Originally Posted by
WayUpInTheAir
1) Last summer, how did NZ manage to rebook me on a UA flight to LAX that would obviously arrive after their departure to AKL? And why wasn't I notified about the schedule change?
You should have been notified of schedule change and the misconnect should have been detected.
Originally Posted by
WayUpInTheAir
2) On the day of departure and with three hours to go until scheduled flight time, the UA flight was already showing delays of 2-1/2 hours. Why couldn't UA or NZ have notified me when they first became aware of a problem that would clearly cause a misconnection? (Answer: according to the agent at NZ at the time, their system didn't even show a delay on the UA flight.)
Until the UA flight actually arrives in LAX there was nothing NZ could do because it is UA's responsibility for ensuring you make the onward flight. As for why United didn't spot the potential misconnection in advance, well UA's IT is notoriously bad (referred to as dot bomb on FT).
Originally Posted by
WayUpInTheAir
And while some may opine that they would have opted for the option to fly Economy Minus on UA, I wonder about that. If you had paid thousands of dollars to fly Premium Economy on NZ and instead would get stuck in middle seats in the back of a dated UA 747 for 14 hours, would you be satisfied? (Especially since neither UA or NZ wanted to discuss compensation for the inconvenience while the problem was occurring.) Try collecting the fare difference after the fact? Right.
That was me. Of course I wouldn't be happy but if I needed to be in Sydney and couldn't afford to wait another day that's what I would have done. As for compensation, I expect I would be compensated appropriately ... based on past experiences.
Originally Posted by
WayUpInTheAir
Anyway, I've learned my lesson. It's a shame since I think Air NZ has a terrific product and incredibly attentive service once you're on their aircraft. Still, their reservation agents and ground staff could learn a few things about customer service. Next time I'll either board their metal at SFO or fly Qantas!
Other than possibly the schedule change (assuming it was NZ flight being rescheduled), you have no beef with Air NZ. It is United you should be seeking redress from.