Nonrevs behaving badly... what's new?

[Hello Newman]

Such behavior should be rewarded with a loss of ALL travel privileges for a minimum of 6 months.
Gate agents (for all airlines) work entirely too hard and have to put up with way too much from revenue passengers to have to tolerate this from non-revs.

You should see the way some of them act in the BSO. On one occasion I had an SA7 in front of me while my co worker was taking a claim from a revenue psgr. He behaved himself at first, until I told him he'd have to come back to retrieve his bag. He then pointed to the revenue psgr and said "WHY ARE YOU DELIVERING HIS BAG?". I responded by saying "YOU ARE TRAVELLING ON A COMPANION PASS" THIS MAN PAID MUCH MORE FOR HIS TICKET"
On the average a claim for a revenue psgr takes two minutes or less to put in to Worldtracer. An SA7 claim can take 12 minutes by the time the whining and the pining is over with. One sicked his lawyer on me becasue his bag was missing for over 3 days. The only way this will ever change is to start suspending travel priveleges.

 

[TheNewUSAirways]

Seniority has nothing to do with which seat you receive, (except for upgrades). It just means you will be cleared for a seat before those junior to you. The gate agent did nothing wrong by trying to seat families together IMO, because their actions did not prevent the more senior non-revs from obtaining a seat.

That's my point exactly. I was reply to an earlier post that implied that this FA was somewhat justified in her opinion that just becuase she was senior that she should get the window seat.

 

[phillyrules]

This is just great....like we don't have enough to do at the gate now we have to call every one on the list up to the desk and ask are you a AWA f/a and then compile a list of when every one checked in to make sure we dont go out of order......are you out of your mind!!!!

Thats how it will have to be because QIK is now programmed for date of hire boarding.....

Also it is not correct DOH because the CWA contract states DOH not year of hire....how do you think I feel being hired at the beginning of the year and I was able to determine before even listing if I could get on a flight because we could look up who was listed and there date of hire

 

[Hello Newman]

I have gone to the gate in PIT and was told they were not clearing nonrevs yet only to see a girl with more than a year junior to ME get her boarding pass automatically. MMMM HMMMM it was less than a minute later as I stood RIGHT in front of him. I walked up and said, "may I have mine NOW". Oh I batted my eyelashes too. Apparently that was what it took.

In May of 2004 my son and I were tvlng thru PIT and were trying to get on a 737-400 to BWI. The plane was about half full and I had over 22 years seniority at the time, no problem, I knew we'd get on. The guy working the desk was probably a 30 year man who stood there glaring at me with a look that could kill. Don't know what his problem was but he continued with his pickle face and when he did hand me two boarding passes, they were for the worst row on the plane.
The one that's in between the windows so you can't look out. My son and I just stood in the rear galley until boarding was complete, then took an open row in the back. My point is "what the hell was his problem?" I hope he doesn't treat revenue psgrs that way.

 

[legacy-to-LCC]

whatever happened to just being grateful to have this amazing perk?

 

[hpflygirl]

Last week I flew LGA-CLT-DEN (thru flight) with my grandaughter who is 10. My son works for US too, so we were a 3P and 4P. We were the only 2 non revs LGA-CLT and there were 55 empty seats. I was in uniform (West). I went up to the gate to let the agent know his 2 non revs were traveling together and one was a child (our last names are different so it's not obvious). Before I could even get to the gate podium, the agent steps over and hands me 2 boarding passes. He proceeds to tell me he's sorry he couldn't get us together but since we had 6D and 7F we could just ask someone to switch. Huh? What a load of crapola! He saw me sitting with my grandaughter and yet he was too lazy to take 2-3 minutes to change the seats. We got onboard and the flight attendants were really nice to us....they always have been when I've been on East flights....and guess what.....there were about 10 rows that were completely empty. Out of CLT there is an unscheduled a/c change so head to the new gate. We get there and a revenue pax walks up at the same time, so I stand aside to let him be helped first. The gate agent was soooo rude to this pax. The man was a thru pax off our original flight and he just wanted to know if he would have the same seat as on the first flight. The gate agent tries to pull him up by name but because he didn't listen to what the man was saying (that he was thru) the agent tells him he's not on this DEN flight. The man very politely explains it to the agent again, and the agent very rudely tells him "I don't know what flight you are on, but it's not this one". By now I've changed out of my uniform shirt so it's not quite as obvious that I am crew. I really wanted to tell the agent that it was a THRU flight with an a/c change and to try looking at the thru list......but I kept my mouth shut. After about 5 minutes of going back and forth the agent finally gets it and tells the man what he wanted to know. Then I step up, tell him I'm non rev, and that I would take the jumpseat if necessary to get both my grandaughter and I on the flight (I am #1 on the list, my grandaughter #4). He rolls his eyes at me and pretty much dismisses me with an "ok, fine"...and then turns his back. So I go and sit down and wait...knowing it's going to be close. When they call us for our seats the gate agent hands me the 2 boarding passes and then gives me this glare like he's waiting for me to complain about our seats. Hmmmm....full flight...and I've been here nearly 20 years.....yeah, like I'm really going to complain about 2 middle seats. No problem....my grandaughter is sitting right in front of me...and I'm just happy to be on the flight.
I guess the whole point of this story is....what's with the attitudes...and the laziness?????

 

[Bridogger6]

Last week I flew LGA-CLT-DEN (thru flight) with my grandaughter who is 10. My son works for US too, so we were a 3P and 4P. We were the only 2 non revs LGA-CLT and there were 55 empty seats. I was in uniform (West). I went up to the gate to let the agent know his 2 non revs were traveling together and one was a child (our last names are different so it's not obvious). Before I could even get to the gate podium, the agent steps over and hands me 2 boarding passes. He proceeds to tell me he's sorry he couldn't get us together but since we had 6D and 7F we could just ask someone to switch. Huh? What a load of crapola!

Hey question for you in this case. How were you listed for the flight? Were you listed all the way through LGA-DEN.... or did you list it as two separate segments, LGA-CLT and CLT-DEN?
I don't know if there is an official policy on this or not to be honest, but nonrevs should list segments on a through flight as two separate legs, because when clearing seats, QIK will try to clear the seats all the way through to the final destination. So when an agent clears seats out of LGA, if the flight is full out of CLT, then the agents need to unseat the through nonrevs and relist them there... it's a pain in the butt for the through city.

In any event, if you were listed as LGA-DEN, then it is entirely possible to see why the agent said he was sorry that he didn't have two seats together. When QIK clears you a seat, it is looking at the whole flight including the stopover in CLT as to what seats are available and will only clear you a seat that is available for both segments of the flight. It won't allow the agents to simply change your seat per leg. When QIK clears you, it clears you for both segments as though it were only ONE flight. There is a way to split route seat.. or in other words, put you in two different seats for each leg, but it is complicated and does not work half the time in QIK and also, it is used for revenue passengers only.

If I were the agents in LGA I would have just relisted you you as two separate segments. So it IS entirely possibly the agent wasn't being lazy or lying when he said he couldn't clear you two seats together. He should have said, hey these seats in the back are open, I just can't make it work in the computer since you're listed as a thru passenger. Or he should have canceled and relisted your listing as two separate segments, as most good agents know to do... either way, that's probably all that happened. I really don't think the agent in LGA was trying to spite you and I think he was being perfectly honest about things we the tools he had to work with.

 

[sharktooth]

That's my point exactly. I was reply to an earlier post that implied that this FA was somewhat justified in her opinion that just becuase she was senior that she should get the window seat.

Are you saying the computer system now does not assign you a seat when you are "cleared"? It is now a two operation ordeal?

 

[sharktooth]

whatever happened to just being grateful to have this amazing perk?

It ceased being a "perk" when management tried to include it as part of the compensation package by pointing out "all" the things employees "get" for working at LCC.

Grateful? Let us start with average compensation levels.

 

[TheNewUSAirways]

Are you saying the computer system now does not assign you a seat when you are "cleared"? It is now a two operation ordeal?

No, but if the system had assigned her an aisle seat and there are no more window seats after all non revs are cleared, the gate agent has no obligation to go back through and remove junior people from window seats just to put a senior person in the window seat.

 

[ChrisUS]

Oh well... we get bad enough treatment from passengers on a day to day basis, we don't need to put up with it from each other too. We're on the same side.... right?

As a former gate agent, as a courtesy, I'd have pulled her aside and calmly told her she was THIS FAR from being denied and reported. She can quietly take her seat or continue to make a fuss and be denied. Her call entirely. Treat a spoiled child LIKE a spoiled child.

 

[YVINTERN]

As a former gate agent, as a courtesy, I'd have pulled her aside and calmly told her she was THIS FAR from being denied and reported. She can quietly take her seat or continue to make a fuss and be denied. Her call entirely. Treat a spoiled child LIKE a spoiled child.

Maybe we should hire some Oompa Loompas in each HUB city? They could do their dance and tune

 

[InternationalShannon]

Okay, let me tell you how this goes down when you try to enforce the rules. ..

nonrev that had the bawlz to get attitude with you in the first place continues attitude,
the supervisor must be called in to deny the boarding, or perhaps the shift manager
it's getting rediculously close to departure time and let's not forget ON TIME EVERY TIME!!
So the nonrev gets a warning and goes smugly to their seat, you get all kinds of angry, and then you get told not to take things personal and make sure that the timely departure of the aircraft is a little higher on the priority list than arguing with nonrevs.

While "pull them off" might be tempting, it only works if it's an SA7, the SA3ps know they'll get away with it.

It takes a lot of effort from a lot of people to remove someone's priveledges and in the union environment it isn't going to happen. It isn't that simple. Lord knows I wish it were.....

 

[ChrisUS]

Okay, let me tell you how this goes down when you try to enforce the rules. ..

It takes a lot of effort from a lot of people to remove someone's priveledges and in the union environment it isn't going to happen. It isn't that simple. Lord knows I wish it were.....

And so our society continues it's downward spiral with people refusing responsibility, suing at the drop of a hat, objecting to God's name and catering to the minority.
I'm not faulting you and agree totally with your assesment of the situation. It's just so sad.

 

[ChrisUS]

Maybe we should hire some Oompa Loompas in each HUB city? They could do their dance and tune

GREAT IDEA!! I hear they work for Gobstoppers.