportunity pain-in-the-butt.
That said, I am sure that OP has omitted some pertinent facts. If OP had confirmed F space on United, s/he is entitled to board with every other F customer. If OP was on a waitlist, that's an entirely different story.
Did you confirm your booking on united.com? Did you enter all the TSA-required info on united.com? Did you do online check-in, and print your boarding passes?
And while some are quick to trash everything about UA, I have flown AC a few longhauls in recent years, and in many aspects, they are just as ghetto.
I have to agree with Don, if the OP had a "confirmed" FC seat and boarding pass, he/she would have boarded with all other FC passengers. I have been on the FC upgrade waitlist and yes in that instance you may board last after the gate agent has accommodated all other passengers holding confirmed seats in FC. Then, if there are still open seats, they will do the upgrade.
We have used FF points for both free tickets and upgrades to Biz Class on American Airlines and have never had to put up with what the OP did, even on our October trip to Hawaii when AA was having "issues".
Living in Houston, I have never flown CO internationally because I don't like the layout of their planes. When flying CO domestically, I never had any issues. But I refuse to fly UA now that they have merged (obliterated??) with CO.
The only time that's happened to me was when I was waitlisted for an upgrade on UA.
I did not do an on-line check-in; perhaps that was part of the problem. If I have the capability, will do this the next time.
I was not aware of any reason to be on a wait-list. Perhaps it was just coincidence..... we'll wait and see if it happens again!
By the way, for what its worth, we flew United from Toronto to Chicago last March (then to Honolulu), and were standing in line at the check-in the morning that United and Continental's computers were being merged. We got to the airport 3 hours early, spent 2 1/2 hours in line, before we were allowed to the front of the line, along with others, and we had to rush to get through security, and to the gate. It was clear that the computers were causing major problems for everyone involved. But, it all worked out fine for us, in the end. We just wrote it off as a one-off situation. Mergers don't happen every day... thankfully!
Thanks for your suggestions, everyone, I will do what I can to smooth the process, the next chance I get!