[djgrimes]

In June 2008 my husband, 2 year old son and myself were flying direct non-stop Charlotte to Seattle to take a 7-day Alaska cruise. Needless to say after paying a $50 fee for overweight bag, the airline proceeds to lose it (on a direct non-stop flight)! We get to Seattle only to find that our main suitcase did not. Good tip to all parents traveling...don't pack all your diapers in the same bag. We spent the first 3 days at sea with only the few diapers we had in our carry on. Luckily we were able to beg from other parents onboard until we made our first port of call in Anchorage. When dreaming about our first cruise to Alaska, I truly never expected Walmart to be on our list of must see places but turns out that was our first stop after making port.

We spoke to several customer service reps who told us we would be covered up to $200 per person (even the child) so we saved receipts from the onboard store where we purchased some necesseties such as sweatshirts and sweatpants for each of us. Not sure how many of you have been on a cruise but the clothing is very expensive. We spent around $450 on clothes to get us through the first 3 days.

When I got back, I sent the claim and the receipts through to US Airways as instructed only to be told that I would only receive $250 max and that was if they approved my expenditures.

After not hearing anything back for several months, I followed up and had to re-submit everything. Several more months go by and still no word. Last year I received a notice from America West (now part of US) notifying me that I had never cashed the checks they sent to me and wanted me to let them know if I had not received them or what had happened. I immediately sent them notice of what had occurred and that no checks were ever received. In the meantime I had received another notice from America West telling me to disregard the previous notices I received. Since that time I have not heard another word. This past June it hit me that it had been two years since our cruise and still no refund from US Airways. What a pathetic excuse for company US Airways has become. I'm in the travel business and whenever possible I tell my story and ask clients if that is what they want to face on their vacation. It's truly worth the drive to fly a different airline out of another market.