I was scheduled for Flight 5375 from Saint Louis to O'Hare International on December 16 at 4:48 pm. I called ahead to check the availability of standby seats and was told there were openings on every afternoon flight, so I arrived at the airport four hours early hoping to
get on an earlier flight.
When I checked in, I told the representative
that I was planning on flying standby. She provided me with a standby ticket, but failed to put a standby mark on my luggage. Therefore, when I arrived at the gate, I was told that since I did not have such a mark
on my luggage, I was unable to fly standby and had to remain on my scheduled flight. I questioned this, since I had told the representative I was flying standby and made an effort to come to the airport early. The man at the gate admitted that it was the representative's fault but proceeded to tell me, "It is not a theoretical matter of whose fault it is, the damage is done and it's too expensive to resolve at this point in time."
This not only is humiliating in itself, but I then asked to speak to a supervisor looking for answers and the man proceeded to tell me that there was no one else
available because he is the director, and he then walked away. I cannot express how humiliated I was at the gate, and this was no fault of mine; this originated because of the error of a United employee.
Eventually, my original flight ended up being cancelled, and understandably so because of the Chicago weather. However, 10 minutes before I was supposed to board the next flight, which I earned a standby spot onto,
the lady at the gate told people on my original flight, 5375, that we had to go retrieve our luggage from baggage claim before we could board the next flight to Chicago. Because of this, I had to go to baggage
claim and while I was waiting in the line that was a half hour long at the ticket counter, the other flight took off. To make matters worse, I was then told that the next flight wasn't until 6 am the next morning,
security was closed so I couldn't re-enter the terminal, and that I had to remain in the ticket area until 4:30 am the next morning.
I asked for hotel accommodations at United's expense but was told since the cancellation was due to weather, this wasn't possible. I would understand this response if I was stuck actually because of weather, but I missed the flight at the error of United representatives. This was not due to weather because I would have been on the next flight if I were not told to go to baggage claim 10 minutes before the next plane boarded!
Being a college student with no reasonable means of getting back to campus and back to the airport without an additional $60 charge from the taxi and unable to buy a hotel room for the night, I was stranded at the airport until the gate opened up at 4:30 am the next morning.
To add to this nightmare, the flight attendant for my confirmed 6 am flight didn't even show up! The flight was delayed by another hour and I finally returned home to Chicago at 8am the next day after spending 19 hours in the airport due to the errors of United employees.
I have never been so humiliated in all of my communications with United, or with any company for that matter. I felt as though I was disregarded because of my age and my complaints at the ticket counter and gate were not taken seriously. This is no way to treat a customer, regardless of age. I must also express my disappointment that after several years flying with United, this is what it has come to.
Granted, after finally contacting customer service (after 4 days of the call not going through due to busy lines), they offered me a $100 voucher to use toward a future flight. However, I do not find this sufficient compensation for my experience and I urge students who fly home for the holidays to avoid United Airlines and these humiliating experiences.
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