News and notes from around the interweb:
- United probably falsely claimed that overhead bins were full, and forced passengers to gate check bags (a terrible customer experience). However they do not charge for this.
The passenger complaining here was almost certainly on a basic economy ticket and not allowed to bring a full-sized carry-on bag onboard at all, and that’s why they had to gate check and pay.
Remember that flying basic economy with United is worse than with Delta, American or Southwest. Always choose a different airline at the price point. But leave it to the airlines to find multiple ways to make their product worse than necessary.
@united Forced to pay $120 to check bags because there was no overhead bin space. This is after everyone had boarded. Had to pay to select seats and sit with my family. I won’t fly @united again. pic.twitter.com/L6weIeoCEQ
— S. K. (@snakebyte181) August 10, 2025
This is the more common complaint, that I see pretty much daily – payment is not part of the gripe.
And since I’m here @united why did you make me check my bag at the gate because the plane was “full” but this is what I see when I get on the plane? pic.twitter.com/jCebHubw9t
— Tyra Bucks (@tyrabuckiin) August 9, 2025
@united Feedback: Please have attendants check overhead space before forcing everyone to check their bags. I had to check my bag and the overheads were empty.
Second time this year for me and my wife. Would make for a much better experience. pic.twitter.com/T0EUANZRPV
— Jovanny Sanchez (@jovanny_sanchez) August 10, 2025
- Alright then.
How to sleep on a plane pic.twitter.com/r4FzELxY60
— lokki (@tubirich) August 9, 2025
- Everyone’s just trying to cope, even those flying Delta (‘Doesn’t Ever leave The Airport’).
this is actually hopecore pic.twitter.com/G6Xz8yu7cC
— The Notorious J.O.V. (@whotfisjovana) August 9, 2025
- New Haven, Connecticut bans city employees from flying Avelo Airlines over that carrier’s ICE deportation charters. (HT: Joe R)
- This is disturbing, but more disturbing is that nothing seems to be done to address the procurement problems at FAA’s Air Traffic Organization that led to this (it’s not just money) or to address the accountability problems that stem from the agency self-regulating.
These are a few pictures of the outdated equipment I saw during my tour of an air traffic control tower.
I’m getting rid of this and building a brand new system with the money from @POTUS’ One Big Beautiful Bill.
America deserves the best and most advanced technology for its… pic.twitter.com/bq0XskXqBI
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) August 9, 2025
- The new British Airways lounge in Miami is expected to open by end of year. If true, that would actually be ahead of schedule. The lounge will be 12,973 square feet on the Concourse E-Satellite fourth floor.
- 40% Singapore Airlines award sale runs for 60 hours starting August 15 for “selected destinations” and travel in September.
- Many of Amsterdam airport’s clocks don’t work and they’re removing them instead of fixing them (HT: Joe Brancatelli)
I’m with Gary on the overheads; generally, let passengers at least ‘try’ to put their bags up. I rarely purchase Basic fares, because they have reduced or no mileage earnings (for status). However, the fact that United’s Basic doesn’t allow carry-on, while Delta and American do… that’s telling.
As for the FAA, I hope Sec. Duffy is for real, because I don’t care about partisanship at all on this issue; invest in better equipment, train and hire more people, fix these FAA issues, please.
On Delta (‘Doesn’t Ever leave The Airport’), oh boy… Tim… he went there didn’t he… oof.
I found Blue Basic on JetBlue along with a checked bag for a fee each way and an assigned seat each way for a fee to be cheaper than the next higher ticket that included a carry-on but not a checked bag several years ago. After that I signed up for the JetBlue branded credit card ($99/yr) and now receive a complimentary checked bag plus the points have been turned into several flights. The checked bag has been useful.
@jns — Nice. Hard to find jetBlue fans these days, but I’ve spoken highly of them on here before. (I still think they have the best food, especially in Mint, and the IFE and extra legroom in Economy is top-notch compared with other US carriers.) On the jetBlue Plus card, the 5K anniversary bonus helps with the annual fee, and as long as you fly them once a year, that sorta pays for the rest if you check a bag. Additionally, that 10% points rebate (for award bookings) is nice. And once you get to the 10 tiles, the 5K points ‘perk’ is another nice bonus. I’ve status matched to Mosaic 3 with them once before, and the ‘Move to Mint’ certificates were also awesome. Was considering the ’25 for 25′ promotion, but that’s just too much flying to random places for me. Anyway, hope the airline survives!
I keep harping on this, but it’s only a matter of time before the airlines require a separate reservation for carry-on bags, based on the rated capacity of the plane. Make it more expensive than checked bags, and passengers will suddenly find an incentive to pack light, or perhaps find a market for third-party delivery services.
(jetBlue just needs to actually open their own lounges, or include United Club access in their partnership with them, as they had done with American during the NEA period; like, JFK T5 really needs a lounge… otherwise, that $499 annual fee ‘Premier’ card makes no sense…. ugh.)
@Denver Refugee — Never stop ‘harping,’ because it’s not a bad idea. I’ll do the same about EU261/APPR equivalents. There are certain ‘hills’ we should die on. Keep! Harping! Praise Blucifer!
Not only does United show their greed when comes to overhead bin space,
remember, “United Breaks Guitars”.
@1990: “However, the fact that United’s Basic doesn’t allow carry-on, while Delta and American do…”. When all things are ~equal and it comes down to a tie-breaker I will NEVER choose UA, solely because of their carry-on policy.
“United Breaks Guitars” happened in 2008. Might be time to come up with some more fresh.