United airlines no more

[godwincp]

I know many of you are opposed to flying United to Johannesburg but up until now I have had no issues- even traveling with firearms. But I no longer support UA and would recommend you be very cautious in dealing with them in the future.
Ten months ago I paid a significant amount of money to reserve a Polaris class seat from Stl to Newark to JNB. A day before the flight I had checked the weather en route and everything was perfect. I went to bed excited and feeling good about getting back to Africa. When I awoke at 5am I had a message from United that my flight from Stl to Newark had been canceled but I had been rebooked on a flight from Stl to Ord to Newark. Ok not great but the times worked and since I was not checking bags I would be ok. However as I further read the new itinerary my seat from Newark to JNB had been changed from Polaris class to econmy comfort. Made no sense as this flight was not affected by the domestic cancellation.
So I WhatsApp Jennifer at 6am asking for her help. Even though she opens at 9am RMT she contacted me about 8am CST and was all over it. She found that not only was the revised itinerary unworkable but that the entire flight had been canceled with no reason given. In fact the plane flying us to JNB had arrived on time in Newark and was obviously available to take us to Africa.
What a bad deal. It’s a two and a half hour drive from our home town to the Stl airport and we were ten minutes from the airport when we got the cancellation news. So while Jennifer was trying desperately to rebook us on the next days flight we decided to just get a room in stl and hope for the best. A totally wasted day! Jennifer got two of us on the same flight as previously booked and a third member on a later flight that arrives in Newark with 45 minutes before the international flight- again no bags so there’s a chance!
Because the new flight was full I once again was denied Polaris class seating and put in economy plus. Even though the airline owes me a hotel and meals and a rebate on my ticket and I have travel insurance the owness is on me to try and collect which I think is a fat chance of happening anytime soon.
This is a total FU. Contacted Jacque Spammer, our PH with the bad news and he contacted Africa Sky to rebook our rooms which thankfully were available. These cancellations affect a lot of people but their understanding and flexibility is much appreciated.
So what can you do. We’ll try again tomorrow to get to Africa and not let it detract from an otherwise great adventure.
But I can assure you that I will never again fly United-still haven’t been given a reason for the cancellation- they could care less.

 

[curtism1234]

That sucks. Double sucks you were stuck in st louis! (I am from there...I know...)

Unfortunately that is the state of all the airlines right now. Too late for you, but it is advisable to plan departure 1 day earlier than you normally would

Good luck to you

 

[shootist~]

What a cluster. I hope the rest of your trip goes a lot smoother.
And thanks for the heads up on UA.

 

[BloodyKnuckles]

We had a horrible experience with United back in May.
Qatar bailed us out.
A much longer itinerary but just so much better than united.
I you the best in the rest of your trip.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Hope you'll make it tomorrow. Good times ahead with Jacques I'm sure!

 

[godwincp]

I actually did book a day earlier departure- oh well hopefully we’ll get out today. I’ll still be in a bad mood paying for Polaris class and sitting in coach!

 

[IronRanger]

So sorry to hear, bjt it seems this is the new norm. Good luck in getting to AF soon.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

So sorry to hear of all these frustrations. At least when you eventually arrive your stress will melt away.

 

[PARA45]

Man, what a cluster F!! File a complaint or two, and let them know how the sh*t show you've been put through. It may not get you anywhere, but you can't lose anything at this point.

 

[Tanks]

There is a reason I'd rather double my elapsed time of travel rather than fly a US airline overseas. Delta did a similar thing to me about 10 years ago. Moved me from business to economy due to changing of airplanes (less seats available).

Customer service is no longer a priority for US airlines. If I have a choice I'll fly Qatar, Emirates or Turkish airlines business.

 

[Zambezi]

It just amazes me that the US airlines can get away with this behaviour! I have never encountered it anywhere else in the world. If have paid for business class or any sort of upgrade then I get that or compensation or a refund. Maybe it's a post covid "the world is screwed so take what's on offer" mentality I don't know.

But in such a litigious country as the US I'm surprised they get away with it. You are, after all, not getting what you paid for and what the "contract" was between you and them.

I remember decades ago when we were supposed to fly from Miami to Rio there was a problem with the plane. They kept giving us food and gifts etc until it was established that the plane was not going to depart. They put us up in a 4* hotel for the night with full board etc and some token compensation. These days it seems you're lucky if you don't pay them for the privilege of you being inconvenienced!

 

[Tanks]

...

But in such a litigious country as the US I'm surprised they get away with it. You are, after all, not getting what you paid for and what the "contract" was between you and them.
...

Protected by laws passed by Congress and also the "contract" that one agrees to when one purchases a ticket which gives them a wide latitude.

 

[fourfive8]

What a freaking cluster! And it’s not just UA but they seem one of the worst. Couple months ago had a similar Shiff show with JAL. American Air, kudos to them, went out of their way to help and offer alternative flights that worked out. Three weeks ago flew a couple of domestic legs in US with UA and only one was delayed with no consequence- by sheer luck. Do hope all gets sorted and those traveling get to Africa.

BTW… Where’s Bootygig?

 

[BRICKBURN]

Protected by laws passed by Congress and also the "contract" that one agrees to when one purchases a ticket which gives them a wide latitude.

You think you are purchasing an airline ticket, you are actually purchasing an option for them to transport. Their option, if they would like to transport. It was bad enough before the Pandemic, now ....

 

[Justhunt]

Hope your travel gets sorted out. Good luck.

 

[Bonk]

To add salt to the wound are all those commercials bragging about world class service and customer commitment. I'm in the industry. I know how bad it is. That's why I don't come out of the cockpit anymore. I'm done apologizing for shitty service when me and my crew had nothing to do with it. We're getting jacked around almost as much as the customers. You should see all the 'we love our employees' crap I get in my company email everyday. Then we get the weekly plea acknowledging how bad it's been but please, please hang in there and help us keep going. We're working on fixing everything! We promise!

The airline industry in the United States is operationally broken. It doesn't work any more and every day is a futile attempt to band aid, duct tape and bailing wire it together for one more 24 hour period. In reality it's one giant fail and about once a week the wheels come off and they blame lack of crews, ATC or weather. Those are factors but the real problem is management.

If I told you about the daily operational problems we have to deal with it would blow your mind. I'm talking about simple stuff that should be automatic but it isn't. Just one example, begging to get the airplane refueled. At departure time we still don't have fuel. People loaded. Bags loaded. Blue sky day. All ready to go except we don't have any fuel on board. Absolutely no reason except mismanagement.

To be fair it's not just airline management. It's airport operations, vendors, staffing and the list goes on. However, none of those are valid excuses. Don't sell a product you can't deliver and stop selling it until you can deliver.

I wish I had better news for you but it's not going to get better anytime soon. Like most Fortune 500 companies the airlines are run by accountants and lawyers. They don't have a clue how to run an airline nor do they care. Hold it together enough to keep the stock price from tanking, collect bonus and move on to the next fiasco. Welcome to capitalism.

 

[Bonk]

The other problem is the public keeps buying tickets. We're tacitly saying we're okay with the way it is even though it sucks. I get it. We all have to be somewhere but if the public embargoed buying air travel for just a week it would rock the industry to the bone

Traveling by air used to be exciting, fun and enjoyable. Not any more. It's horrific. Like I said, I'm in the industry and I avoid flying at all costs and I get to fly for free! If I can get there in 1 or 2 days of driving I'll almost always drive. Way less hassle and I'd rather pay for fuel and know I'll get there when I'm supposed to.

None of what I wrote is unique to any airline. I have a lot of friends at all the major airlines. It's the same with all of them. We trade horror stories with each other and it's always the same shit show, different paint livery on the tail.

 

[curtism1234]

@Bonk Are you finding that mechanical safety is still sound or is that a concern?

 

[fourfive8]

In whatever capitalistic/swampy government complex we, in the US, have now, Darwinism has failed to or hasn't been allowed to weed out the giant corporates within the business market ecosystem. Big, over-bloated gov begets big, over-bloated corporates. We are fed crap like "too big to fail". Pie chart shows latest example. Additionally, people who like and demand gov control of everthing, demand bigger gov to oversee such things. So cabinet level positions such as Secretary of Transportation exist to run such bureaucracies as Department of Transportation that predictably become invisible when real problems show up. Again, where's Bootygig? Oh that's right, he's (it's) out trying to cram EV down the public's throat to pacify the Dem's voter base- November is coming don't you know. Most of those "illions" begin with a B!

 

[TheGrayRider]

Any post, email, announcement, or message including the terms “ United Airlines” and “Newark, New Jersey” is not going to start or end well. Been down that road. Also learned the hard way. Never again. Sorry for your troubles, TheGrayRider.