United Airlines

I booked a flight for my new wife and I (on our honeymoon) with a 1 hour layover in San Franciso. Since that time the flight was canceled and I now have almost a 4 hour layover!! What kind of service is this?? I paid for a ticket and all I get is a sorry?? Are you kidding me? Who wants to sit in an airport for 4 hours on their honeymoon? Sorry isn’t compensation for a 4 hour wait!!

I have been corresponding with United customer relations to express my displeasure with service and major inconvenience experienced related to my travel to a conference in Los Angeles on July 19. My original 645am flight (#7361) was canceled without notification. I traveled from my home in Rochester, NY at 4am to arrive at the airport within the 1 hour required check in timeframe only to find that the flight had been canceled due to mechanical failure the night before. Some passengers were notified but I was not. There were only two ticket counter agents serving customers, which caused the process to take over one and half hours. I was told the only option was an 1145am USAIR flight from SYR to PHL to connect to a 6:22pm to LAX arrival at 9:30pm well after my original 12:25pm planned arrival time and missing my entire days agenda which would mean a longer night and more work for me the next morning. I was told that I could try to standby for the 2pm and 4pm LAX flights when I arrived at PHL. However when I arrived at the gate for the 2pm flight at 1:15pm (after delays at gate and sprinting from the arrival to departure gate) I found that I was unable to get on the flight even though there were plenty seats available it was a USAIR flight but United still retained the PHL – LAX leg of my flight and they could not switch it for me United would have to. I had been sent to the nearby Usair customer service counter where they were unable to reach United by phone in time for the 2pm flight departure. I was given the 800 number to call United myself to try for the 4pm. The outcome with the phone representative and PHL United supervisor were the same they were unable to change the ticket. So I was stuck in PHL until 6pm (now 10 hours into my travel day). When we boarded flight 849 (late), I thought my nightmare was finally ending or at least pausing until my arrival to Los Angeles when my real work would begin. However, the flight was delayed on the runway for another 2 and half hours so that I finally arrived in LAX, stiff, sore, and sleep deprived at 11pm (2am EST) where I had to take a taxi $70 since the conference shuttles were over at 5pm. I arrived at Westin Pasadena at 12:20am (3:20 EST) checking in and settling into my room after a full 24 hour travel day. Needless to say jet lag alone is enough to cause stress and throw the average person off when traveling from East to West coast for business. But after my ordeal with 8am meeting start time all week and presentations and performances at night, I remained exhausted and stressed in a way I have never experienced. I was forced to change my return to Sunday and cut out on the Mon-Wed planning committee agenda. And incidentally, I was charged another $170 for this change.

Total Cost Incurred, lost or wasted include:

- Paid $120 more for Monday departure than Tuesday departure for ticket to arrive for Monday agenda.
- $50 shuttle to SYR (only booked because of the early arrival time to LAX)
- $70 taxi LAX to Westin Pasedena (no conference shuttle available after 9pm)
- $30 dinner on my own (missed group meal with conference)
- $500 lost income for Tuesday night performance (too exhausted to perform)
- $170 united change fee for Sunday departure
- $25 super shuttle ride to LAX (no carpools available Sunday night)

What did United offer me for my 24 hour travel debale? An apology and $250 voucher towards future travel. WTF? The ticket its was $640! And my losses total and additional $965! Not to mention my time, energy and frustration. Oh did I mention I was traveling with a group of 6 teen agers as well?