The horrors of flying from Texas

[shannonstar]

I finally bit the bullet and booked SWA to TPA from HOU. Best prices were 151 there and 278 back. Ugh! I did book a rental car for the week (minivan) for a lot less than out of MCO. With a toddler, I needed to be able to use a car seat to Universal.

This is our third Thanksgiving trip and I have never had such bad flights.

 

[MillauFr]

At least you are not flying on United. Even if the price was half as much as Southwest it is not worth flying United. Too many horror stories lately. I am worried about our August trip from Seattle on United transferring in Houston. The only reason I booked the tickets is because I had frequent flyer miles to burn up.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

At least you are not flying on United. Even if the price was half as much as Southwest it is not worth flying United. Too many horror stories lately. I am worried about our August trip from Seattle on United transferring in Houston. The only reason I booked the tickets is because I had frequent flyer miles to burn up.

What horror stories?

 

[MillauFr]

What horror stories?

The current CEO for United Airlines has been a disaster for the company. I read the flyer talk boards and while Alaska, JetBlue, SouthWest, American, Delta... have a complaint now and then the United board are non stop horror stories about flyer's experiences. Here is a sample...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1583803-wsj-united-continental-struggles-stabilize.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1587904-string-maintenance-problems.html

They even have a term "You just got Smiseked" when United drops the ball and you get screwed over by them...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1578168-you-just-got-smiseked.html

At least with Alllegiant and Spirit you expect this type of treatment. There is no way once great airlines like United or Continental should be run into the ground.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I cannot agree. I fly UA all the time (I'm a 1K) and I read the flyertalk.com UA board several time a week. People like to complain! It's the same on all the other airline boards. UA is no worse than any other airline, although I would like to see them clean their planes better and provide better entertainment systems. They also need to get their FAs all on one contract and things will improve.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

When we fly to WDW, we're coming from California so airfare is a lot higher for us. We're lucky if we find it under $500. We do fly out of a small airport on the Peninsula because it's so easy for us and it doesn't add up to any savings to fly out of SFO or San Jose when hotel and leaving the car is added up. We used to fly United all the time and now we refuse to. Too many times our flights have been canceled. My husband used to fly United frequently for business trips, now the lady who does all the scheduling at his office doesn't use United because of not only all my husband's problems but the rest of the people of the company who travel for business. The CEO said it was too many times of canceled flights and missed connections because of delays. Just this past June, my Mom who was visiting from NJ...I took her to the airport to find all United flights canceled and already started canceling for the next morning. The same day my husband was stuck in Phoenix because United canceled his flight.

 

[DebbieB]

I work for a major company and we've been told to avoid United. I'm not sure if it is because of problems or because we don't have a preferred carrier agreement with them. Or maybe a combination of both.

Back to the original post - what is the horror flying from Texas? Fares are high everywhere, especially around a holiday.

 

[MillauFr]

It's the same on all the other airline boards. UA is no worse than any other airline.

Richard at Delta is doing a far better job than Jeff is doing at United. For example today....

United 27 (1%) canceled flights and 482 (23%) delayed flights
Delta 1 (0%) canceled flights and 396 (13%) delayed flights

The stats are the same day in day out. United just has far more delays/cancelations than Delta.

United can not withstand a another couple of years of mismanagement. The sooner they fire the CEO and hire a competent leader the better off the employees and customers will be.

 

[shannonstar]

Sorry, the horror is trying to make it work. We are a group of 8. 3 are flying into TPA from HOU (we live by IAH). Then the next 3 fly into MCO the next day. Then another 2 fly in 2 days after that.
Luckily, the TPA people are renting a car and all are returning to TPA.

It's the need for a baby seat that's killing it. Can't have a car seat if using a shuttle to Universal, LegoLand.

Prices are a whole lot higher this year, like $200 higher. United was almost 600 whereas last year it was 400. Baggage fees are killer. But, I guess it's better than driving 15 hours with an 18 month old.

 

[MillauFr]

Yes $600 for a two hour flight is a joke. I can see your frustration.