Anonymous wrote:This happened to me on American for a flight this past August. They "rescheduled" both our departure for several hours later and our return for several hours earlier. The net result was a beach day carved off our vacation, and upheaval in my young kids' nap schedules, previously carefully planned around. I called and demanded that they put us on new flights. At first the guy said no, but then reviewed something and came back and said they had a new policy (due to the merger?) and would accommodate me. We were rescheduled for a day earlier. So, it can happen.

Like some of the other PPs, I wonder if you can get them to rebook you in a way that would be better for them and their inevitable scheduling woes. I would call back and keep asking to speak to someone up the chain. As you point out, it's not what you purchased and their proffered remedy thus far is unsatisfactory. But do think about what your next best outcome is, because they aren't bringing that flight back (or putting you on a different airline).

OP here. I know you are totally right. I'll get there. Just processing the anger/disappointment first.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Switched to southwest and so far have really loved it.

Yep, Southwest is the way to go. Bonus points that the employees are, for the most part, not assholes.

Yes, but Southwest doesn't go anywhere internationally from here (maybe the Caribbean?) and they don't have a lot of flights. United has a hub at IAD, so you are stuck with them for many flights depending on where you want to go.

This happened to me on American for a flight this past August. They "rescheduled" both our departure for several hours later and our return for several hours earlier. The net result was a beach day carved off our vacation, and upheaval in my young kids' nap schedules, previously carefully planned around. I called and demanded that they put us on new flights. At first the guy said no, but then reviewed something and came back and said they had a new policy (due to the merger?) and would accommodate me. We were rescheduled for a day earlier. So, it can happen.

Like some of the other PPs, I wonder if you can get them to rebook you in a way that would be better for them and their inevitable scheduling woes. I would call back and keep asking to speak to someone up the chain. As you point out, it's not what you purchased and their proffered remedy thus far is unsatisfactory. But do think about what your next best outcome is, because they aren't bringing that flight back (or putting you on a different airline).

Anonymous wrote:Switched to southwest and so far have really loved it.

Yep, Southwest is the way to go. Bonus points that the employees are, for the most part, not assholes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

OP again. My feeling is, I purchased a morning non-stop flight to my destination. That is the product they sold me, and that is the product I would like delivered to me. It's like ordering a black sweater online and being mailed a white tank top. And now the black sweaters are all gone or waaaay more expensive.

NP. I agree, but I've had to dial back my outrage because I've realized that most airlines suck. UAL and American are wretched, but unfortunately they fly everywhere.

A couple of years ago we had purchased UAL Economy Plus tickets for our family. The night before, they changed the aircraft to something with a different seating configuration. They bumped us out of Economy Plus, and they seated all three of us - we were traveling with our young DC - in three middle seats scattered all over the plane. The gate agent was unhelpful and very unpleasant. She was happy to try to sell us Economy Plus tickets again, because there were two Economy Plus seats available. So we had paid for EP, and when they changed the plane they offered us the opportunity to pay for EP again... despite the fact that we had already paid for EP.

I vowed I'd never fly UAL again, and I've tried to stick to this. Unfortunately, because UAL goes most places, they sometimes have the best itinerary. We had to cave recently and fly UAL again. We do try to avoid them whenever possible! Lately we've been focusing on driveable destinations.

I agree that the airline industry should be better regulated, but remember those days? Regulation meant high fares. I'm not sure how well that will go over.

Unfortunately, this is true for many UAL employees. We flew Delta this summer and it was a breath of fresh air. They were all so happy and pleasant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

OP again. My feeling is, I purchased a morning non-stop flight to my destination. That is the product they sold me, and that is the product I would like delivered to me. It's like ordering a black sweater online and being mailed a white tank top. And now the black sweaters are all gone or waaaay more expensive.

NP. I agree, but I've had to dial back my outrage because I've realized that most airlines suck. UAL and American are wretched, but unfortunately they fly everywhere.

A couple of years ago we had purchased UAL Economy Plus tickets for our family. The night before, they changed the aircraft to something with a different seating configuration. They bumped us out of Economy Plus, and they seated all three of us - we were traveling with our young DC - in three middle seats scattered all over the plane. The gate agent was unhelpful and very unpleasant. She was happy to try to sell us Economy Plus tickets again, because there were two Economy Plus seats available. So we had paid for EP, and when they changed the plane they offered us the opportunity to pay for EP again... despite the fact that we had already paid for EP.

I vowed I'd never fly UAL again, and I've tried to stick to this. Unfortunately, because UAL goes most places, they sometimes have the best itinerary. We had to cave recently and fly UAL again. We do try to avoid them whenever possible! Lately we've been focusing on driveable destinations.

I agree that the airline industry should be better regulated, but remember those days? Regulation meant high fares. I'm not sure how well that will go over.

Anonymous wrote:OP I see a bunch of flights in March that are $130 per person, which doesn't seem too bad. How much was the United flight that was cancelled?

We paid $89 one way. The comparable morning non-stop AA flight is $171 now. We almost booked that one to begin with (I think it was around $110 back when we booked) and obviously we should have. Our spring break is in April, not March.

Anonymous wrote:OP I see a bunch of flights in March that are $130 per person, which doesn't seem too bad. How much was the United flight that was cancelled?

Spring Break for schools is in April this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

Are you going to FLL? That's the only UA non-stop I see to warm weather around 5pm (google flights is awesome for this).

IAD-JAX.

That's funny/interesting because I have been tracking these same flights for Spring Break, but we haven't bought tickets yet. The UA tickets are so much more expensive than American or Jet Blue. Those 2 airlines are pretty much taking over flights to Florida out of DCA/IAD so I am not surprised United is consolidating its flights

Yes it does seem to be consolidating. Back when we booked, we considered RSW, FLL, TPA, and JAX and JAX was by far the most affordable at the time. Our usual flights to Sanibel (RSW) were/are $600RT, which is why we started looking for an alternate destination this year. I'd love to go back to RSW going forward.

OP I see a bunch of flights in March that are $130 per person, which doesn't seem too bad. How much was the United flight that was cancelled?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah United is the worst. We've had problems every single time we've flown with them so now we avoid it like the plague. Sorry.

They were on the cover of Business week a year or so ago, talking about the improvement plan they had just implemented, and I remember that their whole thing was trying to improve, not to be the best, but just to suck less so they wouldn't be the literal worst. That struck me as amusing.

Frequent flyer here. I think United has some rather sophisticated bean counters and that's why flights get cancelled far in advance like this -- they realize it's not going to fill up to the 75% (or whatever) fill rate they need to make money on it.

I fly business class on long trips, and avoid United on their planes that are 2-4-2 in _business class_. Who wants to be in a middle seat on a 14-hour trip to Asia? I instead go via Toronto on Air Canada for a lower price, and with a better seat layout.

United finally realized they're losing out even on their big-money spenders (business customers), so they just announced their new "Polaris" business class product which brings them up to par with other airlines. However since United has such a large fleet to retrofit with new seats, it'll be years and years until all planes are upgraded. The first upgrade is in January I think.

My husband does this, too, and has given up on UAL for long flights. He's going to Hong Kong next week and is flying Singapore through SFO. United also has business class seats that face backwards!?!

Yes, and I've been on them. I don't care about flying backwards (and it's actually safer, which is why military planes are configured that way), but they just pack in the seats. On a 15-hour flight, I'm not going to be jumping over my seat neighbor to use the bathroom.

In United's defesnse, out of SFO they have started to up their game. The new 787's (2-2-2 config) are very modern and nice. They also have an arrivals lounge at SFO for those coming in that morning from Asia. I had a hot shower, then they had a full hot breakfast. It's their only airport that has such a lounge I think, but it's a nice touch and free for business travelers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

Are you going to FLL? That's the only UA non-stop I see to warm weather around 5pm (google flights is awesome for this).

IAD-JAX.

That's funny/interesting because I have been tracking these same flights for Spring Break, but we haven't bought tickets yet. The UA tickets are so much more expensive than American or Jet Blue. Those 2 airlines are pretty much taking over flights to Florida out of DCA/IAD so I am not surprised United is consolidating its flights

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

Are you going to FLL? That's the only UA non-stop I see to warm weather around 5pm (google flights is awesome for this).

IAD-JAX.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

OP again. My feeling is, I purchased a morning non-stop flight to my destination. That is the product they sold me, and that is the product I would like delivered to me. It's like ordering a black sweater online and being mailed a white tank top. And now the black sweaters are all gone or waaaay more expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you want this resolved?

I would like them to put me on the American or Jet Blue nonstop flight at a similar time at no additional cost to me. I asked. They laughed.

Are you going to FLL? That's the only UA non-stop I see to warm weather around 5pm (google flights is awesome for this).