[Marn]

Our complaints, in summary, are
FIRST: that I had to spend 7.2 hours over two days on the telephone to get this problem straightened out. This was not a problem which could be corrected by my visiting the airlines’ web sites., It was also not a problem which first level operators in the Philippines or elsewhere could handle. I had to escalate to a supervisory level with almost every call with either airline. Until the final person, just 2 hours before the flight was to leave, none of the operators was able to work on the problem without my hanging on the line for an extended period.
SECOND: that United and US Airways do not coordinate their computer systems, so that agents for the two airlines have to wait, as I did, to talk to each other on the telephone in order to straighten out confusion on combined itineraries.

The details of the events are as follows:

Several months in advance of our trip, my wife and I booked two round-trip flights for June 16, 2011 (return June 20), through United Airlines (their confirmation No. N5N6KW) from Sacramento, CA (SMF) to Huntington, WV (HTS), with stops at San Francisco, CA (SFO) and Charlotte, NC (CLT). Except for the SMF to SFO United leg, all flights were operated by US Airways or its affiliate. (The US Airways confirmation No. was A6NBYE.) We successfully followed the itinerary to get to Huntington.

On June 19, under 24 hours before the first leg of our return flight was to leave (U.S. Airways #4117 at 7:10 am on June 20), we tried to print boarding passes for all the return flights. The return involved beginning with US Air, we went to that line’s page. Only Corinne’s boarding passes printed. The phone calls began.

I called US Airways and, between waiting for a person to talk to, and the actual conversation with someone, spent 47 1/2 minutes to learn that the United flights for me had been cancelled by United on June 18. I was told that US Airways still had my flight ready for the first leg home, but that the “reservation is out of sync” and therefore boarding passes could not be printed.

I called United and spent 83 1/2 minutes (mostly listening to garbled music) until the supervisor I had to ask for advised me that my flights showed as on the reservation, per United’s computer. I should call US Airways and ask them to search using my name and the flight number instead of their confirmation number.

I called US Air and, after 19 more minutes, was told by a supervisor there that I should tell United to “reinstate me on the itinerary” since there had been a cancellation on June 18.

I called United and after 63 more minutes was told by a supervisor there that they would follow up with US Air, but that, since my space had been taken, we would have to take other flights home. She booked us and emailed me a revised return itinerary which commenced at 4:08 pm. on US Air to Charlotte, followed by United flights to Houston, then Sacramento.

On the day before the scheduled flight home, I had spent a total of 220 minutes on the phone with the two airlines. According to United, I should be able to board US Air’s flight #4236 and be ticketed through to Sacramento.

The following morning, June 20, US Air did not show us on the new itinerary. They told me to be sure that United had issued tickets. United’s supervisor (47 minutes) gave me the United ticket numbers to give to US Air. At 1:30 pm we arrived at the airport and called USAir to learn that we did not show on the passenger list for their #4236, and that the United ticket numbers didn’t help them clarify anything. I called United, and after some 52 more minutes waiting was called back and assured by a supervisor that she had conferred with a US Air supervisor and that I should find, when the US Air counter opened, that we were on the flight.

The US Air person at the counter didn’t find us, at first. She then did some work-around, evidently using the United ticket numbers, to get us on the US Air flight.

Although that flight was late, and the United counter in Charlotte had to do some more rebooking (ironically onto a US Air direct flight to Sacramento), we made it home

[jimworcs]

That is a testament to how low standards at US based airlines have fallen. You should demand reimbursement of your costs and an explanation, copying your letter to the DOT. Why you had to be the go between is beyond me..they should have sorted it between themselves...OUTRAGEOUS

[Ombudsman]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

That is a testament to how low standards at US based airlines have fallen. You should demand reimbursement of your costs and an explanation, copying your letter to the DOT. Why you had to be the go between is beyond me..they should have sorted it between themselves...OUTRAGEOUS

jimworcs is absolutely correct. You purchased the ticket from United and it was their responsibility to correct any errors regardless if they were on the United or the US Airways reservation. Putting you in the middle of the process wasted much of your time. Although they may not refund any of your ticket price I would absolutely demand some form of compensation which would probably be in the form of a United travel voucher. Unfortunately this means you must trravel on United again to use that voucher but hopefully your experience will be better next time. I can't see that it could go much worse, but anything is possible.