What is up with United Airlines?

[Bbgrizzle]

2 weeks ago my 3 DD's and I flew from Las Vegas to Virginia (one-way--we were moving). We flew on United airlines for the first time cause we got a pretty good deal on airfare. We had to change planes in Denver. Our flight from Vegas to Denver had all 4 of us split up and sitting all over the plane. My DD's are 4, 9 and 12. They can't even make sure a 4-year-old is sitting next to their mommy? She would be terrified to have to sit next to strangers. When we boarded the plane, I told the flight attendant that we were split up. All she said was that we should ask the other people sitting nearby if we could switch with them. I Really think she should have done something to make sure that at least my youngest was sitting next to me. Luckily the people around us were nice and were willing to switch seats.

Then when we got to Denver, our plane was delayed. After we had already boarded the plane, they suddenly found mechanical problems so we had to sit on the ground for 2 hours. Of course, I'm glad they found the problems BEFORE we took off, but it seems to me they should have checked the plane before we boarded. (one of the problems was unbalanced fuel that's definitely something that should have been checked beforehand. They didn't tell us what the other problems were). We realize that things like this happen, so although my kids were disgruntled, we sucked it up with a nice attitude and we made it finally safe and sound. (Other people on the flight did not handle it so well).

So now, 2 weeks later, our friend and her DS's ages 2 and 6 flew from Virginia to California. On United. They split her up from her sons too! A 2-year-old is expected to sit alone? Give me a break! So she had to do the same thing, get other people to switch with her. Now, 6 days later, she is supposed to be heading home, but her flight was canceled. So she was on standby for a later flight. It was also canceled due to not having a crew, whatever that means. They keep putting her on standby and she just can't get a flight. She's been at the airport for 12 hours now, with a crying 2-year-old and a tired 6-year-old. It seems to me they could give her some priority and get her on a flight.

I'm starting to think United is not the best airline. I wonder if they are having a strike or something.

Has anyone else had problems with United lately?

 

[monsterkitty]

Tell your friend to use Rule 240 - the passangers' bill of rights. It is really a law, more like a guideline that airlines follow. With UAL, if your flight is changed or cancelled for any reason other than an act of God (weather) or a terrorist attack, they will get you on another flight, either one of theirs or another airline.

Call your friend and tell her to march up to the desk and tell the employee she wants to use "Rule 240". It worked like a charm for us and UAL on our trip.

 

[DebbieB]

How far ahead did you book your tickets? Many times most seats are taken well before the flight date and all that is left are scattered seats. Did you make seat selections when you booked it?

I fly alot for work and most flights I have been on are full. So if a flight is cancelled, there aren't many empty seats on other flights to move people to. It is really crazy these days.

 

[Syrreal]

I think that all of the airlines are having some kind of trouble. I was recently delayed over an hour and a half on US Air. That made me miss my 2nd flight and luckily they got me on the next plane out- which wasn't for another 3 1/2 hours.

As for the seating, did you do it online or talk to someone? I've found that online, my dh and I are usually split up at first and have to go in and choose new seats. Sometimes we can't do it if the flight is operated by another airline and then we have to have the counter person help us (we won't use the kiosks if we are seated separately). Luckily, even when we can't change seats (i.e the flights are full) people have always been kind enough to let us sit next to each other.

 

[bsmcneil]

yesterday, on united, for some reason my plane ticket was cancelled. at first the ticket agent tried to argue that i had not flown earlier this week from Dulles-STL. then i pointed out that i was, in fact, in STL and showed her my boarding pass from dulles. then she says she doesn't know what happened but got me a flight home. it was a lot of waiting and frustration, but definitely soured my view of UA.

 

[monarchsfan16]

US and United started assigning seats at check in sometime before November 2005 (but after Feb 2002...). Either that or only certain people get preassigned seats. We flew on US from Manchester, NH to St Louis, by way of Charlotte, NC last November (2005). In MHT, my advisor (I was traveling with a group from school) checked in by kiosk, so we got seats all together. Coming back, we had an idiot ticket agent in St Louis who insisted that we all check in separately instead of as a group, so we were scattered all over the plane. Now there were 7 of us, a teacher and 6 17 and 18 year old girls, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Besides, we'd spent 5 days together constantly, and there had been some drama so it really all worked out just fine, but it was a bit annoying initially to find out we'd been split up. Like I said, I don't know whether this had to do with how the flight was booked, but it does seem to be a common issue, and may even vary by ticket agent. Right next to the moronic one in STL, was a ticket agent who had wanted to check us in as a group when she found out we were one, but he refused to let her, and therefore we were scattered

 

[Bbgrizzle]

We booked our flight online and it didn't give us the option of choosing our seats. I've always booked online in the past and we've always been seated together. But we've always flown Delta, Southwest, or America West.

My friend who is stuck in the California airport booked her flight way back in January, and she did not book online--she did it over the phone. And they still split her up from her kids.

Me no like those kiosks. It would save a lot of trouble if you could still check in with actual people.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Even if seats are assigned well ahead of time, assignments can change. Sometimes it's because of equipment changes (size of the plane changes to accomodate more or fewer people, for example), or because of a frequent flier request.

Airlines do give preference to members of their frequent flier programs. Even if you booked your flight 5 months ago and a FF member booked last week, and they want an aisle, the airlines will sometimes rework the seating assignments so that FF member can get an aisle. That can result in a parent being moved from next to their child.

With their financial problems, the airlines can't afford to upset any of their frequent fliers. Someone that flies round-trip 2-3 times a month (if not more frequently) and pays higher than the economy rate is worth more to an airline than a family of four that flies on vacation maybe once a year.

Is it right? No. (and this is coming from someone that used to be a frequent business traveller) IMO families sitting together is more important than that business traveller getting the aisle seat so he can jump up into the aisle as soon as the seat belt sign goes off and make a dash for the exit.

In their defense, the airline CSRs don't know if a passenger is a 4 year old child or a 40 year old business consultant. It probably wouldn't be that difficult to have two passengers flagged as travelling together and must be seated together. It would create a headache as the CSR would have to do quite a bit of shuffling around to accomodate that FF member who wants the aisle seat, as they would have to move parent with child and then find two or however many seats together and move THOSE people.

Maybe Southwest has had the right idea with their boarding procedure all along. At least that way families can stay together.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I flew United for the first time Memorial Day weekend. I was flying solo so seat assignments were not a priority, though I was shocked to learn I would have to pay extra if I wanted to sit in the exit row! Anyway my Friday afternoon flight from NY-LaGuardia to Chicago-O'Hare was 2 hours delayed, ok so it's a Holiday weekend, I've even been delayed on my beloveds US-Air and SW during a holiday weekend!

So, coming back, I check on-line at 1:15 to see that my 4 pm flight is on time. Perfect I head for the airport, call my NY car service to confirm the flight is on time, walk O'Hare and get to my gate at 3 for a 3:30 boarding. Lo and behold at 3:30 they announce the plane is at least 90 minutes late into getting to it's previous destination. They couldn't have made that announcement prior to the boarding time? Fine, I can wander O'Hare it's a big enough airport for another hour our so. Next we hear is that the plane still hasn't landed in it's previous destination we should be boarding around 6:30. Lo and behold 6:00 comes around and now the plane is pushed back to 7. I go and get dinner, becuse I'm hungry and should be in NY by now, guess what the flight might be 7:30. They had boarded the 5pm and the 6pm flights already, yet the 4pm still doesn't have a plane, I'm at O'Hare not in Boise, how can they not have any extra planes? Of course when I inquire about any compensation I'm told since it was a weather related delay I would get nothing. I call reservations, feeling they might cancel the flight, I can be guarenteed stand-by for 4 the next afternoon. hello, I do work for a living!

8:15 comes around we're supposed to board, no one waiting cares about a clean plane, we'll clean it ourselves at this point, just get us on the plane ! We have a plane, we have pilots, they've called off the flight attendents. Around 9:00 we finally board, of course it's O'Hare on a holiday weekend so we wait 90 minutes on the runway before taking off. Halfway through the actual flight, we find out that due to the LaGuardia construction we're landing at Kennedy. So we finally land at Kennedy at 1:45 am, only 6 1/2 hours late. Thankfully my luggage made it on the same flight, if it didn't I'd probably still be without it.

For all the aggravation, I had to pay $23 to make 2 phone calls from the plane, to arrange for car service to pick me up at a different airport, and had to buy several bottles of water airport prices, because of course I only brought one with me.

Do they actually know how to run an airline? :

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

2 weeks ago my 3 DD's and I flew from Las Vegas to Virginia (one-way--we were moving). We flew on United airlines for the first time cause we got a pretty good deal on airfare. We had to change planes in Denver. Our flight from Vegas to Denver had all 4 of us split up and sitting all over the plane. My DD's are 4, 9 and 12. They can't even make sure a 4-year-old is sitting next to their mommy? She would be terrified to have to sit next to strangers. When we boarded the plane, I told the flight attendant that we were split up. All she said was that we should ask the other people sitting nearby if we could switch with them. I Really think she should have done something to make sure that at least my youngest was sitting next to me. Luckily the people around us were nice and were willing to switch seats.

Were you able to select seats in advance?
We have done this on other airlines with no problem. You cannot store the age of your children with your ticket--so unfortunately, they do not know you have a 4yo. And kids as young as 5 can fly unaccompanied, so while it is an incovenience you could not sit near your other children...it isn't unheard of and there is really no significant issue. For other airlines if we aren't seated near each other, we have found that checking in as early as possible did the trick--b/c they can move whomever they want whereever they want if they wanted to--especially if others have not checked in.

Then when we got to Denver, our plane was delayed. After we had already boarded the plane, they suddenly found mechanical problems so we had to sit on the ground for 2 hours. Of course, I'm glad they found the problems BEFORE we took off, but it seems to me they should have checked the plane before we boarded. (one of the problems was unbalanced fuel that's definitely something that should have been checked beforehand. They didn't tell us what the other problems were). We realize that things like this happen, so although my kids were disgruntled, we sucked it up with a nice attitude and we made it finally safe and sound. (Other people on the flight did not handle it so well).

Pilots go through a pre-flight checklist..some of which do not occur until they are ready to pull away from the gate. As far as fuel--sometimes until the plane is loaded and they have all the weight where they want or need it to be--they just do not know. Ground crew could have also not fueled it properly as that plane is getting fueled up and loaded with luggage as you are boarding the plane.

We took a voluntary bump in December so we could get 3 free tickets. It was me flying solo with my 2 youngin's. We were voluntarily bumped along with 6-8 other passengers (can't recall exactly--it was a bunch of us)...due to weight. The plane was two heavy--it was one of those iddy biddy planes. The reason it was heavy--they had military on board. Military coming from TDY--have relaxed baggage restrictions and those bags get really heavy. They get the weight after the bags and people are on board and with all of us who volunteered--they were just at the limit (glad I stayed off that flight..don't like to know that we are "just on the nose").

No big deal to us though. As long as I can make connections and have my necessary seating, I tend to be as cool as a cucumber with flights. I just can't let it get to me or I'd go nuts.

So now, 2 weeks later, our friend and her DS's ages 2 and 6 flew from Virginia to California. On United. They split her up from her sons too! A 2-year-old is expected to sit alone? Give me a break! So she had to do the same thing, get other people to switch with her. Now, 6 days later, she is supposed to be heading home, but her flight was canceled. So she was on standby for a later flight. It was also canceled due to not having a crew, whatever that means. They keep putting her on standby and she just can't get a flight. She's been at the airport for 12 hours now, with a crying 2-year-old and a tired 6-year-old. It seems to me they could give her some priority and get her on a flight.

Chances are fellow passengers who would have to sit with the unaccompanied 2yo would be more than happy to trade seats. Again, they don't store the ages with the ticket.

When they don't have a crew--the same crew doesn't stay with the same plane all day long.

I have a friend that used to work for Delta and they would pick and choose routes for their schedule. So she wouldn't necessarily stay on the same plane all day long.

Often times on many airlines--you have a crew that was flying another route and that plane is late for whatever reason. So no crew--unless you are sitting in a HUB and there is an off chance they can get someone in...you pretty much have a cancelled flight. She has the same priority as the rest of the passengers---who were all bumped from the flight. And whoever gets to the ticket counter first gets first dibs on the next closest available flights to their destination.

Sadly a 2yo does not equate to a fast pass for a cancelled flight. If she is already booked on a flight--then she is booked. I cannot imagine she is sitting in an airport for 12 hours with no flight on her schedule.

I'm starting to think United is not the best airline. I wonder if they are having a strike or something.

Has anyone else had problems with United lately?

I don't think they are having a strike.

Just like when your flight was cancelled due to imbalance fuel and other issues--that could very well have made your flight crew late to another flight that subsequently got cancelled.



Sorry you didn't have a good experience with United. Often times how a airline responds to a situation says a lot--but I don't see anything they could have done differently from any other airline.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

When you book online though, why does it ask the ages of your children if they are not going to use that information?

 

[beachbunny]

Yes. UAL now sucks. And I'm saying this as a former 10+ year Premier member. On a recent trip from London to San Francisco there were a bunch of families and couples separated on the flight. Adding to the misery, the flight was overbooked (they were offering $800 in flight credit to get on the next flight). I didn't take the offer because I decided then and there to clean out my United FF miles. Since I can't book a decent flight unless I plan 11 months out, it's going to take forever to use them up.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That's better than Delta and Northwest.

On-line bookings--they think an adult is age 2 and up.

Who knows why the kids don't move around you with the plane when they shift seats.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Lisa Loves Pooh:

Your points make a lot of sense. I do understand that problems happen on airlines. It just seemed odd that both legs of my flight out here had kinks and my friend's departing AND returning flights had kinks. Just seems like a lot of problems for one airline. We've flown a lot and have NEVER had troubles before. So by comparison United is not looking too good. My poor friend says she will never fly United again.

 

[Spoodleink]

I fly United from Dulles to NY for work and I have noticed sometimes even though I have been assigned a seat when I bought my ticket when i check in at the kiosk it has been unaasigned and i need to pick a new one. Its annoying sometimes but mostly its ok. I have found checking in on line 24 hrs before your flight is your best bet.

Welcome to Nova
Enjoying the Rain

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Welcome to Nova
Enjoying the Rain

You might think I'm a kook, but YES! I am really enjoying the rain. Probably because I don't have to go out in it. Vegas has very little rain, so I really appreciate the rain here! Plus it keeps the temperature down. Vegas was 114 degrees today, according to my grandma. I'll take this weather anytime!

 

[Spoodleink]

You might think I'm a kook, but YES! I am really enjoying the rain. Probably because I don't have to go out in it. Vegas has very little rain, so I really appreciate the rain here! Plus it keeps the temperature down. Vegas was 114 degrees today, according to my grandma. I'll take this weather anytime!

I am just a little bitter b/c i lost a flip flop in the new river in my parking lot while i was taking out the garbage. I am actully glad for it too becaue it has brought the temp down. I spent every summer in Canada until i was 19 and spent my first summer here and just about died so i cant imagine 114.

 

[Pugdog007]

Every time I fly United, I say I'm never going to fly United again. Then they have a great fare and I do it again.

I've yet to fly with United or US Air THIS YEAR and have everything go as scheduled. Late flights causing me to miss connections, lost luggage so many times the delivery service at the BHM airport knows me, etc. One one flight with US Air out of Philly, they lost the entire plane's luggage and had to sandbag the plane in order for us to fly (saying the plane is nose-heavy without our luggage!)

The entire airline industry is in chaos.

Have had much better luck lately with Delta and Southwest.

 

[Independent]

US and United started assigning seats at check in sometime before November 2005 (but after Feb 2002...). Either that or only certain people get preassigned seats.

Are you sure? We have been flying United for ages and always have had assigned seats. We went to WDW in 1990 and had assigned seats.

We booked our flight online and it didn't give us the option of choosing our seats. I've always booked online in the past and we've always been seated together. But we've always flown Delta, Southwest, or America West.

If you book online through United.com or Ted.com, you always have the option to select seats. After you choose your flights, and enter all your passenger info, you get to a page that has the little box that summarizes your flights. On the bottom of that box is a small link that says Seat Selection. It is there, but I have to admit that it is very, very, very easy to miss.

The exception to this is if you book your flight within 2 or so weeks before leaving. Then the seat selection has been turned over to the airport and is no longer available to book online.

You would then have to call reservations right after you book and get the seats you want.

I have travelled world wide with young children, 90% on United. I have never been split from my kids. Some tips:

Select your seats online. If that option is not available, then immediately call reservations with your booking number and select seats. Have them note on the reservation that you are travelling with young children.

If there are no seats available together online, call for seat selection. I have been told numerous times that United holds a couple of rows until a couple of weeks before just for this purpose - to make sure little kids are with their parents. You want to be the family that gets those seats!

Call and check periodically to make sure your seats are still the same. If they have changed, make sure they are still together.

Call 24 hours before to check-in. Again, make sure you ask about your seat assignment.

If the seats have been moved to the airport and calling does not help (and it is very important to you to be together), you might think about taking a trip out to the airport the day before you fly out. A pain, but this will usually get you seats together. And a couple of extra hours may save you numerous headaches the next day.