Originally Posted by
Tonys1234
My sister and brother in law were flying on United Express operated by Express Jet today from MKE to IAH. The pilots landed the plane in Springfield, IL with no prior explanation until on the ground when they said that they needed to get more fuel. As a result, my sister and brother in law missed their connection home to SFO. They were given food and hotel vouchers. Anyone have any other suggestions on how to deal with this? Should they ask for additional compensation? Thanks for the suggestions.
Welcome to posting to Flyertalk. I always err on the side of empathy to passengers trying to use the system for maximal convenience and efficiency, as well as fairness. Sorry they got burned. But, I have a query: If they are in Milwaukee and hoping to get to San Francisco, why not consider splurging for the ground transportation to Chicago and getting on one of the dozens of flights to San Francisco (ORD-SFO)? United alone has 18 non-stops a day. American 7. Virgin 4. One could even go over to Midway and grab Southwest.
So flying on a pathway form Milwaukee--Houston--San Francisco? That's either a mileage run (in FT lingo---for miles) or a major economic windfall, perhaps from the internet, that is unfortunately balanced by the risk by donating one's time in transit and all the risks of what happened with connecting, etc.
Or there may simply be other factors in their routing decision that I am simply unaware of.
It's barely 70 miles from Milwaukee to O'Hare by Interstate 294. Something to consider in the future, I think. Still, I have sympathy for the problem that your relatives endured. Hopefully, their personal time spent in travel is worth effort in being spent in a less circuitous routing in the future.