Originally Posted by
ijgordon
... although the fact that the police were called probably suggests his version of events would be somewhat different from yours. (Trying to be impartial here...)
I would have to agree with this line of thinking. They aren't calling the police (security, or whomever it was that showed up) unless something really goes wrong.
Originally Posted by
Fraser
It's a frustrating experience no doubt but as a ST E+ you are probably an experienced traveller, but, IMO,. made a few rookies mistakes which didn't help your case.
Personally I have had little problems with sub 1hr connections at DFW, never missed a flight, although have come close. That said if I was in need of a wheelchair assistance you can bet I'd be looking at alternative connection opportunities. The less number of connections and longer layovers where possible.
I don't think you can blame Expedia, they don't set the minimum connection times and their systems do pick up on the published LMCTs.
Agreed. For a domestic to domestic connection, and hour is fine at DFW under normal circumstances. With a wheelchair PAX in tow, no way as I've seen wheelchair PAX on flights enough times to know they're coming off last usually.
I'm not convinced the OP has as much travel experience as they let on. Either that or their common sense went out the window when booking their trip.
- Never been through <insert whatever major hub here> before, and a short connection?
- Also traveling with a PAX who needs special assistance (wheelchair) and a short connection?
Don't get me wrong, I understand things can be frustrating as all get out when situations arise. However, as with most drive-by rants against whatever carrier, how much of this (or any) situation could have been prevented by some common sense when booking the trip?
OP looks at connection time, knowing mom needs a wheelchair, they've never been through DFW, and could have easily picked a different itinerary with a better connection time. Had that happened, this situation would not have occurred. They would have been a few minutes late into DFW, but would have had plenty of time to make the connection.
Now I will place a fair amount of blame on the OTA's like the one OP used, as well as the others. They are notorious for showing the shortest connection times possible at the top of their results. I very rarely use any of them any more for that reason (among others as well.) I'll look at them when checking for a flight as you never know when you may find that one really great fare, but most of the time you can also book that directly though the airline as well. Not to mention you can get a much better selection of connection times by going direct as well. The problem with this situation is the OTA says that 1hr is sufficient to connect through DFW, when the reality that a few scant minutes after the first flight lands, the second one will start boarding.
If the agent was a jerk, that's another issue. However it sounds like things may have escalated well beyond just that.
I'm starting to realize more and more that common sense is not so common any longer.
