Wife denied boarding by United Airlines in Puerto Vallarta after 2 week vacation

[mindthegap 2,589]

Spot the united employee post.... 

[ChequePues 0]

So my wife actually didn't have a stamp directly related to the extension letter in her passport. She had a stamp from her recent trip to Honduras just a month before and U.S. customs hand wrote in "I-751 letter of extension" under the stamp when she returned. We showed this to them as proof that she had flown internationally under her allegedly invalid extension letter and that it had been accepted by U.S. customs.

 

To be honest I was pissed off when this happened but it took about 2 months for United to provide a reply to my request for a full refund. I'm still pretty angry with United though, especially since they pre-cleared her documentation in LAX prior to the trip. However, the Carrier Information Guide that Lemonslice posted plus the fact that they have changed the wording of the extension letters makes me think we don't really have any kind of leverage to take things further with United. I don't really care about the money, but they treated us very unprofessionally imho and I'm trying to get the word out how terrible United is.

 

I am glad that you all clarified that it's 1 year from the GC expiration date though, I had been confused even after trying to research the topic.

 

Thank you all for your answers.

Edited October 18, 2017 by ChequePues

[Darnell 8,478]

@ChequePueswell you wrote a letter - maybe you'll get what you're asking for !   That's my hope, really !  Letters carry more weight than just a phone call.  However, if you wanted, you could go to the ticket booth at your fav airport and see what's what .    The employees behind the counter have authorization to do stuff, and if it's over a certain amount, they can get approval via their internal hotline . 

[NikLR 13,227]

On 10/15/2017 at 3:53 PM, mindthegap said:

1 year from date of expiry of the card. This is explained in the carrier information guide, and newer extension letters issued from the last few months now have updated wording to reflect this (see mine here, which was received yesterday ).

 

If you have a stamp, you do not need to present a card and letter.

 

Yes - boycott them.

Awful airline, and the sooner they go under or get bought out, the better.

 

 

I agree if you have an I-551 stamp that showing the expired card and letter is not needed and indeed would make things more confusing. 

 

On a personal note, I'd rather UA not go under since it's the only airline currently that flies from Calgary to Denver without stopping all over the USA and not charging me an arm and a leg to do so.  You're free to boycott them obviously. But I'd rather they stay afloat unless you can find me another airline that flies direct so my kid can visit me and the trip not take 10 to 20 hours one way. (And don't say air Canada... they use united planes to do the actual flying.)

On 10/17/2017 at 7:58 PM, ChequePues said:

So my wife actually didn't have a stamp directly related to the extension letter in her passport. She had a stamp from her recent trip to Honduras just a month before and U.S. customs hand wrote in "I-751 letter of extension" under the stamp when she returned. We showed this to them as proof that she had flown internationally under her allegedly invalid extension letter and that it had been accepted by U.S. customs.

 

To be honest I was pissed off when this happened but it took about 2 months for United to provide a reply to my request for a full refund. I'm still pretty angry with United though, especially since they pre-cleared her documentation in LAX prior to the trip. However, the Carrier Information Guide that Lemonslice posted plus the fact that they have changed the wording of the extension letters makes me think we don't really have any kind of leverage to take things further with United. I don't really care about the money, but they treated us very unprofessionally imho and I'm trying to get the word out how terrible United is.

 

I am glad that you all clarified that it's 1 year from the GC expiration date though, I had been confused even after trying to research the topic.

 

Thank you all for your answers.

So.. your wife's card expired in 2015.  She had an extension letter that expired in 2017?  It should be 2016n 1 year from the green card expiration date not the letter.  She did NOT have an I-551 stamp in her passport but proceeded to leave the USA anyhow?  Just because customs had stamped it previously as okay? She is rather lucky to have been able to get back at any point in time. 

Edited October 22, 2017 by NikLR

[Mollie09 1,543]

16 hours ago, NikLR said:

 

So.. your wife's card expired in 2015.  She had an extension letter that expired in 2017?  It should be 2016n 1 year from the green card expiration date not the letter.  She did NOT have an I-551 stamp in her passport but proceeded to leave the USA anyhow?  Just because customs had stamped it previously as okay? She is rather lucky to have been able to get back at any point in time. 

 

100% this. This wasn't United's fault, it was yours.

[mindthegap 2,589]

16 hours ago, NikLR said:

So.. your wife's card expired in 2015.  She had an extension letter that expired in 2017?  It should be 2016n 1 year from the green card expiration date not the letter.  She did NOT have an I-551 stamp in her passport but proceeded to leave the USA anyhow?  Just because customs had stamped it previously as okay? She is rather lucky to have been able to get back at any point in time. 

Quite.

 

[ChequePues 0]

The purpose of my post wasn't to argue about who was right or who was wrong. Rather, my post was asking for clarification about the 1 year extension letter, which was kindly and quickly provided. It still seems weird to me that her letter was only valid for two months but I guess that's just how it goes.

 

Also, the fact that USCIS changed the letter's wording to state that it is 1 year from green card expiration date is confirmation that the letter's previous wording was ambiguous. I'm glad they clarified it so that people like us and the airlines aren't confused in the future. We would have never left the country had we known that the letter was not valid. My wife had been told twice by U.S. customs that it was 1 year from the date of the letter, and traveled abroad twice under the invalid letter. She was also pre-cleared by an airline agent before traveling abroad each time, including the last time with United Airlines to Puerto Vallarta. And then to add on top of that - we walk up to Alaska and say, "Hey, we were just denied boarding by United Airlines, can we book with you?" and were allowed to board without further problems. It just makes it even more obvious the confusion many people have experienced, travelers and airport staff alike, concerning the extension letter.

 

All this doesn't change the fact that we had an awful experience with United Airlines, and will not fly with them again.