[DanaT]

Damn.

This trip has not been kind for air travel.

First plane coming ver..cabin filled with smoke....cancelled flight...missed connection to Germany...so had to take a much later plane)

Second leg to germany....airplane problems..5 hours late leaving What was worse is it was a 10pm flight. We kept being told boarding 10 minutes...for 2 hours...so by the time they figured out we couldnt board in 10 minutes...there was nothing open in the airport to get food...made it to Germany a day later than expected.

This morning..got up early to catch the train to Zurich. I got the email that the flight has been cancelled. Called the airline. Basically, these is an easy solution. Flights are sold out, they got me a seat tomorrow.

What other thing do people buy where what you buy (i.e. getting from point A to point B, on the day and time you contract to get there, and in the class of service you pay for) do they feel entitled to give you something else?

Well, I guess I could have taken the option of a flight today, but they wanted to "downgrade" me. That REALLY pisses me off. They sure like your money for a premium seat but are more than willing to give an eco seat and you pay a premium price.

Just pissed getting up at 5am to get home and then learning it will be the same drill tomorrow...

[*ASH*]

Originally Posted by DanaT

Damn.

This trip has not been kind for air travel.

First plane coming ver..cabin filled with smoke....cancelled flight...missed connection to Germany...so had to take a much later plane)

Second leg to germany....airplane problems..5 hours late leaving What was worse is it was a 10pm flight. We kept being told boarding 10 minutes...for 2 hours...so by the time they figured out we couldnt board in 10 minutes...there was nothing open in the airport to get food...made it to Germany a day later than expected.

This morning..got up early to catch the train to Zurich. I got the email that the flight has been cancelled. Called the airline. Basically, these is an easy solution. Flights are sold out, they got me a seat tomorrow.

What other thing do people buy where what you buy (i.e. getting from point A to point B, on the day and time you contract to get there, and in the class of service you pay for) do they feel entitled to give you something else?

Well, I guess I could have taken the option of a flight today, but they wanted to "downgrade" me. That REALLY pisses me off. They sure like your money for a premium seat but are more than willing to give an eco seat and you pay a premium price.

Just pissed getting up at 5am to get home and then learning it will be the same drill tomorrow...

you sure you are not flying Carnival airlines ?

[DanaT]

Originally Posted by *ASH*

you sure you are not flying Carnival airlines ?

Maybe Carnival and United have partnered?

[Deanster]

Originally Posted by DanaT

Maybe Carnival and United have partnered?

That sure would explain a lot of things.

[DanaT]

Here is what even adds more to the story.

This is the order of emails I received.

1st Email:
United flight UA937 on March 19 is delayed due to late-arriving aircraft.
Now departs: 11:45 a.m. on March 19 from gate E34, Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) Now arrives: 3:45 p.m. on March 19 at Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)

2nd:
Dana, imagine yourself on a relaxing getaway

3rd
United flight UA937 on March 19 is delayed due to late-arriving aircraft.
Now departs: 2:15 p.m. on March 19 from gate E34, Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) Now arrives: 6:15 p.m. on March 19 at Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)

4th
United flight UA937 from Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles) on March 19 is canceled.

I have really been trying to imagine myself on an airplane relaxing...its not working out so well.

[Dennis in MA]

Back in 89, I was headed on BA to London. Sat at JFK for 7 hours. . . ON THE PLANE!

We got all the way to the runway, shut down. Go off to the side. Then back somewhere else. Then back to the terminal. THEN the pilot finally "puts his foot down" and feeds us - hours late. 8 seconds later, they get us a plane. "We'll let you finish your food before we move to the other plane."

NO! I WANNA GO NOW!

Oh, and they didn't tell us the plane wasn't restocked, so take your blanket and headphones. Nope. Get over there. "Oh, sorry. We don't have any." Complete disaster.

I had been on that stupid plane from 9pm to 4am. Didn't arrive in London until EVENING instead of morning. Wasted a day. "Sorry old chap."

Oh, and my then-GF/now-Wife who was meeting me left me a note. Do you think there would be 2 Dennis in MA's on that flight??? And the loser that WASN'T me (as opposed to the loser that was me) read the message AND KEPT IT! Never a thought that there might be two of us on the plane. Glad the gate girl remembered the message.

Security at Heathrow and then at DaVinci was interesting. I flew out the 1st anniversary of Lockerbie. Coming from a very-pre-9/11 world here. Guard with submachineguns in DaVinci. VERY good (and friendly) TSA-like security at Heathrow.

So I can feel your pain - sometimes they just f it all up and then can't seem to fix it.

[DanaT]

Flying is "interesting"

I just love the image the airlines portray that you will be whisked away a dream vacation in a magical world where there are no worries...

except their flight is cancelled. You seat doesnt work right. You hotel is cancelled because your flight was late.

What is supposed to be a stress free vacation always has lots of stress...

When we went to Hawaii for Xmas a few years ago, we arrived on an 11pm flight. Got the Hilton a little after midnight. They Hilton was oversold and people had arrived and had no hotel after midnight even with confirmed rooms.

Our room was also gone. So we got "upgraded" to the suite on the top floor (it didnt hurt being a very high status with hilton to have a room). The "upgrade" was nice, if it were two adults. It had a really nice bedroom with a nice king sized bed. Then it had a living room with a hide a bed. I had ordered a double bed room. Well, my daughter was young enough she was scared of sleeping in the living room by herself. The solution...a week in Hawaii on in a suite, with me sleeping on a hide-a-bed.

I hate to say it, but every year we go to Disney world as one of our vacations. The few times something has gone wrong, it was immediately fixed. One time was my wifes fault. It was a weekend business trip (I was supporting a clinical trial in Celebration Hospital) and they went for the weekend with me. My wife bought tickets in CO to "Disney world". She didnt pay attention that they were for "Disney Land". I didnt look. Disney world is much more expensive and that is why she got such a good deal.

At the ticket counter they told her the tickets were for California. She then broke down and started crying. My god. They told her just go over the other window and they would fix the problem. She was still beside herself. Within 5 minutes they handed us Disney World tickets and said they were sorry for the confusion that two different parks caused.

We have been back there at least once a year because it is mostly stress free.