United Almost Ruined my Trip
budget conscious traveler, love to travel, flying solo
| Cons |
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FEB
5
2009
United Airlines —
I was traveling to Philadelphia on a United Airlines flight originating at the John Wayne airport on Jan. 16, 2009. I am not a frequent flier. I last flew in 2005. I did not know that certain airlines have a 45 minute cut-off time for checking in bags.I arrived at the curb check-in kiosk at 43 minutes prior to my departure time. 2 minutes late for the check-in. The United personnel at the kiosk would not let me check in my bag. That was not the worst part of my experience at John Wayne Airport. The WORST part is that they would not help me figure out a way to stay on my flight and still get my bag to Philadelphia.
For example, I found out 12 hours later that I could have chosen to FedEx my bag to my hotel. I also realized a day later that maybe I could have asked United to send my bag to Philadelphia on a later flight and I could have picked my bag up the next day. But the staff at John Wayne Airport NEVER offered me these options.
What they did do was place me on the telephone with a United Airlines agent to try to rebook my flight. That was the most expensive option they could have offered me. The only United flight available to me was a flight leaving LAX in 2 hours which would cost me another $1,000.
I did not choose that option. Instead I called a friend, she searched online and found me the cheapest flight out of John Wayne that day. That flight was with American Airlines and cost me another $347.00.
To add insult to injury United Airlines charged me an additional $150.00 because my return flight was with them and I had to rebook my itinerary after they made me miss my flight because they wouldn’t offer me other ways of getting my bag to my destination.
I will forever and always avoid flying out of John Wayne Airport now and I will certainly never choose United Airlines now. They did not care about me. I was almost crying, it cost me an extra $497.00, and they simply did not care.
United Airlines is not recommended by non-frequentflier
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