Never Fly United Again

I will never fly United Airlines again!

There are only so many times you can give a company "another chance." United Airlines has finally pushed me too far and I simply will no longer patronize them. In this case, it's strike three.

Strike one was about a year ago. I bought a round-trip ticket from Washington Dulles to Milwaukee and back. Like most United flights, there was a connection at Chicago O'Hare.

As the plane was being pushed away from the gate at the start of the trip, something snapped. It turns out it had to do with the way they attached the tractor to the front wheel. It had to be fixed. So the plane sat on the ground for the better part of two hours while they repaired it. Of course there was no way I was going to make the connection. I had no idea the ramifications this was going to cause.

The plane arrived in Chicago over two hours late. I went to the gate where my connection had left a hour earlier to try and find out what my options were. The airport was as packed as I have ever seen it and the line at the gate was at least 20 people deep. When I got to the front, I was told I could be put on standby for the next flight, which didn't leave for another 45 minutes. There were about 10 people on standby in front of me, so I knew there wasn't much chance of getting on the flight, but it was the last one of the day. I decided to wait. About 30 minutes later, they simply canceled the flight. No explanation, but I overheard a flight crew near the gate talking about having no clue what route they were there to fly. Amazing. I suspect the flight was canceled because they didn't have anyone to fly the plane!

So I rented a car and drove to Milwaukee. This was going to be expensive because I planned to leave the car in Milwaukee instead of driving it back to Chicago. But thanks to United, I didn't have much choice. Fortunately Avis had a car available, but I did stand in line there another 45 minutes.

But that wasn't the end of it. When it was time to return to Washington Dulles, I arrived at the airport around eight in the morning. At the ticket counter I was told I no longer had a reservation or ticket! What? It seems the United computer decided that since my flight from Chicago to Milwaukee had been canceled, I never got there. Therefore I wouldn't need the return flight! Instead the computer canceled me and had been rescheduling me from Chicago to Milwaukee ever couple of hours for the past few days! It expected me to sit at O'Hare for a day or two rather than complete the final 90 miles of my trip by some other means. This is absolute lunacy!

The earliest I could get on a return flight was at 5:00 a.m. the following morning, and they had to book me on a different airline. This time I got to connect through St. Louis, and was almost bumped off the St. Louis-to-Dulles portion!

Strike two was on a recent trip from Chicago to Dulles. I didn't ever bother with the Milwaukee connection this time. My flight was the last one of the day for this route, and after telling everyone the flight was delayed, two hours later they abruptly canceled it. Again, no explanation. The only suggestion was to go get in line at the United customer service desk to try and get another flight. So again, I stood in line for an hour, only to find out that the computer had rescheduled me for a flight the following afternoon through Philadelphia with a three-hour layover. Who the hell programs these things?

I ended up staying the night in Chicago - with no luggage, toothbrush or change of clothes. United's recommendation was to come back to the airport in the morning and move from gate to gate to try and get onto one of the day's O'Hare to Dulles flights. The best they could guarantee me was a late-afternoon flight. I was told if I take the "sure thing" I couldn't expect to get on an earlier flight because I would have to give up my ticked to switch to standby status. Again, who makes up these rules?

At one point I asked an agent why the previous night's flight was canceled. She looked it up and told me it was a mechanical problem. She then immediately offered me a $100 voucher for a future flight. What kills me is that if I hadn't asked this question, there would not have been any offer of compensation whatsoever, except for the hotel room. What a crappy system! My luggage had gone to Washington on an earlier flight, but fortunately it was there when I finally arrived the following afternoon.

Strike three was this past weekend. My son and daughter came from Milwaukee to spend Christmas with me. First of all, their flight out of Milwaukee to Chicago was delayed to the point where they would miss their connection. So the agent suggested they take the shuttle bus between the two airports. They got on after an hour wait in the rain. It cost $50. The agent did say we could get a refund, but that remains to be seen. The flight out of Chicago was delayed as well, and it's even possible they could have made it if they took the delayed Milwaukee flight. But how would we have known? It wasn't worth the risk.

Fearing that their return flight would be canceled because that brilliant United computer might have thought they never got to Washington since they never got on the flight in Milwaukee, I called to confirm the return. I made the agent on the phone tell me THREE TIMES that they were confirmed. It turns out the computer had been booking them on the first part of their trip, even though it "knew" they had taken the second part. United's programmers are every bit as inept as it seems the rest of the company is.

Of course when we got to the airport yesterday for their return, there was a problem with the ticket. It wasn't in the system and I had to pick up the customer assistance phone at the counter. I made the agent stay on the line after he said he corrected the problem. I was able to check them in, but their original seat assignments had been erased. OK, minor problem, but in light of everything else, very annoying.

The flight out of Dulles was on time and boarded according to schedule. Then they couldn't get an engine started and it sat at the gate for 90 minutes while they repaired it. Well guess what! There was now no way to make the connecting flight in Chicago - again! Fortunately my daughter has a friend who was willing to drive to Chicago and pick them up. This sounded like a better plan than trying - no, hoping - to get a later flight out of Chicago. I didn't want them stranded in the airport all night. Been there...done that.

So they got a ride. But their luggage was checked through to Milwaukee. They checked with an agent in Chicago and found out when the bags would arrive, and as it turns out, if they drove directly to the Milwaukee airport, they should be able to pick them up. This would have been around 7:30 p.m. The United baggage office in Milwaukee is supposed to stay open until 11:00. However, apparently someone either didn't show up or decided to go home early, because it was locked and dark when they arrived. What an ongoing nightmare!

My daughter called the next morning and United refused to deliver the bags for free since it had been "their choice" not to take a flight from Chicago to Milwaukee. Bull crap! So she and my son went back to the airport and finally - some 28 hours after their departure from Dulles - got their luggage.

I have to call United tomorrow to try and get the refund the agent offered and see if there isn't some way to get back part of the missed second connection. I don't expect much chance of success. They may offer me another voucher, but even that is screwed up. You see, in order to use one of their vouchers, you have to present it in person at a United ticket counter. That means I need to drive two hours to buy a ticket in order to save $100. You know what, I suspect they know that and count of the fact that no one will actually use the stupid vouchers they offer as compensation for turning a three-hour trip into seven.

United is a total mess and I don't know how they remain in business. No one has any authority to fix the problems, it seems, and certainly no one is motivated to try and improve anything. Well, I've finally had enough. I will do everything I can from this point on to avoid flying with them. I've had enough bad experience to now know there will be a problem. The idea of saving some money no longer holds any appeal to me. I'm done with United and if I read in the news that they are going under, I will simply say "good riddance".

Never again.