[familycruiser3]

We went to the airport 3 hours ahead to check in, (Miami airport to Newark returning) when we tried to check in, there was no reservation for me. When I asked Francie why, she told me that my reservation was seperate, and that it had been canceled. I asked why again, she told me that they had no record of me flying down there, so they had canceled my reservation to return. I checked in with my husband and daughter at Newark at the same time, and we checked 3 bags. The agent told me I would need a copy of my boarding pass or a copy of my luggage bag check tags, I told her I had thrown out the bag check receipts because we had already flown and retrieved our bags, so why would we keep them any further. But she did acknowledge that we had checked 3 bags in Newark. After searching thru my purse I found the boarding pass I had printed up from the internet, but I was then told that I could have printed that and never used it, that it was not proof, and as to getting down there, I could have flown on a different airlines she said. I was also told that this had occured at the gate at Newark, they said I was not on the flight, although my husband and daughter were on it. And we sat right next to each other.

I asked to speak to speak to a manager/supervisor but was told there was not one available. But 10 minutes later a woman in a red coat came out, after much computer research, I was issued a standby boarding pass, which I was told would only be honored if someone didnt show up for the flight. Our bags were again checked in to Continental, then we all went to the gate to wait. When we got through security they made an announcement by our gate that the flight was overbooked and they would be giving $300 voucher and would make arrangements to put anyone who vollunteered their seat on another flight and put them up for the night in a hotel nearby. My husband and daughter offered to give up their seats, they were the first ones and told that they would be given a $300 voucher and a different flight. After much deliberation by the desk agents at the gate, they were told they would be booked for the next day, even though the flight they were going to put them on was overbooked already. We all walked away and were called back 10 minutes later and told that the only flight available was a flight from Ft. Lauderdale airport, (we were informed that the gate agents did not have authority to overbook the flight, so that was undone)so my husband said they would take that. He then asked if I was booked on it, they said no, they had already booked me on a 10:40am flight from Miami, tomorrow, because they knew that I would not be able to get on this flight. So that was undone and I was also booked on the flight from Ft. Lauderdale for the next day at 2:09 pm. Now we all had reservations for the same flight again, but we could not sit together, she put us in the emergency exit row, but my daughter could not sit there because she is only 13, so we were put in row 12 and she was put in row 26 by herself. We were told that we could bargain with the people that sat next to her in row 26 so that we could change seats with them. This whole thing was ridiculous.

What happens next is crazy, its like a soap opera.
About 5 minutes before they close the gate, they told us to wait so they could print up boarding passes and get vouchers for a hotel overnight, so we waited, and then they told my husband and daughter that they would not be getting the $300 vouchers because two people had failed to check in, and even though they had given there seats to someone else on standby, now there were two seats available in different parts of the aircraft and there was once again room for them, but not for me, and they said since they did not know if I had flown down there, they would not issue me anything, like a voucher for an overnight hotel stay. My husband said we wanted to fly together and we would keep the reservations for the 2:09 flight tomorrow. We were told to wait there, and 45 minutes after the flight left,we were issued a voucher for an overnight stay at the airport hotel, which was not the nicest, and each a dinner voucher for $12 each and each vouchers for $6 for breakfast and a ticket for the Super Shuttle to Ft. Lauderdale for the next day. It was 8:45 pm. We started the whole ordeal at 5 pm. Our luggage had preceded us to Newark, so when we stayed overnite we had nothing but the clothing on our backs.

The ironic part is that another woman said they had done the same to her, she had flown down with her husband, 2 year old and a small dog in a carry on, she went to check in and they told her they had no record of her, the child or dog flying down and had canceled her reservation also, but they took her on a standby basis and let her go on with her husband a few minutes before the flight took off.

The good part is that after only a little more than an hour delay the next day, we finally took off for Newark and home from Ft. Lauderdale. (the flight from Ft. Lauderdale was also overbooked) I was relieved to be finally going home.

This was the unhappy ending to an otherwise terrific vacation.
The reason I posted as a security issue is that we are scanned and xrayed and made to submit anything we carry on to the plane with scrutiny, and then they said they had no record of me flying down there when I sat right next to my husband and daughter on the flight to Florida is a big security issue. And it happened to me and another woman on the same return flight, but we did not take the same flight to Florida.

[jimworcs]

These people are stupid. It is clear that you flew down... your boarding pass has somehow not been scanned, so you appeared as a no show. They know this perfectly well, but they are trying to avoid taking responsibility for their incompetence. In the end, they got you all home, but I would report this to the DOT, just to make them go through the effort of explaining their outrageous actions.

[familycruiser3]

Thanks for the info, I will report it to the DOT

[Gromit801]

If the boarding pass had not been scanned at Newark, then the manifest would not tally when the FA's did the head count, and it would have been caught then. In this day and age of post 9/11, wrong head counts get people fired. So they are not too likely to screw that one up, especially if the manifest is off by a count of three.

Something is very screwy here.

Something in their computer says you checked three bags. Ok, by TSA regs, no baggage goes without it's owners. So logically, one might assume you were on the aircraft from Newark, because your bags were.

[Jetliner]

Originally Posted by Gromit801

Ok, by TSA regs, no baggage goes without it's owners.

Really? What reg might that be? Keep looking because you will not find such a regulation because no such regulation exists. The airline is not allowed to check a bag unless the passenger has a reservation for that flight, however since all bags are security screened there is no bag matching on domestic flights.

Also, it is possible that the boarding pass could have been mis-scanned and the plane went anyway. It's not supposed to happen, but it can. It's rare, but sometimes a passenger will still manage to board the wrong flight and fly. Also we used to joke that one of the requirements to be a flight attendant is that you cannot be able to count. That joke was for a reason. The fact is that there is also NO security regulation that the counts have to match. That is more of an FAA thing, but all that is really looked at from any regulatory standpoint is that each person boarding the flgiht was authorized to be on the flgiht. So the person that boards the wrong plane - problem. In this case it's not (from a reg standpoint) since the passenger did in fact have a boarding pass for the flgiht.

The OP needs to contact the DOT. The problem is that airlines have a policy that if you don't fly the first leg of the trip, your whole reservation gets canceled. This is to keep people from cheating the system - A ticket from Newark to Miami might be more than a ticket from Rochester to Miami with a stop in Newark. This is because fares are based on competition in the city pairs (Rochester-Miami vs Newark-Miami). So this policy prevents someone from buying the Rochester ticket and getting on in Newark. Same can apply for only wanting a one way.

But if the passenger shows the boarding pass, and you can see that bags were checked in, that should have been more than enough to show that the passenger did in fact fly. You need to contact the DOT.

[jimworcs]

Spot on Jetliner.. there is sufficient evidence to show that this passenger flew. Does Continental charge for a second check-in bag? If so, then they should have a second bag charge for one of the "two" legitimate passengers who flew. If they don't, this adds further evidence that the third passenger flew. Continental had oversold this flight. They sought to exploit their own incompetence by refusing the passenger. The onus should not have been put onto the passenger in this case. Their conduct is OUTRAGEOUS. Continental appear to be going down the same route as Delta.. charge full service airline rates for discount type service. This needs to be dealt with by the DOT.

[jimworcs]

One other point Jetliner...

It would surprise me if a passenger on a domestic flight checked in at the airport and checked a bag, and then failed to board, if the TSA and FAA would not consider that to be a VERY serious breach of security regulations if the aircraft flew with the bag onboard. Whilst bags can travel without the passenger (for example, if bags are lost or fail to make the original flight); the circumstances I have outlined above are a very serious security issue. I am no expert, but I know that in Europe this would be in the category of one of the most serious security breaches possible. This method is suspected to be the way in which the PanAm/Lockerbie disaster occurred.

[Gromit801]

Originally Posted by Jetliner

Really? What reg might that be? Keep looking because you will not find such a regulation because no such regulation exists. The airline is not allowed to check a bag unless the passenger has a reservation for that flight, however since all bags are security screened there is no bag matching on domestic flights.

So you're saying passengers ARE allowed to send their baggage without being on the flight? And of course TSA screeners catch EVERYTHING, like maybe the C4 hidden in an aerosol can? You're saying there is NO security regulation in existence concerning such a possibility?

Reread what I said. "one might assume you were on the aircraft from Newark, because your bags were."

[The_Judge]

Originally Posted by Gromit801

So you're saying passengers ARE allowed to send their baggage without being on the flight? And of course TSA screeners catch EVERYTHING, like maybe the C4 hidden in an aerosol can? You're saying there is NO security regulation in existence concerning such a possibility?

I will echo jetliner's correct statement. U.S. domestic flights are not positive bag matched. Efforts are made, when possible, to remove bags if a passenger no-shows for a flight but on a bulk loaded plane with hundreds of bags, it's not reasonable to expect to be able to find and remove it. Even the government apparently realized this and allows for bags to travel without passengers domestically.

Also, how do you think bags that end up in the wrong place get to where they are supposed to be? Does the passenger fly to where it is then fly back?

[Jetliner]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

One other point Jetliner...

It would surprise me if a passenger on a domestic flight checked in at the airport and checked a bag, and then failed to board, if the TSA and FAA would not consider that to be a VERY serious breach of security regulations if the aircraft flew with the bag onboard. Whilst bags can travel without the passenger (for example, if bags are lost or fail to make the original flight); the circumstances I have outlined above are a very serious security issue. I am no expert, but I know that in Europe this would be in the category of one of the most serious security breaches possible. This method is suspected to be the way in which the PanAm/Lockerbie disaster occurred.

Yes, well, we are not talking about Europe here. And I will say that you are 100% wrong. As long as it's a domestic flight there is NO bag matching since all bags are screened.

[The_Judge]

Jetliner.......while I agree that there is no regulation domestically for positive bag match, the reason cannot be, as you say, "all bags are screened." Are they not screened internationally, as well, where positive bag match IS required? I'm not sure the exact reason either but I know it's not because all bags are screened.

[Jetliner]

Judge - again, you are absolutely wrong. After 9/11 all bags were positive bag matched. However that was done away with after they started screening all bags. And it was stated that it was because the bags are being screened they no longer need to be bag matched. I cannot say how perfect the screening system is. But that is absolutely the reason for no bag matching domestically.

[The_Judge]

Well, I'm not wrong, again. I'm spot on. Using your logic, why postive bag match internationally then? Doesn't really make sense, does it, since those bags are screened as well.

Think a bit instead of following what you're told.

[jimworcs]

Actually, I did a bit of research about PBM after you had said Jetliner that it was no longer required in the US. All bags are screened in Europe and yet they retained PBM.

What was the reason is was dropped in the US? Money. The US airline industry felt that it could cause delays and was too costly. There was considerable opposition by US security experts (and the FAA initially) to this change, as it was felt that to rely on any one method and hope that it would be 100% effective is poor security management. But, the mighty dollar wins.

There is also a rather touching assumption in the US that terrorists are all muslim extremists and that somehow domestically they are at less of a risk. I am not sure how Timothy McVeigh and some of the oddballs who live in the wilds of Montana for example fit into this stereotype.

I was utterly shocked to find that PBM has been dropped by the US airline industry for financial reasons. Yet more reasons to avoid US based airlines unless there is a no alternative.

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Jim wrote...

...the oddballs who live in the wilds of Montana...

I live about 2 miles south of the Montana border (in Wyoming.) Needless to say, I travel to Billings a lot---and through "...the wilds of Montana..." to get there. Yes, there WAS a stand-off, in northern Montana about 20 years ago, with a few people who felt the government didn't have any authority over them (it ended without shots being fired.) However the Montana of today is realitively progressive. The state has two Democrat Senators and a Democrat governor. Yes, the one Congressman is a bit of a moron. Billings Airport (BIL) is civilized compared to larger cities. Also, in Billings, one can even find a bar catering to the "rainbow" crowd, or "friends of Dorothy."

I know, I'll probably get raked over the coals for going off-topic.

[jimworcs]

Sorry Butch, should I change it to Idaho...?

[Jetliner]

Judge - I'm not saying that I agree, disagree, or am in between on why PBM was dropped. ALL I was saying is that it was. And the reason that was stated is it was not considered needed since all bags were screened. Again, I'm not saying I agree or disagree with that reason, but that is the official reason that was given to stop the procedure.