[rcz285@sbcglobal.net]

Below is a complaint that I filed with US Airways.For my trouble my wife and I have been offered two $50 vouchers that can not be used for web bookings or connecting flights. I appealed US Airways decision to a supervisory person and was told that my hotel expense will not be refunded and that my experience will be forwarded to their Management Team that evaluates the flight schedules and connections for their review for future scheduling. Big deal. On 5/7 my wife and I took US Airways Flight 4297 from New Haven toPhiladelphia. The flight was scheduled to leave at 7:44 AM and arriveat 8:55 AM. Our connecting US Airways Flight 1070 to Bermuda wasscheduled to leave Philadelphia at 9:35 AM. We checked one bag in NewHaven. This flight was recommended by US Airways through Orbitz. Flight4297 landed in Terminal F and Flight 1070 departed from Terminal A. Wewere assured by the ticket agent in New Haven that we would havesufficient time to move from Terminal F to Terminal A. Take off for Flight 4297 was delayed 30 minutes because of, aswe were told, backup problems in Philadelphia . Additionally, landing was delayed an additional 15 minutes in Philadelphia. We landed atapproximately 9:45 AM in Philadelphia . Needless to say we missed Flight 1070. Hoping Flight 1070 was delayed we attempted to reach Terminal A. At Terminal F we had to wait for a shuttle that drove us to TerminalA. We then had to clear TSA security. We arrived at the departure gatein Terminal A at approximately 10:30 AM which was well past the 9:35 AM departure time for Flight 1070. Weather notwithstanding there is no way that we could have made Flight 1070 traveling from Terminal F toTerminal A and clearing security in 40 minutes. US Airways never shouldhave allowed the flight to be booked with a 40 minute window. Wepractically ran to the shuttle in Terminal F and to the gate in Terminal A and it still took us approximately 45 to 50 minutes. We challenge you to make the trip between Terminals F and A clearing security in less than 45-50 minutes. Factor in other passengers and gate placement and you will find that it is impossible. The travesty is that we could have taken an earlier flight from New Haven that would have allowed us to make the Flight 1070 connection even with the delays. We were directed to US Airways Support Services where we wereadvised that we were rebooked on a flight to Bermuda via Miami that left at 10:10AM. Needless to say we knew nothing about this rebooking as we were in transit from Terminal F to Terminal A. Your representative then booked us on Delta 6708 scheduled to depart to JFK at 1:59 PM. We then would take American 1444 to Bermuda at 6:00 PM. By 4:00 PM we were advised that Delta 6708 had not left JFK, itspoint of origination, due to inclement weather. The Delta representative advised that we would not make the 6:00 PM American connection at JFK even if the Delta flight arrived at JFK at 5:00 PM because we would have to change terminals and clear security. The Delta representative then cancelled the Delta and American reservations and rebooked us on US Airways Flight 1070 scheduled to leave Philadelphia on 5/8. We took this flight to Bermuda after spending the evening at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott Hotel. We inquired about our luggage at US Airways Baggage Servicesand were assured that our luggage did not travel to New York and that it would be on Flight 1070 with us on 5/8. When asked if we could have our luggage we were told no. Our luggage did not reach us in Bermuda until 5/9. We are filing a separate delayed expenses claim. We realize that you have no control over the weather; however, you dohave control over scheduling. Even under ideal weather conditions youdid not provide us with sufficient time between connecting flights. Weinfrequently travel by airplane and have to rely upon professionals like US Airways when scheduling trips. We were set up to miss the connecting flight before we even left home. Also, we were given inconsistent information by your representatives regarding our luggage and ticketing information that conservatively cost two hours of our time. We then hadto spend an evening at the hotel without a change of clothes. We are requesting $247.68 in reimbursement for the hotel room and the$15.00 luggage fee. We are attaching a copy of our flight confirmationand a copy of the hotel bill.

[mars6423]

i am sorry for all that happened and that you lost time on your vacation (i believe-or meetings) it sucks to be in that situation and everything

i believe you should have taken the earlier flight as you said before, if you knew about it, since 40mins transfer time is cutting it pretty close, and it will normally say before you pay for the ticket that there is a terminal change, so you have to account at least 10mins just for the change, the time that it takes to get the plane from the runway to the gate and everything, so 40mins is cutting it even if you arrived on time

now the other flights were out of your control and that bad luck went to worse

if you were talking about the connecting times from the first flight saying you didnt provide us with suffiecient time, well that is true but you also have to realize the connecting time and have to think reasonably if it is too close to call or are you going to take a chance especially with a terminal change, so its not completley the airlines or agents fault, there are some responsibilities you should take but it is understandable

but i think that you did the right thing by contacting them and asking for them to pay you back for the hotel and the fees, since that was not your choice and you didn't plan on having to stay there

i got a $50 virgin atlantic coupon (my girlfriend didnt recieve hers even though they said they were giving her one) for a flight where we missed out connection coz we were delayed and our connecting time was 2hours, and this was on xmas eve, and the flight attendants were worried about missing their party, so they put is in a hotel and a $12 food coupon (no drink and at midnight so the hotel wasn't serving any food) and than we had to get up early for the 12hour flight to singapore so it took us 30hours to get to our destination, and the return flight on virgin was worse, but i was happy with the way they handled my situation, since i knew that it was not their fault for the delay and everything (you can see my story under other airline complaints and look for virgin) just felt like puttin my story here since it somewhat kinda resembles yours slightly

[Silent Bob]

First I believe this was not the fault of US Airways, as its more of Orbitz's fault for having the booking. If you foresaw a problem, you should have immediately called them to give you a wider window. A lot of folks don't know or realize they can do this and their first response is to call the airlines and not the company who booked it. Always, always, always go with your gut, if it says something doesn't look right, it's almost always the case. And if an airline agent says "yea, sure no problem you can make" let them know how you feel about the connection or (again) call your travel agent, especially if its Orbitz as they are usually most helpful in situations such as this.