NEVER EVER EVER have your unaccompanied minor travel US....
that $100 mandatory fee they charge gets you....um....NOTHING! after reserving the flight, and having THREE separate phone calls with USAIR prior to my 14 year old traveling, and not once being told the fee was required for someone her age (NOT required on United...), we were told upon check-in that the fee was required. Had to pay it or they wouldn't let her board. Paid it...and got ZERO service for the fee. No one escorted her, except my neighbor who took her to the airport for me. Showed up 2 hours early but due to the delay at the check in counter, she arrived at the gate 15 minutes before take off. Paid the damn fee, but somehow, no one at the gate knew she was coming and they gave away her seat and wouldn't let her board. They put her on a flight 2 hours later and USAIR did not offer an escort...the fine print in their policy states a uniformed USAIR employee will escort the minor at all times...NOT!!! $100 fee got nothing but a 2 hour delay and the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. Cancelled her return ticket and put her on a United flight home. Flight home cost $100...the same as that wasted $100 fee...NEVER EVER EVER FLY USAIR AGAIN!!!
that $100 mandatory fee they charge gets you....um....NOTHING! after reserving the flight, and having THREE separate phone calls with USAIR prior to my 14 year old traveling, and not once being told the fee was required for someone her age (NOT required on United...), we were told upon check-in that the fee was required. Had to pay it or they wouldn't let her board. Paid it...and got ZERO service for the fee. No one escorted her, except my neighbor who took her to the airport for me. Showed up 2 hours early but due to the delay at the check in counter, she arrived at the gate 15 minutes before take off. Paid the damn fee, but somehow, no one at the gate knew she was coming and they gave away her seat and wouldn't let her board. They put her on a flight 2 hours later and USAIR did not offer an escort...the fine print in their policy states a uniformed USAIR employee will escort the minor at all times...NOT!!! $100 fee got nothing but a 2 hour delay and the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. Cancelled her return ticket and put her on a United flight home. Flight home cost $100...the same as that wasted $100 fee...NEVER EVER EVER FLY USAIR AGAIN!!!
Did you also take as much time to let US Airways know what happened? I hope so.
__________________
My incredible photo trip report in OZ/TG/LX F: The departure and the return.
Programs: US Airways Gold Preferred, Hertz #1 Club Gold, Marriott Rewards Silver
Posts: 440
I would write US Airways informing them of this and ask for a refund of both the fee and the flight. However, when doing so, you MUST stick only to the facts of what happened. Leave ALL emotion out of it. Saying things like "you suck" and "my kid could've been kidnapped" and things like that will only hurt your cause. Make sure you stick with exactly what happened, where the shortcomings were and why that money should be refunded to you. If you do that, you should be able to receive at least a partial refund. If you "scream" at them and demand money and show yourself to be emotional, you probably will receive nothing from them.
Programs: UA, AS, HH, MR Elite; Mud Tier on BA, B6, FL, Hyatt. All bases covered.
Posts: 12,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by mom2jabiel
t$100 fee got nothing but a 2 hour delay and the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER...NEVER EVER EVER FLY USAIR AGAIN!!!
Presumably you want to be taken seriously, by US and on this board. There is no faster route to dismissal, especially for new/low-count posters, than to take one isolated incident and use it as a basis for condemning the entire company, or claiming it will result in a lifetime behavior change.
To say nobody should fly USAirways (the airline's correct name) ever again because of this one alleged screw-up is like saying nobody, anywhere should buy a Ford because you know of one that had a breakdown. Get serious.
If you intend to communicate with the airline to try to retrieve your $100, send a short, calm (no exclamation points), non-accusatory letter with the proper documentation. Don't UMs get issued a special badge or lanyard or something? If you didn't get one, say so. But keep your temper in check or you'll just look silly.
And despite all this, I bet next time you price a trip and the other airlines quote $500 while US is $200, you forget all about this incident.
__________________
"You'll see a number of changes in the months ahead, and I think you'll be totally enraged." UA CEO Smisek, made accurate
Presumably you want to be taken seriously, by US and on this board. There is no faster route to dismissal, especially for new/low-count posters, than to take one isolated incident and use it as a basis for condemning the entire company, or claiming it will result in a lifetime behavior change.
To say nobody should fly USAirways (the airline's correct name) ever again because of this one alleged screw-up is like saying nobody, anywhere should buy a Ford because you know of one that had a breakdown. Get serious.
If you intend to communicate with the airline to try to retrieve your $100, send a short, calm (no exclamation points), non-accusatory letter with the proper documentation. Don't UMs get issued a special badge or lanyard or something? If you didn't get one, say so. But keep your temper in check or you'll just look silly.
And despite all this, I bet next time you price a trip and the other airlines quote $500 while US is $200, you forget all about this incident.
...Showed up 2 hours early but due to the delay at the check in counter, she arrived at the gate 15 minutes before take off. ...
Curious to know what happened, since 2 hours is usually plenty of time to get things worked out at check-in ... long line? long discussion?
Please let US know about this incident in a concise, factual manner. Not sure what they can do now, but it may help other flyers in the same situation.
I believe if you book on a third-party site like Orbitz, you are able to book a ticket for a minor and not be advised of the fee, but if you try to book the same ticket on USAirways.com it will not let you. Can't remember if it just won't complete the reservation without you calling in, or if you add the UM fee on during booking, as I've got no UM to book tickets for and am relying on another FT'ers account. However, I do believe in that other customer's situation, the site used to do the booking made all the difference.
You cannot ever count on any third party site to be the expert on keeping track of and communicating the dozens of big and small rules for each airline, and it's always the traveller's responsibility to make sure they have everything they need to accomodate their needs. So if you've got a peanut allergy, need two seats, require a bulkhead, have 4 kids and require seats together, or have an unaccompanied minor, you have to do your homework before you get to the airport.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kudzu
Curious to know what happened, since 2 hours is usually plenty of time to get things worked out at check-in ... long line? long discussion?
My guess would be that the UM presented herself to check in after waiting in line for a bit, and it took a long time to get things sorted out.
__________________
Some folks STILL haven't gotten their prizes from the Top Flyer contest, and that makes me really sad. What's the holdup, IB?
I believe if you book on a third-party site like Orbitz, you are able to book a ticket for a minor and not be advised of the fee, but if you try to book the same ticket on USAirways.com it will not let you. Can't remember if it just won't complete the reservation without you calling in, or if you add the UM fee on during booking, as I've got no UM to book tickets for and am relying on another FT'ers account. However, I do believe in that other customer's situation, the site used to do the booking made all the difference..
Just to follow up on your point, it is clear that the OP did not book on USAirways.com. If the OP did, they clearly missed the huge notice that pops up before the Itinerary page.
With this in mind, it's the fault of the OP and the original booking website to not make it clearly known to US Airways that a UM was flying, prior to check in. When in doubt, always pick up the phone and make a phone call.
1. What's the point of the CAPITALIZED words and all the !!!!!!!!!!!!!. It's annoying and you can presume that most people on FT can read.
2. Your beef on not being advised of the fee is with the third party site or TA who booked you. As others note, the UM notice would have popped up had you booked on US. Complain to the place that booked you.
Programs: AA PLT, VS Gold, SPG Plat, Le Club Plat, Amex Plat
Posts: 195
Quote:
Originally Posted by mom2jabiel
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER. Cancelled her return ticket and put her on a United flight home. Flight home cost $100...the same as that wasted $100 fee...NEVER EVER EVER FLY USAIR AGAIN!!!
How was the customer service bad, exactly? My ADD isn't permitting me to read your entire rant.
Programs: Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Diamond, HH Diamond, SPG Gold, USAir Platinum, National Ex Elite, Hertz Gold
Posts: 2,860
And to the other POV-
I booked 2 kids, 10 and 12, SEA to CLT.
My sister had to sign her life away in SEA, even though she was their Mom. Had to arrive at airport 2 hours early, and wait until they took off before she could leave. VERY safety conscious, very pleasant, clearly had kids best interests at heart.
Coach seats meant food for sale and USAir takes only credit cards....kids snacked their way across USA free of charge. ( because they were so "cute" and never seeing fit to mention they had enough snacks to feed the plane in their own backpacks )
MY plane into CLT to meet them was cancelled, all kinds of accommodations were made to get me there in time, on another airline..
Even though it was quite clear they knew me, signing life away was repeated
in reverse, again, safety for the kids.
I am sorry your experience was so bad - but in my case, it was well worth the $100.
)
