[hmaurer]

I will make this brief. A copy will also go into US Airways customer service.

I had a one day business trip from Dulles to San Antonio. I left the night before the meeting so I could attend in the morning at 7:00AM and finish by 2:00PM. Return planned for the next morning...

United was 2 hours late leaving Dulles due to cold weather equipment related issues. I arrived in Chicago too late to transfer flights to San Antonio. United bought me a room and said I could go the next day, arriving just as my meeting ended-unacceptable. I took the next flight home in the morning. I had to fly into Richmond because the Inauguration had depleted tickets to DC.

Here's where it gets good. They rewrote the San Antonio ticket to show that I took the second flight on my itinerary, so their system had me completing the leg. with that in place, the return trip, booked--as was the first flight--through US Airways. US Airway logged me in as a no-show on the return and will not refund the ticket nor will United because I volunteered for a new itinerary - even though I was told by their gate agent (who has now been laid off as he so clearly told all 300 of us that night) that I would receive a hotel voucher (I did) and a full refund.

Net: I spent $625 for a one-way ticket to Richmond.

Crooks, All! I have flown for over 30 years. I have never been screwed like this!

[jimworcs]

Write to the DOT and file in court. You will win.

[Jetliner]

What I would suggest is to include copies of you boarding passes from the rerouted flight. I can tell you that they didn't re-write the ticket. What would have happened is you were already checked in for it. Sounds like they failed to remove you from the flight in the computer. But include the copies of the boarding passes to show that you flew those other flights instead of what they show.

[The_Judge]

Impossible..........to show the ticket being used means that you have to have been assigned a seat on the flight you were booked for and have your boarding pass scanned or verified in some way to show you were on the flight. That didn't happen so the leg from Chicago to San Antonio is open. This is an absolute that can't be fudged. Unless you're on the other side of the counter, I will say that anyone who says otherwise is 100% wrong.

You have an open leg on your ticket and that is easy to prove if you talk to refunds or customer relations. You have taken a trip in vain and are entitled to a refund and expenses from Richmond to Dulles.

[hmaurer]

Without telling me, the agent, who informed us all that he was about to be laid off, simply REWROTE leg 2 of the departure trip to have me arrive in Richmond rather than San Antonio. United claims I took the trip because I used both legs, thus, when I did not show up for the return leg on US Airways from San Antonio to Dulles via Charlotte, they logged me in as a "No Show" and closed out the transaction.

US Airways claims I cannot get a refund until United indicates that I did not take the second flight. United says, "Sorry, but you actually DID take the second flight by volunteering to go to Richmond, not San Antonio." So, United will no indicate that I did not fulfill my ticket, consequently I get a refund from neither entity.

Not impossible. Just screwed.

[Leatherboy2006]

on what date was your flight to Richmond? Surely the would remeber the situiation in DC. around the swearing of President. You were lucky to even get into Richmond sounds like DC was a mess around that time. I was glad to be home watching it on TV and not in the mass of people

[hmaurer]

All the events I described happened on the weekend before the inauguration, and everyone. including me, was aware that getting back to DC was going to be impossible - I wasn't even offered the option although I asked--I even called AMTRAK from O'Hare. There were over 20 standby's for the Richmond flight that weekend, and not a rent-a-car to be had. My wife came down and picked me up.

However, all the common sense in the world doesn't translate into anyone caring a whit about my $625 dollars. United is a huge disappointment and US Airways runs a close second. I am a frequent flyer for both airlines. BFD!

[jimworcs]

You really should in small claims.. you will win a judgement for sure.

[airhead]

Not screwed. File in small claims court. You will win.

[PHXFlyer]

I would still give United one more chance.

I had a simmilar situation with a Continental issued ticket which had one segment (the first one) on US Air. The first flight from Phoenix to San Diego mis-connected with the Continental flight to Newark. Since Continental's staff had left for the evening a US Air agent "helped" me by booking me on their red-eye to Charlotte with a connecting flight to Newark the next morning. She did this by "forcing" control of the ticket from Continental to US Air. When I arrived in CLT the next AM there were winter weather issues in the New York area (the same weather incident where JetBlue had passengers on the tarmac for hours) and all flights were canceled. I finally made it on a flight from CLT back to PHX and then called CO about my "trip in vain."

When the CO agent first looked at the ticket she commented that it had been taken over by US and that all but one segment - the first, ironically - showed used. When I explained again what had happened she put me on hold to do some research. Apparently they have a way of tracking everything that happens to a ticket and every time an agent touches it. She soon had it straightened out and all segments were "re-set" to un-used and the ticket was re-issued for travel on other dates.

I'm sure United has a way of telling exactly what happened and which agent "over-wrote" the ticket to show it was used in both directions. Perhaps if you insist on speaking to someone in a US call center rather than off-shore you might get this resolved.

[Jetliner]

Originally Posted by hmaurer

Without telling me, the agent, who informed us all that he was about to be laid off, simply REWROTE leg 2 of the departure trip to have me arrive in Richmond rather than San Antonio.

Every reservation has what's called a reservation history that shows every change made to it. All any agent would have to do is simply look at the reservation history to see that changed had been made.