I believe they come out of bankruptcy next month, and with Independence Air out of business, the Washington sector will give them more moolah too

Well, I've got 50k miles in the united robber bank and I suppose I'll never get'em back. It's so hard to get anything done with the FF club or the Silverwings club that I'm totally frustrated.

I gave up on AA a few years ago because of their utterly hostile attitude when I had to (try) to fly back early from Europe for a death in the family.

Now I fly Air France to Europe, which is working good. And the food is great!

United Airlines Free Tickets
United Airlines FREE Ticket
If United Airlines offers you a Free Ticket if you give up your seat because they overbooked the flight...Think twice before you accept. In March of this year I was flying home from a company business trip. While I was waiting for my flight to board the "Friendly" voice came over the P.A. system asking for volunteers to give up their seats because they overbooked the flight. I jumped up from my seat and made it over to the counter (first in line). The United Airlines representative advised she would give me a "Free" roundtrip ticket anywhere United Airlines flew (domestic 48 states) and can be used anytime within 1 year from issue date. Jumping at the offer (knowning that my wife would like travel with me on business trips) I accepted the offer. The whole time I was sitting in the airport waiting for the next available flight I kept reminding myself of the rewards I would have next time when my wife could travel with me. So the wait didn't seem that bad.

June of this year I was sent out again on a business trip. This time it was off to Georgia. My wife wanted to go and see the history landmarks. So I called United Airlines to make arrangements for my wife to travel along using my "Free" roundtrip airline ticket. I spoke with reservations and informed them that I had this "Free" ticket and written on the voucher was "Transferable". Knowing this I knew my wife could use this ticket. After providing my "Mileage Plus" membership card and dates and times of travel I was informed that I could NOT use this "Free" ticket. Puzzled I asked, Why? I was informed that the "Free" tickets/vouchers were to be used in a "Q" class rating of travel. "Q" class rating, what is that I asked? I was informed that "Q" class was a form of economy seating. Furthermore, he goes onto say all the economy "Q" class seating were taken on the plane. With this I quickly got on the computer and checked the flight for open seats. While still having reservations on the phone I noticed the plane was only half full. As a matter of fact from mid-section to the rear of the plane was empty. I asked him why she couldn't sit in an empty seat. He states those weren't economy seats. I know your asking yourself the same question...a seat is a seat. As long as its not First Class....coach is coach. Well in the United Airlines hand book I guess not. Each seat as he explained has a classification assigned to it. Crazy I know. But it appears just to be another way of United getting out of fulfilling their "Free" ticket obligations.

Upset with this information I hung up and called customer service. Yep you guessed it. I got someone on the phone who couldn't speak ENGLISH. After several attempted to explain my situation I got frustrated and hung up. Calling back a second time in hopes of reaching someone that spoke ENGLISH. Once again received another person who could barely speak the english language. I asked where they were located and they said, INDIA. India I asked? Why would United Airlines outsource their customer relations to India. Wow, I was amazed. Frustrated I called reservations again and was told the same information. I then asked well is there another flight my wife could get on in the same day that this ticket would be good for? He stated NO. The nearest flight for her would be on the 20th. The same day I returned from my trip. I asked now why would my wife want to go on a business trip with me only to leave for the trip when I was returning. Yet another way of United Airlines getting out of their responsibility of "Free" ticket rewards.

Conclusion: I went out of my way to assist United Airlines when they overbooked their flight. Now that the flight was cleared United has turned its shoulder on me and won't honor their "Free" ticket. SHAME ON YOU UNITED AIRLINES. SO I GUESS YOUR NOT THE "FRIENDLY SKIES".

Calling for a boycott of United Airlines by all 1K's and Premier Execs for the month of November 2006. For that month, please select another carrier. Let's send a message to the high-living execs at United that we have had it with the bad treatment of their most highly valued revenue source.

Jack

Hey all
if you want to send a message to united!
nothing says FU like a phone call. this is for all you younger folks who live and die by the text. learn a new term DID,lines, united range of did's are (847) 700-6700 to 6799, 700-2200 to 700-2299, 700-4000 to 4099 all numbers are in the 847 area code. each phone will have a DID line assigned to it. as for me never piss off a telecom engineer. some of theses numbers will reach the right asshole

Air travel is tiring enough without being used and abused by the airlines. If you suffered an indignity at the hands of an airline don't get mad or feel helpless, send a clear message this behavior will not be tolerated. Take your beef to Small Claims Court. With minimal cost, whether successful or not, you will come out a winner. Typically an airline will hire attorneys to prepare the case with costs exceeding $1,000 per claim in legal fees. While litigation should never be your first option, if you believe you have a legitimate claim, it is a viable avenue when all other options fail. Even if you lose the battle you can still win the war by making your point to the airline. Visit SUE THE AIRLINES

I agree with you all, I would rather sit between two fat guys on a three stop trip on Southwest then fly United direct from SAC TO JFK. My rational is also this. The customer service people are angry, flight attendants are angry, who is to say that the pilots arent angry, and furthermore the mechanics are just as pissy. Everytime I'm flying united and an engine makes a noise I startle, thinking I hope they didn't piss off their mechanics like they pissed me off..

People at Jet Blue / SW / Even old legacy lines like American are x3 more polite and enjoy their jobs. Boycott United.

Why the shock and surprise. This is pretty standard coporate behaviour for companies that go belly-up:

As the company's prospects look more and more pear-shaped with each passing day, management steers it further down the path to total disaster.

Workers are laid off, entitlements go west, never to be seen again, and often the people responsible aren't held accountable.

Not only aren't they held accountable, they are pocketing squillions in the same process that sees loyal emplyees thrown on the scrapheap.

But hey, as long we're OK, who gives a f.ck about anyone else?

In any liquidation of a company, it is not creditors who should be paid out first (most are insured) but the company's employees. And they should get at least as close to possible as the amount each is owed. Perhaps they should also get to divvy up the bonuses that badly-performing executives pay to themselves before companies go under.

And here's the best bit: those executives who drove the company into the ground will soon be sitting on boards or managing other companies.

It's an old-boys' network of the highest order.

A lot of them do bugger all to earn their multi-million dollar packets as well. The mail-room people often do more worthwhile work and longer hours.

The fact is, many of these companies will just run themselves as long as no one does anything too drastic.

What we are witnessing is the looting of corporate America by pirates who act at the highest levels of the corporations.

Derek S, it is obvious you are quite clueless. All airlines have a class of service. There is a Q class in every airline not just United

Had to post here, I'm officially done with UAL. What should have been a 6 1/2 flight a week ago Friday turned into a 17 1/2 day. Then on the return flight from Miami they don't bother putting our luggage on the plane even though we checked in 3 1/2 hours in advance. Top that off with the fact that there were another 20 people in the same situation on that flight who didn't get their baggage either. Today I'm trying to track it with no success and can't actually speak to anyone on the 1-800 line (was cut off twice) because they're "all busy". The problem is that the system won't put you on hold until an operator becomes available, you have to hang up and go through everything again! Then I found a number on the PDX Airport website for the United desk, called it, got a human (Wow!) who was incredibly annoyed that I called. She asked me "How I got the number", told her it was on the airport website, she huffed and said, "Well, that's great." Told me to hold a moment, put me on hold for 5 minutes and then I heard someone pick up the phone and then hang up on me. I immediately called back and got v/m, hung up and tried again, got v/m again and tried this a half dozen more times until I left an absolutely vile message. These people are unbeleiveable, they lose my luggage and have the nerve to be upset and pissed when I call a posted number to find out about it?!?!?!?!?!? I will never, ever fly United again.

I agree, united is the worst airline by FAR. You need 50K frequent flier miles just to get a free flight. They have no room and charge u extra for emergency exit. They frequently overbook flights.

Jackasses, I never fly them if I have the choice.

UNITED AIR DOESN'T CARE! I am sending this to you because; #1) I can't be the only one United Air has done this to; and #2) I strongly feel that EVERYONE needs to know the terrible operation of United Airlines. In December 2006 I purchased a ticket from United Air for $488.70. In order to pay for it I used a $100 voucher plus $388.70 from my visa bank card. On the day of the flight, a connection flight was cancelled so I was told I would receive a full refund of $488.70. I received the refund in January--United took over a month to review and approve the refund. I expected to receive the refund in the same form I paid (voucher plus $388.70 into my account) but since they took an ENTIRE MONTH to review it, I figured they knew what they were doing. The following month (March), United reversed my refund! They took $488.70 from my bank account WITHOUT WARNING! This turned my whole world upside down. I manage my money very closely because I don't have a lot of it. I spent hours on the phone trying to get to the bottom of the situation. Whenever I called customer relations I would have to go through a series of messages and pushing numbers to get to the person I needed to talk to. Once I got to an actual person (all the way in India), they were unable to help me and I ended up getting transferred to someone else who couldn't help me (or the call was disconnected). One time I finally got to someone who said they couldn't find the credit reversal and I had to send my bank records proving all of this happened and the whole process would take 4-6 weeks! This is unacceptable. I have been treated completely unfair! I have lost sleep, time and energy over this. On two occassions I ended up crying uncontrollably because I just felt so helpless. I had to go to two payday advance places to make sure none of my bills would fall behind which, so far, has cost me $300. I finally received a credit into my bank account of $388.70 (which is what I expected to begin with). In the mean time, I am still recovering from the financial damage this caused. All United needed to do was make a simple phone call or send a letter so I could prepare for this. Instead, it is obvious that United Air doesn't care about their customers.

Anyone considering flying United should strongly reconsider. First, they bungled our tickets (including our baby's) to China, requiring several interations with "I couldn't give a damn" representatives, and forcing us to go to the airport to convert our e-ticets to paper. At the aiport, they failed to issue one of the tickets propertly, which created another major problem. Then last night @ 3AM as we're just about out the door to catch the flight, we receive a call from United informing us that our flight to Beijing has been canceled, and rebooked for the following day. Of course, this created a huge problem with our connections. Fortunately, United booked us a flight on Air China this evening. True to form, however, United neglected to mention that we need new paper tickets, which we discovered only after confirming our flight w/Air China. Only a masochist would consider flying this airline!

Carissa, was you able to get a refund back? I am also having refund issue with them. They have a 24 hours full refund policy. I used their online system to request the refund 2 hours after I purchase the ticket back in April. It has been 2 months now and I have yet heard from any of them. What's even worst is I called their customer reps also on the same day. The guy, speaking with a heavy India accent, told me they don't have the purchase information in their system that soon so told me to call United again next week. I called United next week and they told me that they have no record of me calling them to request a refund so they can't give me a full refund since now it has been a week since I purchase the ticket!!!!!!!

Here's a great website! The name is a parody of United.com, and it reveals United for what it really is: A crappy airline.

I used a frequent flier ticket to come to Los Angeles. While here, I needed oral surgery to remove a tumor.

As a result, I was not able to fly on my scheduled departure date.

I looked up seat availabilty online, and flights that would get me back to the Newark, NJ airport prior to Christmas Eve were showing available seats. When I attmpted to switch my flight, I was told by agents, supervisors and Customer Relations that those seats were ONLY available for purchase.

Since I have been stupid enough to be loyal to United, I had an additional 50,000 miles available and offered these miles in exchange for a seat on one of these flights. I was told by a United airlines Manager at LAX that this was not feasible, as the way the airline makes money is by selling seats, and the only seats they had available were for purchase at a fee of $1,000 or more. The soonest they could let me use the remaining portion of my frequent flyer ticket was on the red-eye Christmas Eve into Christmas day.

They could clearly see at the ticketing counter that I had just had surgery, as I still have a black eye, stitches and a plate in my mouth. What they offered was a "special fare medical emergency ticket."

What's even more insulting... they said that I could fly Orange County to Laguardia, if I paid a $100 change fee. ARE THEY SERIOUS??????

Did I mention that I spent a total of 10 hours yesterday and today trying to resolve this issue in person and on the phone?

Finally, I figured I would get the last laugh... I will fly stand-by. They have many seats available, and I will undoubtedly get one just by showing up. I won't have to pay more and I won't have to give them any more miles. Screw United.

I will be canceling my United credit card and telling my company travel agentcy that we will no longer be using United.

Oh... every United employee I spoke with thanked me for being a Premier customer, having flown nearly 200,000 miles with this airline alone.

What do I want as compensation? There is no compensation for the grief and suffering caused by their unfriendly policies.

Happy Holidays.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2008

Contact:
John J. Tormey III, Esq.
Tom Sullivan, "Quiet Rockland"

"QUIET ROCKLAND" CALLS FOR NATIONWIDE BOYCOTT OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

Rockland County, NY - March 12, 2008:

Aero-activist group Quiet Rockland of Rockland County, New York, enraged over "callous criminal disregard for safety and human life" demonstrated by Southwest Airlines (NYSE: "LUV") and the FAA, today called for: (1) a nationwide traveler and consumer boycott of Southwest, and (2) a federal criminal investigation of Southwest and "failed regulator" FAA to be spear-headed by the United States Attorney General and a special prosecutor.

Said John J. Tormey III, Esq., attorney and Quiet Rockland co-founder: "The persons that should be flying Southwest at this point, should be only those referred by Doctor Kevorkian. Although the depraved Southwest spin-machine audaciously 'assures' us Southwest's six (6) cracked-fuselage aircraft were "never a safety problem", Southwest should tell that to the victims of the 1988 Aloha Airlines disaster. There, metal fatigue on an aging Boeing 737 caused 18 feet of fuselage to be ripped off the plane causing grievous injuries and loss of life. House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar in his press conference Saturday, posted on "www.cspan.org", presented detailed evidence incriminating Southwest and "Bobby" Sturgell's failed FAA. The incriminating events occurred while "Bobby" Sturgell was Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of the FAA. On Saturday, Representative Oberstar thereupon rightfully excoriated the aero-perps for their long-standing "tombstone mentality". Although criminal and morally reprehensible, and now apparent after a many-month detailed Congressional investigation, Southwest and FAA are clearly in the insalubrious business of making those tombstones happen, in addition to simply reacting to those tombstones post facto.

"As recently as last year, Southwest Airlines, with the complicity of supposed federal regulator FAA, on at least 47 of Southwest's Boeing 737 aircraft, on between 1,451 and 60,000 flights, over a period of two-and-one-half years, deliberately put approximately 200,000 or more unsuspecting travelers in harm's way - making them fly in un-inspected, non-compliant, aged, and in some cases fuselage-cracked commercial aircraft. Southwest knew the names and faces of their potential victims. Southwest gladly took their money, and for that matter at this point Southwest owes each of them at least a rebate in full of their ticket prices. This was not mere negligence. Irrespective of what forensic lesser charge might technically ultimately apply once further Congressional investigation concludes, the acts and omissions of Southwest and collaborator FAA were tantamount to attempted murder, on a massive scale.

"This WILL not stand.

"Quiet Rockland asks and encourages those Southwest employees tired of subscribing to their company's tombstone culture, to leave their sinking airship now to find other and better employ at a responsible airline that actually acknowledges the dignity of the individual human traveler. We further ask every American consumer to now act in solidarity - cancel all flights and other business with Southwest - boycott the airline which we today re-name "Air Kevorkian" - and just say "No" to Southwest, to FAA, and to the greed of the aeromercantile complex that continually and habitually puts profits over people's lives. And, as to Southwest stockholders? Vote your conscience".#

United might not have done as worse with you as they did with me. I was scheduled to fly from Jacksonville to Calgary. I bought return ticket for $750 . I got there like 30 min before flight would take off. I went to the counter and tried to print my boarding pass. The machine said that you dont have booking and all seats are sold out. I was shocked and turned to united rep for help. She said that since you did not come on time we sold out your ticket to somebody else. She recommended me to talk to booking office. It was around 10:20 and my flight was 10:45 am . When I called and talked to lady. It occured to me that she was trying to make me buy another ticket instead boarding me on another flight to Phily to catch my connecting flight at 3:20. So after 3 hours of discussion with united airline and their puppet US airways, they made me buy another ticket for another $1,142 . so It means that I paid almost $1,800 for a trip to Calgary. I found that the flight they sold me for extra $1,142 which was flying form chicago to calgary was filled with just 10 people, thats why they wanted to buy a ticket because they ghought I did not have another option excetp buying a ticket. furthermore, when I arrived at the airport in Calgary they lost my luggage. I was out of clothes for two days.Long story short, I had to pay because of my interview next day. I was so pissed to see these executives making money out of deciet and greed. I pledge that I will never fly with airline ever again. They took advantage of my compulsion. I am not going to ask to boycott the airline as I did it but I definetely recommend to think twice before you fly with United.

Please spread the words, united by providing lowest quality flights ( sometimes you can walk faster than delayed and schedule changed UA flights)is pioneeriong to increase the cost of flying and blaming it on fuel at the same time Alaska AL is providing best service without rate increase. So lets boycott the wrong doer UA not other good airlines