mcrt

Two friends of mine flew out in the wee hours of the morning today (Tuesday, Sept. 14) to attend a convention. Unfortunately the convention was in New Orleans.

Last night when they hit the sack it looked like Ivan was going to hit further east.

This morning they headed to SeaTac airport and boarded a United flight for Denver. United at that point said nothing about the potential of the MSY airport being shut down.

In Denver they found someone else going to the same convention. That person told them the convention was cancelled. United at that point said nothing about the potential of the MSY airport being shut down. United also offered them no options to return home. With a one hour layover there was not a lot of time to consider options.

Once they hit New Orleans they found that the mayor was trying to get the city evacuated. They found no flights, no buses and no rental cars to leave the city with. They were able to book a train tomorrow to Chicago where United will fly them back to Seattle.

Do my friends have any recourse to get some of the added expense back from United? I know the airline can't control the weather but at either Seattle or Denver they could have been told about what was going on. They are now going to be out another $200 each to take the train to Chicago plus the expense of the ticket. If they were told they could have cancelled the trip and been out the $100 or so that airlines charge now to use credit on a non-refundable ticket.

Thanks in advance for the help.

CPRich

What could they have told them? "There's a hurricane in the Gulf"? I think everyone knows that. The airport was open and flights were as normal when your friends flew. The status of their convention is not U's business and I don't think they are a news service (here's what the mayor in MSY is doing) or a weather service (looks like Ivan is drifting westward).

It may sound callous, but if your friends couldn't call the convention to see if it was cancelled, check on MSY news to discover the evacuation warnings, etc., expecting the airline to do it is a bit beyond expectations.

Unfortunately, natural phenomena like this are beyond everyone's control. They should cancel their return trip, and check U's web site - there are often special terms and conditions for these situations - to see if they can get value out of it.

And consider themselves lucky when thousands have lost their worldly possessions due to the storms.

prncess674

I don't think your friends are due anything. Every major news channel, newspaper has been reporting on this huge storm brewing in the gulf. United even has news on their web page about the storm. Frankly, unless your friends were living in a vacuum they should have known to reconfirm before flying into a storm. Your friends are adults who were terrible planners and should now suffer the consequences of not being observant.

I live in New Orleans and am stuck in Hartford, CT. While it is great to be away from the storm it is also terrible that I am away from my home and am unable to help care for our home and family. The inconvenience your friend may suffer is by far very small to the potential damage my home and family/friends will suffer due to Ivan

cawhite

Agree with CPRich and prncess674....there's been news coverage on Ivan with regard to it hitting anywhere between the FL panhandle and MSY for several days, and UA has had something on the home page of it's website for at least a couple days. It's not just been on the local news, but national news such as CNN (even on "local" news in Chicago).

Side note to prncess674....crossing my fingers for you & your family that all get through it well!

detouring

I suppose that if your friends perceive an injustice they could always send an email or a letter to UA about what happened. Did your friends have any travel or trip interruption insurance?