LAX Meltdown; Scary Situation, unbelievable agents...
Mar 19, 2012, 11:47 am
#46
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UA can certainly be proactive here and reach out to passengers. Do report back if you hear from them.
Mar 19, 2012, 11:48 am
#47
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SMI/J
There was a SMI/J that popped up on the cleared F list while the flight was a 757-300, but once it became clear it was going to go mechanical, he dropped from the list and never showed on the upgrade or standby lists. He was in 5E, and I was so hoping it was you-know-who, but I guess we'll never know who it was...other than someone who was smart enough not to fly 90 in the end.
Mar 19, 2012, 11:52 am
#48
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Mar 19, 2012, 11:55 am
#49
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Not surprised that the employees blamed the customers. When DL was in bankruptcy, my brother fumed at all the passengers who wanted cheap fares resulting in his pay cut.
Sitting on a full AA 737 right now that was boarded calmly and quickly because they have a logical boarding process that works. Next week it's AF TATL. I might try UA again in May.
Mar 19, 2012, 11:58 am
#50
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I was also supposed to be on that flight. I arrived at LAX earlier that morning from Australia after having to rebook because the SYD-SFO flight on the 18th was also canceled due to a mechanical problem in SFO.
The reps were far from helpful. The reps not only weren't helpful they gave incorrect information and even ran away and left the gate desk completely unattended for about 25 minutes.They claim they didn't even know that the new plane was much smaller than the original one. I was one of the lucky people who was denied boarding. One employee who was handling meal vouchers, looked at her watch and said I've been working enough today and just walked away. I wish I knew her name.
Having been told numerous times I had a seat on the plane and because I was already traveling for over 24 hours, I folded. They offered a flight the next day from LAX to JFK but I was able to convince them to give me an LAX to IAD later that night then a flight from IAD to EWR. I finally landed at EWR at 9:30 this morning, 12 hours have I would have if UA090 was on time
Flight 90 landed at EWR about 7 hours late, at 4am
I really hope tom UA management sees this thread and is fully briefed on what was a horrible, very mismanaged, out of control situation.
The reps were far from helpful. The reps not only weren't helpful they gave incorrect information and even ran away and left the gate desk completely unattended for about 25 minutes.They claim they didn't even know that the new plane was much smaller than the original one. I was one of the lucky people who was denied boarding. One employee who was handling meal vouchers, looked at her watch and said I've been working enough today and just walked away. I wish I knew her name.
Having been told numerous times I had a seat on the plane and because I was already traveling for over 24 hours, I folded. They offered a flight the next day from LAX to JFK but I was able to convince them to give me an LAX to IAD later that night then a flight from IAD to EWR. I finally landed at EWR at 9:30 this morning, 12 hours have I would have if UA090 was on time
Flight 90 landed at EWR about 7 hours late, at 4am
I really hope tom UA management sees this thread and is fully briefed on what was a horrible, very mismanaged, out of control situation.
I don't know yet...I'm still waiting for my blood pressure to return to normal. This is the third major screwup of UA's for me in the last 7 days, I'm still processing how to deal with all of this.
Last edited by FlyinHawaiian; Mar 19, 2012 at 12:27 pm Reason: multi-quote
Mar 19, 2012, 12:04 pm
#51
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This sounds like an absolutely horrendous situation for everyone involved. The fact that they were trying to downgrade you with a paid F ticket is inexcusable to me.
I think the agent are just exhausted with everything. I flew back from Dulles last week, and there was only 1 agent for the Premier Line, no agents for 1K, and 1 for GS/Intl. 1st Class. The 1 agent who spent an hour trying to check me in said it has been a mess and that she doesn't care anymore.
Hopefully the passenger with double inops's made it home to New York. At the very least, the new UA should've figure out a way to get everyone home on one of the numerous carriers flying LAX-JFK.
I think the agent are just exhausted with everything. I flew back from Dulles last week, and there was only 1 agent for the Premier Line, no agents for 1K, and 1 for GS/Intl. 1st Class. The 1 agent who spent an hour trying to check me in said it has been a mess and that she doesn't care anymore.
Hopefully the passenger with double inops's made it home to New York. At the very least, the new UA should've figure out a way to get everyone home on one of the numerous carriers flying LAX-JFK.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:05 pm
#52
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Mar 19, 2012, 12:08 pm
#53
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TBH, I suspect that the UACO personnel in charge did not want to spend the money to push the ticket to another carrier, and was hoping that uninformed pax would just give up and buy tix on another carrier themselves, thus allowing UA to (1) avoid paying any rebooking costs or denied boarding compensation, and (2) receive a windfall by keeping the pax's originally paid fare. IMO this kind of "strategic" treatment of pax should be illegal and should be heavily penalized.
Last edited by EsquireFlyer; Mar 19, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Mar 19, 2012, 12:16 pm
#54
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TBH, I suspect that the UACO personnel in charge did not want to spend the money to push the ticket to another carrier, and was hoping that uniformed pax would just give up and buy tix on another carrier themselves, thus allowing UA to (1) avoid paying any rebooking costs or denied boarding compensation, and (2) receive a windfall by keeping the pax's originally paid fare. IMO this kind of "strategic" treatment of pax should be illegal and should be heavily penalized.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:21 pm
#55
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This is unbelievable.
And I mean that literally. I genuinely don't believe what you've told me.
And I mean that literally. I genuinely don't believe what you've told me.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:27 pm
#56
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it't them to make this flight overbooked.
In addition, CO always has higher IDB rates than other carriers.
They should very familiar how to IDB people.
Therefore, it's logical to blame CO.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:29 pm
#57
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to the op, what i found the most shocking was:
Rather than ask for volunteers for the packed -300 to come off the -200, they first randomly decided to involuntarily deny boarding to First Class passengers. I was one of the lucky victims, told I was being denied my 2nd row seat due to my status. "we would rather let someone who hasn't experienced united before a chance to fly in the BusinessFirst cabin than you" was the line I was fed, even though Ive been a CO top tiered elite for 20 years and was on a full first class ticket.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:32 pm
#58
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Wow, just wow!
After flying on 3/2, 3/3, and 3/4 I am also on a self-imposed ban on purchasing tickets on UA until this mess clears up, if it ever does.
If the OP does decide to write, I would suggest that the UA Board of Directors also be copied in any correspondence.
After flying on 3/2, 3/3, and 3/4 I am also on a self-imposed ban on purchasing tickets on UA until this mess clears up, if it ever does.
If the OP does decide to write, I would suggest that the UA Board of Directors also be copied in any correspondence.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:33 pm
#59
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Probably foolishly, I am about to leave the office to fly SEA-DEN-BWI today. I really think I'm going to have to lay off for awhile after this. The day-to-day situation seems to be getting worse; it's clearly worse now than on Merger Weekend. My next few transcons will have to be US/AA/DL. I guess I'll see if there's anyone left standing here in May or June.
Mar 19, 2012, 12:40 pm
#60
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Probably foolishly, I am about to leave the office to fly SEA-DEN-BWI today. I really think I'm going to have to lay off for awhile after this. The day-to-day situation seems to be getting worse; it's clearly worse now than on Merger Weekend. My next few transcons will have to be US/AA/DL. I guess I'll see if there's anyone left standing here in May or June.