nygiants242

Where is the best place to file a complaint? Is it really just through this link?

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...r/default.aspx

I just had a terrible experience with United yesterday evening. I was supposed to fly SLC to EWR through Chicago. SLC flight was 1.5 hours late (UA6227), so I figured I would miss my connection to EWR at ORD but that flight was over 3 hours late (UA420). Lounges have closed by 10 PM, ORD is freezing/seems like they cut off the heat.

We board at around midnight, sit in the plane with no pilots, no announcements, etc and just wait. Two pilots finally come around 1 AM or so, saying we are ready to push back by 1:30 AM (arriving in Newark at like 4:30 AM by now... insane). Suddenly at 1:30 they come on the PA saying the flight attendants have reached their max hours worked for the day and we need to deplane. How did they not know this in advance? What is the point in boarding us all and then having us deplane? It was ridiculous. During the whole time we were on the plane there were little to no announcements, and just concerned faces/chatting between FAs and the pilots.

"Thankfully" I sprinted to customer service after getting off the plane and got a voucher for a hotel (30 min outside of ORD, no airport hotel available) and got 3 hours of sleep before returning to ORD for a 9 AM flight to LGA.

I am now sitting on UA1617 to LGA and it is already an hour late. A passenger is getting deplaned, and they have not even loaded the bags yet. This is insane..

Where can I complain? Can I expect any compensation? I am already missing at least half of an important work day (if not more). Seriously looking at American or Delta to take a lot of 2015 corporate travel at expensive fares/buckets. United is absolute crap.

Edit: I'm only a Plat now but would easily be on pace to get 1K for '15, but like I said before seriously considering making the switch. Star Alliance is the only thing keeping me with UA.

PV_Premier

yes, the customer care link is the best place to complain, or if you are elite you can send it to the elite feedback email address (eg 1K voice).

what you describe is the reason many of us have already left UA.

regarding working hours, your pilots would have been legal to operate the flight if they had gotten off the ground before 1:30am. however since that didn't happen, they timed out. they boarded you with the expectation they would have taken off while still legal on the clock. Obviously, that didn't happen.

the statistics show UA's on time domestically is pretty bad. what you do w/ that information and your future purchasing habits is up to you. for me, the data and my anecdotal experience has spoken and i've moved on to Alaska and Delta. so far my experience has been pretty good with respect to on time % and service in the air and on the ground.

compensation will depend on the reason for the delay. if ATC/weather, they won't compensate you most likely. if mechanical, they'll throw a couple hundred $$ funny money your way, or some miles.

kb1992

It's been bad lately.

1/4 PVG-EWR canceled, booked in P. UA sent a link for choice of $350 e-cert or 17500 miles. Took the e-cert.

Rebooked 1/4 PVG-LAX. The seat didn't fully recline (120 degree recline only). FA couldn't get it fixed and gave a form with a code. Sent to UA and see what UA offers.

channa

When SLC-ORD went south, why didn't you get them to put you on DL SLC-EWR/JFK/LGA?

nygiants242

They refused - only offered to put me up in Chicago for the night and take an early flight to NYC Monday morning (assuming I would have missed the EWR flight had I been on time).

In hindsight this would have been better anyways, as I would have gotten more sleep. But as I said it turned out the EWR was so late..

Kacee

Compensation for the forced overnight, if not caused by weather, would probably be in the 10,000 mile/$200 range.

If you are NYC based, why would you not be flying AA or DL?

channa

You have to fight when UA resists. When you're expecting a significant delay, they have to OAL, in accordance with Star Alliance rules, so long as the OAL has space and they have an agreement with them.

nygiants242

(1) It was cheaper (DL was so expensive for the direct flight)

(2) I've just been accruing on United so I figured I would continue to

PV_Premier

UA is basically a glorified low cost carrier at this point. i might even say that putting UA in that category is an insult to WN and B6.

nonstops are almost always more expensive. they reap a premium for the convenience. check out some of the nonstop pricing for UA out of SFO and IAH if you think it's just a DL thing.

edcho

You may want to give this a read:

http://crankyflier.com/2014/12/18/re...ight-champion/

Kacee

It was a rhetorical question

LASUA1K

Just another rant... You chose the connection over a non stop on DL. You get what you pay for. Next time, pick a non stop if available. It makes no sense why anyone would fly United into a competitors hub.

Lesson learned, pay the extra money and fly non stop. Also, next time, force them to change you to the non stop flight in this case, since you would miss the connection.

Often1

I would not expect much of anything from UA. Possibly a few miles/small voucher. But, looking at flightstats, it appears that the delays were FAA-imposed (1-1/4 hours delayed on arrival, so aircraft made up time enroute from the 1-1/2 hour delayed departure). This means ATC/WX in all likelihood.

Sounds as though the xORD was simply delayed by crew availability and that they eventually timed out. It's unfortunate, but little UA can do about it. Nor should UA do much about it as safety comes first (not to mention FAA restrictions).

I can't see that AA or DL would have handled this differently, but it certainly makes sense to fly non-stop, e.g. DL, when that's available. If you chose to save money and waste time by flying through ORD in the middle of a massive weather system, that's on you.

Surftel

Interesting but he misses a key point. The reason for Alaskan's great on time performance is not because of the markets they fly in but because they invested $40,000,000 in a new Satellite guidance system that allows them to fly when others can't

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/bu...anted=all&_r=0

Despite flying into places like ORD, SFO, and EWR United refused to make a similar investment.

fly18725

RNP would help with delays in ORD, SFO, or EWR. Only new runways and more air space would.