When you hear ‘man denied first-class seat’ you assume he was out of line. This man, Armando Alvarez, was actually denied his seat in first-class over his attire.
Alvarez is a VP at Best Buy, and is a frequent flyer. So on October 26th he decided to use some of his saved up miles to make an upgrade to first-class while traveling from Dulles to Connecticut. Not so fast, said a gate agent with United Airlines.
In a move that Alvarez says caused him to feel “humiliated and embarrassed,” the agent reportedly told him his track suit was too casual.
Rather than make a scene he decided to take it up with customer service. He not only zapped out an email to customer service, but he also sent one to the board of directors. So far he has had no response.
About the incident, he said:
“If this happened to me and I’m a United Airlines Red Carpet Club member then I believe it’s happening to other people and this must stop.”
Reports state that he doesn’t even care for a refund. It actually appears that he is only interested in making his point, and preventing it from happening in the future. I have to hand it to him for not trying to turn it in to a payday, although I’m not sure there would be grounds for much of a suit to begin with.
Check out a video about Armando Alvarez, the man denied a first-class seat for wearing a track suit below. Feel free to give us your thoughts on the story in the comments section.