More United Airlines fail: First class seat force-canceled for regular passenger and given to Congresswoman

I actually think it's possible that United is telling a highly misleading version of a half-truth.

Sheila Jackson Lee may have called up some high powered contact at United to get her on first class no matter what it took. That contact probably knew how to manipulate something in the system to make it look like that woman had an accidental cancellation, thus making the seat available.

They were probably hoping the woman would show up and hear the "oops, something went wrong, probably you accidentally did it in your app" excuse, accept the $300 voucher, and not make a huge stink over it.

There's lots of ways to manipulate those airline systems by employees with access to do so. I know this because I've asked for them to do certain things before, was told it was "impossible" given the way their system worked, and then somehow after a lot of debating/arguing, they put me on hold and magically are able to get it done through a back office. Like they give me some long, detailed story about why my request absolutely cannot be done (which is probably true at their level of access), and then somehow they end up doing exactly that via someone higher up.

So it probably was coded internally with some bullshit that the customer canceled.

I actually believe that this is probably the way they've been doing this when the Queen wants her first class seat, and needs a commoner downgraded.

I'm also guessing that perhaps some of the staff at the airport knew what was going on (or suspected it), which is why they panicked when this woman was taking pics for social media. They knew what might be coming.

United likely sticking to this obvious lie because it would look absolutely horrible for them that they will just kick out a "common" first class passenger in favor of a politician.

So they will probably stick with this story blaming the woman until the bitter end.

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Originally Posted by MumblesBadly

Uhhh.... Lee *did* express feeling bad after-the-fact for what United did. From the New York Post article you linked to:

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[Lee] said she hopes the airline makes everything right with Simon.

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That is an expression of sympathy for Simon having been treated badly by United.

What Lee was mentioning regarding race was how Simon visibly acted when seeing a black woman in her original assigned seat, and that the flight attendant was also black. And that flight originated in Houston, Texas, which while having a more diverse and more tolerant populace than historically so in Texas, is surrounded by legions of towns and smaller cities populated by white folks who long for the good ol' days before the blacks got so uppity. So, what Lee said about how many white folks react when they see blacks seemingly getting an advantage is not beyond the pale.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I actually think it's possible that United is telling a highly misleading version of a half-truth.

Sheila Jackson Lee may have called up some high powered contact at United to get her on first class no matter what it took. That contact probably knew how to manipulate something in the system to make it look like that woman had an accidental cancellation, thus making the seat available.

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what are you insane? This one is on the shelf with Mumbles' amazing contribution a few posts up. Druff, no one manipulated a system. This was just some on the fly decision that some asshat made because this CUNT of a congresswoman probably puffed her feathers like a peacock.

ever see casino?

"These people won their comp life when they got elected."

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Originally Posted by LarryLaffer

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I actually think it's possible that United is telling a highly misleading version of a half-truth.

Sheila Jackson Lee may have called up some high powered contact at United to get her on first class no matter what it took. That contact probably knew how to manipulate something in the system to make it look like that woman had an accidental cancellation, thus making the seat available.

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what are you insane? This one is on the shelf with Mumbles' amazing contribution a few posts up. Druff, no one manipulated a system. This was just some on the fly decision that some asshat made because this CUNT of a congresswoman probably puffed her feathers like a peacock.

ever see casino?

"These people won their comp life when they got elected."

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I know someone else who manipulated a system...

...one which involved friendship, generosity, and integrity.