Posted on 12/26/2017 5:51:12 PM PST by Liz
Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee said she was targeted by a passenger accusing her of taking her first-class seat “because I was an African American woman”.....the airline said she was not given the seat because she is a congresswoman.
Passenger Jean-Marie Simon accused the airline of giving up her first-class seat on a flight earlier this month from Houston to Washington, D.C., to Jackson Lee, a Democrat, in a report in the Houston Chronicle. “I am disappointed in having to respond to this accusation, but I believe transparency is very important,” Jackson Lee said in a statement posted to her Twitter account on Tuesday.
The longtime Democrat lawmaker said she received her boarding pass for her flight on Dec. 18 and “boarded the plane in the normal process.”
“I did nothing wrong. I asked for nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary and received nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary,” she said. “I proceeded to take my seat and work on legislative issues on my way to Washington.”
She said she then observed a “disruption” from someone walking back and forth in the cabin of the plane. That woman was speaking with a black woman flight attendant, she said. A gate agent went to speak with the passenger before the flight took off, she added.
Jackson Lee said the person “came toward me and took a picture” and that she heard the woman might have said 'I know who she is.'"
“Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant who was very, very nice,” she said.
“This saddens me, especially at this time of year given all of the things we have to work on to help people.” A United Airlines representative told NBC News that Jackson Lee was not given preferential treatment because she is a member of Congress.
The passenger, whose flight was already delayed, canceled her flight using the United app, the representative said. When she arrived at the ticket counter, she had a paper ticket from when she had checked in but that was no longer valid because she canceled her flight, the representative said.
Jackson Lee has global services status with the airline and was given an upgrade, which is common for when there is an open first class seat, the representative said.
She said Jackson Lee’s statement accused her of racism. "I had no idea who was in my seat when I complained at the gate that my seat had been given to someone else.” She said an airline resolution manager called her and personally apologized on Saturday morning, but she wants a formal, written apology from the company.
I had a Black friend that thought if he gambled $100 at a table, he should comp a dinner and a show, and after he complained, the casinos would do just that. I had to tell him, they would never do that fo a White Guy...he didn’t know.
“SJL has entire deck of race cards.”
All fotty fi ov ‘em.
“I’d triple the bet that they had to ask her to hang up her phone about 5 times.”
i’ll take that bet and raise that they would not DARE ask that melanin enhanced congress critter to do or NOT do anything cuz they don’t want the ‘treatment’, you dig?
And no one shows up for a flight that they cancelled.
and stoopids continue voting for this worthless negra.
Ivanka, Jared, and family were flying coach when they were harassed by a gay guy or couple. I think it was last Christmas and they were flying to Hawaii.
I have a feeling that Ms. Simon would’ve been equally as pissed if a lily-white, blue-eyed blonde had stolen her seat. Nothing to do with race.
============================================
SOURCE miles.com
WHAT IS GLOBAL STATUS?---United’s Global Services, introduced around 2003, is an unpublished, invitation only level of status in the United MileagePlus Premier program that is designed to reward its most profitable customers with an exceptional level of service.
While United doesn’t publish a specific list of benefits for Global Services, there are some that have been publicly disclosed, while others are more ad hoc that we detail below.
How to qualify for Global Services---This is probably the most opaque part of the Global Services program. There are no published qualification requirements but generally people who qualify…....
Spend a significant amount of money on United operated flights relative to other Premier level fliers (some think this means $50,000 or more per year, but it varies) Concentrate much of that spending on full fares (Y/B in Economy, F/J/C/D in Business / First Class) Some members qualify with less of the above via…
Influencing a significant amount of corporate travel spending.Being a relatively large spender in a home airport with unique competitive situation Having flown over 4 million lifetime miles on United and receiving lifetime Global Services status
Being designated as the annual companion of a lifetime Global Services member Even with those guidelines, nothing is set in stone, as a variety of factors are used which constantly change to determine Global Services eligibility.
Invitations to Global Services are sent early each calendar year.
What are the possible benefits?
<><> Global Services members get the base Premier level benefits of the status level they qualify for (which more often than not is Premier 1K) and in addition to those benefits, they have been reported to receive these additional benefits, though since they are mostly unpublished they may change at any time:
<><>Highest priority on lists for Complimentary Premier Upgrades, trumping 1Ks and all other Premier members. One exception is if a Premier member buys a high Y/B/M fare and gets an instant upgrade to First Class, while a Global Services member is flying on a discount fare. Global Services members get upgraded into the ‘PN’ fare bucket at their upgrade window, which tends to be more generous than the ‘RN’ bucket used for other elites (read more about United fare codes here).
Expanded upgrade inventory for upgrading with miles / certificates. Global Services members get to upgrade into the ‘PN’ fare bucket when upgrading from Coach using miles, Global Premier Upgrades, or Regional Premier Upgrades. This fare bucket ties more closely to actual revenue ticket availability than upgrade / award inventory for non Global Services members, which comes out of the ‘R’ bucket.
Award ticket upgrades. Global Services members have the ability to upgrade award tickets with their Regional and Global Upgrade certificates.
Saver awards for companions. If you’re flying on a paid premium cabin ticket, you can bring along a companion for the Saver level number of miles, even if Saver awards aren’t available on that flight.
Access to Global First Class lounges. When flying on a Business Class ticket, Global Services members can use the United Global First Class lounges, which are typically reserved for passengers in Global First on 3 cabin planes. The lounges are available at San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London Heathrow.
Priority boarding. If you fly United a lot, you hear this whenever the gate agent makes the boarding announcement. Global Services members get their own private boarding time, just before 1Ks, First Class, and other priority travelers board.
Private check-in. At Newark, Chicago, and San Francisco airports Global Services members get to use a private check-in facility with a door that opens to the very front of the priority security line. Los Angeles will be getting a Global Services check-in lobby when renovations of that terminal are complete.
Priority check-in. At airports without a Global Services facility, there are often counter positions assigned to serve Global Services members first.
Mercedes Benz transfer.
United will pick some Global Services members with tight connections from the jetway in a Mercedes Benz to reach a connecting flight. This is available at all U.S. hubs (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, Denver, Washington Dulles, and Houston).
First meal choice. When sitting in First or Business Class, Global Services members have top priority for getting their choice from the menu.
Priority reservations. Global Services members get top priority when calling United reservations, and have typically been handled by agents dedicated to serving Global Services customers.
I think flying coach was just a one-off to connect with the common man.
SJL cannot possibly rack up enough miles only commuting to D.C. to earn global elite status with United. This is definitely a form of bribery on behalf of United.
My ex-state senator Brian Joyce has just been indicted for similar behavior. Free coffee, free dry cleaning and lots of cash.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/12/08/former-senator-brian-joyce-arrested/
There is no way SJL has obtained that many miles commuting between Houston and D.C.
Excellent point.....so she musta lied to get special privileges.
Throw the bum out of Congress.......we dont need another pathological liar making our laws.
I didn’t think much about this story when it came out until I learned that the Washington Post squashed it. Then I knew that there was more to the story.
I also like the fact that NBC has been acting as a surrogate for UA by informing the passenger that her miles will be restored.
Bribery.......well, well, well. Methinks we got 'em by the gonads with this.
Good observtions......thanks.
Look at the story I linked in post# 130. It started slowly when this State Senator was caught giving out expensive sun glasses as gifts. A dry cleaner then complained that the same state senator had been getting free dry cleaning for years. Then the Feds started looking into the Senator since the state A.G. was too busy.
Beautiful.........small things observed by savvy people.....that’s how it starts. Love it.
I suspect something like this happened. Reports mentioned a weather delay. The lady had an United App and I am guessing the system changed her flight from Houston to DC because of the delay. She flies through customs and makes a run for it. She probably never even had time to look at the app and boarded with her paper pass.
SJL is an African Woman
Except that’s not what happened. Her overseas flight was not delayed and the passenger had plenty of time to make her domestic flight. UA claimed she canceled her domestic flight by the app. The passenger said she did not. UA also gave her voucher of $300 and then upped it to $500. Why would UA do that if the passenger had cancelled her flight? The passenger also provided a screen shot of her app. to the reporter which did not have a cancelled flight.
Full disclosure: I use travel extensively world wide and had premier status with United Air lines. A couple of times my international business seat was downgraded to accommodate some self entitled jerk. However, I was always offered either business class on a different flight or very generous vouchers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.