A positive experience with United Airlines

[winterman]

We hear so many negative things about airlines these days that I wanted to share something good that just happened to me. Last January I booked flights for my November trip to WDW. I originally selected flights with a 2 1/2 hour layover in EWR. Several months later the EWR flight was cancelled and my only option left me with a wait of over 4 hours. I was not happy but it still got me to MCO at 2:30.

A few days ago, I was checking the current prices for my flights (higher than what I paid) and I saw that there are 2 flights available now that would get me to MCO earlier and still work with my PWM flight. At first, I wasn't going to try and change but this morning I decided to try. And it worked! They switched me to a flight that gets me in to MCO at 12:39 pm - no charge. Then I asked if he would "sell" me an economy plus seat because the remaining seats were ones I did not want to sit in. The agent gave me the upgraded seat at no charge. Overall it was a very pleasant encounter and I let the agent know that I was grateful.

I did learn one lesson and that is to not rush to rebook when they change my flights. Next time I'll wait a little while to see if more options open up.

 

[rwdavis2]

Make sure you verify all this before you go. Waaaaay to much Pixie dust for United Airlines.

 

[alliecat523]

They should already have the confirmation with all the information. I say this is a great example of how airline employees (just like CM's) can do something nice for people. You just have to find the right person.

 

[dis_guy]

I would certainly agree that some of my better experiences with UAL have been with their phone reps. They're always willing to get us what we need. We also had a very good person look after us after missing our connection on a foggy morning at IAH where there were probably hundreds of flights sitting on the ground. There was a huge line up at the desk but they had us all moving through quickly. People were on their phones bad mouthing the airline (I don't quite see how the fog was their fault) and once we got to the front the rep had us on the next flight to MCO and all 5 of us sitting together as well. Maybe other aspects of their "experience" will improve with their new CEO?

 

[goofy4tink]

I've had my share of pixiedust from airlines as well...it happens. We just don't hear of it very often. There was the time I was in the Ft Lauderdale area, visiting my step-mother. I had a flight back to Mass on a Monday....Jetblue. Well, my step-mother needed to get home, to Boston, quickly for a dr's appt due to an eye situation. She decided to fly home on JB but on Tuesday since it was too expensive to fly on Monday with me....did I mention it was 4 days prior to travel!!
JB's site was being whonky, and my step-mom's condo has whonky wifi...so between the two, I wasn't able to make any changes to my flight, and I wasn't sure her's got booked. So, I called JB. I started a conversation with the CS rep, who was very helpful...she said she was going to move my flight to the same as my step-mother's. When she heard that step-mom has macular degeneration, she asked if a wheelchair might help. I said yes, it would be great!!! Then, we got disconnected!!!! Well...about 15 mins later, my phone rang and it was JB...the same CS rep!!! She apologized for the interruption and put her supervisor on the phone. I was then told that they were putting us in a front row!! That our seats had been changed.....that between having to use the wheelchair and my being such a good daughter and changing my flights, they wanted to make us nice and comfy!!! No change fees, great service. I was hugely surprised.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

OP, the reason you were allowed to make a flight change for free was because your original flight time changed enough that it met United's free change policy. I can assure you, the chances of United letting you make a free flight change just because you found a better flight is slim to none, leaning towards none. My husband and I are both 1Ks on United and he's also a million miler and they've never let either of us waive flight change fees.

I am surprised you were assigned an E+ seat at no charge if you have no status. Keep an eye on this, it may disappear before your flight, especially if there is an aircraft swap.

 

[jec6613]

I actually had a very positive experience with AA the other day. The hub banking changed my departure time about 35 minutes earlier on what was already a very close timing to get to the airport, so I called the Gold desk and got myself and my fiancé (on my reservation), and my friend who's flying on her own separate reservation with us rebooked, and she flagged us all for free MCE since the new flight was 1:15 later than the original.