Good reason to call a non-US MP / UA number
During the February flight disruptions in IAD (snow) all flights from LAX to IAD got canceled on that day.
Certainly the following days were a mess for the people who were stuck.
My 3 yr old daughter was stuck in LAX coming from AKL. Of course all the US based phone lines a busy -- so I call SYD. Takes 5 minutes and we are set.