kingzwingz

A few days ago my husband and I boarded a UA flight MSY-LAX and sat in our exit row seats. A 400 hundred pound plus female passenger sat down next to me. While others were boarding she realizes she is in the wrong seat and out loud states to the flight attendant and anyone else that was listening. The actual seat holder approaches and states that seat is his but is willing to let her stay seated and will sit in her assigned seat instead. For the next four hours, I was miserable! This 400 plus pound female passenger oozed onto my seat the entire flight. The armrest between us would not stay in position due to her girth. I was sweating due to the fact I am not only sharing body contact with my husband but with the passenger that is oozing onto my seat. My husband and I shared 1 1/2 seats while the other passenger had 1 1/2 seats to herself. My husband and I both opted out of drink service due to the fact we did not want to have to get up during the flight as doing so would have been a major production. As we were seated in an exit row, I doubt this passenger could have properly assisted if an issue arose. I don't believe that I would not have enough room to maneuver to assist others as there simply would not have been the space to do so! I thought about asking to be reseated but I didn't want to make this person feel anymore uncomfortable than she had to have already been.
Now the second leg of the trip- LAX-SMX - the last leg- that same evening. Upon arrival at the gate we are made aware by other waiting passengers that that flight has been cancelled due to weather. Lots of confusion. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. The gate agent seemed to be working hard to figure out a plan. There was talk that we could possibly be booked on another flight to SBP (flights were departing at that time), our plane could be re-routed to SBP or that we could be "shuttled" to SMX. We were also told that we should perhaps make our way to the United Customer Service counter. I indicated to the gate agent that since this cancellation is due to so called weather, my husband and I would put ourselves up in a hotel for the night but would want a flight home the next day. I am told no and that we were going to be shuttled home. The 9 passengers that were scheduled to fly on flight UA 6483 followed the gate agent to baggage claim to collect our bags. That task took an hour before all luggage was located. The 9 of us then proceeded outside and loaded ourselves and our luggage into a Super Shuttle van....one Super Shuttle van...can you say sardines?... for a three hour trip to SMX. We departed LAX at midnight. We arrived at our final destination at 2:30am sharp due to the Super Shuttle's driver inability to obey the law, as he drove often at speeds between 80 and 90 miles per hour. The driver was very good at hitting more than his fair share of the white road dividers… kept all us passengers wondering if our driver was falling asleep behind the wheel. To say the ride was a quick one was nothing more than the scary truth! I would have never booked this flight had I known I would be driven on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! How simple and how thoughtful it would have been to just re-route the flight to SBP, as that route had no weather factor, and shuttle us passengers a short distance as my husband and I had happen in October 2011.
...and now when I log into our United accounts and view our past itineraries I see that it looks as tho we were actually booked to fly out at noon the following day to SMX. UGH!
We have no status... just a couple that travels often from an area that has two airports nearby...serviced mainly by UA. Should I expect compensation? Thoughts? Comments? Stories? Humor ; )

UPDATED 7/7/2012:
I received an email from United Customer Care yesterday. My husband and I each received an ETC for $150.