Kacee

I'm not going to excuse UA here, but if this was me, I would have cancelled about nine hours ago, asked UA to refund my ticket, and rented a car. How much can a one-day one-way rental cost?

timezone_trooper

Sure, the compensation likely won't be as generous but if you were a non-status pax that had used miles you had somehow accumulated on a trip that resulted in an underwhelming experience, wouldn't you feel you were ripped off? I sure would, and I'd demand some gesture to make me feel somewhat whole again.

malgudi

I'm assuming you never take shared rides

OP already said it was late and didn't want to drive.

MSPeconomist

Not with strangers when the destination is my home, as opposed to a hotel, restaurant, etc.

mecabq

OP was on a connecting flight, XXX-IAH-AEX, booked with miles. The marginal cost in miles to add the IAH-AEX segment was probably zero, so how much would they refund?

zombietooth

+1
Time is much more valuable than money, and 12 hours is a long time.

I recall a blizzard back in OCT '97, where I was trapped at DEN on my way home from Japan. I was trying to get to COS and UA kept lying to us that the flight would leave in another hour or so, repeated over and over again. At some point, I got news that the only flight that was going to leave that day was the Denver Broncos team charter (I had a friend who was on the Broncos medical staff). I walked up to the GA and asked if it was true that all flights would be cancelled and he denied it but still couldn't give me a departure time.

At that point, I'd had enough and loudly proclaimed to those in the gate area, "I'm sick of waiting here and am gonna get a taxi, who wants to go with me!". About 7 people joined-up with me whereupon the GA yelled that anyone who left would not only not get a refund or compensation for the flight, but that they wouldn't deliver our luggage either. I remember saying, "I don't care, I'm leaving".

We all went to the taxi stand and found a van taxi to hold all of us, whereupon we drove to the Springs. When we got there most of the roads were closed, and the closest the driver could get me to my house was about a 1/2 mile away. It was no fun dragging my rollaboard through the snow drifts but I got home. I later found out that no more flights left for another 36 hours and that there had been unruly, riotous behavior by the stranded passengers at DEN because there was no food available, and no blankets, bottled water, etc.

Oh, and UA did deliver my bags about 5 days later at no additional cost.

Slouchman

This +1. 3.5 hours in a car vs 12 at an airport? No question. I fly TPAC more than quarterly...it can take 3.5 hours to drive from EWR back to Connecticut on a Friday. Normal. Its all what you are used to.

HNLbasedFlyer

Agree - even if 1 day rental fee off the chart due to being 1 way, an Uber runs roughly $200 between those cities. I would've done that as a backup if late or tired or couldn't get a car.

LarryJ

I did the shared rental car thing once, many years ago, when American Eagle flight (Saab 340B) into SPS diverted to LAW (Wichita Falls, TX and Lawton, OK) due to low ceilings in SPS.

Looking at the weather, I decided it was unlikely that the flight would continue to SPS and, in fact, it later canceled in LAW and return to DFW. I didn't wait. I headed to the rental counter while my wife found a couple of other passengers willing to split the cost of the car. I think the cost ended up around $20 or $25 each which was well worth it to us.

None of us learned any other's addresses, though, because we drove the car to the SPS airport where everyone was originally planning to go. That's where I returned the rental car and each of us continued on in whatever manner they had planned to continue on after the flight. (Though we could have dropped someone at their home but that would have been their choice)

After returning the car, I stopped by the American Eagle counter and asked about our flight. By that time it had cancelled and AE was working on a bus, of some sort, to transport the passengers from LAW to SPS. I have no idea how long that took or when they arrived.

That drive was a lot shorter than the drive the OP faced. I, also, would likely have chosen the hotel over a late night 3+ hour drive. Splitting a car with other passengers can be a good option, though, in many situations.

ADeutsch

United would have paid for the car rental. Customer Service agents at the airport are ill advise and you would have been compensated. Basically its this... $40 for a 1 day rental via Hertz. Gas is X, food is y. United would have given you based on airline status a voucher of $150-$200. Worst case a voucher for the cost of rental car and opportunity time. Never ever believe a CS agent at the airport. Always wrong.

narvik

I shared a rental car originating in FAR and drove it to MSP in-midst a terrible winter storm a few years back where ALL flights out of FAR were canceled.
By the end of the journey we were not strangers anymore, and I dropped my travel companion at his house in MSP.

ADeutsch

This case its cheaper to compensate for the car rental than a hotel room. Again, agents at the airport dont realize this. However, behind everything corporate customer care does understand this.

If the segment was booked via miles you will get a portion of your miles back. Again corporate customer care. If the segment costs cheap in miles like 10K-12,500K you will get all of that back. Again speak to corporate customer care about this as United will help.

narvik

I am a little surprised UA didn't just organize a mini-bus (~18-seater); they do that occasionally, no? Or is that only after a cancel?
Should be cheaper than putting people up in a hotel.

jsloan

This is questionable advice at best. For one thing, $40 is likely a massive underestimate of the cost of a one-way rental for a 200+ mile trip. (I'd estimate $100, if you can find an unlimited mileage rate, or $120+, if not). For another, without an agreement, in advance, to compensate for the car, UA bears no responsibility. And finally, your estimate of the voucher is likely off-base for someone without status.

Not true. You'd be amazed at the rates airlines are able to negotiate with airport hotels.

Not relevant, since OP waited and flew. But I also think this is likely an overestimate for someone without status. You're suggesting they'd get, essentially, a full refund. As this was a connecting flight, and IAH-AEX was likely the much shorter leg, I'd estimate the refund would be closer to 2,500 miles than 12,500.

HNLbasedFlyer

Cheapest I see, at least on Expedia, is $127 for a IAH-AEX one way rental