Narrow Seat

My United Airlines Flight from Singapore to San Francisco was just plain hell. I was stuck in the middle seat next to two crying babies for almost 16 hours. I could not sleep and by the time I arrived in SFO, I was close to a nervous breakdown.

My next flight on to ORD (Chicago) was scheduled to leave in a few hours. I just could not imagine getting on another airline so soon after the trauma of my last 16-hour flight. I was just physically and emotionally exhausted!

Give me 12 hours of sleep at an airport hotel and I could make the final part of the trip.

I went to the customer service counter at SFO Customer Service and plead my case. It was rejected out of hand. If I did not get on the flight my ticket would be canceled and I would have to purchase a full fare last-minute fare for a flight the next day. (About $500) So I somehow continued my journey. I thought I was having a nervous breakdown on the SFO to ORD flight with more crying babies in the middle seat. It took me weeks to recover.

Yes, I know it was my fault for getting such a cheap flight that gave me no flexibility to make a change. I also should have broken up the flight so I could have forced a legal stopover in San Francisco instead of trying to make it all the way from Singapore to Chicago in one trip. But the damage was done. I am just looking for advice on what I should have done with that current situation.

Should I have pushed it harder to find an alternative? What are my options? I have no status and was flying on the lowest-level level economy ticket.

zombietooth

Well, if you'd actually had a nervous breakdown or panic attack (i.e. a medical emergency), they might've accommodated you. Just think of the poor mothers with the crying babies, they had to be suffering worse than you. Flying is extremely unpleasant these days, and the cascading delays and MX problems just make it worse.

Good luck, and better travels, my friend!

IAH-OIL-TRASH

It's unfortunate, but that’s the deal you make in return for a cheap ticket price. United says, “OK, we’re going to sell you this ticket for far less than than what a refundable, changeable ticket costs, but you’re going to agree to these restrictions”. And then you said, “OK”.

Steve M

I'm not quite sure what to say. If the flight is near full, someone has to get the least desirable seats, and that's probably going to be the person with no status and the lowest-fare ticket. For future reference, in most cases, you can get a better seat in advance by paying for it. It doesn't cost that much if it's just a more desirable seat in the same cabin, as opposed to an actual upgrade. Consider the cost of that vs what can happen if you don't pay up and end up in a middle seat.

I'm not so sure. I once showed up at the airport on a United transpac flight medically unfit to fly, and all they would do is offer to process a change in flight per the rules of my fare. So, basically they did nothing. They were extremely polite and sympathetic, but stated that there had been a crackdown recently and United's rules provided no leeway for passenger-originated problems. Only if there was a flight irregularity that they could document would they be able to do things like put me on an alternate flight standby.

Narrow Seat

Excellent replies so far. I can see the airline's perspective on this issue and can see that many people would exploit the situation if they give an inch.

A similar situation happened to me on United Airlines but this time I had food poisoning and was running to and from the toilet from my window seat on a full flight. The people who were sitting in my row were really angry when I got up and down countless times but the person in the aisle seat would not switch seats with me. Shortly before the start of my connecting flight at the SFO Airport, my health got worse and I begged United Airlines Customer Service to let me stay in my connecting city for a few days to recover. They rejected it out of hand and told me I had to take the flight. I took the flight but I threw up a number of times while in my seat.

If they would have allowed me to wait out my illness at a hotel in my connecting city it would have saved my seatmates and flight attendants lots of trouble.

Airline rules made it a terrible situation for everyone.

BearX220

Sadly, "I'm really tired and sick of flying in the cheapest middle seat" is not much of a basis for unusual accommodation or leniency when a customer has freely booked the cheapest middle seat.

jonu

I have dealt with the crying baby issue across my life, from pre-kids, to my own babies, and to kids who are now teens/adults. This can happen in any cabin on any flight, and one cannot expect otherwise. Especially for longer flights, you have to be prepared for it with earplugs or noise-canceling headphones.

azepine00

Essential survival kit:
earplugs + overear headphones + low dose aspirin + ambien or benadryl + tablet with a season or two of preferred TV shows

halls120

And a seat cushion to make the atrociously uncomfortable Y seat bearable.

omaralt

as i've gotten older i've started including cost of comfortable travel (that is variable per person) into the overall cost of a trip. For example, if i want to fly business to europe i will budget for a business class trip because i know i will be miserable if i fly economy. Now you dont have to budget for business but i would at least budget to be able to select a comfortable economy seat on a 15 hr flight. Include that cost as the overall cost of the trip

HNLbasedFlyer

Sounds like you got what you paid for.

$450-$500 is about the walk up fare for SFO-ORD. I would have asked what the cost difference would be to change the flight. If it was ultimately still $500 - perhaps just paying that - getting the 12 hours of sleep at the airport hotel - might have been a better alternative than taking weeks to recover.

EricH

At least twice you've seen that UA won't give you something that you didn't buy. It's time that you adjust your approach.

rather_be_on_a_griffin

It never does any harm to ask politely and in those days of waivers, disruption and overbooked flights you might get lucky but alas this time not.

Sorry the journey was so grim but hopefully the destination makes up for it. I just did Tokyo the wrong way round in Y after disruption with last minute, terrible seats but I was glad at least to get there.

roberino

ND?

fastair

Be careful with Benadryl. It is a dopamine blocker and can cause restless leg syndrome. I've used the diphenhydramine method of sleeping on flights, but every so often, it makes this condition worse than inability to sleep.