Flight delayed because of no flight attendant

Date: 27 July 2013
Airline: Delta Airlines
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Flight: DL1352 (Salt Lake City, UT to Detroit, MI)

Our flight was delayed because a stewardess was pulled from our flight and put on a flight for Albuquerque, New Mexico. No replacement was made and consequently the Captain of the flight announced the problem shortly after the flight was to board.

A search was made for a substitute attendant but this was not done in a timely manner. We were just informed that an attendant should be at the gate by 2:15am! this means our flight will leave around 3:00am arriving in Detroit by 8am. This means a two and half hour delay!! This appears to be very poor management by Delta. This situation could have been avoided if appropriate action was taken as soon as the need for another flight attendant arouse. What procedures are in place for this problem which has impacted on over 140 unhappy passengers?

American Airlines plane ride turns into bus trip

Date: 28 June 2013
Airline: American Airlines
Location: LAX
Flight: 3626 (LAX to San Diego)

I purchased (suprise) ticket for my wife to fly from Maui, HI to Los Angeles, CA to San Diego, CA. I find out from her that the flight from Maui, HI to Los Angeles, CA was great. However, after arriving in Los Angeles, CA she sits on a plane for 30 minutes and is then told she has to ride a bus to get to San Diego !! What? I paid for her to ride on a plane, made arrangements to be picked up, and this experience cost me more money!

I have called Amercian Airlines and the only answer I got was "sorry". No compensation what so ever! So with this.... is the best option when flying into Los Angeles from Maui, HI is to get a Greyhound bus to San Diego? NOT happy with this issue.

Schedule changes causes shorter holiday

Date: 18 June 2012
Airline: Spirit Airlines, flight 244
Location: Guatemala

I am requesting partial refund of my airfare. My return trip was changed just prior to my flight. As a result I had to alter my vacation plans and was forced to shorten my stay in Guatemala. I am only requesting partial compensation.

I called the customer service line on this matter prior to my flight and was told I had to make the request at the airport. I then spoke to the agent at the airport prior to my flight and was told I had to call the customer service line.

-Preston

Note from AirSafe.com: Typically, airlines are not required to compensate passengers for costs not directly related to the trip. While the schedule change may have affected their holiday plans, that is not covered by most airlines.

If a passenger is concerned about delays affecting other parts of the trip, consider options such as purchasing insurance.

United almost causes missed overseas connection

Date: 12 May 2012
Airline: United, flight 4148
Location: Atlanta, GA/Newark, NJ

We arrived at the airport three hours prior to our departure as instructed. We were booked on UA 4148 departing at 12:20 pm, arriving in Newark at 2:43 p.m. with connection with UA 0106 departing at 5:35 pm.

Our Atlanta flight had a mechanical problem and they had to fly a part in to repair it. I ask that they re-book us with another airline to make our connection; the gate agent told me we had a “bulk price” ticket and no one else would accept it, and that all they could do is leaves us on the flight that was scheduled to depart now at 5:45. I spoke with a supervisor and she said she would re-book us on another flight out of Newark.

When we arrived in Newark I went to United customer service, because I saw no United flight departing for Munich. The service representative told me they had no record of us having a flight. I ask where my luggage was and he had no idea. He said the only flight left was Lufthansa 1926. I should go see them because they (United) had no record of our travel even though I gave him the confirmed ticket number and reservation code.

We went down to Lufthansa and they had no record of our flight. I think the agent could see I was about to blow up and she decide to help as much as she could. It took her an hour to find the record, but she found it. United would not even look for it they just said it was non-existent. Lufthansa put us on standby. I literally begged them to please put us on the flight, and they did.

-George

Delta delays and luggage issues lead to changed wedding plans

Date: 28 April 2012
Airline: Delta, flight DL2854
Location: Richmond, VA

I was traveling with my fiance to our wedding on April 28, 2012 from Richmond to Hong Kong. The flight was delayed from Richmond which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Detroit. Delta was unable to put us on another flight that day. We were forced to take a flight the next day with an extra connection.

We specifically paid more for our original ticket for one less connection. This also caused us to miss our transportation in Hong Kong because we arrived at a later time. We had to pay more for local transportation when we arrived in Hong Kong. Furthermore, we were unable to reclaim our baggage because it was already on the delayed flight to Detroit. We were without our personal belongings on Saturday night. Because of our delayed flight, we were forced to change our wedding plans.

We would like to be compensated for our rebooked and delayed flight, the extra connection in our travels, and not having our luggage.

Delayed luggage ruins wedding experience

Date: 3 May 2012
Airline: Air Canada, flight 3630
Location: Toronto/Oklahoma City, OK

We went from Toronto to OKC for three days. We arrived Thursday May 3 at 9:30 pm to attend a wedding for Friday May 4th. However our luggage was lost. It was disastrous situation as the next day at noon we had to be at the ceremony. They had no idea where our luggage was which was quite puzzling as I though with the RFID tags they should be able to track it.

They ruined the wedding day. We had miss the ceremony to go to the only mall 40 minutes away to find a dress and shoes. My husband came to the wedding in his jeans because he couldn't get his suit to be taylored on time. Finally after the most of the day being ruined the luggage arrived at the airport in the evening and my husband changed at the airport. I found everyone extremely incompetent starting from the check in person in Toronto up to the luggage department in OKC and then afterwards the 1-800 number for lost luggage which we spend hrs on the phone with and they seemed clueless as well.

-Mina Baghaee

Delays and Lost Bags on a Jamaica Wedding Trip

Date: 29 December 2011
Airline: Continental, flight 4627
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

I filed a complaint with Continental Airlines around January 5, 2102 due to terrible service, delayed flight, rude customer service and overall bad experience on my trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Jamaica. The trip was to commence on December 29, 2011 and return on Jananuary 2, 2012.

The trip was a destination wedding for my son that was to take place in Jamaica on December 30, 2011. The rehearsal for the wedding was to be the evening of December 29, 2011.

We had a total of 10 passengers that were on this flight (eight of us were on CO-FL03L3 reservation while 2 others were on a different reservation number but had the same last name--[redacted])

We left Pittsburgh around 5:45 on flight 4627. We were to fly into Houston and depart for Jamaica on flight 1400 at 10:25. Our flight was diverted to San Antonio where we sat on the plane for approx. 1 hour. We were then taken off the plan in San Antonio for approx. 1 1/2 hours. We were then put back on the plane and sat there for another hour and 45 min (approx). By the time the plane got back to Houston we missed our flight to Jamaica. We had rude service throughout the entire experience except for a very kind flight attendant who was on the Pitt to Houston flight (I believe her name was Maria). She was the only one who tried to make our experience tolerable.

Once we got to Houston we stood in a line for about 45 min. before being told that we had to go to another location. From that location we were told to go to still yet another location to be rebooked. By the time that we got to an agent who was willing to work with us, there were no other flights leaving that would have gotten us into Jamaica that day. We MISSED my son's rehearsal celebration. He was very upset as were we!!!!

We had a total of eight adults and two babies (two-year-old and a three-year-old). Needless to say this was extremely difficult to deal with.

Finally an agent said that if we wanted to make it in time for the wedding which was the next day that we would have to fly to Charlotte to try to get a flight early the next morning. If we stayed in Houston we would not have gotten into Jamaica until after the wedding was over. We went to Charlotte and then were told that we would have to get a hotel because the flight wasn't leaving until early on the morning of Dec. 30--the day of the wedding!! We were also told that we could not get a room from the airlines but that they would get us a 'distressed' passenger rate---when we got to the hotel we got the same rate that others who just walked in off the street got--NO DISCOUNT WHATSOEVER!!! I thought it was very inconsiderate and rude of the agents to say that they could not GIVE us rooms and also then to give false information about the distressed passenger rate.

We finally got to Jamaica around 11:10 on Dec. 30, 2011--we started our travel Dec. 29, 2011 at 5:45 AM.

Coming back from Jamaica on flight #1485 we were yet again delayed!!!! This time we were told that the plane was being held for some late arrivals from another flight!!! We didn't get that consideration when we were trying desperately to get to my son's wedding!!!

I called and filed a complaint when I returned and the best the agent said she could do (and I must admit she was also very RUDE) was a $100 travel certificate for each passenger on the flight!!! I told her that I paid 732.31 for each ticket (total of 10 equals around 7320 dollars) and that I thought she should do better than that. I also told here that that didn't even cover the room that we had to pay for once we got to Charlotte. Her response was more or less--"take it or leave it!!" I told her I would take it but that I would be filing a complaint with the travel agent and any other source that I could. I was so upset!!

It is now Jan. 19, 2012 around 2 weeks since I talked with the Continental customer service person about this issue and I still have NOT received the vouchers. I don't feel our compensation was in line with the time that we had to spend waiting and the rudeness that we experienced. I also don't feel that Continental did anything to try to make amends for the inconvenience. I lost 25% of my vacation (we were staying at the RIU Montego Bay which is an all-inclusive a total of approx. $1200), I had the added expense of a 5 hotel rooms (approx. $500) at the Hyatt in Charlotte.Along with added expense of food and trying to keep the babies occupied for approx. 30 + hours. I would hope that you would be able to provide each passenger with a refund of the rooms in Charlotte and at least a roundtrip ticket for each.

I feel that Continental is leaving me no recourse except to file a complaint with the Transportation Department and/or the Aviation Consumer Protection agency (Airconsumer@ost.dot.gov.). I have read and understand the Air Rights that we are entitled to.

If I don't have adequate resolution to this issue within 5 business days I will also contact the TV consumer advocates.

My hope is to resolve this issue amicably, but up to this point I have gotten no satisfaction from anyone from Continental.

-Darlene

American Airlines does little to help after canceling flight

Date: 7 June 2012
Airline: American Airlines, flight AA2401
Location: Dallas, TX (DFW)

I would like to file a complaint regarding AA lack of assistance for my parents and aunt (record locator [redacted]) to get them to their connecting flight LAX due to your canceled flight 2401 today, 7 June 2012. Final destination is Phnom Phen, Cambodia (international flight).

They were looking forward to this trip to visit their homeland after 10yrs of leaving it. But thanks to AA, their happiness have been drained from them.

It is in their policy to provide them assistance because they are the one at fault, all of sudden they canceled the 6:50am flight. Their policy is stated here http://www.aa.com/i18n/customerService/customerCommitment/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp&locale=it_IT

Basically my parents and aunt ran around like puppets at the airport today because they are unwilling to help find another flight for them, lugging with them all the boxes and luggages. AA send them back to Asiana Air but Asiana Air sent them back to you (AA). It doesn't matter what the reason why AA canceled their flight but the way I see it is that since AA is the one who canceled their flight (not Asiana) then AA should be the one to provide further assistance to get them on the next available flight out, if not today then tomorrow or the next day. I never heard of such nonsense that they cannot do anything what-so-ever!

AA have lost my whole family as a customer and we will never ever fly with them again for as long as we live. This company needs to shut down because they are in the business of customer service but they provide lack there of.

- Teri

United could not coordinate between their own flights

Date: 17 March 2012
Airline: United, flight 727
Location: San Francisco

At San Francisco airport our flight did not board until 1:10 pm (our scheduled departure time was 12:47 pm). We were told in advance that there was some issues with the landing strip and we would be delayed. After boarding late, the plane did not take off for at least another hour.

During the duration of our flight many of us passengers were concerned about our connecting flights. We were told countless times that our flights would be notified of the delay because it was not our fault. When we landed which was no earlier then 9:46 pm we still had to leave the plane and travel across the airport to our next gate, by 9:55 pm.

The flight attendants told all passengers with connecting flights to see the woman at the desk and she would explain to us what we needed to do. When we got to the counter, the woman had no information to our flight to HPX (Fort Campbell, KY), instead she proceeded to help all other customers before looking up in the computer.

Once we had the gate and ran as fast as we could to it, the flight had already left. We got in line to speak with United representatives who were very unhelpful. All they could tell us was that there were no hotels in the area for us, and if we could find one United was NOT going to pay for the cost of it. We were also told that if we wanted food we had to go to another section of the airport, come to find out ALL of the food places are closed.

Not only have I been on an airplane for the majority of the day, but now I will be in an airport for the night. This delay is causing everyone in my party to miss work, a huge inconvenience. We have no where to eat, no where to sleep. No customer service rep will be of help to us. Not one person that is associated to United Airlines has any concern for us 7 passengers that missed our flight to HPX and the rest of the passengers from our flight, who missed their other flights have not been helped either.

I want to make it clear that I will not stop making complaints until I have been taken care of accordingly.

-Emily

Delta changes departure airport but does not tell passenger

Date: October 24, 2011
Location: New York (JFK and Newark)
Airline: Delta

I am writing to file an official complaint for the failure of Delta Airlines to get me on the flight I purchased from JFK to Bonaire Island on October 15, 2011. I have been credited $359 as a result of not being informed of the airport change to Newark from JFK and I appreciate that gesture even though there is a $150 reissuance fee and it was the fault of Delta.

The $359 covers the flight your staff caused me to miss, however, I incurred several expenses as well as 24 hours of missed vacation time due to the incompetence of three Delta agents who had unbelievably surrey attitudes towards me. Below is a recount of the horrific customer experience at Delta and the expenses I incurred as a result of the failed flight.

I fully expect to be reimbursed for the amount below as they were direct out of pocket expenses. I will never be able to recapture the lost 24 hours in Bonaire, but I completely expect to be reimbursed for the out of pocket expenses.  I plan to escalate this complaint until I receive
full reimbursement for the disastrous experience with Delta.

July 28, 2011
- Purchased one way flight from JFK – Bonaire via Atlanta for $359
- Delta flight 1743 JFK – Atlanta 6:25am – 9:45 am
- Delta flight 663 Atlanta – Bonaire 9.45am – 2:45pm

August 8, 2011
Received an email from Expedia that my flight departure had been changed and called into customer service to verify. Made note of the time change for departure.

October 15, 2011
Arrived for flight at 5am and spent 15 minutes with curbside attendant before he told me I had to go inside and that there was no record of my flight.  Found first agent inside at 5.15 and she told me that I was booked out of Newark despite my printed itinerary reflecting JFK. She spent another 15 minutes trying to figure things out before she sent me to the head Agent (Shane) who said "We were killing him with all of these issues so early in the morning".

He told me I was too late to get on the 6:25 am flight. I pleaded and begged as all of the signs posted said 60 minutes prior to flight would ensure getting on board. I was well within that time frame when I got to Shane and there were no lines in security. He let other agents interrupt him and worked on their issues despite the fact that there was a 6:25 am flight leaving to Atlanta out of JFK that he could have placed me on in plenty of time.

He sent me to a female agent who said there was no way to make the flight and that she was getting off duty. She disappeared with my entire travel itinerary and no one could find it at the airport.  With tears running down my face and feeling defeated, I went outside to use my iPhone and rebook another flight after your staff said, "Sorry, you were too late."

It was really an awful experience. I then had to book a new flight that took 13 hours and cost $1,396 for a one-way flight to Bonaire departing out of JFK at 11.55pm on October 15th (17 hours after my original flight time) as this was the cheapest and quickest flight down to a 7 day pre-booked vacation package.  Not to mention, I had to fly all the way down to Ecuador and then back up to Bonaire.

Knowing that flights to Bonaire are so limited your staff should have called down to the gate to let them know I was coming at 5:20 am (65 minutes prior to departure). They could have cared less that I was going to miss the first 24 hours of my vacation and incur several hundred dollars beyond what I'd already spent on the first failed flight.

Expenses incurred as a result of the failed flight
- One-way airfare JFK – Bonaire $1,276.30
- Cab back to NYC at 7am - $58.30
- Cab back to airport 14 hours later - $60.00
- Lunch - $22.00
- Dinner - $66.53
- One night lost hotel cost in Bonaire -  $168.32
- Total amount: $1,651.45

If we can resolve this disaster, I fully plan on flying Delta again in the future. I am a reasonable person and will chalk it up to poor personnel decisions so long as Delta recognizes and takes accountability for the expensive and poor customer experience I endured and reimburses me in full for the unnecessary expenditure and missed 24 hours of vacation time. If not, I fully plan to file a complaint with every organization possible and write multiple poor reviews on every web  site I can find. There are options for air travel and Delta performed poorly against KLM and the other international carriers.

-Jill










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First class prices with second class speed

Date: 15 March 2012
Airline: US Airways, flight 959
Location: San Francisco, CA

My compannion Ana xxx and I bought round trip first class tickets Miami-Charlotte-San Francisco-Charlotte- Miami on US Airways at a cost of about $1,500 per person. On the return trip, US Airways San Francisco to Charlotte flight 959 was delayed, partially due late arrival and the rest due to an extremely slow boarding process aided by poor airline personnel direction/supervision, requiring over 40 minutes for a mid-sized Airbus A321 aircraft.

As a result we arrived at Charlotte 5 minutes BEFORE the Charlotte to Miami connecting departure. We ran to the Gate which was close to the arriving gate getting there at 10:22 pm, two minutes past departure.

We were told the flight had actually left the gate several minutes BEFORE regular departure time of 1020 pm (Flight crew decision). In other words not only did US Airways made no effort to protect connecting passengers by a couple of minutes, the aircraft actuall blocked off BEFORE departure sked time.

We were rerouted to next morning flight to Miami, downgraded from first class to economy and were denied overnight accommodations.

We asked for a refund for the Charlotte-Miami difference between first class and economy and were refunded $31 for each passenger, a total of $62
which obviously is too low.

We are requesting an upward adjustment in the refund to reflect the difference between first class and economy for the Charlotte-Miami flight segment plus a refund for the hotel ($55). US airways conveniently blamed the delay on ATC and weather, ignoring the incompetent boarding process in San Francisco.

- Ramon

Airline makes booking mistake and makes passenger pay change fee

Date: 26 April 2012
Airline: Spirit

This is ridiculous!

On Thursday night (26 April 2012) I booked my regular r/t (round trip) from DTW (Detroit, MI) to ACY  (Atlantic City, NJ) on Spirit and TODAY (Saturday 28 April 2012) received the confirmation in my box that Spirit REVERSED my cities! Note that I book this regularly and remember putting in the correct cities:

TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012
Atlantic City, NJ; 5:00 PM; flight 348
Detroit, MI 6:50 PM

TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2012
Detroit, MI 8:10 AM; flight 341
Atlantic City, NJ 9:42 AM

They have me leaving ACY on 5/22 to DTW rather than DTW to ACY!  So I phone them immediately and they say it's past 24 hours (I JUST got their email today!) so they want to charge me $125 for a $136 ticket, for something that was THEIR error.  

Waiting for an hour, supposedly I was handed from supervisor to supervisor, with a man named Anbre Davis telling me that there was no way he could fix my ticket, and that I should just email customer service and even then, after I checked the address with them, they gave me the wrong address.  This isn't fair.  I deserve for them to fix their computer error without a charge.  

Please help me get my complaint through to their higher ups AND put in my complaint that their customer service is a big run around.  They just reiterated their unfair rules.  I didn't make the mistake-- their computer did! Thanks!

- Marcy

Delays during international flight lead to visa problem

Date: 1 April 2012
Airline: Mihin Lanka MJ402 / MJ 2886
Location: Phuket, Thailand

I supposed to fly with Mihin Lanka on 1st of April at 22:45 hrs but I didn't because we were get stuck there without any notice from airline crew what is going on on that day untill almost 02:30 hrs ( in 2nd April ) one of the crew came and said NO FLIGHT today so He moved us ( some to the hotel and some to anothe terminal and I have to stay at the airport on that night) and around 12:30 hrs. airline crew came and arranged us again and we all ready to fly at around 16:00 hrs. and again Captian said SORRY we cant fly again and we sat inside the aeroplane until 20:30 hours.

They moved us again and my VISA was cancelled then i have to get stuck inside the Airport for one more night. Untill morning 3rd at 05:15 hrs i went to the immigration office and asked them a favor to help to find a new ticket because i heard that its gonna be delay again for one day and i cant stay anymore I stay in the Airport more than 30 hours. That's why i get Emirates Airlines ( on 3rd April 2012 ETD 09:40 hrs / EK 372 "for the flight number i"m not sure but will let you know again") that cost me for 3920 AED.

I did contact the agent i Singapore and he asked me to forward to sales office in Jakarta up to now NO ONE contact me for this issue..

- Chirawan

United Express could have been faster

Date: 23 April 2012
Airline: United Flight UA4892
Location: Newark Liberty

My wife and I waited in the checkout line (Terminal A - United Express) for over two hours. Four of the eight kiosks were out of order. Two employees were working diligently but two others were very slow and unresponsive. One of them directed us to a kiosk that was out of order. When I told her it was out of order she did nothing to help us, and several other customers jumped ahead of us. The line was unsupervised, and frustrated customers occasionally jumped to the express line.

We then had to take a shuttle bus to Terminal C, and just barely made our flight, even though we had arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours early.

When we arrived in Pittsburgh we discovered that our 2 checked bags ($50) were not on the plane. We are still awaiting resolution to that problem.

This is not our first disastrous experience with United. Generally speaking I find United employees to be rude and contemptuous to their customers. They have no sense of professionalism, courtesy or empathy.

- Matthew

Another reason to confirm anything your airline says about flight delays

Date: 21 April 2012
Airline: Delta, Flight DL833
Location: San Diego

Mechanical problems with the first flight caused a delay, asked about connections and were told we were probably fine but they couldn't check, landed in detroit and were told to sit tight until a gate agent told us where to go, agent only addressed the one flight being held then told everyone else to go ahead and deplain and we would be helped by an agent when we got to the gate.  Agent at the gate told us to check the monitor and then we pressed about our connection departing in 10 minutes, she indicated the plane was being held.  Ran through the airport and got to connecting gate as the jetway was being pulled back.  That agent told us the flight was never being held and there was no way for us to make it.

Can't get on another flight for over 12 hours.  Waiting in line with 14 others in same situation.

Michelle

A broken foot is more painful when your airline lets you down

Flight Details
Date: 16 April 2012
Airline: American
Location: Chicago (ORD)

I was arriving from Belize in time. I left my luggage for the flight connection. I already had my boarding pass for April 16th AA1869 flight with a boarding time at 4:55PM. I arrived at the gate D03 around 4:30PM with the wheelchair services (I'm have a broken foot, so I cannot walk all the way in the airport). The wheelchair responsible informed me that my flight is delayed (departure at 7:10PM instead of 5:25PM), she cannot stay with me. The radio was saying that the gate is changed for D04. I walked to D04 Gate (with a broken foot), nobody was there to answer our concerns.

I've verified my connection in Chicago, and with the flight delay I will miss my connection to Ottawa. So, I ask to another wheelchair responsible to go to the rebooking center. There, he gave me a new passenger itinerary for a flight to Ottawa for April 17th on flight AA3907 with a departure at 10AM and informed me that I will need to obtain a voucher for hotel/breakfast in Chicago.

It's around 5PM and I returned to gate D04. Around 6PM, AA responsibles are present at the booth. They asked for volunteers who want to change their flight with a compensation of $400 because the flight is overbooked. I go see them; I' m already delayed so I could help someone else if I could keep my next flight to Ottawa at 10AM.

The AA agent looked in the computer and said that I did not have a ticket for that flight; my flight to Chicago is registered for April 17th. She printed me a passenger receipt and ignored me and she didn’t want to listen me, and the said that I have to go to the rebooking center if I want to change anything to my ticket, she cannot do anything for me. I didn’t have access to the wheelchair services, so I had to walk to the rebooking Center.

The line was very long, I waited about 30 min in a standing position, but I cannot be in a standing position for an extended period and as the line is moving very slowly; I estimated the waiting period for about 2 hours. I see AA agent in an electric cart. I asked him if I could have access to the wheelchair services. He cannot do anything for me but I have to go to on the side of the booth and ask for the services. All peoples in line were yelling, the AA agent totally ignored me. I had to walk to another booth (at the Gate D15) to ask for the services. Fortunately, the agent there helped me. She looked my ticket and tried to understand what was happened. She was not able to understand why my ticket has been changed for April 17th (AA1869 Miami-Chicago– departure time 5:25PM and AA4098 Chicago-Ottawa – departure time 8:50PM). But, considering I didn’t have any other option to reach Chicago, Ottawa or Montreal on April 16th. She printed my boarding passes for these flights and gave me voucher for dinner/hotel/breakfast.

I asked to have a voucher for the hotel in the airport considering that I have a broken foot and I have difficulty to walk. She gave me a voucher for the Regency Hotel which is not inside the airport limit and required to take a shuttle. After trying to have access to the wheelchair services (I had waited for 30 min.), another AA agent in an electric cart, drove me to the closest door to the shuttle area. It was around 9:00PM when I could go out of the airport.

So, I want to know what compensation American Airlines will offer to me. Why if my flight is delayed of 24 hours I do not have access to 3 meals (I didn’t have access to a lunch voucher)? I want to know what I’m supposed to eat with an allocation of $12 for the dinner and $7 for the breakfast (the minimum breakfast cost at the Regency is $1250)?

For your information, I had to miss a complete working day which is representing for me about $550 of income loss. This is not considering all the other inconvenient.

When I tried to sent this to complain to the AA customer services, I cannot send the whole story because they limit the number of caracter to 1500. I've sent two parts of the story, but I cannot sent the latest section, because the web complaining access system has been blocked.

- Beaulieu

United Delays Ruin Family Holiday

Letter Sent to United Airlines

Dear Senior Management,

It saddens me greatly to have to write in this manner, however it is absolutely necessary to express our families horrific firsthand experience of using United Airlines Services, converse from the United Airlines ‘Customer Commitment’ boasted online. Normally all our long haul flights are through British Airways and the experience has always been close to perfect as possible. Under the reviews we read on the website we decided this year to try United Airlines, how wrong we were.

Namely our complaint is pertaining to the failed departure of flight UA935Y, which was scheduled to depart on 31st March 2012 from London Heathrow Terminal 1 at 10.25am GMT, and to say an inconvenience was suffered is a mass understatement.

After much careful financial budgeting and planning over the course of 2011, we finally booked our holiday in September 2011, to fly us out in March 2012 to Hawaii from England. The United Airlines role was absolutely simple yet fundamental to the fulfilment of our holiday, to get us to Los Angeles where we would get our transfer to Honolulu, Hawaii to commence our much anticipated holiday.

The holiday was to celebrate a much eagerly awaited 30th birthday along with a work promotion. Both of us had to overcome difficulties at work in order to synchronise the Easter Holiday 2012 period off, with multiple employers, including schools.

To give you a bit of background and how the events unfolded on 31st March 2012:

We all put our pets into care, in readiness for the holidays the day before, (cost of £350). We set off at 5.25am, arrived promptly at Heathrow Airport via Taxi’s at 7.25am at a cost of £160 single journey, (£320 return taxi fare). We all checked in our luggage and had breakfast in the departures lounge (at a cost of £40).

At 10.25am an announcement was made that our flight had been cancelled due to blade damage and to report to the boarding gate. The attendant gave us a sheet with a telephone number to ring for further information, we did and were put on hold for 45 minutes. The earliest we could fly out now was 3rd April 2012.

Following this phone call, we were told we would now be taken to a hotel to stay overnight, and flown out at 2.30pm on 1st April 2012. However as a result of United Airlines failure to depart, we would miss our transfer from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii.

The next transfer offered to us was on 3rd April from Los Angeles.
If we even considered this extenuated option, we would effectively lose a third of our holiday time not to mention the further stress and stay in hotel at Los Angeles for a night. We had paid £2349 for our holiday. After ringing our hotel in Hawaii we where told if we did not check in on the 31st March 2012 as initially booked, we would lose our money we paid for our accommodation and have to re-pay $129 per night, due to us booking at the non flexible rate.

This was far too late and simply not practical and we didn’t have consent from work for any extension of holidays, which we had booked nearly 6 months in advance in order to synchronise.

We asked for routing to Washington or San Francisco however this was declined by United Airlines. What was even more frustrating was there was so many aircraft idle at the airport from Star Alliance we were not seen as priority for these.

Subsequently, we were forced to cancel our holiday, going on holiday is meant to be a time of enjoyment and throughout our many years of travelling we have never experienced such a stressful time. We are incredulous and still in a state of shock of what happened to our planned celebrations and can only find United Airlines at fault.

I am unable to regain the lost holiday allowance from work, I have no more allowance as a result left available for 2012 and any time off would have to be unpaid by my employer.

The cost of re-booking a similar holiday, would be effectively £800 more expensive in the summer of 2012, even if my work granted unpaid leave.

As a group we purchased 1,250 USD, this to sell back to currency bureau would now be at a much lower rate, so effectively we would now lose further money transferring it back to pounds.

This wasn’t just a normal holiday, this was much more meaning to us and now that has been ruined. Due to this horrific ordeal, we will not be using any Star Alliance member company for any of our future holidays.

I eagerly await your response to this complaint and how satisfactorily you can bring this dispute to an end.

Flight Delays Lead to a Loss of a Job

I was living and working in China. I came back to UK on the 15 November 2011 for 6 days for a family funeral. I was due to fly back on the 21 November, the night before I was due to fly the website showed the flight had been cancelled due to high winds and fog around Newcastle airport.

I was unable to contact the KLM call centre on the Sunday night so tried again on the Monday but to  no avail, also  on Tuesday and again I could not get through. the problem to start with at the call centre is if the call waiting is over ten minutes then they ask you to call back later.

The first time I was able to get through was the 23 November 2011. I spoke to the KLM agent and asked him when the next flight was I could rebook, without asking me I was put on hold. then after 3/4 minutes of being on hold I was cut off, totally unacceptable. i was unable to get through for rest of the 23/11 so tried again on the 24/11 were i got through again, I spoke to the KLM agent, told him my query and was promptly cut off. Totally unacceptable. as far as im aware these calls would have been recorded.

The original complaint was passed to KLM who passed on apologies but no more. What hurts the most is that because I was unable to return to china during that week I was dismissed from my position in China. after my final attempt to get through on the 24 November,  I checked my email and read message from my employers telling me as i was unable to return to work i had been dismissed. this has left me without most of my possessions, without a permanent home and utterly disgusted at kl and obviously the treatment from my employer.
I have asked KLM for recompense but they have declined this.

- Ian

How can a simple request for food turn into a security situation?

The following article is from a copy of a customer service email that was sent to our partner site AirSafe.com. It is about an American Airlines Flight on August 4th where things got a bit out of hand between a flight attendant and two passeners. Some of the contact information was removed, but all of the emotion remains.

Date: 4 August 2010
Airline: American Airlines
Flight: 1212
Location: Orlando, FL to Chicago, IL

Dear American Airlines,

On Wednesday August 4th 2010 my fiancé and I flew from Orlando airport to Chicago O’Hare airport on AA Flight #1212. The customer service during this flight was horrendous and needs to be dealt with in an immediate manner. We were treated like criminals by a flight attendant just for asking for cheese and crackers. Due to this incident we will never fly American Airlines again unless the situation is handled properly.

The flight left the gate on time however a minute after leaving the gate they announced that the flight was going to be delayed for over an hour due to weather in Chicago. When we called our family in Chicago they said that the weather indeed had been horrible. Our question is why in the world would we leave the gate if the weather was that bad and wouldn’t they have checked this prior to leaving the gate? How could they have not known the weather was bad just two minutes before? This inconvenience was not comfortable to deal with but I would never write a letter like this just because of this problem. The major issue, which is why we are writing this letter, is the service that was provided by one of your flight attendants named Darlene and the resulting events.

With both of us being in customer service fields we see and deal with many patients and guests every day. One of us is a nurse practitioner and the other is a hotel manager. We both know the level of service that is expected and needed in customer service fields. On Wednesday August 4th that level of customer service was not met and was breached beyond belief. It is the worst customer service that I have ever seen or experienced in my life by an airline attendant.

When the plane took off it was a quiet ride until it was time for drink service. We were seated in an exit row about half way down the plane. We did not buy snacks at the airport because we thought we would be arriving before lunch in Chicago. However, since we were delayed I decided to purchase the cheese and crackers snack since I was very hungry at this point. I then proceeded to ask Darlene if I could purchase the cheese and crackers, Darlene then rather rudely responded we are out of cheese and crackers. When I asked what else she had she took a bag and threw it on the cart and said “these”. I then asked what “these” were and she answered I don’t know some kind of nut mix. I responded do you have anything else available because I am allergic to some nuts. Remember we are only halfway through the plane and nuts were the only thing you had left. I understand that the airlines are feeling the economic pressures and that items are no longer given away for free but you should have the proper amount of product to be bought if offering this to customers. She responded no and so I asked how can you run out of all snacks when you aren’t even half way through the plane. Darlene responded well I don’t stock the plane and if you don’t like it you can write a letter to corporate. This comment was given in a very sarcastic loud tone.

Seeing that this was going nowhere and Darlene was not being very nice and becoming very animated, I very politely asked her to be quiet and not talk to us anymore because she isn’t helping the situation and if she could please serve us our drinks and drop the snack issue. She continued to badger us and kept talking about how she did not pack the cart and we should write a letter. We then asked her to please stop talking to us and leave us alone again. At this time she replied did you just tell me to shut up. My fiancé replied that this was horrible customer service. She then said if you continue to talk I will have security meet you at the gate when we arrive.

We then asked her again to leave us alone which she replied you’re harassing me and I don’t need this and turned and stormed towards the front of the plane. We were unable to walk away from the situation like I normally would because we were trapped in our seats by the two flight attendants and the service cart. We both sat there in shock of what just happened. She then went to the front of the plane and came back and said security would be waiting for both of us. Darlene then said to the other flight attendant standing there that she would not serve us and asked him to do it. At that time we asked the other flight attendant if he heard what was taking place and want we did wrong which he replied that he wasn’t paying attention and he only heard us ask her to leave us alone.

About 15 minutes later she came down the aisle and gave us paper work that stated that we were interfering with airline business, being verbally abusive and intimidating an airline employee. First of all during the whole encounter the only thing that my fiancé said was this was horrible customer service and he was also given this paperwork. Secondly neither of us should have received this letter as the Darlene the flight attendant was the only one in the wrong in this situation. Neither of us at any time interfered with any airline business and at no point did we ever threaten her or verbally abused her. We never even stood up in our seats, cursed at her or made any demeaning or threatening comments. How is asking someone to leave you alone threatening? If anyone was becoming aggressive or threatening, it was Darlene not either one of us. After we received the paperwork we called over the other flight attendant again who was present during the whole situation and asked him why are we receiving this and what does it mean. He said well I wasn’t paying attention so I don’t know why you are getting the notice and he did not know what it meant or what would happen but he would send Darlene back to answer this. Are you telling me, that you as an airline employee seeing a confrontation occur with a passenger that you are not trained to watch the situation to see what occurs especially when you are three inches away from the situation? If the situation was so severe that it is going to involve security why would another flight attendant not get involved? Wouldn’t you step in and try to diffuse the situation or at least assist your colleague?

Also, are your flight attendants not aware of what these notices mean and how to properly use them since he could not explain this to us? We then had to sit there for over an hour wondering what was going to happen and if we were going to be arrested. Being so upset and bothered by the situation I cried for over 20 minutes and was tortured by the fact that we didn’t know what was going to happen.

When we got off the plane Darlene was standing with 10 American Airline Corporate security agents. Darlene pointed at us and said “that’s them”. Everyone on plane then looked at us as they were walking by like we were terrorists or criminals when we never did anything wrong. When the head security agent, Joe, saw us he told the other agents that he would take care of the situation and to go about their business elsewhere. Joe was extremely respectful and told us to continue on to the end of the jet way and wait for him. He then explained that he already spoke to the flight attendant but that he needed to hear our side of the story because they still needed to make a report. We proceeded to tell him the details of the incident while the whole terminal was staring at us. He then apologized that this happened and stated that we were not in trouble and there would be no further repercussions for us.

We then told him that we wanted to make a complaint against Darlene. I explained that this was such a silly thing to be calling security over and what a huge waste of our time and I wanted the airline to be aware of how their flight attendant is acting due to the fact that her instability could affect her ability to perform necessary flight actions. The security agent agreed with us and thought that Darlene was the one that was wrong. We proceeded to retrieve our luggage where I asked the customer service representatives if I could please speak to the flight attendant supervisor. They replied that they had no idea how to get a hold of them and to send an email.

I then proceeded to the ticket counter where I again asked to speak to a flight attendant supervisor. The first representative said that she had no idea how to get a hold of one and then called over her supervisor who then proceeded to call flight services. Flight services wanted to speak to me over the phone who it turned out to be the security agent, Joe. Joe explained to me that the flight attendant supervisor was not in today. I asked if I could call her tomorrow then and he replied that there is no number to reach her at. So then I asked if he could leave her a message so she could call me back as I wanted to make her aware of the situation, he said this was possible and that Jennifer would be calling me the next day. Over ten days later and I have still not received a phone call.

The customer service that was provided by Darlene we are sure is not what you expect from your employees. Working in the medical field and the hotel industry we know that we would want to know if this extremely poor level of customer service was being shown to our guests. We expect that something should be done with this letter as it was the worst travel experience that we have ever had, and further more the worst example that I have ever heard of. We also expect to be compensated in some way for the inconvenience and suffering this has caused. With many choices of airlines to fly on we will be very skeptical to ever fly on American again unless you truly show that this is not the level of service that should be provided by American Airlines. We will be happy to discuss this issue further at anytime.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this horrendous matter,

[names withheld on request]

When the TSA and the airlines don't work together, passengers suffer

While safety is a priority, it seems that TSA and the airlines should be able to figure out ways to get people to their aircraft in a timely manner, especially when passengers show up well in advance of their flight.

Airline: Delta Airlines Flight DL6093
Date: 3 January 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA (ORF)


I arrived at Norfolk airport(ORF) at 5:00am for my 6:15 flight to Orlando via Cincinnati this morning. I electronically checked in at a kiosk, received my boarding pass and proceeded to wait in line at security for over an hour. Only 2 of the available metal detectors were in operation. When I heard an overhead announcement for the last call for boarding of my flight, I showed my boarding pass to a security guard and asked if there was anything that could be done. I was told no, and that everyone else in line was in the same position as I was. I also was required to wait for a "female assist with no alarm", a new security precaution to me.

I was not the only passenger sprinting for a gate. I and several other passengers approached the ticket counter and were told by the representative at the gate (in an unspeakably nasty manner)"Too bad, it will be a long wait until we can get those of you who missed your flights".

While I was waiting on hold for a Delta customer service representative, I witnessed approximately 40 other passengers on the next two flights leaving from the same gate (one to JFK and the next to Detroit) who missed their flights because they were also held up by security. I overheard the same representative say to her co-worker at the boarding gate about the Detroit flight, "The rest of the passengers are still in security, go ahead and close the doors."

Here are the problems I see and, what seems to me, some simple solutions.

1) Better Staffing: I imagine that ORF knew in advance which flights were scheduled for departure this morning and which seats were booked. Adequate planning of an appropriate number of security personnel for the expected number of travellers could have alleviated some delay. Temporary usage of more than 2 metal detectors for an apparently heavy travel time would also have remedied the situation for myself and many of the other Delta passengers.

2) Customer service at the departure gate: I and many of my fellow travellers left stranded in Norfolk this morning were spoken to in a stunningly disrespectful way. A small effort could have been made for those of us who were already checked in to our flights to get us on board. This second problem seems to me the most important issue. A different way of conveying the same information at the departure gate would have greatly changed my experience this morning. As it was, I am left with a very sour taste both for Delta airlines and Norfolk ORF.

I am sensitive of the needs to cut costs by the airlines in these difficult economic times. However one of the results is overworked and disgruntled employees. In the future, I believe I will save myself the $400 plane ticket and $20 checked baggage fee and travel by automoblie.

AirSafe.com Responds
This passenger has a good grip of what is needed. The TSA and the airline have to be sensible about matching security staff with traffic demand.

Photo: mcandrea