When we were flying back from Maryland to Hawaii there was a problem with the fuel line on our United Airlines flight.
We had a stop-over at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and had to wait four hours past our connecting flight time to Hawaii.
It was aggravating and a NOT uncommon irritation of travel. United gave us all a $100 per person "Appreciation voucher" for future travel.
The email we received informed us that when we purchase our next United Airline tickets online we should type in the "Appreciation voucher" code at the Payment Information page.
When Art tried to buy tickets online for our next flight to Maryland he looked for "United payment types" under Payment information to enter the Appreciation Voucher code, but he couldn't find it.
WHAT THE HECK?
Looking back at the email, we saw that a phone call to set up the flight purchase would cost $25.
Good grief!
Soooo....
I told Art to try calling and telling them we can do the purchase on our own, but just need them to tell us where to put the darn code.
The United agent tried to look for it herself. Her accent made it very difficult to understand what she was saying. There was also a LOT of background noise on her end which added to the difficulty.
After conferring with somebody (probably the manager) she said she would make the arrangements for us. I'm making faces at Art saying, "Wait, wait, wait! What about the $25 fee?" I'm sure she could hear me too since we put her on speaker.
After it was clarified that United would waive that $25 Agent fee, we agreed to having her do the purchase for us.
All this took us nearly TWO hours with the United agent to complete. However, in the end, it was done and we were able to get the $200 voucher processed and our flights purchased.
Was all this hassle worth it? Hmmmm.... $200? Yes, I do believe so.
My question is this. Why does United Airlines make it so hard to cash in those "Appreciation Vouchers" for the vagaries of travel that occur on their flights?
POSTSCRIPT: Our flight confirmation email came the following day and it didn't seem to make any sense. It seemed to be telling us that we would have to pay a lot more.
Art called them again and spoke to somebody who said she didn't understand the way it was written either! She called the manager who eventually was able to explain it while apologizing for the confusion. In the end, we discovered we were paying less than what we thought. Why, you ask?
Would you believe that the seats are priced differently in Economy PLUS? The regular Economy prices are all the same. However, in the Economy Plus section window, aisle and middle seats are not priced the same! Because we didn't take the window seats, we got a $60 reduction in our total ticket price. (I'd told Art that United squeezes you like sardines in Economy so I wanted to bite the bullet and pay the price for Economy Plus upgrade. Sigh.... Flying from Hawaii to Maryland is excruciating!
I think we've both sprouted new gray hairs.
It was aggravating and a NOT uncommon irritation of travel. United gave us all a $100 per person "Appreciation voucher" for future travel.
The email we received informed us that when we purchase our next United Airline tickets online we should type in the "Appreciation voucher" code at the Payment Information page.
When Art tried to buy tickets online for our next flight to Maryland he looked for "United payment types" under Payment information to enter the Appreciation Voucher code, but he couldn't find it.
WHAT THE HECK?
Looking back at the email, we saw that a phone call to set up the flight purchase would cost $25.
Good grief!
Soooo....
I told Art to try calling and telling them we can do the purchase on our own, but just need them to tell us where to put the darn code.
The United agent tried to look for it herself. Her accent made it very difficult to understand what she was saying. There was also a LOT of background noise on her end which added to the difficulty.
After conferring with somebody (probably the manager) she said she would make the arrangements for us. I'm making faces at Art saying, "Wait, wait, wait! What about the $25 fee?" I'm sure she could hear me too since we put her on speaker.
After it was clarified that United would waive that $25 Agent fee, we agreed to having her do the purchase for us.
All this took us nearly TWO hours with the United agent to complete. However, in the end, it was done and we were able to get the $200 voucher processed and our flights purchased.
Was all this hassle worth it? Hmmmm.... $200? Yes, I do believe so.
My question is this. Why does United Airlines make it so hard to cash in those "Appreciation Vouchers" for the vagaries of travel that occur on their flights?
POSTSCRIPT: Our flight confirmation email came the following day and it didn't seem to make any sense. It seemed to be telling us that we would have to pay a lot more.
Art called them again and spoke to somebody who said she didn't understand the way it was written either! She called the manager who eventually was able to explain it while apologizing for the confusion. In the end, we discovered we were paying less than what we thought. Why, you ask?
Would you believe that the seats are priced differently in Economy PLUS? The regular Economy prices are all the same. However, in the Economy Plus section window, aisle and middle seats are not priced the same! Because we didn't take the window seats, we got a $60 reduction in our total ticket price. (I'd told Art that United squeezes you like sardines in Economy so I wanted to bite the bullet and pay the price for Economy Plus upgrade. Sigh.... Flying from Hawaii to Maryland is excruciating!
I think we've both sprouted new gray hairs.
UA makes it tough to redeem these appreciation cash vouchers because most passengers are impatient and not resilient enough like you and are more likely to forego the redemption if they encounter difficulty. I must congratulate you and Art for not giving it up and squeezing the airline for the last pound of flesh :)
ReplyDeleteAll these hoops the airlines make you jump through lately--it's getting to be all too much for me. It's so frustrating I would almost rather stay home than fly. Almost.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on winning this latest battle, Kay and Art.
United used to be a good airline. These days, since I've moved to the Pacific Northwest, I use Alaska and they are wonderful. I had a similar situation happen to me a few years ago, and they gave me a $300 credit to be used within a year. I did and there was no problem at all getting the discount. I chose to go First Class since it was relatively cheap with the discount! :-)
ReplyDeleteLately anytime you have to contact any business by phone you know you are in for a long hassle. or so it seems t me.
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeleteI've never had a bad ticket purchasing experience. But, I don't fly often.
ReplyDeleteLife is so full of hassles! For the next trip we are taking I let our unTours agent find the flights for us. It was a breeze and no extra cost. She got good prices too and wonderful seats for the flight across to Europe.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing all the ways the airlines put in extra fees for where your seat is...hmm.
ReplyDeleteDealing with airlines over the phone take a lot of patience. Nothing comes free and no hassles.
ReplyDeletegood thing you are on the ball with this, not easy
ReplyDeleteMy most aggravating experience with flying...and I have a had a bunch of them...was trying to check three bags. I had paid $25. to check one but decided I did not want to carry two bags again so I was going to check all three. This was American...they told me it would be $175 to check all three. I said I paid $25.00 for just one on the outgoing trip and I did not have $175. The nice black man said, "If you will give me permission to open your large bag, I think I can get the medium sized one in it. It appears to be expandable" And he did. I ended up still having to carry one bag though
ReplyDeleteWe discovered that if we flew Delta first class, not only were our bags free but the total balanced out. AND they fed us. LO No fuss at all. It was really easy. LOL
ReplyDeleteI haven't flown in a while, but it does seem like it gets less friendly all the time. Good work on persisting!
ReplyDeleteWe are suppose to fly United (no other legitimate choice given the airport we're flying from and the destination we are going to) soon. Luckily ours is a straight-flight to DC since SC is not that far away.
ReplyDeletethe stop over at Ohare and missing the connecting flights was bad enough. Then they put you through major hassle to redeem tickets. These guys have never heard of customer service.
ReplyDeleteI usually fly on Hawaiian Airlines since they don't seem to nickel and dime everything. However...
ReplyDeleteWhen Aloha was in business and gave Hawaiian competition, customer service was great - overbooking, apologies, etc. were taken care of with very generous compensation. However, after Aloha went bankrupt, Hawaiian became not so nice. When my #3 was denied boarding on her flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu during her December break from college, she was so devastated at being told that she didn't have a reservation (but she DID!) and she had to pay a premium price to book a one way on United.
When I got home (I was on a trip), I called Hawaiian, they admitted that the gate agent made a mistake in not letting her board because her reservation was valid, and they offered nothing but attitude as compensation. SO rude! Customer service had been outsourced to the Philippines and the local Honolulu manager of that department was such a b_____, and so unyeilding. Refused to reimburse my daughter for her United flight and finally gave a $200 future flight voucher, which was so piddly compared to holiday air fares booked at the airport.
Grrrr! Seems that I still haven't gotten over that slight to my (then) young daughter who had sat on the curb at the airport, sobbing.
Ah well, boycotting them wouldn't work since they are the only airline that flies non-stop to Vegas and I accrue Hawaiian miles so easily with my credit card.
This makes me so angry.
DeleteI miss they days when we could travel from one island to another by just grabbing a ticket and hopping on. Might as well be an international flight now because of the security wait. Still faster than a cruise ship. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteFlying is a pain, but it's the only way in so many cases.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much that can go wrong!!!!
ReplyDelete