KUDOS to United. a very very interesting family trip.

[PlatinumGold]

So we just got back from LA. it was a very interesting trip.

we were scheduled to fly out of philly to la via chicago last week friday morning.

we get to the airport at 4:30 am for a 6 am flight. we get to the gate by 5:15. plenty early enough.

we wait, we wait we wait, turns out someone forgot to inform the flight crew they had to be there that morning. OMFG. so we finally fly into chicago 2 hours late. i missed my connecting flight. so we have a choice, stay at O Hare all day on wait lists or just go to chicago spend the night on them and see chicago, they have us confirmed on saturday's flight 8 am.

all fine and good.

then on the return and here is the crux of the story, we were supposed to fly back on WEDNESDAY morning at 6 am but for some reason i had it in my mind it was thursday morning, never once bothered to check with Orbitz i was so sure of my itinerary.

go into LAX this morning at 4:30 am to find out, i had MISSED MY FLIGHT (remember i'm traveling with my wife and 3 kids).

so we go over to the international countere where they can take care of these situations, the girl without saying a word just types and types and types and about 15 minutes later waitlists us for the 6 am flight to chicago and the connecting flight to philly.

we finally get to the gate and the employees there inform us, there is no chance of getting on that flight but gets us on the LA to SF to philly flight.

we end up in philly about 1.5 hours later than we would have had our flight BEEN thursday at 6 am and THEY DIDN'T CHARGE US ANYTHING.


amazing. kudos.

 

[iamwiz82]

In my experience/reading/hearing, pretty much every airline out there will do that since it's so hard to create longterm customers nowadays.

EDIT: And my preferred airline is UAL, though that makes it difficult since we live in a NW hub.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
In my experience/reading/hearing, pretty much every airline out there will do that since it's so hard to create longterm customers nowadays.

EDIT: And my preferred airline is UAL, though that makes it difficult since we live in a NW hub.

nope, i've been on other flights before where people were required to buy a new ticket for doing what we did.

thing is, she did it for free, if we had called the day before and asked for an extension we would have had to pay money.

anyway, kudos to united anyway.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
In my experience/reading/hearing, pretty much every airline out there will do that since it's so hard to create longterm customers nowadays.

EDIT: And my preferred airline is UAL, though that makes it difficult since we live in a NW hub.

nope, i've been on other flights before where people were required to buy a new ticket for doing what we did.

thing is, she did it for free, if we had called the day before and asked for an extension we would have had to pay money.

anyway, kudos to united anyway.

Typically only Southwest will make you buy a new ticket, and even then it is pretty rare. The only time they will make you buy a new ticket is if stand-by is full/impossible, and yo uare wanting to leave at a certain time. I've missed a few flights and both Southwest and Delta have accommodated me. One time I missed a connection at IAH because of Customs and slow baggage handling, and Continental were jerks about it. They had no more flights out that night. Customs, of course, was completely out of their control. However, it was a 2 and a half hour connection, and I didn't get my bags until two hours after the plane landed. We sat around the baggage area for two hours before I got my bags, and then I received a full search from Customs (only time in my life).

Continental refused to pay for a hotel room at first (blaming the entire debacle on Customs), but Customs had NOTHING to do with taking two hours for me to get my bags. After speaking to a supervisor they finally gave me a hotel voucher, but I did have to pay for my shuttle back to the airport. I'll never fly Continental again. I contacted their Customer Service and explained the situation, and they said that it happens and wasn't their fault. Sucks for them. All my business is now on Delta minus an occasional Southwest flight.