Tango1

Hi Guys,

Thought I run my recent experience by you and see what your thoughts were.

Just back from a trip to Aruba. I booked tickets for my wife and daughter (just turned 3 last week) back in October. We were originally scheduled to fly from Newark to Aruba on a 757 and we were booked in row 18 for there and back on direct flights. Apparently for some reason United changed planes to a 737 which doesn't have a row 18. On our way there United changed our seats several time the days before the flight but in the end they found seats for us together in the back of the plane (no big deal). Prior to leaving for Aruba, the agent on the phone I was speaking to trying to get our seats together also notified me that we didn't have seat assignments coming back. He said his hands were tied and that I'd have to wait the day of our return to try and get seats. I wasn't happy going without knowing if we had seats coming back so I spoke to a manager and she said the same thing. This was all during a day when NYC area was dealing with an incoming blizzard, so customer service took 30+ minutes to answer the phone and both reps while nice were very difficult to understand, so assume they were overseas and english was a second language.

Anyway so the following week when it was time to go home we arrive at the airport 4 hours before departure time. We are given 3 seats, all apart from each other. This is unacceptable as my daughter is a child who just turned 3. There is no way she would sit alone and not cry for mommy or even stay in her seat belt for takeoff. We tell the agent at checkin the issue and she can't find us any seats together... not ever 2 seats. Pretty sure there was economy plus available because they were trying to sell it to us at the kiosk 5 minutes earlier for $79 more. The checkin-in agent tells me they will keep working on it and that by the time I cleared security, the gate agent would likely have new tickets for us together. So we proceed through security and I am the first customer to talk to the gate agent when she arrives. I explain the issue to the gate agent and she is very rude and unsympathetic. She tells me she will look into it and then I watch here over the next hour help other travelers out. I go back and talk to her and she still hasn't gotten around to looking into it. Finally 5 minutes before boarding she makes an announcement to see if anyone will switch with us for free food on the flight. No takers. So we board the plane and my wife ends up convincing several people to swap seats and in the end she ends up next to my daughter and I'm several rows in front of them.

Sorry for the long summary. Just curious if this is the norm with United and if you think this should have been handled better. I usually travel Delta and have never had this issue before. We paid a small fortune for these tickets but were treated like we were travelling standby or even on free tickets.

Asiatraveler15

I have seen it happen all the time the FA or passengers asking to change seats because the agent could not.
No excuse if she was rude though.
To be honest I think that is a 5 hour flight? I probably would have paid for e+ for the 2 of them.

mkr

I do not understand why you did not get seat assignments for your return back in October when you booked the trip.

Boghopper

Nothing unusual here, happens all the time. They will not remove people from sears except for air Marshalls, so if there are no seat pairs you are sol. It makes no difference how much you paid for the tickets.

rdurlabhji

OP said he was booked in rows 18 there and back before the equipment swap.

airzim

This happened to me a few years back SFO-OGG. I has four seats in First, but because of a cancellation we were re-booked the next day in the back scattered across the cabin, 2 parents and 2 kids under 5. I'm also Global Services.

There is really little the agent can do if the flight is full. You can't forcible remove someone and re-seat them. Since you were also not willing to pay for E+, perhaps they were waiting for someone else to pay for it, and give you the two freed up seats. That's likely why they waited.

So I was in the same boat, and we since we were headed to Maui, families and couples traveling together, nobody would move. I purposely snagged exit rows for us and the kids knowing that legally they would have to move us.

In the end we managed to convince one lady to sit across the aisle from her husband, my 5 year old daughter sat a row in front of my wife and my son, and I was in the way back cabin of a 757-300 in an exit row.

It sucked, but we made it. You can complain but you also need to be honest about the situation. Things happen and just try and make the best of it. If the flight is full, it's full. Cabin crew will often help but in the end, they can't force anyone to move unless there's a safety issue.

Generally guilt and an offer to buy drinks helps incent people to move. But very difficult in leisure markets.

Kacee

It's unfortunately common for UA to bungle confirmed seat assignments. Reported here all the time. Random Seat Changes to UA Itineraries After Having Assigned Seat 2015.

The fact that they separated you from your daughter and then basically did nothing to fix the problem is really inexcusable.

Explained in the OP.

mkr

Reread and see I missed the part that he had seats for the return also booked. It was a very long post. However, UA makes it clear that one is not guaranteed seat locations. That being said, they should have done a better effort to get child and mother at least together.

lost*in*cyberspace

I understand this was frustrating, but it happens all the time. I would not have hesitated to pay for E+ seats for at least one adult and your daughter. Wouldn't that have been easier than all the worrying and hassle?

CO_Nonrev_elite

This is exactly the reason why everyone complains about how bad United are with irropps.

You have 4 first class seats flying transpacific to Tokyo. United cancels the flight due to a mechanical, tells you they can't get you anything for 3 days, but can put you in 4 middle E- seats scattered across the plane, and then treat you like they are doing you a HUGE favor for getting you on.

I realize that they cannot manufacture seats that don't exist, but their bedside manner is just awful time and time again

luckypierre

Nope, nothing that unusual in the story. Really one of United's biggest organizational shortcomings. The airline has a significant IRROPS problem and they present their solutions to the mess (if the passenger has the good fortune to receive one) as an one-time, thank the wise men of Willis Tower, begrudging favor.

BearX220

I don't see why a customer should have to produce more money to remedy a problem UA created.

artvandalay

One would think that an airline with such a wealth of experience with cancellations/AC changes/schedule changes would have--by now--developed a corporate policy that at least feigns the mindset of UA customer service email responses to legitimate customer complaints. Instead you get the OP's sad tale.

The fact that other posts here reflect similar experiences to OP's is a sad testimony to what has become of our flyer friendly airline.

The new norm: what are the chances that a ticketed reservation on UA will:
1. Leave and arrive as indicated (aka "on time"),
2. On the AC type originally booked, or
3. In the seat requested/confirmed?

pmarrsouth

What UA 757 has a row 18?

Kacee

This one.

Only on FT. OP is separated from family through UA screw-up, with zero UA effort at service recovery. Twenty percent of posts blame OP. Ten percent question the veracity of OP's report.