[hleihel]

1- My United Flight Dubai-Denver was cancelled - no reason given. I was told to re book.

2-I booked the United flight and paid an additional $500 over BA/AA flight because I did NOT want 3 flights and I did NOT want to stop in Europe.

3- I was offered ONLY one alternative - 3 flights with stops in Frankfurt and Chicago and very inconvenient timings.

4- United refused to offer me the same UA flight the next day, nor did they offer Delta or Emirates airlines flights to USA even though this is what was paid for. They refused to offer any compensation or upgrade.

5- I had similar incident with BA & American Airlines last JUNE! They got me on the Delta Flight which meant I got what was paid for - ONE STOP.

6- UA phone system is a disgrace. It 'routinely' alerts callers to '5 minute wait time' but the actual wait was 17 minutes. When I commented on this, Cher got abrupt with me as if to say 'tough ...'. Maybe they need to 'import' Amazon CS and fire their existing and crappy staff.

7- My first and LAST experience with United. They stink. I think I DESERVE $150 CANCELLATION FEE THAT THEY CHARGE THEIR CUSTOMERS.

Ticket cost was close to $2400.

[jimworcs]

Why airlines are allowed to do this is beyond me. If I bought a tv for $2,400 and when it was delivered it didn't have the features I paid for the supplier cannot say "tough, I am keeping your money anyway". It is beyond me why this is legal.

[azstar]

UA seems to have more flight cancellations than anyone. However, when the flight is cancelled, most carriers including UA can, and should, accommodate you on other carriers services with whom they have a ticketing agreement. Sometimes that involves an argument with the airline agent because they don't even know their own policies. They often feel that they can't use another carriers services. Unfortunately, you have to be knowledgeable and know your rights. Here's a quote from UA "contract of carriage".

Delay, Misconnection or Cancellation
a)
When a Passenger’s ticket is affected because of a Schedule Irregularity caused by UA, UA will take the following measures:
(i
) Transport the Passenger on its own flights, subject to availability, to the Destination, next Stopover point, or transfer point shown on its portion of the Ticket, without Stopover in the same class of service, at no additional cost to the Passenger; or
(i
i) At the Passenger’s request, provided that the tariff covering the original transportation permits routing via the carrier which will transport the Passenger, UA will re-accommodate the Passenger in the same class of service on the next available flight on another carrier, or combination of carriers, if the length of the delay to the Passenger’s destination exceeds two hours

[jimworcs]

Exactly, but what do you do if they refuse, as in this case. If an airline re-routes on an indirect routing when you booked direct, they should be forced to refund 50% of the fare paid.

[tropiholic]

My daughter was flying from IAD to Beirut. The first flight on 6/22 was finally cancelled after many hours of the passengers sitting on the plane in the heat without food or water. When they were finally allowed to disembark, they were re-booking people 3 or 4 days ahead and claimed that was the best they could do. My daughter managed to get re-booked for Sunday 6/24 as a solo traveler but after waiting for 2 hours in the check in line, the reservation was screwed up by the original representative, the problem could not be resolved and her flight left without her on board. There was one single agent, Joel Goldman who was at the next station and who had checked in at least 10 or 12 passengers in the time we were standing at the desk. When things got a but quieter he came over to see if he could help and he did. He finally got her on a late night flight with Turkish Air. She arrived in Beirut several days late but safe and sound. The so called "supervisors" from United were indifferent, incompetent and in some cases downright rude. One was in the ladies room having a personal phone conversation for at least half an hour.
Our experience was so horrendous that I cancelled her return flight at my own expense and booked her with British Air. I have been flying United for decades as a world traveler and have never experienced such ghastly customer service in my life. Never again United. Shame on you for your disgraceful treatment of passengers.

[Richard12]

The flight UA 1223 was announced by email to be cancelled three hours before the flight departure today (Sunday). I was on the way to the airport for another flight connecting to UA 1223. When I arrived at the gate at EWR, we were told it was reinstated with a smaller plane and it was overbooked. The attendant at the gate asked passengers to give up their seats for a $300 voucher. However, there would not be any seat of the same flight until Thursday. I certainly would not give up my seat even if the offer is $3000 voucher for the unreliable service of UNITED.

This new UNITED SUCKS has cancelled several of my flights in the past few months (almost every trip) because the "over and over again" overbooking. I think it is a regular practice that this airline overbooks every flight and cancels flights the last minute at the expenses of passengers. I think the government should have regulation to prohibit airlines openly ripping off their customers! I'll certainly avoid this unreliable airline from now on! UNITED is at the bottom of my list now!