Originally Posted by Marin 1K

So, yesterday, I am scheduled to fly DEN-SFO with a friend. A third friend is on the 2:15 flight, and wants to join us on 887, the 3:33 flight. He calls UA is told there is no 3:33 flight; he tells us "you better double check, they say there is no 3:33". I am looking at my iPhone email, and the "check in now" email for the flight; I tell him there is a 3:33, my other friend looks at his phone and confirms, i check the app and it shows availabilty. The first friend calls back - twice - and each time is told "no 3:33", so he hightails it to the airport to catch the 2:15. He does not believe me until i MMS him a screenshot of the flight status page - he tells UA the flight number and they say "oh, look that flight goes DEN-SFO". He boards his 2:15, 1st friend and I arrive at DEN and try to check in. Now the fun starts.

GS agent says "there is no 3:33, you mean 4:45". No, i tell her, I mean 3:33. She is genuinely crabby: "There is no 3:33". I hand her my phone with the app showing flight status, which now shows 1 hour delay. She says "oh, 887, hmm". Finally, she gets a colleague, who shows her how to check us in on the segment - the flight originated at IAD, and for some reason does not show up in the system.

Head to UA Club and use my LH Gold to get in. Email from UA, flight is now delay another hour. I call GS, "no options to SFO tonight". Flight is delayed another two hours, turns out our aircraft arrived early from IAD, but is taken out of service for MX. Replacement aircraft then has goes MX enroute to SAN, and is 4 hours late for SAN-DEN to replace our aircraft. Email from UA, 4:45 delay; my friend calls his travel agent, we find a 4:15 Southwest flight to SJC and book it. As we're packing up briefcases, I overhear 4 people next us lamenting the fact that they've been told they will miss their SFO-LHR connection, and that "they will try to get us out tomorrow or Sunday" - there goes the start of their vacation.

Leave UC, go to Southwest counter. A delightful, happy young man checks us in. We head quickly back to C concourse, and make it in time for BusinessSelect boarding and snag exit row seats. Happy, polite FA chats with us, "says oh yes, I hear UA is really messed up these days" tells us about cancellations at ORD the night before, and that one UA passenger was so upset that she was arrested.

We leave on time. Get to SJC, get a car to SFO in rush hour traffic, grab our cars, and I head to Sonoma in rush hour traffic. Still get home 1.5 hours before 887 finally leaves DEN at 9:20 (side note: 887 ultimately takes 1:59 min, fully 40 minutes shorter than the "block time").

After being GS since inception, I've now gone from flying UA whenever I can, to flying UA whenever it is most convenient, to now, flying UA whenever it is unavoidable. This airline has become too unreliable to patronize; I can't leave a day early for every trip, just to ensure that I make it to my destination near on time.