# UA Canceled Flight and I can't reach the anyone on the phone?



## CMF (Dec 19, 2009)

UA canceled flight due to weather. I checked their site and found that the flight was rebooked, but the new flight was also canceled.  The wait time to speak to a live person is 60+ minutes.  Any thoughts??

Charles


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## Gramma5 (Dec 19, 2009)

I don't have any suggestions but I'm listening to the news and it looks like most planes will be grounded for atleast a day. They are expecting nearly 2 ft. of snow in the DC, Maryland area over the next 24hrs. That will immobilze the entire area.


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## Passepartout (Dec 19, 2009)

Delta, Jet Blue, Virgin all say they are cancelling all flight operations in/out from DC, NY area for at least 24 hrs. My advice is stay warm and dry and comfortable. Be safe above all.

Jim Ricks


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## timeos2 (Dec 19, 2009)

This type of massive weather related disruption cannot be planned for nor can they staff adequately to handle the call volume. Plus most flights will be at least delayed if not canceled so there are no options now.  You'll have to wait it out, let things get back up and running and then hopefully snag a flight. Bad time to be traveling in that area I'm afraid.


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## thheath (Dec 19, 2009)

United outsourced their call center to India so even if you can get through it won't do you much good...


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## CMF (Dec 19, 2009)

What I'm afraid of is that they will rebook the flight, fail to notify me, and deny any refund because I missed the new flight.

Charles


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## Talent312 (Dec 19, 2009)

Go to the airport, if its open and if you can.
Make yourself a nuisance at the United counters (w/o getting arrested).
Theoretically, a ticket-agent should be able to rebook you.


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## thheath (Dec 19, 2009)

CMF said:


> What I'm afraid of is that they will rebook the flight, fail to notify me, and deny any refund because I missed the new flight.
> 
> Charles



If you have a United Frequent Flier account that the booking is tied to you can set up alerts via phone or text message that alert you to booking changes.


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## grest (Dec 19, 2009)

Talent312 said:


> Go to the airport, if its open and if you can.
> Make yourself a nuisance at the United counters (w/o getting arrested).
> Theoretically, a ticket-agent should be able to rebook you.



When I was stuck during a blizzard, it was impossible to get to the ticket counter...at least a two hour wait...these things become very stressful for all.  That time I had to wait three days for a flight!  Good luck to you..


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## SherryS (Dec 19, 2009)

This happened to us last year during a storm, only it was with Air Tran. My son drove to the airport and I called and called and called....until I got someone. (Then called my son to return from airport!) Be persistent!!  It's tough to reach help during a large storm.  Good luck to you!


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## Jimster (Dec 19, 2009)

*UA*

If your profile with United has been filled out completely and the alert info is in place, you will be notified so the possibility of them rebooking you without your knowledge is eliminated.  Second, if you have no status with UA, you are not going to get rebooked ahead of the GS and 1K's and Premiers out there for a limited number of flights.  Third, even the Chicago Bears can't get there for their game tomorrow.  Fourth, the Indian call center is really only for general members.  If you are a 1K or 1P you get a domestic line, but I am sure this is still backlogged.  Fifth, bad weather is symptomatic of winter, we all have to learn to deal with it.  You might not be able to get where you are going even if you got to an east coast airport.  Maybe you should try Amtrack if you really need to be there.  Go on the UA website and you will see there is a waiver now going on for those areas.


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## Pat H (Dec 19, 2009)

Definitely set up alerts. They are a lot of help. Here's my personal story from last night. Forewarning - it's long.

I was booked on the 7:15 PM flight from Savannah (SAV)-Washington Dulles (IAD) - Allentown, PA (ABE). The IAD-ABE flight leaves around 10:00 PM and is the last flight to ABE. I have taken that flight numerous times and it has been cancelled or I have missed my connection several times. In those cases I had to get a hotel and stay overnight at my own expense when it was due to weather. I knew this storm was coming up the coast rather than from the west. 

When I got to the gate, the SAV-ORD (Chicago) flight scheduled at 5:45 was still there and delayed. The SAV-IAD flight looked like it was going to leave on time. They asked for 3 volunteers to take a bump from the IAD flight and take a flight today. Offer was a round trip flight voucher, hotel and meal voucher. I decided I would take the bump if they could assure me I would get home today and if I could have $ vouchers instead of the r/t ticket. The only flight available today was on US Air in the afternoon thru Charlotte. Nope, I don't want that one, can't stand US. I asked if I could get on the ORD flight and stay over there and catch the first flight today to ABE. I figured since there was no big snow expected in ORD and it wasn't supposed to start snowing in PA until afternoon I'd be fine. I had a feeling that the IAD-ABE flight last night was going to be cancelled and I knew I wouldn't be getting out of IAD today. Really didn't want to spend the weekend in IAD. Gate agent set me up to go to ORD last night and then ABE this morning. The only hitch is that I had to get the hotel & meal voucher when I get to ORD. Thought that would be no problem. He then gave me $400 in travel vouchers!  

The plane to ORD was only about 2/3 full which I thought was strange since UA had told me earlier in the day that there were no seats available on the flight. When I deplaned and walked into the terminal I knew that getting my vouchers was not going to be an easy task. It was after 10:00 PM and the airport was mobbed. The customer service lines were at least 2 hours long. I landed at terminal F which has 2 customer service areas and they both had the same long lines. Tried the Red Carpet Club and a couple of gate agents explaining that I only needed them to print out 2 vouchers and everything was documented in my reservation. They all said they couldn't help me so I went to to the main terminal and the same long lines. I walked a few feet past the customer service area and noticed a few people being helped in a deserted area. Sure enough they were helping out and there were 4 agents there. Got my vouchers in a couple of minutes.

While I was doing all this I was getting alerts from UA about the IAD-ABE flight. Agent must have forgotten to offload me. Flight kept getting pushed back and was finally cancelled around midnight. The ORD-ABE flight this morning was about 45 minutes late leaving since all the planes were being deiced but I got home before noon. There were 11 people on the standby list that did not get seats. ALL of the flights out of IAD today were cancelled so if I hadn't taken the bump I would still be sitting in a hotel in Washington at my own expense! It started snowing at home less than 5 minutes after I walked in the door. I was definitely one of the lucky ones this weekend.

One of my points in this story is that you should know your options and be able to suggest creative routes & alternative airlines to the gate agents. Sometimes they have no clue of other ways to get you where you want to go. I know that sometimes there are no alternatives or the weather can foul you up everywhere, but be prepared. Another suggestion is to try to achieve status on at least 1 airline. It didn't matter last night but if I had been stuck in IAD and needed to go standby, my status would have put me at the top of the waiting list. 

Charles, next time I'm stuck in IAD, I'm coming to your house.  You can still check online with your record locator to see if there are any changes. Good Luck.


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## Jimster (Dec 19, 2009)

*options*

Pat H is right- know your options.  I had a very similar experience this week trying to fly to Ontario, Ca.  I could not get out of Ord to Ont because they close early.  I opted to fly to San Francisco and have UA put me up there so I could get out to Ont first thing the next morning.  This was possible because I knew what options existed.  That is the advantage of being a frequent flyer and having status in a ff program.


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## Talent312 (Dec 20, 2009)

*Delta is notorious for cancelling flights for a slight drizzle, much less a snow storm.*
Once, I arrived in Atlanta with 30 minutes to catch the next leg, when I discovered that it had been cancelled and Delta had kindly rebooked me on the next day's flight.

I was not about to spend the night in Atlanta. So I studied the departure board, thinking that I might find an alternate destination and rent a car. To my surprise, there was a delayed Delta-flight to the same destination still at the gate.

I scurried over to its gate and asked the agent if he could renumber their flight to the one that was cancelled. When he declined, I asked if I could be given a seat on their plane, instead. No problem, but they had to "argue" with their computer to print out a boarding pass. I was the last one to board.


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## bobcat (Dec 20, 2009)

CMF said:


> UA canceled flight due to weather. I checked their site and found that the flight was rebooked, but the new flight was also canceled.  The wait time to speak to a live person is 60+ minutes.  Any thoughts??
> 
> Charles



They said this is the worse storm to hit in 10 years. It is moving up the coast.  Good luck


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## CMF (Dec 20, 2009)

I called Amex and had them cancel the reservation without penalty after the third automatically rebooked flight canceled - good thing because I don't know if I could have made it out of my driveway.  To my surprise, I was able to book a flight on line for today for $10 less than the original flight.  I thought all flights would have been booked and that I would have had to pay a premium for a last minute holiday reservation.

Charles


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