As a follow-up to my previous posting, I have just received a very cordial letter from United Airlines Global Services Customer Relations in response to my letter of complaint. They have apologized for their decision to charge me for my bicycle and have said that they would be happy to refund me the US$175 handling fee. They have also offered to refund the charge if it is ever made again. In addition, they have credited 10,000 miles to my Mileage Plus account.
So, for the time being, I’ll continue to fly with United, since this was a good gesture and I now have the assurance that if I do meet a counter agent who is less than helpful, I will simply pay the handling fee and submit it for refund later. It will certainly make the check-in process less stressful and I won’t have the pre-airport anxiety wondering if I’m going to become road-kill in the tension between workers and management at United.
However, I do have to point out that if more United Airlines executives were cyclists and not golfers and skiers, we would see more intelligent rules regarding the transport of bicycles. My lightweight bicycle and bag do not weigh as much as a set of golf clubs and are a lot less wieldy than a set of skis and poles. And, at the end of the day, I probably weigh less than 80% of the Business and First Class passengers because of the bicycle… not to mention the carbon offsets.
Anyway, this is a pleasant turn of events.
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