Man denied first-class seat on United for wearing track suit

What a lot of Bull! The man was neat and clean and well-
covered, which is more than can be said for many air travelers.
Maybe United should issue "Flight Suits" to all first class passengers to insure that they all are "properly attired" and don't offend the sensibilities of other passengers. Considering the times that air travelers have been forced to spend many hours being held captive on the plane by the airline, a track suit seems perfectly appropriate for air travel no matter what "class." United should apologize and give the man another first class ticket to wherever he wants to go.

The ticket agent should be fired.

Sounds like Mr. Alvarez better pursue more than just an upgrade for First Class because that was utter crap. Mr. fashion police better lose his job too.

This is absurd. Does first class demand Armani suits? The airline owes this man first class upgrades for the next year. The man is a corporation big wheel, for crying out loud. Kudos to him for showing first class attitude towards a lower class airline.

This is ridiculous, if he was odiferous,drunk or behaving in a non socialble way, then they should have taken him aside. However a persons wearing apparel should not have anything to do with sitting in the first class section. What snobs!

Insane!, ok so if i served my country but im in casual attire, then i cant sit first class????!! just to let people know i have been moved to first class while dressed in casual cuz i was military, and i was honored by it. So as long as ur covered up you should be able to sit in first class.

very sad !! guess im stuck on the donkey ride, t-shirt and jeans (wait that's American style- not euro-trash suits)

HI,FOR THE PRICE OF THE TICKET !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FLY N A K E D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!1

I've flown first class in jeans and a sweatshirt and no one said a word to me about what I was wearing. To deny someone access because their attire is not to your taste is outright wrong and, in this case, probably illegal.

I have a story similar to this.
About 7 years ago me and my sister had stand-by seats waiting to go see our dad in virginia (our parents are divorced). We get to the gate and wait for about an hour til they begin to board. They tell us that they have first-class available, so of course being about 10 and 8, my sister and I were very excited. The woman at the counter then said "I can't let you kids on, just look at you!" My grandmother bitched her out because of they way she acted.. so we didn't get to ride first class and had to go home and wait 2 days before we could see our dad.

Eff you airlines :(

I think there is more to this story then is being reported. I've flown first class in jeans and a t-shrt (and not a pair of $300.00 designer jeans) and the airline had no issue with my clothing choice.

There is something else going on here, you can almost bet!!

That is a load of bull!!!! This man was dressed fine to me! Was this an attempt by United at racism? Because is sure seems like it to me. Mr. Alvarez should sue these people! What an offense!!!!!!

United Airlines sucks, they should give executive with Best Buy a free year supplies of first class tickets for not letting in ride on first class! Shame on ya'll at united airlines for not letting him board the plane, and shame on ya'll for not calling him to apologizing on your behalf and not taking phone calls from news reporters! United Airlines is bad for businesses and pleasures too! I really hope there's a huge law suit against United Airlines, ya'll really need to wake-up and smell the roses, everybody must be in suits and dresses, oh please!

Ok, so lets put it this way. If someone like, oh, lets say Tony Romo was wearing the same outfit and he wanted to travel first class, would they have done the same to him, told him he couldn't travel first class because he looked "too casual"?? Is United ailienating certain people from first class? If you can pay for it, then they should keep their mouth shut and let you sit where you want. Think on that.

United Airlines sucks, they should give executive with Best Buy a free year supplies of first class tickets for not letting in ride on first class! Shame on ya'll at united airlines for not letting him board the plane, and shame on ya'll for not calling him to apologizing on your behalf and not taking phone calls from news reporters! United Airlines is bad for businesses and pleasures too! I really hope there's a huge law suit against United Airlines, ya'll really need to wake-up and smell the roses, everybody must be in suits and dresses, oh please!

What does it matter what he wears, as long as he is clean and presentable. Some of the worst scum wear suits and ties every day.

I know Armando as he was the district and then regional manager when I was @ Best Buy in Ks, He was a pretty good guy I was suprised to see him in the news, much less for something this ridiculous. I hope the airlinie takes some serious action against this person if for no other reason then flying is a hassle anyway much less putting up with the fashon police.

OH PLEASE, since when did first class become a country club? Jeez, this guy better get fired for his crap -- the best paart is the airlines are def going to lose passengers, ha ha!

Sadly this is the current state of affairs in America. What one individual thinks is the policy ends up hurting somebody else or their company. This employee obviously was not thinking about the consequences of his or her action and should be fired, for discrimination, and for not acting with professionalism. Look at our legislative branch. They insist on passing nationalized health care despite the fact that 71% of Americans disagree with the bill (assuming the poll was representative of the entire population). Maybe...just maybe if people actually thought about their actions or could just do the job they were hired to perform to the best of their abilities, then our country would have a little more self-respect toward each other, but currently I do not see that happening anytime soon because basic American values are not being addressed in school "because it might influence developing minds." So what is influencing these minds? The media?

In typical United fashion, the airline apologized for the inconvenience and offered the passenger a $100 voucher. United is the worst. Remember their old pitch line? "Fly the friendly skies of United." No more!!

What the f*** does it matter as long as he was dressed, I guess his money and sky miles were not good enough for United Air, I am sure he will travel via other carriers fropm now on, I certainly would. In fact if a United employee walks into a Best Buy wearing there "Atire" do not let them in stating some company policy. With his status he will surely get the word out to a lot of people who have not read this BS story.

Unless the man was but naked he should have been allowed to board the plane and sit in the seat he paid for.

Hurray for United. As a company executive I would have thought to represent my company a bit more professionally. Although he was dressed nice for a weekend getaway it was not appropriate for first class on any airline. We have gotten far to casual these days.

Not that long ago, people were expected to dress nicely whenever they left their homes. I honestly think we've taken "casual" too far. Wearing a tracksuit (aka workout clothes) on an airplane should be unacceptable to society. I'm sick of everyone walking around in gym clothes all the time.

I'm not saying this guy should be in a tux, but come on! You want to ride in first class, at least look like you have some class.

they've got to be kidding. it's ok for a fat smelly person to board, but not someone who's dressed ("causually") and shod, 2 of their conditions. I hope the gate agent is suspended, or something. that is ridiculous.

Okay, so they see a beaner in a track suit and say - "no way, Jose."
What's the problem? Oh, I;m sorry, was that politcally incorrect? If you want to fly first class, look first class. I don't want to pay thousands extra to fly first class and have some slob in a track suit stinking the place up. I bet Best Buy cans his ass for dressing like a ghetto youth on their dime.

I agree with Kimberly, lets have some more class going on, like back in the day!

What the customer service guy did is perfect, congratulations for keeping quality and respecful dressing code, which means respect to other travellers. Lazy buns who dont bother to dress properly are humilliated by their own behaviour, and their own fault, This passanger
thought he was in a gym instead of an airplane. Informality should be left at home..

I agree with the person who just wrote that "there has to be more to this story"...I am sure that something else alerted the ticket agent to suspect that this guy was a slob.
Of course if you see pictures of travelers in the seventies, many wore their best clothes and suits when traveling by air. We always did, and still do. Its something special.
Now many americans leave home in their underwear, (tees) and house coats. Many are sloppy and are so obese that their naked bellies are showing. The cracks of their arses too. Many folks have no self respect. They wear rags in public. Adults should not show up for air travel in dirty or overly casual clothing, it just invites others to suspect that they are slobs, and not polite company......if folks don't care how they look, they should not suprised at being slighted.

"A beaner in a track suit?" Wow, USA 1st - that's harsh, dude. Still, first class means first class and a business executive should know better than to look like a low rent schmuck when going first class. No class doesn't fly in first class. " Champange, please" just doesn't work in a track suit.