Man Denied First Class Ticket

Armando Alvarez is a corporate vice president for electronics giant Best Buy. Mr. Alvarez routinely flies from his home in Maryland to Best Buy headquarters in Connecticut; but on October 26 when Alvarez attempted to use a first class upgrade for his United flight, the ticket agent denied Alvarez the ticket siting the attire as the reason.

Alvarez was wearing a nice tracksuit and sneakers and the ticket agent deemed the attire as too casual for riding in first class. United has no dress code for travelers only that they must be clothed and cannot be barefoot. Alvarez noted that he routinely travels in casual wear choosing to travel in comfort so as not to have to worry about wrinkled suits.

Initial emails by Alvarez and the local FOX news channel went unanswered, but after the story appeared in the national news, United has issued a statement saying that they are investigating the incident. United claims that the offending ticket agent was a contract employee from Air Wisconsin.