Took the US Shuttle this morning. Lots of air traffic delay. They serve you very efficiently in the shuttle, once, then they forget about you. We were circling and in the air over 2 hours but no service after the first go-round.

NYC was a little rainy. Bad traffic. Meetings in mid-town, SoHo, then at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue. It was pouring by then and there was a huge line for taxis at the Hilton.

I hightailed it out of there and took a gypsy cab to LGA. Why is it that the cabs go off duty during rush hour??

I called US from the car and they said, sure they cancelled the 9:00 but there is the 8:00 to DCA and an 8:30 to IAD and those are on.

Well, they weren't. The flights had been canceled a hour before I called, but nobody in operations told the reservations people, so they gave out mis-information. This is not the first time this has happened. I was waiting for my wife at BWI and they assured me the plane had landed, etc. (I was in the car, it was raining then too) and it turns out the plane actually was diverted and landed at another airport.

So, they called a bus company (at LGA) and rushed a bus over there. I decided to take the bus back to Washington. Watched a horrible movie with Tommy Lee Jones and also Speed, seats were worse than 757 coach but at least we made it and I didn't spend the night in Queens.

Next time, perhaps I'll stick to the train. The Metroliner takes about 3 hours but with bad weather it's shorter, ain't it?

I also traveled on the US shuttle on Tue. 11/02. Needed to go to NYC for the day for meetings. Got to BOS airport at around 1PM. The 1PM was still on the ground, they said update in one hour. Then five minutes later, they boarded all passengers who had boarding passes for the 1PM flight onto the 12PM departure (which had apparently returned to the gate). The pilot made an announcement like "welcome to...I guess what you would call the continuation of the noon flight." All pax board, it's open seating. Got an aisle something like 23d. We push back from the gate, and they advise probably one hour delay on ground. They said we could use our laptops and phones. Lots of people on cell phones at first, a few laptops. I never recall another flight where I worked on my laptop as the airplane taxied, it was kind of nice. We sit in BOS on the ground for maybe 2 hours. Then we take off. Don't get served anything, pilot announces they are going to suspend service of drinks and have flight attendants sit down. It wasn't that bumpy, they could have given us the drinks. We land in LGA, and they decide to open the front and back doors (via stairs) for deplaning. Go out the back, into a windy LGA.
Attend a meeting at the LGA Marriott, and have dinner at the bar, few drinks, etc. Then go up to the club level on floor 7, and have some free food. No questions about whether I was staying in hotel, etc. Now NYC has heavy rain, winds, wind around 22 to 35 miles per hour. They were operating on runway 13 only, airport still technically open. Called both US and DL, at some point, they both have cancelled flights to BOS after 8PM. Wait a long time for the van for the airport. Go to US Shuttle counter. Indeed, they have buses running to both BOS and DCA. How convenient, comfortable, and long that would be. I tell agents that I would not be able to get my ground transportation in BOS, because bus would arrive too late for connection with public transportation. Just could not bear to sit on a bus for 4+ hours, crowded, etc. They think for a minute, then say they will provide hotel accommodations at the Clarrion. Ok to fly the next day. I stand at the counter, while they arrange this. There is talk about some announcement being made on a BOS bound flight, which returned to the gate, that distressed pax rates were available for $69 at near by hotels. The rate was really $89. Agents trying to figure out who made wrong announcement about rate. Then a guy comes over, and he says he is the manager. He says he has seen me many times, and proceeds to tell the agent to "make sure you give him money for dinner and breakfast on that hotel voucher." The agent said he already included money for food. Then the guy says they would be willing to provide a taxi for transportation home, if I would rather take the bus. No, I say, hotel accommodations sound much nicer. They then figure the Clarrion is full, and give me the Crown Plaza. Plus $12 for dinner, and $5 for breakfast. They say Crown Plaza is best hotel at LGA. I see other people, a few of them, also getting hotel vouchers. Most people just being told to take the bus. Or being told all flights are shut down for the night. Not sure what the criteria is for getting a hotel voucher, vs. told to take the bus. Most people, though, probably didn't ask for hotels. Or maybe it is just if they see you fly the shuttle often, who knows. Anyway, I'm glad I was not on the bus, sounds like hell. Crown Plaza typical airport hotel. Go to bar, but they won't take meal vouchers for drinks. Oh well, pay with mileage credit card. Wake up early, check flights. US has cancelled the 6AM to BOS. DL showing all flights operating. Tried to order room service, but room service and the restaurant don't open until 6AM. I wished I could hang around, watch tv, and drink coffee, but instead must go to work as early as possible in BOS. Room did have coffee maker and hair dryer and iron. Take van to DL shuttle, and they honor the US student/youth ticket which actually says LGA-DCA. The ticket also said "valid us only." They take it...no problem...they add my Sky Miles number in. Also these youth tickets valid only 10AM to 2PM, but they often don't enforce that time restriction. Board 630AM flight back to BOS, get baggle with cough drop samples. Arrive basically on time in BOS, around 730AM. Take a cab to work, and complete another trip flying the northeast. It all doesn't surprise me anymore...these things happen in the BOS-NYC-DCA area quite often. I'm just glad I got a "good," agent, or is the right term an angel? It varies quite a bit whether airlines will provide hotels in weather situations.

What a story!

I complained to US reservations, that they said that the flights were on, when they should have known had been cancelled. I'll see what compensation I could have gotten.

I could have pushed and probably gotten hotel accommodations, but I didn't want to hang out in LGA for the night.

After getting back to BOS on Wed., I noticed my DL account was not showing the flight. I called DL in the morning, and they said they had not yet "closed out" the flight. I called again in the afternoon, and they said I would have to mail in or fax a copy of my boarding pass (which I found to be most inconvenient). I called again, in the evening, and they put me on hold for about 8 minutes. They said they could not find my ticket# in the record, probably because I used a US ticket. Then they said the reservation had an airport entry regarding tickets they had not seen before. Then they posted the flight from LGA-BOS, in K class. I'm glad I didn't have to photocopy the boarding pass, write a letter, print it, fax it, check to see if it posted, etc. Always better when things can be handled by email or phone. BTW, is DL offering double miles on the shuttle these days? US offers AA and US miles for all shuttle flights. Also, does anyone know what DL was doing out of LGA on Tuesday night? Did they too have buses? Rich, did they actually take your ticket and have you ride the bus? I hope you were not paying the full $200 fare for a bus ride? I think the bus costs around $20, from NYC-BOS, so says my sister who takes the bus.

I also, once, took the bus by accident. Actually, I live in BOS, and went to a US focus group in Framingham, MA. It is a suburb about 40 minutes from BOS. The focus group was about the shuttle, and they awarded 10,000 miles in either US or AA for participating. BTW, most people at the group said they fly whatever shuttle is leaving when they are, and they are not influenced by miles that much.

Anyway, I board a bus in Framingham, which I think is going to BOS. After we drive a long time, and they show a movie, I figure something might be up. So I casually ask seat-mate if he knows exactly where the bus is going. He says it is going to Port Authority, not BOS. They made no destination announcement on the bus, or anything. So I was on a bus, crusing to NYC. I did not tell the seat-mate anything, because it was crowsed, and I didn't feel like talking to him about the situation. I called some friends from my cell phone, and asked what "discretion" the "gate agents" in a bus terminal have. I figured it would be nice if the bus company provided hotel accommodations, and a ticket on the first flight shuttle to BOS. Dreaming of course, I think. I figured I would say I had a 8AM meeting in BOS.

The bus arrived NYC at about midnight, or maybe later. Getting off the bus, I told the driver there was a "slight problem." He proceeded to check when the next bus departure to BOS was. It was in forty minutes. He said I could take that back to BOS. So much for hotels, and shuttles!

I asked the driver (there was no "gate agent") if they could provide a voucher for food. The driver did not seem to know, and he said he would buy me something. We went to a snack bar, and I got french fries and an orange soda. The driver asked the clerk about a voucher (thinkk it was a food stand operated by bus company), and she told him he had to go upstairs or something. I think he paid for it himself.

I asked him if these things happen, and he said that the other drivers told him, in a hushed tone, that they have also had pax get on the wrong bus to the wrong city.

At the BOS departure gate, the inbound driver tells the driver going to BOS what happened. The inbound driver says he has my original Framingham-BOS ticket. He just tells the BOS bound driver to take me on the bus. BTW this was a different bus company than the one I came in on. I guess this is the bus version of Rule 240! Or, can a bus company write a fim?

I got back to BOS, around 4AM, and by the way, both buses were especially crowded. There was no "gate agent" in BOS either, and I was to tired to go to the counter, and ask for whatever comp bus companies might give out. I ended up taking a cab home, courtesy of my company cab voucher, and got a brief rest, then went back to work.

I asked my sister about this, and again she is quite familiar with buses,
and she says they usually make an announcement about the destination of the bus. She says she has been on buses, and had to change after they make the announcement of the destination. BTW the Framingham pick up was just a little place, not a full bus station, and the driver must not have looked at my ticket at all.

So...the bus "gate agents," or drivers probably have little discretion if any for compensation or accommodations, but at least they have a bus version of Rule 240! They didn't even make me reisue the ticket, or go to the "service center." In fact, I got on the bus with no ticket at all back to BOS. And, they didn't charge me a $75 change fee, but then again no upgrades were available. And they were not taking volunteers to be bumped. They didn't seem to have all the acronyms like an airline. No talk of fims, rule 240, pnr, no need to "sync my e-ticket." Instead Just "hey...take this guy on this bus."




[This message has been edited by jetsetter (edited 11-04-1999).]

I love it! What a great story!

Ughh, Jetsetter, what a story.

THe bus cost $89. I think it would have cost $60 but my impression is that they inflated the price.

At that stage, not much we could do. I could easily have gotten on the wrong bus, the one to BOS.

I kept my US ticket for a "rainy day"

One more detail I forgot about the Tuesday night experience at the LGA airport. The "manager" told an agent to go outside and whisper to somebody to "use the larger bus for BOS rather than DCA." Also Rich if I understand right, they charged you $89 for the bus trip LGA-DCA? Was it the bus company that ran your card, or US?

It was the bus co. I still have my US ticket, the return leg.