We were there. It was a complete SNAFU. Very disappointing that there was no help available from all the United staff around. The lack of information for passengers, poor PA systems (people had to shush each other so that announcements could be heard), uncomfortable seating (who decided to shove all those rows of seats into such a weird arrangement?) and generally poor information flow all around made for a very unpleasant 8 hours.

We were trying to get back to Houston, scheduled on 1550, a 753 that came in late from Houston due to weather, then took another 4+ hour delay due to some mechanical issue. There was another mechanical delay with one of the 737s (I think Newark bound), which might have led to a cancelation, and with all the weather delays and missed connections, there were several hundred very unhappy passengers being served by far too few gate agents. Lines were hours long, it didn't seem worth trying to ask any questions, and phone agents didn't seem to know much.

One gate agent, an asian heritage woman wearing a United uniform whose name I didn't catch, remained remarkably calm and composed even as her fellow agents (and a redcoat) were tearing their hair out. She was very deliberate and competent, but it was way too much for even the best agents. She helped us switch to the flight that had been scheduled out before ours, and we managed to land at IAH about 1:15 am. Our bags arrived on our original flight that landed 35 minutes later, so we waited for them and got home close to 3 am. Long day; weather can't be helped, but better and more frequent information might have saved a lot of aggravation.

Added: Almost forgot: We moved to flight 1748 (the delayed 3:41 departure). We watched the arrival of the catering truck after we'd been seated. There was only a single cart with some drinks and ice, leading to some consternation by the flight crew who had to make due with limited service items and no food. At least there was some alcohol, but why catering wasn't "normal" is also peculiar.