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We had a United flight cancelled after waiting 5 hours for a LIGHT BULB to be delivered from another airport. Of course the crew timed out and the flight was "delayed" until 5 AM the next morning. They gave us a hotel voucher for the scuzziest, mold-infested, grossest hotel you've ever seen in your life. I was afraid to sit anywhere. I was afraid to take my shoes off and touch the filthy carpet. The TV was nothing but static. The shampoo was in a "ketchup" packet. The soap was a sliver. We needed to be at the airport at 4 AM anyway (after being afraid to sleep because the place was so wretched) so we had to get up at 3:30 AM - and when we got to the airport, the plane was again delayed until 8 AM. I think we finally left around noon. I truly would have slept better on a cot.
And my guess is, most of them would vote to keep trying to fix it if it's reasonable to do so in the next 4 hours or so.
My guess is that if it got to 11:45 with no working airplane and the passengers knew that waiting another sixteen minutes would mean they wouldn't be entitled to any compensation (I'm just taking this from a previous post) most passengers would vote to cancel and get some compensation for what they had already been through and were almost certain to endure for the rest of the night. And that's even without knowing that they would be kicked off the cots and have their blankets confiscated.
Status:
"This too shall pass. But possibly, like a kidney stone."
(set 19 days ago)
36,086 posts, read 18,359,377 times
Reputation: 51161
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackmccullough
My guess is that if it got to 11:45 with no working airplane and the passengers knew that waiting another sixteen minutes would mean they wouldn't be entitled to any compensation (I'm just taking this from a previous post) most passengers would vote to cancel and get some compensation for what they had already been through and were almost certain to endure for the rest of the night. And that's even without knowing that they would be kicked off the cots and have their blankets confiscated.
I'm not sure where that other poster was getting their information.
The original article states that they did comp hotel rooms for passengers until the local hotels were all full.
So they were willing, even at that time of night, to pay for hotel rooms for stranded passengers.
The others were given $150 travel voucher.
So it's not as if they waited until that late hour so they didn't have to pay anything. They still paid.
While I agree that it was not United that took the blankets and cots, it IS United's fault that they were on cots to begin with. United should have cancelled the flight sooner, rebooked as many passengers as possible on other airlines (this could have been done long before the flight was cancelled), given vouchers BEFORE everything closed, and found hotel rooms. As far as the lounge being locked, it's a 24 hour business. Therefore there should be people available to do such things as unlock the lounge 24 hours a day.
Yep, strongly agree. As the old saying goes..."***** rolls uphill" and in this case it rolled uphill all the way to the United corporate offices.
Status:
"This too shall pass. But possibly, like a kidney stone."
(set 19 days ago)
36,086 posts, read 18,359,377 times
Reputation: 51161
Quote:
Originally Posted by CarnivalGal
While I agree that it was not United that took the blankets and cots, it IS United's fault that they were on cots to begin with. United should have cancelled the flight sooner, rebooked as many passengers as possible on other airlines (this could have been done long before the flight was cancelled), given vouchers BEFORE everything closed, and found hotel rooms. As far as the lounge being locked, it's a 24 hour business. Therefore there should be people available to do such things as unlock the lounge 24 hours a day.
I looked at flight schedules, and I can't find anything after 8:30 p.m. out of O'Hare that gets you to Portland Maine before the next morning. (There are flights where you're 14+ hours in transit, with a very long layover. Basically spending the night in a different airport.)
They did book as many passengers into nearby hotels, but soon there was no availability left. It's hard to believe that would have changed had they tried to book them at 9:30 p.m. vs. midnight.
I know it's easy to say well they could have . . . or why didn't they just . . .
Flight schedules are online. If you can find a route out of O'Hare and into Portland after 8:30 p.m., you're looking somewhere I wasn't.
And that's the problem with the last fights out. If they cancel, you're stuck.
We had a United flight cancelled after waiting 5 hours for a LIGHT BULB to be delivered from another airport. Of course the crew timed out and the flight was "delayed" until 5 AM the next morning. They gave us a hotel voucher for the scuzziest, mold-infested, grossest hotel you've ever seen in your life. I was afraid to sit anywhere. I was afraid to take my shoes off and touch the filthy carpet. The TV was nothing but static. The shampoo was in a "ketchup" packet. The soap was a sliver. We needed to be at the airport at 4 AM anyway (after being afraid to sleep because the place was so wretched) so we had to get up at 3:30 AM - and when we got to the airport, the plane was again delayed until 8 AM. I think we finally left around noon. I truly would have slept better on a cot.
1. Bring extra money. Choose your own hotel.
2. Tell the gate agent you are not available to take a rebooked flight before 9 or 10 a.m. (whatever is your preference). They'll be delighted - everyone else wants to get on the first flight out, and the mid-morning flights will be half empty.
United has literally beat up passengers to force them into compliance.
That is a little unfair. If someone tells me I have to get off a plane, I comply. I know what police are, they have guns, and I don't, especially on an airplane so it is not a fair fight.
In the case of the person I think you're talking about, AFAIK he resisted because he had received legal advice to do so, so he could sue.
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