<p>[United</a> Airlines “Loses” 10-Year-Old Girl, Enters Social Media Hell](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/08/16/united_airlines_loses_10_year_old_girl_enters_social_media_hell.html]United”>United Airlines "Loses" 10-Year-Old Girl, Enters Social Media Hell)</p>
<p>Shocking that it happened at O’Hare lol! I hadn’t heard about this but the camp is in our neck of the woods. </p>
<p>Wish us luck. S is flying in this weekend. Last time he came his flights were cancelled both ways. I think he’s flying Delta this time connecting in Detroit instead of ORD. Hopefully any where is better than O’Hare.</p>
<p>It’s true. UAL is just outrageously horrible since the recent merger.</p>
<p>Just noticed that the story of the lost girl has already been posted multiple times… sorry…</p>
<p>Not sure about how I feel about UAL. </p>
<p>Our coach seats disappeared fr our reservations and when we were reassigned, they were in economy plus. :)</p>
<p>Then that flight was delayed jeopardizing our connection. We sprinted to the next terminal. Almost sure we missed our flight. :(</p>
<p>But we found out they had waited for us. :)</p>
<p>Honestly, the airlines are probably all horrible at one point or another. </p>
<p>I’ve never seen a Delta flight that didn’t run out of overhead space. Also, somehow they manage to board slower than other airlines. I think they do boarding groups by ticket price or some similarly ridiculously inefficient system. </p>
<p>One American flight I was delayed because they had to repair the generator on the plane. It took off, flew for maybe 40 minutes, then got sent back to the original airport because the <em>other</em> generator had failed. As soon as that plane touched the ground I was on the phone changing my flight. No way I was getting back on that plane. My new flight took off, no issues. However, when I tried to check in for my return flight, I was informed that my reservation had been cancelled because I hadn’t taken the first flight??? They rebooked me after an hour, but the only reason I made that flight was because it was delayed. </p>
<p>United <em>lost</em> my family’s reservations for their trip to my graduation. (They had printed itineraries with confirmed seats and everything that magically disappeared.) They were able to fly standby, barely. United gave them vouchers that weren’t worth enough to pay for round trip flights, and couldn’t be used together, so basically their apology was an invitation to give United more money. No thanks.</p>
<p>They also once cancelled my flight because they couldn’t find a pilot for the plane. They didn’t cancel it until after soliciting any available certified pilots over the intercom, however. (This was pre 9/11.) After hearing that, I wouldn’t have gotten on the flight even if they had found someone to fly it. </p>
<p>I like Southwest’s boarding process and the fact that they don’t have change fees is great. However, the fact that their planes stop everywhere means that your flight from NorCal to SoCal can be delayed 4 hours because it’s raining in Chicago. Though this seems to be happening more with other airlines too. </p>
<p>Then again, maybe it’s just me. I hate flying. Current airlines of choice are Virgin America and JetBlue, because they haven’t screwed up yet (on one of my flights). </p>
<p>P.S. I would never use the unaccompanied minor service to send a young kid on a flight with connections. Too many things can go wrong and strand your kid at the connecting airport.</p>
<p>Not United Airlines, but a foreign one. DH and I were on our honeymoon and our flight was delayed because they had to " jump start" the engine. :o</p>
<p>Southwest used to be better about the stops, their schedules have become a little more harried these days. However, Southwest is still far better than most of the other airlines–with United and USair being the worst of the worst! The other thing about Southwest is that you pretty much get what you pay for…it is a no frills airline and they make no bones about the fact that they are just that.</p>
<p>Though at least they have comfortable seats and free snacks/drinks onboard. I couldn’t believe it when I flew with another airline and they said they were charging for their little snack pack!</p>
<p>The most I’ve ever gotten on Southwest is a little bag with about 6 tiny pretzels in it. </p>
<p>The snacks are half the reason I prefer JetBlue. Getting name brand tea/coffee and a full size bag of chips disproportionately affects my happiness with the flight. Kind of pathetic, but there you are.</p>
<p>Like many others, we have had quite a few miserable United experiences. We have had great experiences with Southwest and take that airline whenever possible, but Southwest doesn’t fly everywhere. As others have suggested, NEVER purchase airline tickets from Unitedif your seats aren’t assigned! They are totally dishonest when they say they will assign them at the airport. Last year, our family of 5 was traveling to Savannah, GA for Christmas. We had seat assignments, but when I tried to check in 24 hours ahead of time I was told that the equipment was changed and that our new seats would be assigned at the airport.</p>
<p>Guess what – no seats! They weren’t able to get us on another flight until a day after our RETURN flight from Savannah. We ended up getting a flight to Atlanta and driving 4 hours. And – the exact same thing happened on our return flight. We were eventually rerouted through Washington, DC. So – two flights and 10 bumpings in a five-day period. Great job, United! </p>
<p>When I got home, I contacted the president of United and an official at the US Department of Transportation, expecting to get no response from either. Well, I got a canned response from United’s Customer Service Department, but I got a phone call from an attorney at the DOT. He was very interested in what happened and helped me get cash compensation. Apparently, if you are bumped, the airline must offer you a voucher OR equivalent cash compensation. They are in violation of federal regulations if they do not offer you cash compensation on the spot. The vouchers provided by United are very difficult to use – you can’t even redeem them online, and redeeming them through a customer service rep is an exercise in frustration.</p>
<p>I’d also like to add that United was dishonest with us. They told us that if we got to the airport 2 hours early, they would have no trouble assigning our seats. (This was after we tried unsuccessfully to check in online.) We arrived over 2 hours early in both cases, and were not assigned seats; later, when I talked to the gate agent, she admitted that we were lied to and the seats are assigned according to status and our arrival time made absolutely no difference. I can understand honest mistakes being made. But I don’t want to deal with a company that lies to its customers.</p>
<p>We are sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open at this very moment. 20 minutes will be the wait time we are told and the poor guys in front of us are afraid they’ve missed their international flight. Arrgh!!</p>
<p>We just flew United from Jacksonville. Supposed to go through Newark, but flight delayed so they sent us through Chicago. Guess what?! That flight delayed too. Sat on tarmac for hours. Plenty of “status”, arrived early. Nothing matters. We did get home about 4 hours late and our luggage arrived too. They thanked us for our (non-existent) patience several times, but you have to act patient no matter what you feel.</p>
<p>United travel from last weekend dropping son off at college: on the way there, about an hour before the flight we got email saying connecting flight was cancelled. They were rerouting us on a flight with an overnight (!!) layover for some of us. Others would have a 10 hour layover. We headed to airport anyway, and a nice gate agent rebooked us, together, on a US airways flight with a six hour layover. Better, but still. (only southwest flys nonstop to college city from ours, but that route was added after we booked.)</p>
<p>On the way back the last passenger on broke one of the overhead bins and they said they could not fly with it like that! The copilot worked dilligently to fix it until the mechanic arrived and fixed it. Many nervous people, but all made connections. We are wondering why they could not have just used duct tape.</p>
<p>Just returned from a trip on United, and despite the fact that I refused to pay $20 extra per seat for the privilege of an assigned seat in advance, we were able to use the computer kiosks in the airport and got our seat assignments for both legs of the outgoing journey without a problem (though not together); on the way back, United automatically sent boarding passes with seat assignments to my iPhone. We had to gate check our roller bags since they were small planes, but the flights departed on time and arrived early, so I can’t really complain.</p>
<p>Four flights in the past 10 days. Both SW flights were delayed significantly. One United flight on time (amazing!) and the other “only” an hour late. I agree that United service has gone way downhill since the merger but I haven’t been on a SW flight in a couple of years now that hasn’t been delayed and very often, they just cancel the flight entirely. My new plan is to drive whenever it will take half a day or less. Flying a short distance isn’t worth the aggravation.</p>
<p>“I haven’t been on a SW flight in a couple of years now that hasn’t been delayed and very often, they just cancel the flight entirely.”</p>
<p>I can’t let this claim stand unchallenged. EVERY Southwest flight for the past two years has been delayed or canceled? Wow … REALLY??? Southwest isn’t the cheapest airline anymore (unless you book far in advance), but our family chooses to fly SW because their service is best domestically. (The biggest issue with SW is that they don’t fly everywhere!)</p>
<p>Perhaps I’ve been unlucky but yes, it is true. I fly SW around California and every flight I’ve been on has been either late or cancelled. My D now refuses to fly home and will only drive as her experiences have been so bad. I have always loved SW and still appreciate their policies on luggage and changing reservations but these days I cannot make the short trips I used to do (I used to fly south for the day to visit my parents) as I just can’t count on getting there on time. If there is a family occasion I have to either fly in the day before or drive.</p>
<p>I fly SW (and have for many years) at least once a month. I have only ever had one flight cancelled that was not due to whether (so all flights were cancelled). It was a mechanical problem with an incoming flight, and everyone on the flight received a $200 voucher. It was a flight later in the day, and we couldn’t make it home that night so they put us up in a hotel. </p>
<p>I fly out of St. Louis or Chicago most of the time, so flights are always connections, and rarely are they late. I don’t fly much in California, so I can’t speak to that. I do think that SW figures very high on the on-time list, certainly among the major airlines.</p>
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<p>See the rules on overbooking and denied boarding:
[Aviation</a> Consumer Protection Division](<a href=“System Currently Unavailable | US Department of Transportation”>System Currently Unavailable | US Department of Transportation)</p>