the ex-wife and the daughter did the right thing, they DID go to the US Air desk, even if they went to other desks (all except continental) and the US Air should have got her on the paid flight and this shouldnt have been a deal or a problem

Even if they went to United then they should have been assisted with what to do and how to go about it, the airlines messed up, even with or without a misread of the itinerary, this is a combo of mess ups i believe, on everyones part sam's/walmart, expedia and the airlines

all could easily be avoided if things were clear and straightforward, if things are shown to the customer in basic terms and follow through than these kind of scenrios may not happen

If you buy a ticket with one airline (continental) where one part is on US Air as a United codeshare than it should clearly be marked and be able to check in online on the website of the carrier you brought the ticket with (then that airline provides proof of checkin to the airline your going on so that it is simple for the customer and it is the airlines responsibility) and have it clearly state where to go when your at the airport

I don't think it could have been more clearly stated:

As for online checkin since the OP was dealing with an unaccompanied minor I doubt they would have been able to checkin online. Most airlines disable online checkin if there are unaccompanied minors, pets, or anything else "out of the ordinary" in the reservation.

i understand that, i mean in general it would be more helpful, when it is a person that doesnt need assistance than it would be easier for them to check in with one airline and be automatically checked in with the airline they are flying with

it was clear but i am sure that many people who do not fly frequently wont look at that, they will only see the airline they booked with and have no idea that they need to go to another airlines desk since they didnt read the booking

Well, they did their best. She tried United and US Airways and her ex husband was on the phone with Expedia. That was 3 out of the five...

Lets face it.. they got PATHETIC service.

I need to go and calm down now.. I think mars just agreed with me and I am feeling a bit wobbly.

Perhaps the itinerary of all codeshares should read this way:

US Airways flight 1464
Marketed as United flight 1825 under codeshare agreement

Even though you did not buy this ticket from US Airways, please check-in with US Airways. You will be flying on a US Airways Aircraft and are subject to US Airways published fees for baggage and other added services.

:D

Ok, now I am getting really scared... I have agreed with mars and phxflyer... has anyone got any tranquillizers?

jim it seems that lately we have been agreeing on more stuff

businesses arent there for people, businesses are there to make one thing and one thing only, money/profit, there are no such things as good/fair business, its an evil world, and the airline industry has gone to the extreme in that case (with US based airlines...esp delta....winning the "race" to worst companies to follow in a industry that noone should base their business on, delta have almost an monopoly on terrible service and screwin customers over)

It was a short lived romance mars.. because I so profoundly disagree with this...

that I don't even know where to begin. What I do know is that the philosophical discussion that could follow if I responded would be so far off topic and so inappropriate to be in the United thread.. I think it is just best to say...

I completely, totally and utterly disagree.

Ok, I want in. I will agree with Mars to the extent that many airlines have shareholders and like it or not, they are there to make money for them. If an airline has a choice between making money and doing less for a passenger or being more customer friendly at the cost of making more money, they will choose the former, no question.

I also see Jim's point that in fairly tale land that all businesses will cater to the customer first before the almighty ....... (insert whatever monetary type you like) This is the way it used to be in this industry and the way it should be again but it is NOT the way it is now.

Without people (customers and employees) there would be no profit. And there is such a thing as a good business, or there were. The family owned hardware, appliance and clothing stores on "Main St." of every small to medium sized community. Unfortunately Wal~Mart opened up just down the street and now Mom and Pop can't compete. So sad.

Jim, all this back and forth between you and I still falls back to one thing: The Itinerary. But let me break apart your reply to me shall we.

You're absolutely right Jim! I don't have a clue, you don't have a clue, no one does but the mother and daughter who were actually there. The entire story is based on 3rd person, so there's some detail missing. The itinerary states the flight is a US Airs flight and there's really no reason why they could not assist them, since it's their hub.

No contradiction, you just took the two comments out of context (as you are prone to do but I forgive ya). the first item you quoted is actually my stance on the entire subject. I've been stating that from the start, which was confirmed when the OP posted the itinerary. The second item was merely a guess as to WHY US Airs didn't help them. How does one item contradict the other? How does my stance contradict my guess??

Ohhhhhh yea you're right.. how did i miss.... oh wait... they were 15 minutes late so that would mean they missed it ya? so how did I make it up? lol wait, wait let's confirm this:

and what did Bob say?

According to the OP, they were STILL at the United counter trying to check in for a flight operated by US Airs. Why did they miss the flight? Hanging out at the United Counter.

You mean my stance that the OP and co didn't follow their itinerary is illogical? So that makes no sense? Ok let's say it in plain english: They screwed up.

That is not necessarily true. If the ticket was purchased through Continental, than it would have a Continental ticket number, which starts with the numbers 005. If the ticket was purchased through Continental, it means Continental would have first gotten the money, and then responsible for the reservation being sent to United. That apparently never happened. In this case, United would see a reservation, but in the United system, it would not show paid for, and thus, regardless of a printout, they would not be able to check the person in. This really wouldn't fall under "denied boarding", on United's part.

My suggestion is to go talk with Continental over this. If you still have the ticket number, and it starts with "005", than this needs to be taken up with Continental.

Bob..

Your twists and turns are remarkable........................but I admire your tenacity.

Phx and mars...
I guess you decided you wanted that debate about capitalism and morality afterall... but is an airline forum the right place for it?

I will say this... to say there is no such thing as a fair or good business in just not true. My local butcher is the third generation butcher to have his shop in the village. He supplies high quality local meat at a good price. On a Saturday morning, there is a queue of over 100m outside his door from 7am to well past 2pm. At Christmas you have to queue for 45 minutes to an hour to pick up your meat order. So established are the Christmas queues that local restaurants sell hot drinks and choirs sing carols to the queues.

Why are people queuing to do business with this butcher when there are at least 7 vast supermarkets within a 5 mile radius of his shop?

Because he sells high quality products, at a fair price. His shop is highly profitable and I am sure that most people would pay more for his meat. He sells his meat for a fair mark up, nearly always cheaper than the supermarket, for superior quality of known provenance.

Is this business evil? Is it a fair or good business? It is possible to make a profit and not be evil mars...

Read the Title!
 

May I just point out that the title of the thread was, "How United ruined my Thanksiving [sic] 2009" and not, "How Sam's Club ruined my Thanksiving 2009" or, "How Expedia ruined my Thanksiving [sic] 2009" or, "How US Airways ruined my Thanksiving [sic] 2009" or, "How Continental ruined my Thanksiving [sic] 2009." OP pretty clearly laid blame solely with United. Why? Because his daughter and ex-wife wasted so much time standing in the wrong line to check-in with United by the time they got to US Airways things were hopelessly messed up.

What most likely happened when the flight closed for check-in and the daughter wasn't at the US Airways counter in time to do so US Airways canceled her reservation. Because Continental issued the ticket and they had a return segment on Continental the canceled US Airways flight was transmitted to Continental who in turn canceled their return flight which locked the ticket from being accessed or changed by either United or US Airways. Even though the ticket was purchased through Sam's Club/Expedia because they were at the airport they should have gone to a Continental ticket counter (which Continental operates out of Terminal A @EWR as well) to get things sorted out.

My question to the OP is this. Any agent would have been able to tell you that the flight was actually a US Airways flight and not United and that the ticket was issued by Continental. Could your ex-wife be lying to you? Was this simply a veiled attempt to keep your daughter for herself over the holiday? You must consider that possibility as well because I can't believe that between United, US Airways, and Continental there was not a single agent able to help get your daughter on a flight to Charlotte that day. It's just a theory and I'm probably completely wrong but all possibilities must be explored.

Don't think so Phx... why would United have emailed him with an explanation if his wife was making it up as a conspiracy to deny him access? Besides, he was on the phone with Sam's Club/Expedia at the time who were also trying to sort it out...

When it comes to "**** up" or "conspiracy" it is nearly always a **** up.

I'm wondering why United e-mailed him as well since they had absolutely nothing to do with this entire transaction other than the fact that their flight number was placed on the US Airways operated flight. But the fact they were able to tell him the ticket was revoked by Continental seems to support my theory that they did not make it to the US Airways counter in time to check in so US Airways canceled their segment which led to Continental canceling the entire itinerary and ticket.

THEY STARTED AT US AIR> Were turned away becasue the computer communication was screwed up. They went to United for additional help and were turned back to US Air. Continental stated "Because my daughter is 12 and the unaccompanied minor fee was not payed someone at Continental void the seat. When I booked she was to fly with my Father. Plans changed and my ex was preparde to pay the additional fee at the counter which we have done before. NO ONE AT US AIR OR UNITED recognized this and that's why she didn't get through the check in.

Still doesn't make sense, however;

That was a mistake right there. Had they known their ticket was issued by Continental they could have gone to the Continental counters for assistance. United, as I stated before, had absolutely nothing to do with the ticket other than their flight number was placed on a US Airways operated flight.

jgrunt, she didn't get through check in with United because - they don't fly to charlotte, nuff said there. Also Continental wouldn't void the seat because the unaccompanied minor wasn't paid, you wouldn't have to pay them anyway, only US Airs. If you needed to pay Continental, it would be for the return and that could have been paid at the counter.