My husband and I were on our honeymoon (July) in Pennsylvania and returning home on a Friday afternoon flight with US Air. We had to take US Air to our destination, as this was a package trip, and the hotel had an agreement with US Air. We arrived at the airport for our flight to see that it was delayed.
My husband asked the gate counter representative what the delay was, he was informed mechanical defect. The flight was delayed again and then cancelled. We were sent to the downstairs ticket counter to be booked on a later flight, which was in turn delayed twice and cancelled.
We were finally informed that there were no mechanical difficulties with the plane, but weather conditions. As all of the passengers proceeded to get in a long line and waited their turn. At the gate counter, I was told that there were no other flights out that night and I could not take a different airline. Not to mention that US Air was not providing people with car rentals or hotel rooms with food for the night, as it was weather delays and not their responsibility or under their control.
The gate rep informed me that I could get on a flight leaving Philadelphia (1 hours away) and they would shuttle us to that airport. I asked if Philadelphia was having weather problems and the rep said "I can not tell you that." We hurried to the baggage claim and then to the shuttle. We made it to Philadelphia in "enough" time, only to see the check in lines that wrapped around forever.
Luckily, my husband found the ONE nice US Air rep there and he provided us with lodging, food and transportation vouchers for the night. Plus we had a flight the next afternoon. We got to the hotel and learnd from teh hotel staff that US Air had been shuttling people to hotels all day - as they had OVERBOOKED their flights due to the Republican Convention in town. The nex day we checked in and waited for our flight which of course was DELAYED. The airplane was behind and then US Air could not find a flight attendant.
As we all waited we were told she was in teh airport and coming. Then it was she was on her way and finally they did not know where she was. When the flight attendant arrived and we started boarding, all passengers started clapping. The US Air rep stated for everyone to be quiet otherwise the plane would not be boarded. Then the plane sat on teh runway for about 20 minutes as they were trying to figure out their flight pattern due to weather. (this we only learned after I rang the flight attendant bell). Since this was not our original flight we arrived in a different city about 1 hours from home. We were to take a shuttle to our actual airport. However, as we were running through Chicago O'Hare airport, the US Air rep did not tell the shuttle to wait 5 minutes, therefore we missed that shuttle and had to wait an additional Hour.
Finally the shuttle arrived and we made it to our actual airport destination, home. Of course it was about 36 hours from original arrival time. When I sent a letter to US Air, they sent us $50 travel voucher for myself and my husband. When I called to complain about that, the VP asked "what did I feel would accomodate me?" Then I was sent another $100 voucher for each of us. For US Air flights, you cannot go anywhere for $150. They do not go to Chicago or Minneapolis directly from Milwaukee.US Air service is horrible in all concepts - never fly them or their "partner" airline United.
Jaime
Mequon, Wisconsin
USA
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