Sunday, October 9, 2016

How to treat a 2.8 million mile flier - by United Airlines

I have 2.8 million miles on United.  It took me 28 years and about $500K to do it but I did it.

There have been good times and bad times.  I like to praise them when they do good, but they need to be held accountable when they don't do so well.

Here is my latest...

I called United and said, "I want to skip the final leg of my trip.  Instead of flying into Chicago and then on to Milwaukee, I just want to get off the plane in Chicago.  This means I want to skip the 15 minute leg from Chicago to Milwaukee."

United's response was "That will be $200 for changing your flight plus the additional cost of rebooking your flight to Chicago."

Me: "You don't understand.  I don't want to rebook anything.  I just want to fly into Chicago on my currently scheduled flight, and then drive to my worksite, instead of continuing on to Milwaukee."

United said, "That will be $200 for changing your flight plus the additional cost of rebooking your flight to Chicago."

I said, "Let me talk to a supervisor."

Rex, the manager gets on and tells me the same thing.

I say, "What happens if I just get off in Chicago and drive away.  In other words, I don't ask for your permission to miss that last leg."

Rex from United said, "In that case we will cancel your return trip without refund."

Me:  "So you are forcing me to take an additional flight that I don't want.  I don't even want to be reimbursed for that flight AND, if I don't take that additional flight, you will cancel my return trip and keep all of the money for yourself.  Am I getting this correct."

Rex: "Yes, that is correct."

Me: "You realize that I have flown over 100,000 miles a year on United for the last 28 years right?

Rex:  "Yes, I am aware of that."

Me:  "I guess I will take that trip to Milwaukee after all.  You should know that I intend to make this as public as possible.  I cannot see where any reasonable person would read this and think United is a Customer oriented operation."

Rex:  "You are free to do whatever you want to do."

With that, I wished Rex a nice weekend.  After all, he was right.

So, help me out here.  Repost this and tell everyone you know to repost it.  Or...and I'm just sayin....we can continue to be sheep and let United (and the other airlines) do what they will without consequence.

Jim

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Upgrade Scam

I recently flew to Europe on Lufthansa.

I booked the flight through United Airlines and Lufthansa is a "United Partner."

I paid extra so that my flight would be upgradable.   To be upgradable, you need to pay more than just the lowest fare available.  You also need to have an upgrade certificate.  And finally, there needs to be a seat available in the cabin you want to upgrade to.

I showed up at the airport with (1) a seat purchased at an upgradable fare, (2) a paper upgrade certificate and (3) a seat available for upgrade on my flight.

Lufthansa said, "No."

I ask a supervisor why and he said, "We've been telling United not to do this for a long time.  We've told them that we will not give upgrades at that fare even if you have the certificate and we have a seat."

I asked him if this was a United scam and he smiled and shrugged.

The same thing happened on my return trip.

Do you have a United Horror Story to share?  Email me at ScrewedByUnited@Yahoo.com.

Also, keep an eye out for my new line of "Screwed By United Airlines" T-shirts.

Jim

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

United: As Loyal As Your Last Dollar

The following was sent to United Airlines by my business partner.

Subj: Congratulations
>
> Body:
>
> You win. You have successfully alienated one of your most loyal
> customers. Well, I don’t know, maybe 1.6 million miles over the last 19
> years and my willingness to pay hundreds of dollars more than your
> competition to fly on your airline doesn’t count that much since that’s
> the message I have received.
>
> I didn’t make 1K last year due to a slow-down in business. This year,
> I’m well on my way at 43K so far, but that pace won’t last. It won’t
> last because you have decided that it is better to try to pry 50 more
> dollars out of me to grant me the privilege of sitting in an (otherwise)
> empty seat on a flight that is leaving 2 hours earlier than my scheduled
> flight.
>
> About 8-9 years ago Northwest pulled the same stunt on me and I vowed to
> avoid their airline in all cases except when I have no other reasonable
> choice. And so, I’ve flown on them about 10 times since then. Often
> times flying to their hub cities via connections on United to avoid them
> – even when you charged me more.
>
> It just makes absolutely no sense to me to make customers wait for a
> later flight if you have open seats. I can’t speak for all customers but
> I can speak for myself. And when you do this to me, it makes me very
> angry. What if the later flight is delayed? Or cancelled? Why should I
> have to take that risk? Why would you want to take the risk of making me
> even angrier? Is that your idea of good customer relations? I think it
> stinks, and I think you have lost sight of the big picture.
>
> Since NW pulled this stunt, I have tried to figure out a rational reason
> for them screwing their customers. The only one I can come up with is
> that they (and now you) somehow believe that charging me to sit in an
> unoccupied seat keeps me from trying to book flights at cheap times and
> then standing by on a better time that you wanted to charge more for. My
> reaction to that is that your tiered pricing system is flawed and
> instead of doing your math better, you are trying to goad your customers
> into paying up and fixing your problem.
>
> Well, that ridiculously terrible service doesn’t work for me. And I have
> no intention of continuing as one of your most loyal customers. I can
> fly on any ol’ airline and be treated like you treat me as a Premier
> Exec 1.6 million mile flyer. What do I get from you that they don’t
> offer? Early boarding. Does it matter? Once in a while it does, and
> mostly it doesn’t. So, as a Premier-Exec-for-life customer, I can enjoy
> the same benefits on your airline as I get as casual traveler on any
> airline.
>
> In conclusion, you should know that my new policy to go along with your
> new policies is to buy the cheapest ticket with the best connections, no
> matter who the carrier is. There is no such thing as a loyalty program
> in my book. Your program, like all others, is a joke and I’m not
> laughing anymore. Southwest? Sounds good. USAir? Ok. Continental…oh
> that’s you. Sure, if you meet my policy. Frontier? You bet. Any airline?
> Absolutely. It’s all about me, my convenience, and the best value.
>
> I will be passing these thoughts on, unsolicited, as I causally travel
> my way on the low-cost carriers... I guess just skipping my next flight
> with you will pay for about 20 of those seats I could have bought
> tonight. Too bad I didn’t buy it because that means that you lost that
> stanby seat plus 20 more next week.
>
> Bye-bye!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Just a few of the fines levied against United Airlines



OOPS: The Department of Transportation recently fined UnitedAirlines for failing to correctly inform passengers of compensation allowed for luggage problems.  The maximum allowed compensation was raised to $1,800 in December of 2009.  By August of 2011, United still had not carried out their obligation to keep their passengers informed.

And…

United Airlines was recently fined over half a million dollars by the FAA for allegedly violating regulations for drug and alcohol testing of “safety-sensitive” employees.

And…

Here is a link to an article about a mult-million dollar fines sought from United Airlines for flying jalopy-style airplanes.  In one instance, rags were used to stop oil leaks instead of the proper caps.  A plane flew like this and had to shut down and engine and return to the airport. The large amount of the fines reflects the high number of instances that United Airlines with such safety violations.

And…

OSHA fined United Airlines nearly a quarter of a million dollars for violations of safety practices in their workplace.

Let’s recap
  1. DOT fine for not divulging information to its customers
  2. FAA fine for flying planes in violation of safety standards
  3. OSHA fine for unsafe workplace


In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll return to posting more stories from my growing pile of complains about United Airlines.

Please tell your friends to visit this site and drop me a line about their own story. I cam be reached at screwedbyunited@yahoo.com

Sunday, October 9, 2011

This is a great United Airlines Horror story


We have spent a lot of time thinking about the right words to use to describe our recent experience with United Airlines. One word continues to bubble to the top: Appalling.
On June 17, our attempted United flight (#0930) from San Francisco to London has been cancelled due to a global computer breakdown on United Airlines. This has left our family angry, incredulous and certain that the way in which they treated us and other passengers has significantly undermined their brand integrity.
We expect to be properly compensated for this experience, which I consider a breakdown of nearly every facet of United Airlines' business. But first, let me briefly recount our experience as this information in this letter should be read and shared across their company, particularly given that, in your own words, "United is committed to continuous improvement and achieving success."
Earlier this year, our family (which includes our 7-year-old son), booked a non-stop flight on United from San Francisco to London for our dream vacation. It would be our first trip to England. We spent more than $5,700 for the non-stop round-trip flight, which included a pricey upgrade to their Economy Plus seats.
While it would have been much cheaper to fly and make a one stop (Sun Country Airlines, for instance, was offering a $1,000 per person round-trip fare), we decided to pay extra to travel United for the convenience of NOT stopping along the way, thereby getting to London quickly (anyone travelling with a young child can understand that decision). The Economy Plus seating was a large, extra sum as well, $297, and we made this decision after some debate.
At 5:15 p.m., we arrived in San Francisco to make our 7:15 p.m. flight; however, we were informed that their computers were all down. We are told that they had no idea when they would be back up (a single employee was dispatched to inform us, via walking through the increasingly frustrated crowds, to verbally update people, without the assistance of a bullhorn or microphone). The information was mostly useless and it was mostly left to the passengers to trickle down the information.
For five hours in that line, we waited with our luggage. There were more than 1,000 others in line with us. It was only at the 3 hour-30-minute mark that they begrudgingly offered water and Oreos, the latter of which wasn't really a favor.
Finally, their system went back up at 10:15 p.m. and, finally, United crew and passengers scrambled to board our flight to beat the FAA restrictions around the flight crews daily working hours. Passengers beat this deadline with one minute to spare. We were all seated, finally, and ready for our trip.
Apparently, we waited because their crew did not load the luggage in time. Then, the captain announced that the crew was missing a key flight document. Nonetheless, finally, we were told that we'd be taking off shortly. So we waited more.
A little after midnight, they cancelled the flight. Imagine the anger and disappointment. Really, imagine it. Even worse, we were stuck on the plane for an additional hour layering insult to injury because of their incompetence. Because apparently, United could not find someone to open the plane door. Yes, you read that right.
The day continues and when we were finally allowed to disembark the plane at 1:30 a.m., there were two police officers waiting by the jets door to be on the lookout, I assume, unruly passengers - there were just as many police officers as there were United staff members to book new tickets for the several international flights that were cancelled that night. There was no need for the police. The passengers here, having gone through this horrific experience, were models of professionalism. But, again, they put their airline squarely and firmly ahead of any feelings they had for their inconvenienced travellers.
At 1:50 a.m., a United employee told everyone that we would need to wait until 3 a.m. to get our luggage back. No one was offered a hotel. They did not broach this topic with us. We were not offered transportation to a hotel. We were not offered any vouchers. We were only told that, because the flight was officially cancelled, we would have the benefit of not incurring a fee for changing our flight plans. Um, some benefit. "Are you ** kidding me?" was the shared reaction among passengers.
Then, amazingly, things got even worse. We waited until 3:45 a.m. for luggage that never came. Their barebones, helpless staff at that point meant that we'd get no answers for anything. Angry, tired and with our 7-year-old limp in our arms, we left WITHOUT our luggage, spending our own money on a cab to get home. We had taken public transportation to the airport, but it wasn't operating in those wee hours of the morning. We arrived home at 5 a.m. about the time our initial flight should have landed in London.
There was no sleep for us. We had to set about contacting our hotel in England, being informed we would still need to pay for that night, and the next one, even though we were still in the United States. We had to contact our rental car agency, being informed the special discount we had received for reserving our car for a week would no longer apply as we would now be there for less than 7 days. We had to find a new flight spending a total of three hours on hold with United only to NOT get a live, breathing human on the phone. We had to find our luggage, contacting baggage support and telling them our story.
This is when United customer service practices become especially appalling. My wife is a cancer survivor, and her anti-cancer medication was in her suitcase. When she explained that to a baggage support team member, she was informed that the luggage was being held and was earmarked for London and they couldn't return it. Yes, you read that correctly.
Now take a moment to put yourself in this position, from the moment we had arrived at San Francisco airport, to now being told that our luggage may be going to London but not us. So, not surprisingly, my wife cried. Pointing out the need to have her cancer medication, she was told by an unhelpful staff that, while they understood the situation, they couldn't guarantee they could return it to her that day, even though our luggage HAD NEVER LEFT San Francisco. And here's the kicker: She was told that if United were to deliver the luggage to us, they would charge us for that convenience. The manager, however, was the first and only United employee throughout this harrowing odyssey to offer us anything more than an Oreo cookie and vague communications commitments. He said he would give us one $50 voucher for our troubles. PLEASE. Getting our luggage returned to us would have cost more than that!
So take a moment to think about what we experienced with United to this point. Think about their history of getting planes off the ground and in the air and servicing passengers and accounting for travel disruptions and unanticipated issues. Think about their actions. Think about every step of this experience and what it means to their brand.
Like others, we ultimately were left with no choice but to carry out our own research as no one at United would help us, and we identified a flight on a competing carrier that would leave Sunday, meaning we would, at a minimum, lose two days of our trip.
In other words, we are holding THEM accountable for our family being unable to see Stonehenge, Salisbury, the Longleat House, Cheddar Gorge, and the cheese factory in Cheddar. Those are experiences we will never get back that we spent months planning for in advance. We explained the situation to British Airways and had them put the tickets on hold. We were told we would need to go through United Airlines to release our tickets (that hadn't been done yet) and to get confirmation that they all would protect us.
So we had to go back to the airport Saturday (a one-hour drive) to retrieve our luggage and navigate the buffoonery of United to book a new flight ultimately, on British Airways. This took more than 3 hours of our time, even though we already had a confirmation of seats on British Airways.
Over the course of this awful experience, a number of themes clearly emerged: United, a global carrier, had absolutely no backup logistical plans in place after the global computer breakdown. Given the number of delays and cancelations in past years due to blizzards and even volcanic eruptions, this is mind boggling. United communication practices were abhorrent, lacking specifics, transparency and respect. United customer service was indifferent to this unprecedented failure on behalf of its passengers.
In short, we expect far more from their brand given their long history of navigating the myriad issues and topics I have outlined and recounted in this letter. We expect far more from an airline that charged us more than $5,700 as well as the other expenses we personally had to incur due to their incompetence and indifference.
This includes: Economy Plus airfare (we paid $297 for this service, but did not get it on our British Airways ticket) and we expect them to reimburse us for this.
We expect to be reimbursed for our transportation to and from the airport for the June 17 flight that was cancelled - $20 for a taxi ride to the Bart train; $33 for the Bart train; $30 for the taxi to a relative's home early Saturday morning. They saved United money by driving us the rest of the way home.
We expect to be reimbursed for the expenses associated with going back to the airport on June 18 to retrieve our luggage and get booked on a new flight: a $5 bridge toll, and $20 for short-term parking.
We expect them to cover the first two nights of the hotel we had booked in England that we lost because they were unable to get us to London on our time plan.
In addition, we expect to be compensated, in the form of either a complete refund or significant United travel vouchers, for something critically important and forever lost to us: our time. We spent the better part of two full days at an airport with a young child because they failed us. We went 36 hours without sleep and 21 hours without food. This was our first two-week vacation in eight years, and they stole two days of it from us!
As passengers, we had zero options as part of this experience. Because their computer system was down, they couldn't release our flight. When the system was back up at 10:15, although a reasonable airline would recognize the flight needed to be cancelled and they needed to protect the passengers, they did not do so. This is especially frustrating that the Sun Country Airlines flight to Minnesota for a connection to London had not left yet. They also held our luggage hostage, taking it from us and saying that they would charge us to get it back. In this highly competitive environment for airlines, where margins are low and fuel costs are high, they simply cannot forget, or overlook, the importance of stellar customer service. And they have failed us and many others.
I look forward to their prompt, careful response to this letter and to learn how they will maintain the brand standards they purport to have. How are they going to take care of this family? We have lost a lot of respect for their brand and, as they assess and verify our experience and come up with some viable options for us, I expect them to share this letter with as many leaders at United as they can.
As their own customer commitment says: "Our goal is to make every flight a positive experience for our customers."
Clearly, they failed us.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

And the complaints keep rolling in

Here are just a few new complaints.  I'll add more as I have time.  There is definitely no shortage of material for this blog.

Horror StoryThe first agent was incapable of giving me a window or aisle seat, although, I made my reservation one full month ahead and was very flexible as far as dates. The second agent lied to me and assigned a fake seat, perhaps just to please me. Then, I realized that no seat was assigned to me! A company that lies to its customers is doomed to failure. Can anyone give me other options?


Horror StoryI will never fly United again, even if it saves me money. My flight to Dulles was delayed and having a tight connection, I checked with the counter who told me that 20 minutes between flights is plenty of time and that even she, who had a five-year old, had managed to navigate between terminals within five minutes. Well, she must have been superman because it took me at least 15 minutes to wait to get off the plane, and then literally run from the gate to the sky train, and finally, to my other gate.Needless to say, I missed the flight because the flight decided to take off early. Well, thank you very much United for not giving a second thought about your passengers who experienced a delay. What is possibly the most appalling is the staff. It is very obvious they care nothing for their customers and will go out of their way to minimize work for themselves. No wonder U.S. airlines are going bust. Who would want to be treated like they owe the employees a favor? It was obvious that the employee just told me that I could make it for the flight because she was too lazy to find me an alternative and just wanted me to go away.


Also, when I got to Dulles, the United club lounge is possibly the worst lounge ever. They might as well just put a dummy to man the counter because that is exactly what the counter staff are. The lady just kept saying that she was not supposed to be working there so she knew nothing. Gee, thanks. Right now, my 5:30 flight has been delayed to 7:20 and then, to 7:33 and then, now, to 7:45. No reason was given; we just had to accept it. My two-hour trip has taken me 12 hours, and counting. Talk about flying in the stone ages. I could have driven to Albany by now.


Horror StoryOn 08 Sept 11, I arrived at the Medford, Oregon airport one hour prior to departure time. With just one agent at the counter, people waiting to be checked in, five people in front of me and two passengers who were delayed checking in, time was running short. Then, another agent was finally brought in. I was next in line and I was told that my suitcase was overweight for, I was thinking, 2 or 3 lbs. I needed a credit card for the extra fee and I needed to hurry as I still had to go through security. I am an elderly short woman and I had to practically run to the tarmac. I never had the chance to transfer the contents from my suitcase to my carry on. I will not fly with United again.


Be sure to tell a friend to visit this site and tell their story.  Use the comment section or email me direct at Jim@shift-work.com

Screwed By United

Welcome to United Airlines Horror Stories.

I am inviting all readers to submit their United Stories.  I know there are problems with all of the airlines but for this one site, I want your United Airline horror stories.

I have several of them.  For the most part, I keep them to myself.  Since every airline has its problems, I tend to be forgiving however, United recently crossed the line.

Here is my first United Airline horror story.

I have been flying regularly since 1989.  The airline I use most is United.  I do this because they have the most flights out of my home airport in San Francisco.  So far, I have 1,950,000 miles on United.  By December 31, 2011, I will have 1,975,000 - 25,000 miles short of 2 million miles.

For the last several years, I've had my eye on the 2 million mile mark.  It's kind of a status symbol to get that far.  Additionally, they give you a lifetime membership to the Red Carpet Club.

A week ago, I was only a few months away from that milestone.

Then last week, United changed their policy.  They will no longer be giving away the lifetime memberships for those  few people that achieve 2 million miles.  That's right.  For years they've been saying, "Get to 2 million miles and you get the lifetime membership."  Now that I'm almost there, they are saying, "Just kidding."

I wrote an email asking for them to give me a break.  After all, I will be within 1% of the goal before they end the program.  After 22 years of being dedicated to United, I will be within 1% of the goal only to have them change the rules.

Their response amounted to "No Soup For You!"

I have placed an order for a t-shirt that says "Have you been screwed by United Airlines?  Send me your story." I intend to wear it every time I get on a United flight.

Join me by posting your story in the comment section or sending me an email at jim@shift-work.com