<p>Son got messed up AGAIN by USAIR- his flight was delayed, of course…he was told he would likely make his connection.When he got to Phila, he missed his connection by 2 MINUTES!!! because of slow shuttle within terminal. Hubbie was on phone with them the whole time, begging them to call gate and hold flight as he was sprinting-they refused. Left without him, even tho later (and only) flight was cancelled ( which they knew about since early in the day). Put him on flight to a city 90 miles away from us, (which we actually requested,) because last year he was stranded in airport all night-(they ran out of hotel and food vouchers and also nothing was open). 12 hours of misery, misinformation and frustration and now fussing with Customer Service who says TOO BAD, blah blah.
We already try to avoid connecting , esp. through Philadelphia, travel without checked luggage etc.
Someone needs to take on these airlines so they stop abusing their passengers;it appears to be rampant.
We are looking into disputing the charge through AMEX-has anybody ever done that, succeeded? failed?</p>
<p>Where I live, it’s typical to get stranded overnight in airports due to weather problems, flight cancellations (due to there not being enough passengers) or airlines scheduling us with connecting flights that are impossible to make. That has happened to everyone in our family, and we’ve learned to sleep on airport floors and chairs. While I feel for your and your S’s misery, I can’t imagine driving 180 miles roundtrip so someone young and presumably healthy could avoid sleeping in an airport.</p>
<p>We have been keeping an eye on USAir. They actually were waiving rebooking fees for airports with the option of rebooking either up to seven days prior to or after the original ticket. I wish we had noticed that yesterday. Our airport was affected…and we would have tried to get DS home a day earlier (there had been no cancellations on USAir since Sunday out of his airport).</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear about your son’s delays and such. BUT it’s weather related, and I believe you’ll read a disclaimer on your ticket about weather related difficulties. This has been a awful last couple of weeks for air travelers in the northeast and northwest…lots of folks stranded, rerouted, canceled, and delayed. I have to say…I seriously doubt that Amex is going to help you on this one. But keep squawking to the airline…you might get something from them (for the leg of the trip where he was rerouted 90 miles away).</p>
<p>Sadly, what you describe is true.
What have we come to, a travel industry where our expectations are so low that we expect to pay for this experience.
Our son is sick with mono and that’s why we were willing to go the extra mile(s).
The next day earlier flights were already booked to our poorly serviced area and we were afraid our sick kid would be stuck, and stuck some more as we get closer to XMAS.
Personally, I’d love to see a functional train service, which we would be HAPPY to use instead of the fuel -wasting, time -wasting, frustration-inducing airline mode.</p>
<p>USAir? Ugh. What Northstarmom says is absolutely right. Your S’s experience isn’t unusual, any more than a full moon is. Don’t let this travel hiccup ruin your holiday. As for recourse, go ahead and protest with AMEX if you like, and let the CC community know how that turns out.</p>
<p>weather is always a problem in the NE, it is expected…it just was a lot of things coming together with a few tough weeks worrying about son sick at school, landing up in infirmary etc.my first post should have read, TRYING to sprint, with mono, he was pretty slowed down…
thanks thumper1, for that bit of info. he was bound and determined to finish his finals in spite of being sick, and so he couldn’t leave earlier.
my hubbie mentioned AMEX dispute to Customer Service and that went over like a lead balloon, eg, we can’t help you on this, ever, no matter what, etc.
we will call AMEX and talk it over.
now that i am not spitting nails i am thinking about just sucking it up and paying for the ticket.</p>
<p>thanks folks, i’ll keep you posted.</p>
<p>I avoid USAir. It is the only airline that we have repeatedly had problems with. Plus their customer service reps are not in the US and have a weak grasp of Ca geography. A couple of summers ago my son was scheduled on a US Air flight out of JFK for noon. I knew at 10 am the flight was cancelled and he would not make his connections. They refused to put him on another airline. We knew he was going to get stranded in Las Vegas. A 16 yr old. They gave him no voucher for a hotel. He ended up sleeping in the baggage claim area. They then put him on an early flight to Phoenix knowing the Phoenix to Santa Barbara flight had already been cancelled. The Las Vegas to phoenix flight left at 6 am. When he got to Phoenix they told him all the later flights were booked and they had him on a flight the next morning. That would have meant another night delay. It was only 8 am. The customer service people we no help at all. They did ask if San Diego was close. (only a 5 hour drive each way). Finally a couple in the same boat took my son under their wing and got them rebooked to Los angeles and got US Air to shuttle them up to Santa Barbara. The customer service rep told us the shuttle would be on our dime. The other 8 passengers got the airline to pick up the shuttle cost. A nightmare that many of our friends have also experienced with US Air.
I can understand weather delays and flights late in the day. But on both days my son was told in the early morning about the delays. US Air could have put him on another carrier.
Since then I refuse to fly on them even if the other airline is more expensive.</p>
<p>We have definitely learned the hard way that most airlines and certain cities are likely to be problematic. My kids have been stranded at airports (as have I) by weather and non-weather related incidences. I have disputed missed flights before and gotten vouchers or free RT fares, but if it’s weather related, I wouldn’t expect anything.</p>
<p>I almost always fly Southwest, whenever possible. A year and a half ago, D2 and I did not get home from Philadelphia when planned due to a computer outage with air traffic control on the entire east coast. When our plane did depart the gate, and spend over an hour taxiing, it had to return to the gate due to some unruly passengers who were escorted off the plane by Philly police. It was too late in the night at this point to leave because by the time we would have arrived at Midway, it would have been closed for the night. None of this was the airlines fault. However, about four weeks later, both D2 and I received vouchers for free RT flights from Southwest with their apologies. I guess they sent them to everyone on the canceled flight (except the unruly passengers).</p>
<p>We also had problems finding a room that night (to make matters even worse, D2 and I had been hit by a semi-truck in our rental car on the way to the airport and were extremely shaken up and sore; we had also attended my 25-year old nephew’s funeral in Texas five days earlier that week; he’d been killed in a car wreck) near the airport. We tried every resource available to us, with no luck. I finally called H back home and asked him to start looking on line for us. What he did, was call Expedia, and they found us a room that had somehow escaped all the resources we tried at the airport. </p>
<p>Another thing I learned (although we didn’t need it) was that, if you’re in the gate area and you’ve been rebooked for a flight the next day, and will spending the night in the airport, don’t leave the secured area. Our flight was rebooked (we did it by phone), but we didn’t have our boarding passes. When we left the secure area, we couldn’t return there until the next morning without boarding passes. Had we had to spend the night in the airport, I would have much preferred to be in a gate area than in the non-secure area of the airport.</p>
<p>These are just lessons you learn along the way.</p>
<p>[US</a> Airways | Customer service plan](<a href=“http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/aboutus/customersfirst/customerserviceplan.aspx]US”>http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/aboutus/customersfirst/customerserviceplan.aspx)</p>
<p>USAir Customers First Program</p>
<p>“In the event of a flight cancellation, US Airways will do everything possible to reaccommodate customers on the next US Airways flight, providing space is available. Depending on the type of ticket purchased and reason for the flight irregularity, in most instances US Airways will also rebook customers on other airlines. US Airways will communicate to customers via the public address system the reason for the cancellation and alternatives available.”</p>
<p>"Overnight amenities
When a US Airways flight on which the customer is being transported is canceled creating an overnight stay, customers will be provided one night’s lodging. Exceptions to this are listed below. </p>
<p>Exceptions:
Hotel accommodations will not be furnished: To a customer whose trip is interrupted at a city which is his/her origin point, stopover point, or his/her permanent domicile."</p>
<p>DH is gold or platinum frequent flyer with USAir. The customer service folks he speaks to are always here in the U.S. Yes…US air has issues (so does any airline flying out of Phili or Charlotte)…but they are not superhuman and cannot do anything about the snow storms we had in the northeast over the last two weeks.</p>
<p>Yes…we all wish our kids’ trips will go without issues, but that is not always the case. THOUSANDS of travelers were affected…it wasn’t one airport, one flight or one airline. It was the weather. </p>
<p>Re: trains…we were on a DC to Hartford train once holiday…it was PACKED…honestly there were folks standing…that had NO HEAT and it was bitter cold. I would rather be stranded in an airport. </p>
<p>The only solution to folks who are weary about long travel trips and the potential snafus is to have their kid go to college very close to home. Otherwise, teach your kids how to be resourceful at airports, always have them have an extra sweatshirt (to use as a pillow) in their carry on bags, and teach them how to deal with the ticket agents re: getting rebooked. The reality is THEY are at the airport and you aren’t. My kids have both had good successes getting rebooked by staying near the counter in their boarding area. Both have had LONG layovers, and both have had canceled flights. None of these things is life threatening…they are just inconvenient.</p>
<p>Maybe this whole weather experience will cause airlines to re-think with regards to number of flights discontinued in recent months? If enough people stand up, they may re-think these issues. No one can avoid weather issues, but customer service is another issue. My elderly mother had her luggage lost by USAir the week before Thanksgiving, after she had paid the luggage fee. It was finally located a day or two later. However, we persisted with regards to a refund for that fee. There are no rules in place should luggage get lost by the airline once a passenger has paid a fee. She has completed the forms for a full refund (roundtrip) of luggage fees. A supervisor for USAir contacted her. Yes, it is only about 30 dollars, but it is about customer service. We shall see if she gets the refund.</p>
<p>Bottom line, in this economy, I am beginning to wonder if businesses are going to wake-up to customer service to hold onto customers. I have begun to see small trickles of exceptional customer service because businesses are hurting. Here’s hoping the airlines will wake up as well.</p>
<p>I know it’s frustrating but I’d prefer the airlines to err on the side of safety. This means there’ll be times when delays will occur due to weather. I’d just as soon have them go ahead and wait their turn to have the wings de-iced rather than trying to fly without doing so. I’d rather have them have delayed landings/take-offs due to weather conditions than try to push it and have other accidents. I’d rather go ahead an wait until a qualified flight crew can make it to the flight despite bad weather than fly with a partial crew.</p>
<p>The nature of flying puts it at risk of delays due to weather. There’s really no way around it. I flew extensively 25-30 years ago and I was stranded plenty of times due to weather even back then. I missed some flights by seconds and watched them back away from the gate (although once I knocked on the just closed door of a plane at the gate and they opened it and let me on). The main difference between then and now is that then they’d almost always pay for a hotel/meal if one was stranded overnight. However, prices back then were pretty steep. Nowadays people use the internet to find the bargain basement ticket prices and the airlines are operating on the edge financially. Most really aren’t doing very well. The flyers are paying Walmart prices yet want Nordstroms service. </p>
<p>I’m not defending the airlines but after having flown extensively, I don’t expect the airlines to be able to control the weather, don’t expect them to hold planes at gates for me when I’m late (regardless of whose fault it is), don’t expect high service when I’m paying a very low fare, etc. What I do expect is, and hope to continue to receive, is a safe flight, preferrably at a reasonable price.</p>
<p>Our present train system is in sad shape, for many reasons.I hope this will change.
I agree, I’d rather be stranded in an airport than in either a train/bus station anytime.
Son has traveled extensively from a young age on all modes of transport, bus, train and airplane. Air travel has deteriorated in spite of the same bad weather issues, but a lot more people are using the system and the system has new demands, esp. security. In our case, the US Air person on the phone said that they could not communicate with the gate for security reasons. Much of the frustration probably stems from the availability of information via internet/cell phone not translating system-wide into effective communication/flexibility. We can change our plans and ideas quickly because we are small scale, but the systems we deal with cannot. C’est la vie, but we can keep trying.</p>
<p>Op:</p>
<p>I don’t think you have any grounds for a dispute. The flight was delayed, probably due to weather, and he missed his connection. This happens all the time, especially during times of lousy weather tike this past week and in locations like the Northeast that aren’t known for their pleasant winter weather. The airline then did what you requested and flew him elsewhere. I don’t see how the airlines abused anyone in this case unless it was that they were rude to you on the phone.</p>
<p>“I know it’s frustrating but I’d prefer the airlines to err on the side of safety.”</p>
<p>I agree. I travel regularly on business, so I’ve suffered my share of delays, cancellations, and missed connections. But my foul weather flying motto is “It’s much better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air instead of the other way around.”</p>
<p>Our present train system is in sad shape, for many reasons.I hope this will change.
I agree, I’d rather be stranded in an airport than in either a train/bus station anytime.
Son has traveled extensively from a young age on all modes of transport, bus, train and airplane. Air travel has deteriorated in spite of the same bad weather issues, but a lot more people are using the system and the system has new demands, esp. security. In our case, the US Air person on the phone said that they could not communicate with the gate for security reasons. Much of the frustration probably stems from the availability of information via internet/cell phone not translating system-wide into effective communication/flexibility. We can change our plans and ideas quickly because we are small scale, but the systems we deal with cannot. C’est la vie, but we can keep trying.</p>
<p>thanks for your input ucsd dad- i am tending to think that way too now.
with me on the phone earlier in the day one agent was misinformed (i corrected her and then she was informed) ,evasive and then somewhat helpful.
with my son, the agents were nice but gave him information that was misleading. this is where the big problem came in: he could have made a much better decision if he had been given accurate info.
with my husband they were a little rude.
the customer service person was communicated with via email: she first sent standard issue comments that were not quite relevant to the situation, and then she caught on and was specific.</p>
<p>After the holidays, I’d call their customer service and let them know, in a calm, pleasant way, where you feel they dropped the ball. When I have done this, and the airline was responsible or could really have handled the situation better, they have given us vouchers for future travel.</p>
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<p>I LOVE this. DS just called. Plane had mechanical issues and USAir is moving everyone and the luggage to another plane as we speak. It will mean a delay but hey…glad they found this out ON THE GROUND.</p>