donjo

Flight from IAH to SAT went out with a functioning unfilled unblocked seat in first. I was number one on the upgrade list. I wrote in and received a $100 travel certificate

djohannw

Pretty good to the point. I was able to change from my connection through IAH to the also-delayed non-stop flight to IAD (the original flight to IAH took a further delay and finally departed six hours late) that got me in about 4 hours late vs. the original itinerary, plus UA paid hotel and food for the night I had to stay in GRU. When landed in IAD I received a $300 ETC (or 15K miles) as compensation. Guess I fared pretty well on this end, and even my bag made the change without any problem despite being checked through and not being picked up, except that it was cracked (in the shell) when I got it off the belt at IAD.

Now need to find out how to get this resolved, the bag-office in IAD opened a claim but only told me to get it repaired with no guidance how-to - went to a store and they told me it's not repairable since there is part of the hard-shell missing, so there is no way they can fix it...

Greetings - Dirk

Pat89339

SFO-SIN AVOD stopped working for the last 7 hours of the flight. The FA rebooted it 4 times and it would not play anything longer than a few minutes and freeze and then black screen.

Called Customer Relations (to compliment one of the FAs who was outstanding) and mentioned the AVOD.

$200 ETC

z06mir

I will do my very best to keep this short, but I am happy to provide details if that helps anyone find a solution.

I purchased a ticket for my MIL to travel from PHX to RAP via DEN, the travel date was December 23rd. The outbound tickets were E classes and the return were U. A few days before the flight my MIL purchased an upgrade which I think put her in A class but I'm not sure. On the 23rd her flight from PHX to DEN was uneventful and when she went to her next gate the flight was delayed because a snow squall had moved through DEN (Skywest CRJ200). The snow was incredibly quick to pass and in less than a half hour people were arriving and departing again, though of course having to deice. The flight was supposed to take off at at 8pm. An hour at a time the flight was delayed until a little after midnight when the crew timed out and it was rescheduled (not canceled) for 730 the next morning. At this point DEN operations were in full swing and had been for 3-4 hours except metering for the deice pads. United did not offer any passenger water, much less food or lodging. My 62 year old MIL slept in the Denver airport because no employees would tell her how to get to a shuttle for a hotel, according to the agent she did talk to "The Westin is full and its too expensive anyway". It was awful for her as an older single woman but I figured they got bogged down with deice and her airplane didn't make the list (the crew never showed up to the gate either.....) and just hoped they'd get her to RAP the following day. I called the local station in RAP and they confirmed the flight would arrive the next day because the crew had timed out.

The next day she went to the gate ready for her flight and they canceled it totally. Weather in both DEN, RAP an everywhere inbetween was great. They said she could expect to leave sometime on the 25th. I called United CS, spoke to someone who only read a script and attempted to get some info or an alternate route (Salt Lake to RAP? MSP to RAP) and they would not budge. My MIL finally was able to find an agent as they clocked in for the day and the agent agreed to put her on a Republic flight leaving at 1230 (6 hours from current time) - Again no food/water or other compensation despite the fact this cancelation was now on United/Skywest. She boarded that 1230 flight and it was delayed almost 2 hours again, but she did finally arrive in RAP though without sleep for 36 hours it wasn't pretty.

During this time she was receiving the occasional automated message such as "your flight is delayed", the "your canceled flight" message didn't come until almost 12 hours after it had been canceled. She also got one that said "We misplaced your bag" even though her bag had successfully made the journey.

She refused to get on another United airplane so I called to cancel her return leg, hoping I could cancel that and get at least a few dollars of compensation for that incident. They did cancel and refund $334, however the ticket+upgrade was $1050... the $334 was hardly a drop in the bucket to what it cost us to fly her home. I attempted to reason with united that night and over a course of 2.5 hours (most of it on hold) I got nowhere. United coded the cancelation and delays as weather. I was told to file a formal complaint online and they could issue compensation that way. I was not looking for the entire ticket refunded, but $700ish, would have shut up at $500. Was really sucked is each person I talked to read from the same script, said the same things and didn't offer any sympathy. At one point one of them said at a very inappropriate time "Thank you for understanding ma'am". What?

I filed a formal complaint including documentation on the weather, the out-of-order text messages and screen shots on aviation weather (I'm a professional pilot, not for an airline). I received a call and the woman again read from a script while saying "It was weather. I know you sent attachments but it was weather so I cant do anything". She said she would escalate it further if I wished and I could expect a response in a few days and another phone call. Well, this morning I woke up to an email from the same woman thanking me for my "United loyalty" but apologizing they couldn't reach a resolution. Now I'm stuck. It was an absolutely horrible experience for her (and for me!)I know in hindsight I should have put her on the airline for which I had status but I had trusted that United (like Delta) would make things right in the event of an issue. They didn't, and it appears they won't. I am stuck and don't know what next step to take. All I want is a little bit of $ back, so maybe UA and Skywest can look at their policies and see how poorly they treated 100 people (since the flight canceled 50 were stuck in RAP too!!).

Sorry this was so long. There are so many more details, too. I know you guys are the MVPs of United travel so I am hoping someone has an idea where to go next.

TA

Condensed version, leaving out the commentary on the politeness of UA and what they did / didn't do during the weather event:
I would say that this is not an unexpected amount of refund, but you would have to post more about the fare you purchased. 1/2 of the trip was completed, and the outbound half (which could have been more expensive if you bought it close to the date).

jhayes_1780

First, yes... it was ultimately weather, so very little (if any) amenities provided by UA.

Not to seem uncaring... but she was smart enough to shell out $$$ to upgrade to F, but couldn't figure out how to get a hotel on her own, or how to use an airport shuttle?

$334 for the remaining value sounds about right. I guess how much are you looking for? I can see them sending a voucher/coupon for $100-250, but outside of the unused $334.00 I don't see them giving any kind of cash back.

Yes, booking last minute on OA can be quite expensive. But that one was her/your prerogative.

Such is the curse of small UX outstations.

z06mir

Unfortunately she is not able to do much for herself... wallflower is a good word for it. The only reason she could upgrade to F was because they sent an email offering it. She sucks at traveling and this was her first solo venture post-divorce where her ex did everything. $500 would have been fair, no vouchers because I won't fly UA again after this debacle.

See, the thing I have the issue with is that it wasnt weather. When they canceled the flight the following day there was no weather anywhere (I called and got an aviation weather brief thinking I'd have to go get her) in the region. The flight was canceled because there was no crew to fly the airplane the next day. Nothing to do with weather except a 30 minute snow squall 12 hours before. That is my biggest issue with the entire thing.


I do appreciate the replies even though they're not what I wanted to hear. I guess I'm just used to how Delta has treated me during weather and a couple of the meltdowns I've experienced. I thought United was in the same playing field when it came to CS and DL but now I know better.

COSPILOT

Just because the weather is fine in the moment, it doesn't mean that crews are back to where they need to be. SkyWest UAX operations actually do a pretty good job IMO, and if memory serves, they also operate for Delta as well. That said, previous days weather has a lingering impact on operations into the future, and with full airplanes and no slack in the system you get a domino effect.

If I read your post correctly, $1,050 included the paid upgrade to first. Was that for 1 segment out of four or two? Either way, pricing is based on each segment individually. I can book a RT to ORD, and my outbound might be $375, but my return could be $125. If I cancel the return, I would get $125 back, not $250 (Half of 375 + 125).

Edit: I wouldn't get $125 back, I would have that value toward future travel, but it wouldn't matter because its below the change fee cost. Cancelling the return out of emotion doesn't make any sense to me, and from what I can tell, Delta handles this in similar fashion as well.

Also, I can appreciate your "wallflower" comment. Between my wife's parents and mine, its only my MIL that would be calling me nonstop in this event. She is an incredibly smart woman (71 years old), and in prefect health, but she falls apart when it comes to travel. Not in the planning side (she is an expert in that), but in the actual travel side when things don't go as planned. I actually joke that it would be easier for me to go with her (and less time consuming) than take the excessive phone calls asking what to do.

LarryJ

You have to determine why there was no crew to fly the airplane the next day. If there was no crew due to the weather disruptions the night before then the reason for the cancellation is weather.

s0ssos

What about the day before? Or the day before the day before? How long before it isn't considered weather?

Are the bedbugs also related to weather? Maybe global warming? And the power outage in Atlanta-that is probably weather related as well. Somewhere in the annals of the history of the earth.

Hipplewm

I would say they treated her within the law and the CoC

That being said, should someone take pity on a 62 yo women who is obviously lost? Maybe, but if they did they probably wouldn’t have time to do their job, especially that time of year.

I am sorry for your troubles and it must have been nerve racking, but other than UA throwing you some shut up miles, you will probably receive nothing else.

transportprof

I doubt you will get anything more from United in the way of compensation. Once you have come to terms with this lack of a "cure" for your problem, then it's time to think about prevention for the future.

It sounds to me like your MIL is not suited for the "dog eat dogfood" world of travel by American civil aviation these days. According to Google, the driving time between PHX and RAP is <19 hours. Even with an overnight rest stop, this would have been faster than the journey time she actually experienced. And probably cheaper, too. Some people just aren't cut out to make the most of the indignities that are commonplace in air travel these days, so your MIL avoiding future flights where other mobility options exist would be my take-away from this experience. That will probably save more than whatever credit (never cash money) that United could have tossed back to you from this fiasco.

lhrsfo

I personally think that UA behaved abominably here, but also that in a technical and legal sense, they did nothing wrong.

Your best bet is either a local journalist or using social media to shame them - if UA can even be shamed nowadays.

PTahCha

UA refunded the return portion per your request, which is calculated based on the original ticket value (since your MIL flew outbound, presumably in the upgraded seat). If she did not travel in upgraded cabin on the outbound portion, then she might be entitled to get the upgrade fee back. Outside of that, there is not much UA is obligated to do, especially when it comes to cash refunds, once you voluntarily decide to cancel and rebook on your own. Mental and physical distress has no bearing on cash refund amount - only if you are looking for travel vouchers.

zrs70

Sigh.... A few years back, 62 sounds old. But that number is getting closer!

I think of my parents, in their 70's and 80's. Mind you, they travel far and wide. In this post, 62 sounds over the hill!