[georgep69]

Shame on you United Airlines, you put my wife through the emotional ringer. She called you to book a compassion fare because her mother is very sick and could pass at any moment, but did you show her any compassion? Not very much! My wife was quoted a price of $285 for a one-way ticket on April 28, 2011 from Dallas Texas to Rapid City South Dakota. This is were the plot thickens. The reservation was made and the ticket was put on hold, only because the funds would not be available until the next day. She was told she could purchase her ticket at the ticket counter and at no time was a $30 at the airport ticketing fee mentioned. I’ll get back to that fiasco. In the mean time, my wife was asked to get the contact information for the doctor and hospital that her mother was located and to call back with the information. She did exactly that, only to find out the reservation was for a one-way ticket from Dallas to Denver and not Dallas to Rapid City. I sat next to my grieving wife as she made the reservation, and at no time was a one-way ticket to Denver mentioned. Denver was mentioned as a layover, but never as a final destination.

In the mean time, she was on the phone at one in the morning for an hour trying to explain to an agent in New Delhi India that could not speak proper English that the initial ticket agent hade made a mistake. The whole conversation was about the reservation in the system, Dallas to Denver and how the agent could reserve a ticket from Dallas to Rapid City for $405. Not once did the agent acknowledge that a mistake was made. Emotionally tired and drained my wife gave up on the idea of flying; she went to bed with the idea of making the 18-hour drive by herself. I finally had to step in and try to fix your mistake, fortunately, I was able to speak to a supervisor and after more back and fourth haggling and another hour on the phone, she adjusted the ticket price to the original quote.

Back to the ticketing fee, we got to the airport and to our surprise; we were charged a $30 ticketing fee. I would pay any amount to allow my wife to see her mother one more time, if I had the money. I do not! Not that it really matters to United, but we are a one-income family walking a fine financial line just like most of this country. Bottom line, $285 is lot of money and adding $30 to print a couple pieces of paper is blackmail at is simplest form…

What is the price for peace of mind? $285 for a one-way ticket, $25 baggage fee and $30 ticketing fee for a grand total of $340. Priceless you say? NOT!


Regretfully,
George Paterakis