[jordanche@hotmail.com]

I had a friend flying from Philly to Bozeman with a stop to change planes in Denver and of course the snowstorm comes today. While they were taxiing she asked me to check the status of her Denver to Bozeman flight which said online that it had already left-an hour early. In order to try to help her figure out if that was accurate, or if there were plans to put her on a different flight she asked me to call United. Do you think I could find a phone number to call? Hidden somewhere I finally came up with a number, but then got a menu with 4 options-all of which were dead ends, like "check flight status." No, I want to TALK to someone. I tried a couple of options that wouldn't give me a person, and finally tried just not responding to the options. IT HUNG UP ON ME! Ok, NO business, much less an airline, deserves to get any patronage with that kind of ****ty non-service. Completely unacceptable, and yet, what is the alternative?

[Matt_FLL]

Jordan,
Airlines do everything they can to avoid speaking with their customers. United is especially horrific. Here are some steps to help you:

Valid as of 2/3/2012:

1. Call 1-800-UNITED-1

2. Press 0 immediately upon hearing voice.

3. Ignore message, press 0 again.

4. There are two kinds of reservation agents (a) Domestic and (b) International. You really do need to get routed to the correct type. So stop here, and when they ask if your trip is within the 50 US states, say "Yes" or "No" on this step.

5. You will get a standard message about an 'extremely high call volume'. The recording will suggest that you visit the website instead of waiting on hold. This recording is fake; it plays even when call volume is normal. Simply wait on the line. Call volume was normal when I called, and after that message, someone answered immediately.


Good luck! And FYI, the agent may be unauthorized to make itinerary changes unless they were speaking to the passenger herself. However, if the computer system determines that it is impossible for her to make a connection, it will automatically rebook her on the next available flight, and the agent could share that info with you.