Incredibly stressful and dangerous : Traveler is left high and dry over Christmas when United Airlines gives their ticket to a stranger

Get the Full StoryTraveling during the holidays is stressful enough, and there are enough airline horror stories to last a lifetime. Once again, United Airlines is in the hot seat for not doing their due diligence, and taking a passenger through a stressful ordeal. Imagine gearing up for a trip home during the holidays, only to have your plans completely derailed because an airline gave your ticket to someone else. That s exactly what happened to a Reddit user who recently shared their jaw-dropping experience that seems oddly familiar. The nightmare begins It all started when a traveler, who booked a flight from LaGuardia to Chicago for Dec. 20, 2024, at 9:15 PM, received a sudden notification at 3:30 PM stating their flight was ready to board, nearly six hours earlier than expected. Confused and panicked, they called United s customer service, only to be met with a whirlwind of contradictory explanations. First, United claimed the traveler had approved the time change but they hadn t. Eventually, a supervisor admitted the change was unauthorized, but said it was too late to fix it, especially since the flight had already taken off. The traveler was told they d be rebooked on a flight for Dec. 23 and would receive a confirmation email and call. But neither arrived. Instead, when they showed up at the airport on the 23rd, they discovered that someone else had fraudulently used their ticket. The person boarded the flight using their name and date of birth. Comment byu FlyNo1646 from discussion inunitedairlines To make matters even worse, the imposter managed to check a bag under the traveler s reservation using a different credit card. How does that even happen without proper ID checks? Airport staff confirmed this was a case of ticket fraud and documented it, but United Airlines didn t seem too interested in resolving the issue. They suggested the traveler dispute the charges with their credit card company and left them to figure out the rest on their own. Thankfully, they went to the Port Authority Police who stepped in and wrote a report to support the traveler s case. Frustrated and out of pocket for a last-minute flight, the traveler shared updates as the saga unfolded. Seeking help, they asked other Redditors for advice on how to deal with the situation. One commented: You may also want to freeze your credit and check to make sure nothing else has been done with your identity. This sounds incredibly stressful and dangerous. The aftermath The traveler followed by taking all the right steps like freezing their credit, checking for identity theft, and reviewing their email and security logs. Everything looked secure, ruling out any obvious data leaks on their end. Eventually, the Port Authority Police cracked the case. It turns out, a United Airlines gate agent rebooked someone with the same last name onto the traveler s reservation after they missed their own flight. The imposter was given a physical boarding pass without any ID verification beyond their last name. Comment byu FlyNo1646 from discussion inunitedairlines United Airlines was initially dismissive but finally acknowledged the mistake after the police got involved. However, their solution was a 500 flight credit which, considering how the traveler endured a three-day delay during the holidays, paid out of pocket for a replacement flight, and dealt with the stress of identity fraud concerns, doesn t exactly cut it. Honestly, this story is a harsh reminder of how important it is to stay vigilant while traveling. From monitoring your reservations to safeguarding your personal information, there s a lot we can do as individuals. But the airlines should also ensure security measures are up to snuff. As for United Airlines, the ball is in their court to make this right and restore trust with their customers. Meanwhile, the original poster has promised to keep us updated as they push for better compensation.

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