United Airlines Ruins Your Christmas As Only A Crappy Airline Can
Reader Thomas's scheduled travel on United Air on Christmas Eve went pretty much how you'd expect: his flight left four hours early, and his rebooked flight at 4 a.m. was overbooked. The horror, inside.
Thomas writes:
First, it's important to know that every year for the past 6 years I've flown from New Orleans to Denver to visit my parents for Christmas. The past couple of times we've been using United. This year, same as always, we made our ticket reservations almost 3 months in advance. We scheduled a flight to leave New Orleans for Denver at 6pm on December 24th. We get to the airport at 4:30pm and the adventure begins. The United check in area is abandoned but the self check in terminals are open, I put my debit card into the machine and it brings up my reservation and tells me that my flight left at 2:00pm. I ask an airport employee and he tells me to call United and fishes a ticket with phone numbers from behind the counter.
At this point I call my friend who I had drop me off and get him to park and let me see whats going on. I call the phone number in English I find on the ticket jacket and after navigating through their menu system get in touch with an agent. The agent tells me that they can get me on a flight for 6am today*Christmas*. I tell her I've got my parents coming to pick me up and I don't know how I'm going to get to the airport at 6am, I live about an hour from the airport. She tells me that's all she can do, but I can talk to a supervisor, but he won't be able to do anything either. She puts me on hold for about 5 minutes. My parents call, I can't answer because I'm on hold. She picks up, tells me she's transferring me now, then puts me on hold again. 20 minutes pass, my parents call again twice while I'm on hold. My Friend sends me 2 text messages asking whats going on. I have to hang up to get my friend to come and get me back home and tell my parents not to drive 2 hours to the airport to get me.
On the way back home I call United again. This time I get a man with an Indian accent. He tells me the same thing as the previous person. I ask if they can at least comp my parking so I don't have to foot a $100 parking bill since I'm probably going to have to bring my car to the airport since it would be very inconsiderate to ask someone to bring me to the airport at 4am on Christmas day. He tells me to talk to their customer care people. He can't transfer me, I have to call another phone number. I get a guy with customer care on the phone, another Indian accent, and he tells me that they can offer me a 10% discount on a later flight. Or a $25 credit on a later flight. I tell him this isn't acceptable, I want a parking or a partial refund to cover parking. He tells me no can do, oh and it is company policy that customers should check their flight info 24-48 hours before their flight and they weren't responsible for the fact that I never got a phone call or email that my flight information had been changed. I have found no reference to this anywhere, in fact the ticket sleeve says that reconfirmation of my reservation is not required. I hang up on the guy and call an agent to get my flight changed to 6am. My friend volunteers to take me to the airport while we're heading back home.
If this was all there was then it would be worthy of a post I think, but it gets worse. At 3:45am the next day I'm heading to the airport. We get there, get through security and are at the gate an hour before the flight. Their computer is broken and they only have about half the passengers seated at 6am. United apparently doesn't assign seats until you get to the terminal. They start manually assigning seats at this point. My wife is with me, she's stressed out and has been trying to keep me from getting too angry with the situation. We get called to get a seat about 10 people from the end. I get assigned a seat, 11E. She sees that there are more people than seats and tells me and my wife to stand to the side while she gets some people seated who's names she called while we were waiting and then proceeds to not deal with us and seats another passenger. I specifically heard a customer get assigned a seat 11F AFTER she assigned me 11E. At this point there were 3 people standing there and I was the only one with a seat assignment. She went on the airplane to see if there were extra seats somewhere, wtf?, she came back out and said "you two don't want to be split up, huh?" then gave the third person my seat. I get told nothing for another 20 minutes, we're standing here waiting to see what the hell is going, I'm obviously pissed off but trying very hard not to take it out on the agent. Eventually, 2 more agents come down and ask do we A, want to spend 7 hours by flying to Chicago, then to Colorado. B, want to spend 8 hours flying to Los Angeles then Colorado. or C. sit in the terminal for 7 hours then fly 3 hours to Colorado. My wife has issues with travel so we'd rather not spend 7+ hours onboard a plane. And here we are, sitting in the New Orleans airport for another 6 hours waiting for a plane to come.
Last night I was pissed off most because of the agent on the phone who put me on hold long enough for her call center to change over to India so she wouldn't have to deal with me. Today, I'm most pissed because they woke me up at 4am, out of spite? They did give us a pair of travel vouchers and a free lunch at a restaurant here in the airport, but somehow this doesn't make up for not waking up in Wyoming this morning or the stubborn refusal to do something as simple as cover parking and then telling me this is my responsibility for not checking on my reservation.
(Photo: zonaphoto)
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Comments:
Most of the airlines suck. This is an unfortunate truism today, but this sounds pretty spectacular. I thought it was just OCD that made me reconfirm my reservations (usually online) a few days before a flight, and check the status of the flight either the night before (for flights early in the day) or first thing in the morning (for afternoon flights) but it looks like it at least helps prevent such unmitigated disasters.
last week delta sent me notice that my plane had been delayed until 10:35pm whiel i was on a plane coming in. It was supposed to leave at 9:07. I got the email at 9:08 when I landed. So i didn't rush to get off the plane.
the plane left at 9:27 without me.
If they have enough flights leave early, it cancels out all the ones that leave late, so on average, they're on-time.
My my that was horrible. I'm guessing if his wife wasn't there there would have been some kind of customer-strangling-employees terrorist attack. I personally would have popped a blood vessel.
I hear all the complaining about airlines in america, but until you've flown in developing and 3rd world nations, you have experienced nothing. Try first come, first serve seating and boarding. drunken fist fights, and smoking. Baggage handing is 2 guys in shorts and flip flops with an old pickup truck and the fuelers are smoking.
That sucks, to be sure, but with all the crap happening with the weather delaying flights right now, why would you NOT check your flights at least the day before you leave? Not to blame the OP or anything, but that would have been the responsible thing to do.
That's like saying "I hear all the complaining about herpes, but until you've had cancer, you haven't experienced illness."
The fact of the matter is flying in the US does in fact suck compared to many other countries. The fact that there are places that are worse doesn't mean we should be happy with it.
I really don't see whats so bad about this. The flight schedule changed. That happens. Thats why all airlines recommend that you confirm your departure times at least 24 hours ahead of time. Its just common sense. As for the 4am departure being overbooked, that sucks, but again, this happens, and it seems like he was fairly compensated with travel vouchers. Also, this business about "United assigning seats at checkin" is only half-right. All airlines do it, and its usually only an issue when you get within a certain time period of the flight.
It sounds like he had a frustrating experience, but United did what they could. Lets not forget he missed his own flight because he didn't bother to confirm the flights. I'm sorry he had a crap day, but he's to blame, not United.
@GearheadGeek: We both have the same OCD - I booked us cheap, cheap CHEAP flights to Europe last year and checked the status/time of the flight on a weekly basis (daily in the last week.)
Yes, I'm an idiot watching it move 10mins fwd and 30min back for months. I myself found it comforting.
Sucks for Thomas, though. United should try to mitigate the loss. On a sort-of positive note, at least they didn't say "you were a no-show, your money's ours. P*ss off." (That's part of your "contract" with Air Crapada up here. You don't at least call or show up, you forfeit the dough, Joe.)
@ohenry: Because the weather would not have made his flight leave earlier, only later, so he would be in no danger of missing it. Rescheduling the flight for four hours earlier and then not notifying the passengers is ridiculous.
I don't understand how it's okay in any way, shape or form for a flight to leave 4 hours early. Without notifying anyone. I feel very sorry for the OP, this is the kind of situation that might cause me to start kicking and screaming on a good day. I only fly Alaska when I can help it, but I rarely fly anyway.
@ohenry:
"delaying" - I don't think you know what this word means.
He booked a flight and it left earlier. Generally speaking, this is the opposite of "delay".
When weather hits and delays flights, you show up on time and wait until they get it together. He was not given notice that his flight time changed.
He did the responsible thing. He arrived at the airport at the proper time based on the time given when he made the reservation.
Why would a flight leave early anyway? And I'm wondering also when did United know it was leaving early? United baming the OP for this seems like a stretch.
if that happened to me I would get nuts and my wife would get her "daggers from the eyes" stare on.
And to get left standing at the gate when you already have a seat? WTF?
I had a similar experience last Christmas, when my family's flight home from visiting overseas relatives was rescheduled to a flight 4 hours earlier and we weren't notified. As with the OP, the airline (Lufthansa) told us we were responsible for calling the day before to recheck our flight times.
I suppose we were fortunate because even though the airline couldn't accommodate us on another a flight for two days, we at least had family we could stay with for the extra two days. The only inconvenience is that originally the flight home was on a Friday, intended to give us the weekend to recuperate before working on Monday. Instead, we flew home on Sunday, and had to work on Monday. :p
But it taught me a lesson to always call the day before to double check on the flight times.
Title is right; only United could screw something up this badly. They are a pathetic excuse for an airline.
@scoobydoo: No, i'm pretty sure most airlines could screw up this bad. ALL US Airlines have horror stories like this. The industry as a whole just doesn't care about their customers.
I know it ain't your fault...
But deep down, I cannot sympathize with people who insist on flying United...
Chargeback for dissatisfaction of services provided?
I sure would.
@wsycng: I agree. I mean, I fly United because I can do it for cheap and/or free. However, I actually expect that they will do something wrong that will cost me at least 4 to 5 extra hours every other time I fly. They rarely disappoint in that respect. That means a voucher for a free flight next time, and the cycle begins anew!
Anyone who honestly expects that United will get them where they're supposed to be on CHRISTMAS FREAKIN' EVE probably also believes in Santa.
@wsycng: As opposed to all the other airlines with their stellar customer service. I hope you spend the rest of your life stuck flying USAir.
I'm not blaming the OP here, but the air industry is getting so bad that we (excluding myself; I don't fly as I'm not masochistic) either need to stand up and do something about it or accept shit like this as standard operating procedure. If a fellow had the time, he could start a major class action suit against United for all the times they've screwed people like this. United loses a few hundred million dollars and maybe they'll start treating their passengers like humans.
How come this negative story about United is posted and my positive story of my experience with them wasn't a week ago? Please be unbiased Consumerist. If you're supposed to be helping consumers make informed choices, they need to know the good and bad.
For the record, my experience with United has been good. On my recent trip, they changed my flights for FREE and SAVED me 15 hours of sitting in airports.
I thought it was common knowledge to check your flight times the night before your flight? I've had many many many schedule changes over the years- most of them minor. It'd be nice if the airline called everyone, but checking yourself will save you alot of headaches in the end.
I heard people get interviewed at the Philadelphia airport this holiday talk about how they were so excited that nothing went wrong. I think that is quite the wrong attitude. If the airlines do everything right, no one should notice.
United sucks for their representatives' response. No way around that.
However, the postscript on this is that the consumer should have checked on the flight status, if not 48 hours before, at least the day of.
Last summer, United changed all of my family's flights around - we got automated phone calls and emails stating this.
I'm flying United in a few days, and a week before my flight (which I booked 2+ months in advance), I got an itinerary reminder email, with a notice that some flight details had changed. Granted, in my case, I'm only leaving 10 minutes earlier...but still, I was notified.
I don't specifically see if this person did or did not check their flight status before leaving...but wouldn't that have been a good idea, especially with weather/overbooking possibilities this time of year?
@67alecto:
I agree with this. I had just finished recording a short track speedskating meet. Luckily, the rink had access to wireless. I was to depart St. Louis at 630pm, then fly to Vegas, and back to Oakland, CA. I checked my flight status and BAM, flight to Vegas delayed for two hours. Connecting flight was delayed too and no way in hell I was going to make it. Checked other flights with Southwest to see if I can get on another flight and found out that the flight to Denver then to Oakland was on schedule. Got to the airport 2.5 hours ahead of time, got to the ticketing counter and talked to the rep. Rep confirmed my statements, then immediately changed my flight from Vegas to Denver, then on to Oakland. Needless to say I'm impressed with Southwest so far that I've flown with them and will continue to fly with them every chance I get.
I really can't believe I have to say this, but if I buy a ticket for 4pm on Saturday, I expect to leave at 4pm on Saturday. I understand that there are occasionally delays so it might leave sometime after 4pm, but leaving early without all the passengers on board is just unacceptable. Every time I travel these days it amazes me that someone hasn't figured out a better way to run things than this.
United sucks, but so do consumers for not getting political about a bill of rights. From United's point of view, they are making - don't laugh - "smart" business decisions by sucking up to and protecting their precious "global service" and "1-K" elite sh!ts (about twenty percent of the flying public) and screwing everyone else. The irony is that a percentage of global service flyers are ex-UAL Corporation big wigs flying in first class for free. Another percentage are self entitled butt-wipes. Go figure. Better yet, go vote-for consumer protection against idiot corporations, only one of which is UAHell.
I don't know. Sounds like Thomas was in the wrong. When you buy your ticket, they tell you to confirm before hand. Also, no airlines leave early. They file flight plans with the FAA that must be stuck to.
Sounds like he thought he booked for one time in his head, but had really booked at the time the flight had taken off. When he missed the flight he tried to cover himself and said he booked for the later time.
I'd like to see the original reservation or e-mail confirmation before I go blaming the airline for what sounds like Thomas' bad memory of when he was supposed to leave.
@DanC922: For what it's worth, I was looking through the tip line for bad Christmas stories to run today, since they'll have a pretty short shelf life. I didn't have access to the tip line last week, as I'm just filling in for the next week or so.
Last Christmas United jacked up my flight home and I ended up driving from Nebraska to Phoenix. At first they tried to tell me that I was on the flight, which clearly I wasn't and it took me 6 months to get my money back.
Every time I called their customer service I basically started from the beginning. Since then I refuse to fly or deal with the airline industry at all if I can help it.
I know I will have to fly again, but until I have to I'll just take a couple of extra days off of work and hit the road with the family.
This is terrible. And it's not an isolated indecent. United changed the return flight (also around Christmas) for a friend of my parents without notifying her. Weirdly, she had a connecting flight and United re-arranged everything so that she would arrive AFTER the connecting flight took off (and they knew it was a connecting flight).
Luckily, reviewing flight info online the night before helped resolve this, though it took a few hours and United kept asking to call them back because their "computer system was down".
My wife and I are traveling to Canada in a couple of days. My wife happened to check our reservation this morning. We found that United had changed our reservation without any notification. We did not receive a phone call, email, or letter. Better yet, they had us arriving in Toronto at 9:35am and departing to Quebec City at 9:15am (same day.) I felt that my inability to time travel was going to prevent us from making the flight. I called and got the reservation changed but now we get to sit in Toronto for 6hrs. The customer service person was polite and apologetic (about the error). Clearly, United is having some serious issues.
This is why I don't usually fly on Christmas eve to begin with. I fly as far before Christmas as possible and leave right after Christmas. Then you don't risk missing any Christmas fun with the family or New Year's fun with the friends.
Haven't flown near holiday dates, so haven't run into this. Neither have I flown on United. Note to self: steer clear if possible.
I go to school in Golden, CO so I have three airlines who will get me most places non-stop: Frontier, United and Southwest. Of the three, Southwest is most generous with fare pricing, Frontier seems to have the best experience and united...is United.
Despite the slight price differential, I've flown Frontier so far on all but two flights involving DEN. Aside from a gate change that got me going for about five minutes on my evening flight, I've had little to no problem flying with the airline. Though my "it fits the linear inches measurement, honest" carryon did get gate checked on my Thanksgiving (Tue departure, Sun return) trip on both legs, and a half-hour-late flight left me strapped for time when picking up bags for a connecting bus ride. In fact, my last two flights have been a half-hour late, but no complaining here...
Frontier recently changed their fare structure to more closely mirror Southwest's (of whom I've heard good things from friends who fly them), so that $20 per flight seems to get you two checked bags. Hopefully this will not only allow Frontier to turn a profit (ha ha Southwest is losing money neener neener fuel hedging), but will free up some cabin space again...when people are charged to check luggage, they'll carry on more stuff. We'll see...
Hilarious. Actually I usually insist on flying United when I travel for work. It's not because they are a great airline either - I find them rather mediocre. The big plus is United is consistent in their mediocrity and I NEVER get bad travel surprises from them. I like predictability in an airline and United (in my experience) has been quite predictable.
United:
Lines suck - check
Seats cramped - check
Flight attendants rude or apathetic - check
But the light green snack box isn't all that bad and I bring my own entertainment with me.
@wagnerism: Hey, how about reading my post before hurling insults at me.
I never said that weather delaying his flight made it leave four hours early. Obviousely, that's stupid.
I'm saying that because of the weather delays happening right now, he probably should have called the day before to check his flight. Even if he had called in with the intent of checking to see if his flight would be LATER, he would have found out at that time that his flight was EARLIER. It's called being a smart traveler.
Again, I'm not blaiming the OP, and it doesn't excuse the airline from not contacting the OP about the change in flight, but I think this whole situation could have been avoided with a little foresight.
@67alecto: You got automated phone calls and emails because you gave that info when you booked you tickets. It is unknown if the OP gave that info, but if he didn't how is United supposed to contact him of any changes?
Having said that, I know American requires at least a phone number when booking a flight.
But I do agree that United should have been more accommodating.
How long was the drive to Colorado?
So...overall, how has the Christmas travel season been? I mean barring a few colossal fuckups like this...how many colossal fuckups have there been?
What with people not spending money, travel should be down, right? Shouldn't that decrease the likelihood of clusterfucks at airports?
@geoffhazel: I was once on a flight that left an hour early. It was -- no joke -- a plane full of September 11th widows and orphans going to Disney World on the Salvation Army's dime. (I was traveling with a mother and her two kids as the family's "second adult," which each parent was allowed to bring along.)
Southwest didn't want to cancel that flight, but there was a massive blizzard over the northeast. (February vacation week, 2003.) They decided to have the plane take off early rather than not at all. We were the last flight out of PVD for over 24 hours and the less said about the first 90 minutes of that flight, the better. *shudder*
So, that doesn't explain United (what can?!) or the rest of the story, but it is a legitimate reason why a flight might take off early. The thing is, if a flight's *that* early the airline really owed the missing passengers at LEAST a phone call.
@Geekybiker: If your flight is scheduled properly, but later changes, and you've already left for the airport -- away from PCs and the news and whatever -- it could be early or cancelled while you're not in a position to hear about it. (I've had flights cancelled between my leaving the house and my getting to the airport when the airport was only 15 minutes away!)
Wow. Just wow. I'm guessing the OP was coming to visit the area of the world where I am currently living (Laramie, WY). This... this is why I stick to Frontier (don't think they do NOLA, though) when going in and out of Denver. Getting to DIA from Wyoming is a HUGE deal this time of year - at least be glad your parents didn't go out through the mountains needlessly.
When you buy something, such as an airline ticket, you are creating a contract that you will pay the airline $X for a flight that leaves at a certain time and lands at a certain time. I understand that flights can be delayed. But it is in no way acceptable to leave early. There are many cases where you cannot make the earlier flight. You might have made alternate plans if the flight was 4 hours earlier.
If you all think it is at all acceptable for a flight to leave early, then airlines should just schedule you to fly on a given day and you can call the day before to find out when your time slot is.
Contest this with your CC, you did not get what you agreed to pay for.
Everyone who travels enough knows that all US carriers lack in the service department from time to time. I can honestly say that I travel on United frequently and 95% of the time my trips arrive on time and many times early.
@johnarlington: but we don't live in a third-world country and you therefore you can't compare the OP's experience to flying in a third-world country. BTW, for the shi* treatment he got, he may as well have been flying in a third world country. From the stories I am starting to hear on a regular basis on here and other net forums, the experiences of flying in the US are starting to rival those in third-world countries.
Not only is this well beyond ridiculous, but Thomas didn't ask for anything approaching unreasonable either.
United owes you one hell of an apology and some money, Thomas.
The only reason I check my flight times constantly is because I know I'm forgetful and I'm afraid I'm going to forget the flight time.