I typically mock passengers who have “meltdowns” at airports or on airplanes, but not here. A man was rightfully angry after he was denied boarding on an oversold Avianca flight after a double seat booking snafu left him the odd man out.
Man (Quite Understandably) Has Meltdown After His Seat Is Taken Away On Oversold Avianca Flight
The incident took place on an Avianca flight, purportedly at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota (BOG). The passenger, Juan Manuel, was traveling to Los Angeles (LAX) via San Salvador (SAL), as Avianca suspended its nonstop service between LAX and BOG.
As Manuel shares, after boarding he found a child sitting in his assigned seat. A gate agent then told him:
“Oh, Juan Manuel, it turns out that your ticket was resold; get off, get off the plane, do me the favor.”
That doesn’t sound very professional…
Video onboard shows Manuel yelling at flight attendants…he says that he booked his ticket three months in advance and laments (from what I can gather…my Spanish is not great) that he was chosen for removal.
“I paid for it, they deducted it from my card, you haven’t given me anything, it wasn’t a favor! It seems disrespectful to me that you would sell something you don’t have.
“Let a cop come. I hope the prosecutors come. Because I will report you for not being serious. It’s just that you can’t be playing with people’s agendas!”
Ultimately, after passengers pleaded with him to step off the aircraft, he did so, saying he did it for their sake, not because Avianca demanded it.
Avianca rebooked him via Chicago to Los Angeles and provided him a food voucher for 26,000 Colombian pesos (about 6USD) and a flight voucher for about 80USD as compensation.
There’s a twist. Manuel admits he sat in the gate area and deliberately was among the last to board. However, he insisted he was not “late” and was always in the gate area (and got in line with 10-15 other passengers still waiting to board at the end of the boarding process).
Overbooking Is Not Always Bad
Yes, overbooking is a thing (and I think it generally makes sense considering historic no-show factors). When everyone does show up, the situation is always unsavory if there are no volunteers to travel later in exchange for compensation.
I’m willing to accept the risk of overbooking in exchange for a cheaper fare. But it’s just not right when someone who books months in advance is denied boarding. Now here Avianca might argue that he showed up at the gate too late…but if he 1.) boarded with 10-15 other passengers and 2.) was invited to walk down to the aircraft…then that does not seem like a typical denied boarding situation to me for being too late. It sounds to me like two people were assigned to the same seat, which is not Manuel’s fault.
CONCLUSION
Overbooking is a risk you take when traveling on most airlines. I don’t think the takeaway here is to board as early as you can. Rather, it is that you may be kicked off a flight even if you booked it months in advance and did nothing wrong. It’s an odd facet of the airline industry…but hardly a rare occurrence.
image: TikTok
I’d much rather have that layover in ORD rather than San Salvador, personally… as long as there’s a good alternate flight, I don’t mind being bumped in the least
Maybe if only travelling with hand luggage, but, assuming that SAL has a ‘traditional’ sterile international connection facility, I certainly wouldn’t want to do the luggage rechecking dance which is part of US (and Mexican) connections.
And T5 ORD is a total mess these days in terms of immigration.
But there’s still something that does not add up here – I don’t think AV serves BOG-ORD nonstop…
Maybe he meant Houston on UA?
There’s no direct flight from Bog (or anywhere in Colombia for that matter) to ORD
SAL is a pretty fun transit point actually. I think probably better than ORD by nearly any metric for an economy passenger on AV
If this was done by computer wouldn’t the computer detect the seating snafu?
Anyways, had he boarded earlier than the child, would he have kept his seat and the airline would have denied boarding to the child?
Exactly. That’s why I don’t think it mattered that he boarded late unless the gate agent cleared standbys and the children was one of them.
You then have to wonder if the child might have been a relative of someone working at the airport that day…
USD 80? That’s pathetic compensation.
If this type of bullshit is to be done, then the time a ticket was purchased should factor in to the decision of who gets denied.
Normally time ticket was purchased is the last factor, if bought early it’s probably a saver or super saver fare. Last minute tickets are probably full fare and therefore higher up any priority chain (whether it be op-ups or involuntary bumps)
This story just seems fishy to me. If he was checked in and boarding on time, how was his seat reassigned? I’m not saying it’s impossible that Avianca can’t be that inept (see $80 compensation for illustration) but it really feels like we’re not getting the whole story.
Avianca cannot be that inept? Ever heard of Lifemiles?
Avianca has been earning it´s place as the worst airline in Latin America; maybe you could write a bit about how the airline is going downhill, after being one of the favorites in the region.
Im ok with overbooking if it means cheaper fares. Certainly sucks when the music stops with you but the compensation has been decent in the USA at least.
I just flew from Colombo to Sydney on Sri Lankan (very nice) yesterday and there was a bit of a ticketing snafu as I used Alaskan miles but all came good in the end. I did wonder however what the compensation would be if they bumped me down to economy.
I don’t understand the issue with the airlines. Someone bought the seat and paid for it so the have been justly compensated if that passenger doesn’t show up and the seat sits empty. I get they are trying to make MORE, but they aren’t out anything if there is a no show. The airline should have to pay the passenger 2x the ticket price should they deny boarding. Why is it the airline is the only one who can profit?
Avianca has become the worst airline in Latin America they charge for everything even a single peanut, they do not let people on their economy flights get a seat next to your own minor child when you check in online for your flight 24 hours in advance. Apparently Avianca thinks it’s ok for minors to travel alone seating next to strangers.
“Overbooking is a risk you take..”
No, dummy, overbooking is a choice the airline makes at the expense of your time and money. This borders on fraud and should be more strictly regulated.
I disagree…it’s a way to avoid waste.