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I was recently on a flight and the seat I paid for was changed. I was travelling with an elderly person and we were not sitting together. When I requested to sit next to this individual who was pre-boarded, we were given seats together however when they took me off of the other seat, I was not added to the new seat. As a result I was not on the manifest at all and my luggage was taken off of the flight. This is how I was made aware that I was not on the manifest. Is this a serious infraction that should be reported? Luckily the flight did not go down but I can't imagine what would have happened if it did.

L Mercer
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  • When you said "the flight did not go down", did you mean the flight was canceled? And, when you said "This is how I was made aware that I was not on the manifest" did you receive a notification to your phone just before takeoff that your luggage was removed, and so can inform the flight attendant? – justhalf Jun 15 '23 at 03:33
  • @justhalf Phone is supposed to be switched off just before takeoff? – gerrit Jun 15 '23 at 06:42
  • That's what I thought, so wasn't sure what it means by "I was made aware", since the general gist I got from the story is that it ended well? So it means OP got their luggage and didn't take off? I am just trying to clarify my understanding of the story, and not about doubting the story. – justhalf Jun 15 '23 at 06:47
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    @justhalf “Flight didn’t go down” = Plane didn’t crash. Otherwise they may not have been able to identify (or even know to look for) OP’s remains. – Darren Jun 15 '23 at 09:25
  • Ooh, ok, got it. I wasn't considering that far, thought we were still talking about luggage – justhalf Jun 15 '23 at 09:46
  • I am sorry to hear that! – guest Jun 15 '23 at 11:06
  • What countrie(s) are involved here? – Doryx Jun 15 '23 at 15:50
  • @justhalf, it's pretty clear to me that the OP arrived at their destination and went to pick up their luggage, and were then informed about the cockup which led to there being insufficient luggage at their destination and superfluous luggage at their starting location. – Martha Jun 15 '23 at 19:23
  • @Martha, yea, the "flight did not go down" threw me off so far since I wasn't expecting to consider that morbid scenario – justhalf Jun 16 '23 at 02:27

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it's a cockup for sure, and the airline should know about it so things can get rectified. But they did the right thing: they found luggage without an attached passenger and removed it. Sadly in this case the passenger wasn't attached due to a clerical error rather than there being no passenger, which is the cockup.

So yes, report it to the airline and they'll most likely compensate you for your troubles.

jwenting
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    Also, cabin crew usually (often? obliged to?) counts passengers, which should've shown an extra. – tevemadar Jun 14 '23 at 10:21
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    @tevemadar it should, depending on which records didn't add up and when they were printed. Sounds like OP was on the manifest, then was moved to another seat and the change not properly recorded. If the passenger list was printed prior to that change... – jwenting Jun 14 '23 at 10:55
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    The airline should -- hopefully -- care, but whichever regulation/government agencies the airline reports to may care a lot more. For example, when flying towards the US from abroad, the list of passengers must be sent 30 minutes before take-off. If border control learned after the fact there were passengers on the flight that were not in the list they received, they would take it up with the airline real quick... – Matthieu M. Jun 14 '23 at 13:06