United Airlines Denied Boarding Over Temporary Passport, I Demand Refund

United Airlines (UA) refused to accept me on the San Francisco → Munich → İzmir flight because of my temporary passport, and I was directed to buy a ticket from another airline. But at the airport, a UA official had told the check-in agent to transfer me to the flight of the airline whose ticket I’d bought. The agent didn’t do it, and I ended up paying 26,104.76 TL to return to İzmir. There were empty seats on that flight I’d booked, and there was even another United passenger on it. Both UA and the airline I purchased the ticket from are Star Alliance members; they already operate code-share flights and carry each other’s passengers. If the agent had transferred me as the UA official suggested, I would not have had to pay this cost.

I wrote to United Airlines about the matter, but my request was rejected on the grounds that my temporary passport lacked visas. Yes, the problem was the temporary passport, but there was a solution, and they chose not to do it.

I demand a refund of the amount I paid.