United Airlines

Hurricane Bud - please change our flight(!) like Delta has done. I lost two days of sleep worrying about flying into unsafe hurricane zone. So, please let us change our flight. I am a retired man with health issues and no health insurance. Today, I had chest pain. Four of us seniors are on our way to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a much needed vacation. Hours on the phone, talking with agents who do not speak English.

Upon checking in at Yuma International Airport Monday for a connecting flight in LAX to Sydney, the counter staff couldn't utilize their computer system to purchase the Australia ETA tourist visa. They failed and, thus, could not print my boarding pass. The plane pulled away from the gate and I was instructed to purchase the ETA through the Australia website and return the next day for check in, which I did. One day of my dream vacation lost! I arrived Tuesday for check in with Australian ETA confirmation in hand and the staff still could not print my boarding pass to LAX due to the system not recognizing my ETA, in time for my flight. They did get it printed after an hour and a half on the phone to their computer help desk, and 10 minutes after the plane left the airport!

Two days lost of my dream vacation. They rebooked me for Wednesday and I now have boarding passes in hand. I just called United Airlines for a simple, and very accommodating, request of compensation for my lost two days. I requested a seating upgrade for each day I was delayed, taking me from Economy to Business Elite. They only offered me an Economy Plus upgrade, in a center seat. I currently have an aisle seat with four seats vacant in my row. I asked to talk to the supervisor (these people are in India, btw). After a prolonged wait, the supervisor told me she could not offer any upgrade at all! So, two days of my vacation (and life) wasted due to United Airlines archaic computer system (it is actually Continentals archaic system. They downgraded from their previous system to avoid paying royalties to previous system software company, the one that worked!).

I would highly recommend that anyone flying United to Australia go online and purchase the Australia ETA directly from Australia. While United is supposed to be able to do this upon check-in, their staff has not been properly trained in the older system, and that computer system obviously has multiple glitches. I will never fly United Airlines again. I don't blame the workers in this company. Culture is set by management at the highest levels. Customer service is obviously not in the top 5 priorities of the company. Perhaps, they should become a cargo hauler only.

Where do I start? I was recently issued a new Visa card as my previous one was compromised. United verbally gave me a new mileage plus number. I have spent overall a total of over three hours on the phone and another three hours online trying to get the problem solved that even though I was given a new number and it was verified as being correct, United online was not able to recognize it. I was transferred from one person to another (on the phone) every time culminating in being cut off and needing to start over with my problem with each new person. No one could help me. I finally have given up trying to use my 70,000 plus miles for a ticket since I am out of time and patience. I have booked my flight with American Airlines. I guess United has achieved their goal: Make it so difficult for customers to redeem their earned miles that they give up and just pay for a ticket. I will from now on use American Airlines instead of United for this route. I also will now cancel my Mileage Plus Visa and start using another charge card to earn miles on a different airline. United Airlines is a sorry example of a well run business!

I was seeing my daughter off this morning and was unable to go to the United Airlines gate with her in SFO. The last time I went, they gave me a guest pass. Has United Airlines changed their policy? What really hurts is that she was moving out and away from home for the very first time out of state and I wanted to be there for her, but I was unable to. And the person there who was telling me this was very rude and just kept saying the same thing over and over. I asked over and over again, "Well, do you know why they did it last time and not this time?" She just kept saying they can't do that because blah, blah. In other words, she did not have an answer for me. She could even say if the policy was changed or what.

United knowingly is providing poor service. The United website has not been working properly for years. Still now, after my complaint, for years it is not working properly. I have searched for mileage award ticket Tokyo to Paris and was offered first class via Frankfurt with LH. When I choose to book, it tells me to call the reservation center. Reservation center tells me that seats are not available, but the system is simply not giving me correct information. It is the system on your website and even seats are not there, it keeps showing seats are available. It takes around 30 minutes on hold to get to a reservation agent in your Tokyo call center. More, your website has a choice of English language with residence in Japan never works.

Choose Japanese in Japan and it will show your website in US with Japanese, again not working properly. Also, I have called for Star Alliance upgrade and your agent told me it is not working, so call back in few weeks. I did call in a few weeks and asked for the NRT-LAX-NRT upgrade on SQ and was told to buy a ticket and to do the upgrade online. After I bought tickets, I found out I cannot upgrade NRT-LAX-NRT on SQ since that is operated by Airbus 380. I called the UA Tokyo reservation center and was told that is true and the agent was very sorry to have caused me loss of money and time but there was not much she could do. I asked for supervisor, but was told he/she will call me back. Customer service agent Mr. ** called me and offered me "sorry" and that is all.

Last year, I have tried to use mileage to get first class NRT-LAX-NRT on SQ but was told SQ does not have first class service, only economy and business on that route. Wrong again, they do have it, it's just that United mileage cannot be used for an award booking for first class on SQ Airbus 380. It took me hours of calling around and weeks in waiting to get this information, but even now, today, your agents have no clue about it. Yet another booking I made over the phone, a United agent forgot to mention the handling fee and she called me back after she has already finalized my booking. That is Yakuza style business to change after agreement has been reached!

I'm fed up with United and I will do everything in my power for United to pay for each single mistake. To start, I'll take legal action against United since United knowingly is not fixing its website system. This is serious and you can be assured I will sue. You should hire a guy like me to fix all your United problems. Today, I have reported those claims to the Ministry of Land and Infrastructure of Japan.

I just called inquiring about a previous credit to my account and to book a flight using part of that credit. The lady whom I spoke to was extremely rude and offered no help to me. She started yelling at me, saying that I didn't have the information that she needed. I was in the middle of asking her a question and she hung up on me! I have never in my life experienced such a rude customer service rep. I have always had good experiences in the past, but this was horrible! What happened to customer service! Needless to say, I didn't book my flight and the last thing I want to do is call back and wait for 15 minutes to speak with someone! Awful!

I was booked on Flight 4483 scheduled to leave at 7:49 p.m., Gate D1 to Newark airport. Gate D3 also was leaving for Newark (EWR) at 7:43. The crew came up to the agent and said flight is delayed an hour due to weather. The flight at Gate D3 left on time, no issues. We were told that flight was full. I have checked several different resources and there wasn't any bad weather. In fact, there were 5 flights that landed in EWR from this area during the same time frame, RDU, GSO and CLT. This is very poor service.

On March 18, 2012, I used my flyer miles for a business class upgrade for 2 seats and was charged an additional $150. The requests were put on a wait list and we failed to receive the upgrades. Nearly a month later, the airline had not refunded the miles and did so only after I called, waited 20 minutes on the phone, and complained. They told me the $150 was an administrative fee and to go to another location to request the $150 refund. Calling them directly is impossible and their fax number has been busy for a week. I would not have even requested the upgrade if not for the fact that the website said upgrades were available. I fail to see how they can charge a fee for a service that they did not perform. That is the same as charging shipping and handling without ever sending anything. My next step is to dispute charges with my credit card company.

The date is May 5, 2012 and the place is Houston Bush International Airport (IAH). The flight to Newark would leave at about 5:30 in the morning and the check-in counter didn't open until after 4:30am. This is international flight check-in and the United Airline only gave customers less than one hour time frame from check-in to the departure terminal. United Airlines staff don't have sympathy and consideration for old and injured customers.

I requested a wheel chair service for my 67-year-old mother who has severe lower back body injury, but the check-in staff told me that the wheelchair assistance staff would only show up after 5:00am. She said my mother has to go to the departure gate by herself, otherwise she would not be able to make it. I also requested the check-in staff to issue me a pass which I can use to get through the security check point so that I can help and accompany my mother (my mother can't speak nor read English) to the departure gate but the check-in staff said 'no'. My mother and I have to run to take the train to the other terminal security checkpoint in less than 45 minutes.

The service provided by United Airlines staff is unacceptable. They don't seem to care about old and disabled customer. They also create nervousness and uncomfortable situation among customers by not giving enough time for customers to make it to the departure gate. I am very disappointed with United Airlines service and I would avoid flying that airline if I have a choice in the future.

I have opened my baggage and my Sony Vaio is gone! I really need someone to track who handled my bags and find my computer! $1,000 reward for the return of my computer! My final flight on the day of travel was 5379/26. Please, please take the time to track who handled my bag! I need this computer. It has my whole life and all of my daughters' photos from birth! Please take the time to figure out where my bag was opened and who took my computer. I really, really need this computer in hindsight. I put my entire life in the hands of your companies and it is all gone. Please find my computer! Maybe someone saw someone with my computer, it is a thin silver laptop Sony Vaio.

On a nonstop flight between Houston and Los Angeles on board United Flight 47, my baggage was mistagged at check-in by a United check-in clerk. Long story short, my baggage went to Dubai and I went to Los Angeles. Even after immediately identifying after arrival where the bag went, the mistagged information and the switched recipient of the switched tags/bags, 23 days later and many calls to United baggage hotline, has not returned my bags. Small story you might think, but the flow of consequences are still being felt due to the lost contents, quite obvious now, never to be seen again.

Bottom line, I'm furious for the lack of compassion, assistance and caring at United's quite obvious mistake. Now I must spend days filling out forms, compiling receipts and tracking down documentation for all the lost property in the hopes of seeing some compensation. I've circled the globe numerous times for work and pleasure. This one clinched it for me. I'll never, ever fly United again.

Hostile airport staff - On Sunday, the 22nd of April, my husband and I were at Newark Airport to board a flight to Munich scheduled to depart at 5:35pm (United gate C125 Flight UA106T). It was before 5pm when we arrived at the gate, after an hour long wait at security. My husband stepped away for a moment to make a quick Duty Free purchase when I heard an announcement made. The time was 5:05pm. The announcement said it was the last call for the Munich flight. My husband was out of sight and so I walked over to the counter and explained that my husband just stepped away and this was our flight. I asked if the agent would please announce his name so he could return to the gate. The agent refused and pointed me in the direction of the door to board the plane. I went over to the door and again explained the situation to an agent named Carla **; I pleaded for someone to simply say his name over the public broadcast system.

I spoke with Ms. Carla ** and Cheryl ** at the gate. Ms. Carla ** suggested I go look for my husband and I explained that we have luggage and it would be too difficult for me to do that; I was in the early stage of pregnancy and was not supposed to carry heavy objects. I pleaded and she suggested I ask Ms. Cheryl. Ms. Cheryl refused and in fact said she was going to close the flight without us. I then watched her pick up the telephone and tell someone there was "a customer with an attitude" at the gate. She said, "We announced last call for the flight and he should hear that and come."; I explained that he doesn't speak English so the announcement would mean nothing to him. She asked what language he spoke. I said Greek and she told me there was nobody to make an announcement in Greek. I explained that I don't want an announcement in Greek, "If you just say his name, he'll hear it and come." Again, she refused. I asked to speak with a manager, or her superior. She refused and said she was "the boss of this flight" and then raised her voice ten decibels and shouted, "You're not going to talk to me that way; I'm closing this flight and you're not getting on, there's nothing you can do about it."

My husband returned at 5:25, as soon as she closed the door; we found Ms. Lisa **, a manager, who said she would try to get us on the flight only to find out that Ms. Cheryl had our luggage removed from the aircraft. We had to take a flight the next day, and three days later our luggage arrived, damaged. This entire exchange lasted the course of at least 20 minutes, during which they could have easily made an announcement and quickly alleviated the situation. My husband had to be at work the next day and I had to be in school. The next day, not only did the aircraft not depart until 5:50pm but the captain said we were waiting for some late passengers to board. At the terminal, I heard multiple announcements requesting passengers by name to board flights, because the flights were ready to depart. Hence, there was absolutely no reason not to page my husband and remedy the situation other than Ms. **'s obstinacy and obvious inability to refrain from getting into a power struggle.

This concerns flights out of SEA to DVR and onward to MSY. Although I made and paid for the reservations 2 months out from the actual flights with assigned seats alongside for my fiance' and my self, the scumbags at UA saw fit to separate us throughout the plane. The change resulted in my "scheming" at the last second upon re-boarding to actually be sitting with her by paying an extra $30 for a middle seat in an upgraded area. The originally assigned seats were fine without the unsolicited change for one of us. Worse, when I attempted to remedy via phone, the 20- to 25-minute wait time is corrupt and excessive.

My recommendation is to ensure at least one week out that the low lives at UA have not screwed with your seat assignments in order that you have plenty of time to hang on "hold" for an indefinite period of time. Yes, I probably erred in rolling over and paying the UA-generated corrupt seat tax, but time was running out (as well as patience for this airline). Consider this no more than a word to the wise.

My husband and I took our first overseas trip to Germany on March 28, 2012. When I saw our seats, I was shocked. We sat in the center of the economy section of A 777. The seats were so close together that you had to be in a sitting position to get out of your seat and you couldn't stand up. I felt like the seat in front of me was right in my face and it was impossible to sleep because you couldn't get comfortable enough. I felt sorry for my husband who is 6 feet tall: he was totally miserable. People around us were complaining and we all said that it was torture. I truly felt like a sardine. We flew back on Air Canada and that was totally more room. I'm never flying United again. I will pay more for another airline and a comfortable seat.

Several issues; UA was always a second tier airlines compared to some of the world's leading airlines. Since the merger, it is now in the 3rd tier. They scrapped their reservation system for the Continental DOS based one to save $7 million/year. The Cont. one is so old, so primitive that it is an embarrassment. If you are an elite status member, 1K, etc., your status has been diluted because of all the elite Cont. members. Forget about getting upgrades. The lounges have doubled the membership so it is not rare to see people standing or sitting on the floor. The personnel try but they are limited to what they can do. UA never answer emails anymore and to call is usually a 10 - 15 minute wait. Customer focus is no longer their priority. This is really Cont. Airlines in UA clothing. The Feds would not allow Cont. to file for a 3rd bankruptcy, so they allowed the merger with UA, dreadful.

On March 22, I spent 46 minutes on the phone with two different agents who were very difficult to understand. The first one was Juliette and the "manager" was John #**. John was extremely rude, unyielding and condescending toward me. I was so frustrated I was in tears by the end of the call. Then when I called another agent, she gave me a direct email for refunds. I sent an email to both that address and the general one. As of April 24, I have had no response. I need two tickets, one for myself and one for my daughter, round trip Omaha to Managua from June 21-July 1. The ticket for my daughter would be a new reservation and I'd like to use a travel discount certificate we have for $100 off. Promotion code is ** and the PIN is **.

My ticket was originally booked through a travel agent as required by my work and is one that needs to be changed. I realized there is an increase in price now and the $150 change of ticket fee. I am currently set to leave April 28 for Managua, but I am unable to do that because of some health issues with another daughter. The total change on March 22 would have been over $300. I also have a rebate on file for $128.70. I would like to use the rebate on my change of ticket fee, but was told that my rebate amount would need to be more than the cost of the fee, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Essentially, that means I will never get my full rebate amount back because I would need to forfeit the remainder of the balance. All I want is to use the $100 certificate on one of the flights and get my money back from the rebate for $128.70 on another flight.

The manager raised his voice at me and flat out said there was nothing they could do and they were busy with the merger. There was plenty more, but that was the gist of it. On April 3, another very long, unproductive call and was told that the rules have changed since United has taken over Continental. On April 12, another email was sent and no response. On April 23, another call, 25 minutes on hold and then another 46 minutes with an agent who then tried to transfer me to a manager which led to another 14 minutes of holding with just a disconnect as soon as the manager "answered" the phone. There is still no resolution. I never had these problems with Continental.

The experience with United Airlines at Madison is nothing but appalling. We (me, my wife and our 11-month daughter) checked in at Madison airport 50 minutes ahead of departure time (6:26 AM, 4/22/2012, UA5848 from Madison to Chicago). We spent a long time waiting in line to go through security. When we arrived at the gate, it was 6:13 AM, 13 minutes before airplane take-off. The worker at the gate would not allow us to board, saying he has closed the door of the airplane. What really appalled us was this UA worker at Madison airport (tall, pale, overweight, middle-aged, white male, first name started with D) was the same person who checked our luggage in at the UA counter before security checkpoint. He knew we are a family with a baby, he knew we were making an international flight connecting through Chicago to China and he knew that we were checked in when he closed the airplane door.

During the whole course of our waiting for going through security, we heard no reminder from airport broadcasting. This worker refused to explain to us why he did not wait for us even if he evidently knew we already checked in and he knew our situation. This worker refused to explain to us why he did not call us through airport broadcasting even if he was aware of the situation and had the full capability to do so. His attitude stroke us as inconsiderate, indifferent and cold-blooded. This experience gives us a strong impression that United Airlines is a very inhuman corporation that has no care about customer experience. United Airlines is definitely the worst airline I have used. Avoid United Airlines whenever possible!

I've flown United internationally for the last 3 years and I just arrived home from the most disorganized rabble and lost one bag. I'm leaving US on Wednesday (Harrisburg) and reaching Melbourne on Saturday at 3:30 pm. Worst was being on the flight on April 19 from Chicago O'Hare to LAX when after being dragged off the tarmac with mechanical failure for an hour and a half, customer relations ran us to another flight from Chicago to LAX. They took my carry-ons and stowed them, giving me a ticket that's telling me they would go directly to Melbourne. The plane radioed ahead to say we would be there at LAX by 10 pm and our flight to Melbourne leaves 10.17. We were told we'd made it and the Chicago plane let us out first. When we ran from gate 75 to 77, the gate was open and they started taking our boarding passes. Then a man named Charles pushed us out and locked the door. He said he's heard nothing and it was tough luck. 25 passengers stranded in LA for 24 hours. He was rude, aggressive, and left after he'd pushed us to customer service.

I had eye surgery booked Friday in Melbourne which went by the wayside. A $10 voucher doesn't buy half a meal in CA. I was at the hotel by 2 am, woken by cleaning ladies at 7 am walking in. I had no luggage at all - no carry-on, some luggage on one plane and some on another plane. Original plane was UA 943 (mechanical failure). We were thrown onto UA 689, in which my luggage I had left was stowed. They radioed ahead and said they knew we were coming. I was stranded in LA for 24 hours: no luggage, no help, and attitude. Total people stranded: about 25 of us.

Once we flew next day, we were supposed to land in Melbourne at 9:40 am. We arrived at 3:30 pm. The luggage from UA 689 is still missing. All evidence for my kids and what I bought was lost. Someone (Charles) at the gate made a decision which was a lie. Communications were sent from your people in Chicago to LAX and the pilot got us there. Now, I'm out of pocket and all my shopping. And also to rub it in, my luggage is half missing and TSA took out half my luggage from a suit case and it's missing.

On 4/17/12, my wife and I arrived at TF Green airport in Providence, RI excited about our 5 day/4night trip to Aruba. We approached the United counter and was informed that first leg of our flight to NJ was cancelled. After several minutes typing and clicking on the keyboard, the woman at the counter indicated that there were no flights available for that day due to a mechanical problem with the plane. We were provided with a flight the following morning and told "That was the best we could do." We informed the UA representative that leaving the following day would leave us with only 3 nights in Aruba. The response was, "That is the way it is. Nothing else could be done." The UA representative did not know any other options. Could we get our money back? Would our credit card points be reimbursed? Do we have any other options, etc? We were only told to email customer relations. "Nothing could be done at that time."

As it appeared we were not getting any help, we decided to return home. Upon asking if our parking ticket could be validated, the UA representative indicated that they have never done that in the 25 years she has worked for United. Upon returning home, we received an automated phone call indicating that our rescheduled flight has again been cancelled and was changed to Thursday 4/19, leaving us with two nights in Aruba. As a result, UA left us with no choice but to cancel our trip.

My issues are as follows:

1.) The complete lack of caring or interest in attempting to help the customer. Rather than attempting to process and rectify the problem, the response was "That is all we can do." No "sorry", no "we will do everything we can to help", no "we will compensate you for your troubles," nothing. They did not care at all. It wasn't their problem, it was the customer's'

2.) This was not a weather related cancellation. The UA representative informed us that the plane was being working on the previous day and they "must have not been able to fix it". No heads up, no attempt to reassign seats prior to going to the airport at 3:30am, just expect the customer to arrive at the airport with no flight, no options, and no one available to answer any questions;

3.) Being told to return home, through no fault of my own, and having to pay to park in the extended lot, while the United representative presents as being offended that I ask for a ticket validation;

4.) United indicated that they would reimburse our fees within 8-12 weeks. Why can I book a flight and be charged immediately, but it take 8-12 weeks to be reimbursed?

5) I am in the process of providing documentation and emailing customer relations to recoup my $300 lost from canceling my hotel in Aruba. I am quite sure there will be many additional hoops to work through;

6.) We were told to contact customer relations to file our complain. Phone numbers on the United.com website are non-existent. The only option is to email.

My problem with United Airlines Mileage Plus upgrading is too long to write here. I have been trying for over two weeks to talk with someone who speaks English that I can understand. I have spent about four hours on the phone, most of it on hold after being hooked with a person who can't speak English well. I have emailed four times and received two computer answers that I would be contracted later. I have tried over 25 times to fax but your fax machine doesn't answer. I have written a letter requesting someone to call me but no one has. I can't believe that United treats their customer like this. I am a lifetime Red Carpet Club member and use only a Mileage Plus Visa card for miles. What good are the miles if you won't honor them?

On Feb 27/2012, I flew from Las Vegas to Hongkong, connecting San Francisco (ticket # **, flight # UA 681). When I claimed my baggage in Hongkong, I saw my zipper closers were cut on three places and my digit lock which was hanging unused is gone. There is no reason whatsoever to cut my zipper closers because I used a green twister wire (the kind we use in grocery store on plastic bags) and why in the world would they cut the two-side chamber/pouch zipper closers when it was opened with no twister wire on it? Now my $89 baggage became useless.

0n April 2, 2012, I was supposed to fly from Gudalajara airport to San Francisco airport at 7am. I was 3 hours early. The lady in the front desk saw my tickets. Then she said the airline was full. So she delayed the air flight till April 6, 2012. I lost time and money due to this delay. Please take this matter into consideration. I would like a refund.

I have just experienced the worst airline situation of my life thanks to United Airlines. My husband, Salomon **, my three children (ages 7, 9 and 11) and I left Mexico City on the 7th of April 2012 to start a week's vacation in Lake Tahoe. We flew to San Francisco and connected to Reno and then drove to Lake Tahoe. On the 12th of April, due to bad weather on the mountain, we decided to drive to Reno to take a flight to San Francisco. This flight number 5467 was cancelled and the woman who assisted us at the counter very amicably suggested we drive to San Francisco and continue our return trip to Mexico City on the 14th of April on flight number 821 at 12:40 pm. She assured us that there was no problem cancelling the Reno to San Francisco leg, and our San Francisco to Mexico City leg remained intact. We asked her three times to assure us that there was no problem!

On the 14th, we arrived at the airport at 9:30 am. We stood in a line for over two hour to reach the counter, which indicates that there is a serious lack of organization and logistics in your company. On reaching the counter, we were told that our names did not appear on the flight list and that we had cancelled our flight! Obviously, we were in shock and terribly angry. The not-very compassionate woman who was at the counter, (though she realized we were Spanish-speaking customers, did not afford us the courtesy of speaking to us in Spanish, as we found out later she was able to do), did a lot of talking but no resolving of the matter as we were hearing that the flight was being closed.

My husband asked to speak to the manager. She was not a very well-mannered individual and urgently needs to work on her people skills. Rude is a mild adjective to describe her. She told us that we had to pay our tickets to Mexico once again because our names did not appear on the flight list, even though the error was totally the fault of United Airlines, and we would be leaving on the 11:30 pm flight that arrives in Mexico City at 5:30 am, and remember, we were traveling with three children! We strongly rejected paying the tickets and insisted that we be sent via another city to make a connection to Mexico City. After much insistence, she accepted and transferred us to a young man named Brian who did everything possible to help us correctly.

Unfortunately , the flight he got for us to LA was unavoidably detained and we lost the connection to Mexico City. There were no other possibilities available to leave that day or the following, leaving us no alternative but to take the 11:30 pm flight. A man in customer service took two hours to ticket us for that flight and the only courtesy we received from the airline was a $10 voucher per person, which I'm sure you'll agree, was ridiculous. After a very long day, we reached our boarding gate. When the first attendant (an elderly Asian woman) arrived at the counter, my husband approached her and asked to buy economy plus seats that there were being announced. She very, very rudely told him to move because she was busy working. He returned various times to get this help and was turned down by all the people working there. They were able to announce the name of the boyfriend/husband of one of the flight attendants (Juliana **) to approach and receive a first-class seat but my husband's petitions were unanswered.

Once the plane was being boarded, we were stopped before boarding and were told that there was a problem with our tickets! This is when I lost it! Remember, we asked repeatedly for assistance and were denied. My children as well as I, were crying and we were all exhausted. The plane was full and the doors were about to be closed and they had to ask the plane to wait until the problem was solved. I must say, though, that the head flight attendant (whose name I unfortunately forgot) and one of the flight attendant who goes by the name of Celia ** were very kind and understood the stress we were under and did everything possible to get us seats together because we were dispersed throughout the plane. And to top things off, our luggage did not arrive with us and we did not receive it until 36 hours later. We feel the airline should compensate my family and me for this nightmare situation that we were forced to endure. I await a prompt reply to this letter.

Charge holds placed by UA when told not, now unable to remove: I'm returning on flight OKA (Okinawa) to NTR (Tokyo) to EWR (Newark) to ORF (Norfolk) on 4/13. At 4am on 4/13 (Okinawa time), I went on line attempting to purchase a seat upgrade (economy plus seating). I input my reservation (found) and credit card (Visa debit) data, and the return came back that UA was "unable to process my request at this time. Please try again later." So I waited 10 minutes and did it again. Same response. I waited an additional 15 minutes and tried again. Same response. So I tried a different Visa (debit) card (different account). Same thing twice more. So I gave up.

On arrival in Tokyo, I went to a ticket agent counter at the gate, attempting to purchase an upgrade there. They told me I still had my original seat and that they could seat me with adequate legroom (though not as much as Economy Plus) at no charge, which I accepted. Upon arrival in Newark (still en route home), I checked bank accounts to discover UA charged me five times for the upgrade they said could not be processed--3x on the one account and 2x on the other. And now funds were "pending on hold" by my bank, which won't remove the hold until UA tells them to.

I immediately contacted a gate agent in Newark, who attempted to use the UA "help system" to connect me to someone who could address and remove these holds. Even they were frustrated by lack of help. I had to give up after two hours and boarded my final leg flight home. The next day, 4/14, I attempted to contact UA help and was continuously transferred to the "reservation desk agent," who told me there was "nothing they could do" and that I would have to have a refund processed, which could take up to 7-14 days and that I had to do it online.

I was transferred then to "international department" and then to a supervisor, who said basically the same thing--no way to contact anybody directly who could assist but that they would file a refund case for me and someone would contact me direct in 24 hours. Nobody has contacted me. I was also provided with 1-800-WE CARE2 to call (not available on weekends) to speak directly with the refund department. I called this number on Monday, 4/16; and I was transferred back to "reservations." Then I was told that there was no way to speak to the refund department. I have to e-mail them.

These holds were placed by UA which told me via website that they were not processing them. I have no other receipts for the charges. They placed them instantly. They can remove them instantly. If I can be provided with POC at UA to do this... But according to everybody in India I speak to, there was no way to do this.

UA has placed a hold on my funds without cause, without product, and without acknowledgment (acknowledge to the contrary actually). And now, it refuses to provide me a path to address them and have them removed. I have spent over 4 hours on hold with 6 different departments, which all said the automated system is my only recourse. That would be the same automated system that caused this issue in the first place with no way to correct it.

My next business travel overseas will encompass everything possible to AVOID booking UA in the future.

On Saturday, April 14th, we were homebound from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Newark, NJ airport. We were seven people checking in curbside with a total of 10 bags of luggage. We went to the agent and showed him our boarding passes. We were all on flight 1164. He checked all of them with our passports and then issued each bag a ticket. Since we were flying all together to the same place, he said that it didn't matter what ticket went on what bag. We had prepaid for our baggage which totaled $120. Upon showing our prepaid receipt, the agent looked into the computer and told us that our bags were not on the prepaid list. He charged us again and we had to wait on a long line to get a refund. We got to the gate at 11:30 am for a 2:49 flight because after United took over Continental and they decided to change the flights. We had been on a cruise and we had to be off the boat by 10 (the original flight was number 1230 and was scheduled to depart at 12:55 pm). That in itself was terrible because we had to wait in the airport for an additional 3 hours.

When we were about to board, the other 5 people (my son, daughter-in-law and my grandchildren and another grandmother) boarded. When my husband and I showed them our boarding passes and they were scanned, it came up "customer not found." They then told us we were on the later flight. On the boarding pass, it said flight 1164, but they said that we were on flight 1076, which was over an hour later. We complained vehemently until they were able to get us on the flight with our children. We were scheduled to sit together, but of course there was another snag. I had to sit alone in row 10 and my husband sat in row 15 - another complaint because we never fly sitting without each other.

My husband decided to look at the baggage tickets and there were 4 of our 10 bags on flight 1076. Because of the incompetence of your workers, after we landed we had to wait for flight 1076 to come in to get our other bags. There were 2 of mine, one of my son's and one of the other persons. Ridiculous! After paying you to take our bags, you have the audacity to take our luggage and put them on another flight aside from the fact that you changed our flight without our knowledge.

Now, the people who were picking us up couldn't wait around because they had other people to pick up. So, aside from having prepaid them, we had to find someone else to take us home for an additional fee. I would like to be compensated for the payment of my luggage, for the additional amount ($80) paid to the other service and for a refund on the amount it cost us to fly home. It was a holiday week, so it wasn't cheap! Thank you!

On February 16th, we made roundtrip reservations to fly to Las Vegas: flight 1653 out and flight 688 back, on April 2nd. After entering the jetway for flight 1653, the attendant called me and told me my seat was reassigned. I had specified a window seat at the time of the reservation. The reason I was given was that "the plane was changed". I hate, repeat, h-a-t-e, aisle seats. I am a large man, 6' 2", 275 lbs. I don't like having my shoulder hit every time someone has to use the toilet.

Besides that, my wife and I like to travel together. By the way, the fellow in my seat was travelling alone! On the return flight, again, I was given an aisle seat. There is a reason we booked 8 weeks in advance as that was to ensure we'd get the seats we wanted which is not what we received. As a result, United has gone from being our first choice to our last. We will use you, but only after we have checked with your competitors. In other words, the loyalty you showed us will be treated in kind.

We booked our travel as a package leaving on a Tuesday and returning on a Saturday. Weeks before we were to leave, we checked the flights and the last leg of the flight home was showing Sunday and our seats were not together, which I detest. We booked as a couple, so that means we are traveling as a couple: do not separate us! So the phone calls begin. I only wish I had kept up with how many times my husband called and how long he was on hold each time because I feel quite sure he wasted at least 8 hours of his life messing with this issue with absolutely no resolution. They never changed the day of return to Saturday instead of Sunday nor our sitting arrangements. So all the phone calls - useless, incompetent United people. We were just left to assume that our flight was indeed on Saturday since the first leg of the flight was.

When we arrived at the airport on Saturday for the first leg of our flight, we asked the United attendant to change our seating arrangements on our next flight and very rudely she said no and they would do that when we arrived for our second leg of the flight. She just did not want to be bothered with it. She was not doing anything except talking and laughing with a co-worker. Now is when the real fun begins! We arrived for our final flight home. We asked a United attendant to change our seats and again he said very rudely without even looking up: "Come back in 10 minutes." We finally did get our seats changed, but not with any smiles - very rude and unhappy people. We are all boarded and on the runway and have been sitting there for a very long time.

The pilot tells us he is waiting on a computer head count from the terminal. No, not really. Did they not just check every boarding pass? We sat there for so long that we had to go back to a gate and refuel - yes, I am serious - then back out on the runway. And, yes, I am serious again: another computer head count. Only the pilot came on and said that he was so embarrassed that he was going to do something that had not been done since the 90s and actually do a visual head count on board. At this time, we had been sitting on the plane for over 2 hours and we're still on the ground! Totally unacceptable! Needless to say, we will not be flying with United ever again!

I returned from Cleveland after burying my husband. A wheelchair was requested at the check-in and we proceeded to the gate and on to the aircraft. I told them no stairs nor could I walk any distance when this flight was scheduled and a wheelchair was requested. After boarding the aircraft, my seat was in the rear of the aircraft to which I attempted to walk, almost falling twice. The flight attendant had to help me to my seat. I am sure this was overlooked when they gave me a seat in the rear of the aircraft because I should have been seated near the front as I was on my flight to Cleveland. I feel this should be watched closer when seating disabled people. I am very angry and dissatisfied with United Airlines. How they tell you to file a complaint is not possible with United.com.

Refund policy when you buy insurance: We booked tickets for a wedding in June and got the insurance. My son and his fiance, who are both seniors in college, got jobs after booking of the tickets and will be flying out of different locations. We could not get a refund or anything. I will never fly United again, unless it's the only other airline! They were very rude and non-accommodating!

I was traveling on March 17/2012 with my family, including 4 kids. Airline lady give me very hard time and she was so rude and she spent 2 and 1/2 hours to issue the ticket. I have 13 and 4 are extra weight. As per policy at the United Airline website, bag fee for 50 lbs = $25, bag fee for 51 lbs - 70 lbs = $100 and bag fee for 71 lbs - 100 lbs = $200. But she charge for 75 lbs bag = $400 for few bags.

I told her the policy but she does not accept and she did not even check at the website but she just charge. I was so stressed and I was getting late. She almost made me miss my flight but fight was late 20 minutes and I got the flight. She was so rude and her behavior was so bad. So I decided not to fly with this airline again, although I am frequent flyer. I called customer relations. She said I have to deal with them at the airport and she said she can charge any amount as per her wish.

I called to find out why I had not been contacted about items stolen from my luggage by United Airlines baggage handlers. "Josh", who said he had no employee identification number, was condescending and belittling in my attempts to find out where my matter stood. He kept asking for a reference number which I repeatedly told him was never provided. When he did find my information, he did not provide a reference number and had an attitude almost taunting.

I called back to complain to a supervisor and somehow he took my call and said there was no supervisor or manager for me to talk to. We got into a heated discussion as to who had the attitude and he hung up. So, not only does United have thieves in baggage, this person, "Josh", apparently thinks these matters are trivial and funny. These people stole a camera that had pictures of my first vacation in two years and had really great pictures/videos of whales and dolphins. Thanks for all the help Josh. I hope you will be on the unemployment line soon where your unique attitude will surely make you quite employable.

My husband and I were on flight #854 out of Houston to Lima, Peru for my son's wedding. The date was March 5, 2012. The plane hit a bird (tried to avoid a flock of birds). The flight was returned to Houston, and we finally left for Peru on the 7th. We lost two days of lodging which we had to pay for, and two days of our vacation. I contacted United Airlines when we got back on the 3rd, and have not received any response. I got very ill due to the stress. Our luggage was also delayed several days longer, and we had to buy miscellaneous items, such as clothing while we were there. It was at the same time as the consolidation of United Airlines and Continental Airlines.

My son and I flew United on April 7, 2012. When we arrived at the Albany, NY airport at 3:00pm for our 5:10pm departure, we were told our flight was delayed. We were looking at a possible departure of 6:30pm. I had a connection in Newark for a 9:00pm flight to Columbus, OH. Asking if I would make it, the ticket agent replied "you do the math". Suddenly, after looking at the screen for several minutes, he told me my connection was late also. One hour and 52 minutes to be exact. So he assured me I would indeed make the flight, that both were behind schedule. I swear I thought he was making it up, so I asked the supervisor next to him to please look and he agreed, although he didn't seem too sure either.

Up at the gate, I asked a representative for the third time to be sure I would make the connection and he said yes. We got to Newark and when I checked at the gate he said that the flight out to Columbus, OH had left on time, over an hour before. I explained my situation and he said those "**" in Albany must not have been looking at the Saturday schedule. What?

His solution was to give me a flight in the morning. I asked for hotel rooms and he said I would need to speak to a supervisor but his wasn't there and I would have to wait and see what he said, or, I could run through the airport and catch a flight to Cleveland. When I got to that gate, the representative was so unbelievably rude, asking why the first ticket agent didn't change my tickets. By now, this plane was boarding and he was still complaining about having to change my flight. Finally, my son and I made it on. We then waited another 30 minutes for 20 people from a late flight out of Cozumel to board.

After disembarking, I asked the attendant in Cleveland for help. She checked my tickets and told me there was nothing in her computer about me needing to go to Columbus. She said, since they changed my tickets, the flight was "complete" and they were not obligated to assist me. I pointed out I was 150 miles from home, that their flight was almost 2 hours late, all their information was wrong, and it was almost 11pm. She suggested I rent a car. When we got to Avis, the representative asked how we were doing, and when I said she didn't want to know, she responded "United?"

We were charged $167 to rent the car for essentially 2 hours of use. We were home by 1:30am. We went back to the Columbus airport the next day to get my car from the garage, return the rental, and finally find my luggage. I have waited, like everyone else, on hold forever to complain. No luck. I will never fly United again. I have had glitches with other airlines, but none with the horrible customer service I experienced here. United Airlines stinks.

My in-laws were left behind in Houston after arriving from Harlingen about 3 minutes late. They were told by the pilot that there was a 1-hour delay, so they would catch their connecting flight to Indianapolis. The plane that they were to catch to Indianapolis left a few minutes early. They were supposed to arrive in Indianapolis at 4:52pm but they did not arrive until 9:14pm. My complaint is the 2 of them were in wheelchairs being pushed from gate to gate by United employees and their connecting flight could not wait for them to get aboard.

But after they missed their 1st flight, they were put on a flight that waited in Houston for passengers that were coming from Minnesota to Indianapolis, that was delayed for over an hour, but they couldn't wait 3 minutes for 2 passengers to catch their 1st flight. I cannot accept this. I think they should be refunded all their money for inconvenience that the airline caused them.

I cannot get a customer service person online even with a 70 minute wait! Computer tries to block getting to person but does not offer real choices. What madman designed this system? I have now instructed my office that we do not fly United unless it is our only option because we cannot get anything close to decent service. Out to be fined for such lousy treatment of customers! I called today to check because the miles that should have been restored into credit over three weeks ago are still not there.

I got offloaded by Qantas to United Airlines (UA) on an internal flight from Vegas to LAX. As I was connecting to an international flight home, I was entitled to check 2 bags not exceeding 23kg each (One was 16; the other 18.). The UA check-in clerk advised me that UA only allowed 1 bag. I showed my Qantas ticket with prepaid luggage allowance which she disregarded completely and advised I'd have to pay $79 USD for the 2nd bag. A debate ensued, and she threatened me "Do you want to get on this flight?" Of course, I had to to make the connection home. She said to keep the receipt and claim back from Qantas.

I raised the complaint with UA and Qantas in LAX, but no one wanted to help. I got home and phoned Qantas and UA here. And guess what? She'd charged me $790 USD! Yes, seven hundred and ninety dollars for one suitcase to fly 1 hour from Vegas to Los Angeles! I guess I was so upset by the whole incident that I didn't check the receipt. I have a claim in with UA. Let's see how long it takes and how much it costs me to get that back!

Refused to let my step-daughter on the flight: On February 21, 2012, I booked a ticket for my 14-year-old stepdaughter from Nashville, TN to Tampa, FL. I researched United's policy on minors (Children ages 12 to 17 have the option to pay the fee and use the unaccompanied minor service or they may travel as adults with no unaccompanied minor service provided) and even called to book the reservation with an agent just to be doubly sure.

On March 28th, my stepdaughter arrived at the airport to get onto her flight and the agent would not let her on the plane. They refused to honor the ticket and refused to book her on another flight. She was stuck at the airport and denied a flight. When asked, the agent said that they contract US Airways to fly that United flight and US Airways had a different policy with regards to children. They wouldn't even allow me to buy an accompaniment service - just flat out cancelled the ticket.

I needed to book an on-the-spot flight on another airline - Southwest, which by the way was super wonderful in all ways - at more than double the cost of the original ticket on United. I had intentionally bought the ticket more than a month ahead of time in order to make sure to get a good rate.

When trying to talk with United, the hold times are very long, sometimes more than an hour. Their agents are all in the Philippines and are unauthorized to look up past data on their computers, unauthorized to make recompense, and unauthorized to get me to a person in authority. The only way to reach customer service is to email them and then leave it up to them to get back with me. I am out over $250, hassle on both end, and huge frustration in trying to get United to compensate.

On the first portion of our round-trip flight with United on March 23, 2012, from Boise to Denver (United 5563), the flight was oversold. When I tried to speak with the gate agent regarding seating, I was told to sit down and that he would deal with me when he got to me as no seats were available for us. The gate agents argued extensively with one another in our presence and we were ultimately shoved onto the plane at the very last moment prior to takeoff without seating arrangements. My family of four (including my nine year-old son) was spread throughout the cabin.

Once in Denver, we again encountered the issue of no seating arrangements on the second leg of our travel to Dallas (United 5826). The gate attendant did ultimately get us on board, but we were spread throughout the cabin once again. On our return trip on April 1, 2012 (United 5827), I arrived at the airport (Dallas Love Field) 3 hours early to ensure we are seating together on our flight. However, our tickets were still issued throughout the cabin. Once past security, we sat for hours waiting to speak with a gate attendant. None ever showed up at the gate.

At the time for boarding, with no attendant or plane in sight, I went back through security to the ticket counter where only 1 agent was working. A line of other dissatisfied customers had formed. Ten minutes prior to take off time, an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed for 1 hour and 43 minutes due to "mechanical problems". This would have caused me to miss my connecting flight to Boise, Idaho (United 440). As no other flights were available in the near future (days), the United ticket agent asked what the closest airport to Boise was. I told her Salt Lake City was the nearest. So she booked my party's tickets to Salt Lake for the next morning with American Airlines out of DFW and provided us with taxi service and hotel accommodations for the night. Once in Salt Lake, I was told by the United agent that no further transportation was available (including shuttle service). As we were still nowhere near our final destination, I was forced to rent a vehicle and drive the remainder of our journey to Boise.

I got through to an agent to discuss canceling my ticket flight after a 7-minute wait. I wanted to have the $150 change fee policy in writing so I can submit it to my office for reimbursement. The CSR who wouldn't let me complete my sentences and all she would say is, "It's not on the website." I asked to be transferred to a supervisor but before I can finish that request, I was placed on hold. I waited 20 minutes and finally gave up. I'm on hold now waiting to start all over again. It's no wonder that our domestic airlines are doing so poorly and are going out of business. I long for the day when we no longer have domestic airlines that are driven by unions and instead have foreign airlines that are actually competing for business with great customer service like Singapore Airlines and ANA.

I have spent over 30 hours on hold and and talked to 17 people that I can document (only on my own paper) since booking an upgraded trip to Scotland on 3/11 for the end of this month to see my 87-year old mother-in-law. My husband and I have flown Continental for years without a problem. The new computer system (since the United/Continental merger) screwed up everything from the beginning of my trip (by not really booking the upgraded flight over as upgraded until last week). I thought everything was resolved (since I was told not once, but twice) that there was not a problem and would be upgraded since there were 4 seats left.

Today with one seat left, after holding another 30 more minutes so that I could talk to the president of the company and nothing would change or if I was going to cuss (I may say **, but I do not normally use bad language) and if I was mad because people were buying first class tickets, I am an ** etc. I asked to please speak to his superior and he said sure, but was put on hold again for how long? Yes, I did hang up after 30 minutes or so. Now I think I'm on some kind of list and I am afraid to take my trip. What do I do?

I booked my daughter on United Airways flight 5751 from Norfolk, VA to Savannah, GA, on 4/1/2012. I picked this flight because she only had a 40 minute layover in DC and a total of only 3 hours to get her home. She is 7 months pregnant and has been sick her whole pregnancy, so this was the best way to get her back home in less time. Well she ended up having a layover for 4 hours in DC and no one would help her or give her any information other than she had to wait. They were waiting on the flight crew! In the meantime, she was sick and crying with no help from the Airlines. Terrible service! I will never fly United again and I will always tell everyone I know what a bad experience it was. She also said the flight attendants were not very nice on the flight as well. Horrible!

I had to have emergency surgery and had to cancel that flight and re-booked under confirmation **, leaving 3/6/12 from EWR to ANU, returning 3/13/12 from ANU back to EWR. Not only was I charged $216.30 extra for each ticket for the flights rate change, but I also had to pay $150 for each ticket cancellation fee and $25 each processing.

On 3/16/12, I applied for a refund both through united.com website and customer relations. I have not received any acknowledgement whatsoever, except an automated reply from their customer relations dept. I then tried to send to refunds@united.com posted on their website and I got the error delivery failure notification. The email link apparently is bogus and failed to deliver. I am not able to view the status on their website using my ticket number, Onepass, mileage plus ID or last name. Their fax number is bogus and is busied out constantly. Nothing that is advised by their website works to apply for a refund.

I called and held on for 1/2 hr and spoke to customer service who said they would refer my info by email and I would hear from someone within 23-48 hrs. This never happened. I am at my wit's end and cannot get through to talk to anyone to get a refund back.

I was leaving for a long awaited vacation in France with my family on Thursday, March 29, 2012. We check in one bag with United. Our flight from Atlanta for Newark was supposed to leave at 5:00 pm, but we were told that there was a delay and that we are leaving at 6:30 and will still be able to make it to our connecting flight for Paris (also United) leaving from Newark at 9:20 pm. No explanation was given as to why there was a delay. Weather was beautiful. When we boarded our plane, we were told that there will be more wait and we took off for Newark at 7:20 pm.

When we landed in Newark, we ran to our Paris connection which was difficult since our 9-year old daughter just got a cast taken off of her foot after 4 weeks and was still not able to use her foot properly. We made it to the gate at 9:21 pm, but the plane already left! No one from United bothered to let our Paris connection know that we are coming and that we were delayed and were running late due to flight delay. We were confused and another United gate employee directed us to United customer service. We explained to the representative what happened, but this man, whose name I did not, get was the rudest person we ever had to deal with. His supervisor was talking with another customer service representative and he kept butting in their conversation and ignored us. When we asked him to please look at our papers and see what he can do, he got upset with us and said that it was a matter of life and death and that we can wait.

We got mad and our daughter started crying and the representative got so mad at us that he stormed off! His supervisor took over and was nice enough to help us out and put us on a United flight for London at 10:05 pm and then a British Airways flight from London to Paris on March 30, 2012 at 2:45pm. Our flight attendants on the United connection to London were so casual and unprofessional, food was almost non-existent, and if anyone asked for anything like a blanket, they were answered in a rude manner. The British Airways connection from London to Paris was just wonderful—staff and flight attendants were really nice and helpful.

We lost 6 hours, but we finally made it to Paris on Saturday, March 30, 2012, but our bag did not! We filed a missing baggage report with British Airways. Today is Monday, April 2, and we have yet to receive our bag. British Airways staff are nice and helpful, but they cannot do anything about our bag—it's all up to United. Getting through to United's customer service is nearly impossible and hold times are ridiculous! We don't have clothes and other things like prescription meds. I'm not sure how this will end, but I know that we will never, ever use United again and will not recommend this airline to anyone!

Rude, Disruptive, Inappropriate Flight Attendant: I was treated rudely by a flight attendant on a UA flight UA17Y from Glasgow to Newark on 03/29/2012. It was bad enough that I patiently waited on a delayed departure with other customers, only to be compensated with complete and utter rudeness by one of your two male flight attendants who refused to provide his name. During the meal time, the attendants were asking what type of drinks did we wish to drink. During my turn, I didn't hear the attendant provide options. I kindly asked, "What did you say?" and waited for a response and he gave me an attitude and stated, "Are you going to tell me what you wish to drink or not?" His facial expression was just disgusting as he expressed disgust for having to repeat himself. He didn't repeat the drink option. He instead repeated if I wanted anything to drink or not. I in turn said, "You know what, just give me water please." He passed the water over and I shook my head in shame.

During the second meal time or snack time, I was praying. When it came to my turn, I whispered I wished to drink water when he asked what I wished to drink. He began to shout over other passengers and commenting to the other flight attendant that he couldn't hear me and how do these passengers expect you to hear them when they can't speak up! I became irate. I kept my composure and waited to complete my prayer. After praying, I pressed the call button for assistance which was ignored for 30 minutes.

When they came around to collect the garbage from the passengers, I kindly asked for the flight attendants name and mentioned I wish to comment on how I was treated. He began to shout and create a scene. He stated, "I will not give you my name. In fact, I need you to give me your name," and kept going on about how I don't know how to speak and how I dared to ask for his name. I kept repeating as calmly as I could, "Please stop. You need to stop it. You are embarrassing me and you're disturbing other passengers." He left when I refused to give him my name and after I commented on how it was absurd for him to be displaying such behavior on the airplane as a flight attendant.

The attendant returned with a form five minutes later requesting for my personal information. I asked for what and if it were because (you) wish to protect yourself for your wrong doing? He didn't reply. Instead, he said, "Fine. I have your seat number, 24A" and he walked away when asked by the passenger sitting two seats away from me to take his trouble somewhere else. I must say I am appalled. I have never been treated so poorly. This is the first time I have ever complained about a flight/airline or anyone of its constituents. I wish I had his name. I want him to be reprimanded for the humiliation he caused!

My business class seats were given to someone else. Myself (Michael **) and Jadwiga ** arrived at Chicago O'hara this morning, Saturday, March 31 at 3:30 AM to catch a 5:25 AM flight to Nicaragua, and scheduled to arrive before lunch. We sat ourselves in front of the service desk at Gate B3 and waited for boarding to begin. We had booked business class.

After not hearing any boarding announcement, I approached the service desk at approximately 5:25 AM to ask when we could expect to board and were told our seats had been given to someone else. The plane was full and we would have to wait to be rebooked. At this point, the plane is still sitting at the boarding gate. Other people had begun gathering around the service desk as well, and it appeared the staff was having a disruption at the nearby Gate B1.

Jadwiga ** approached a supervisor that was working with both ongoing issues and was again instructed to sit down until the staff was able to get to her. The staff was obviously under stress and told everyone they would have to sit down until the staff could attend everyone's needs. We waited approximately 10-15 minutes and watched as our plane pulled away.

I walked down to the United Club to ask if/how we could get rebooked and the attendant suggested we see the United Customer Service people (down by the dinosaur). We waited in line approximately 1/2 hour and were finally rebooked to arrive in Nicaragua at 9:30 PM that same day (losing the entire day). We again requested to see a supervisor and were instructed to wait near the desk and a supervisor would be down to talk to us. We waited another 15 minutes and told the desk we would go wait in the United Club.

We waited there another hour and finally walked back to the Customer Service desk to see when we could expect to talk with someone. They were able to get a supervisor to talk with us approximately at 8:45 AM. The supervisor told us that she wanted to hear our version of the story. She had been told by the staff that had been at the Service (Boarding) desk that boarding had been announced, and our names had been called 3 times before our seats had been given to someone else.

I would venture the PA system at the Service desk either hadn't been utilized, or was dysfunctional, but it is just my opinion. The supervisor also told us that the service desk staff (specifically the supervisor), didn't want to talk with us and she would approach them and let us know how United would be willing to compensate us (with mileage points). But neither supervisors returned.

We boarded our rebooked flight and are now in Houston with a 5-hour layover. Your staff conducts themselves like a group of school children all trying to hide behind one another, no one wanting to commit and obvious lack of training and leadership skills. I realize you have just gone through a merger and are still trying to re organize, but this is not what I expect from an airline service as seasoned and established as United.

Sure, we would like compensation, but I don't imagine it will change my opinion of what has happened. I was a premier member with Continental (which has now converted to United in some manner), travel internationally regularly, but expect service and efficiency when I fly. Fouled schedules and unprofessional staff aren't where I spend my money.

Baggage handler at Syracuse Hancock yelling at customers: I'm writing to complain about a baggage handler (possibly James **) at Syracuse Hancock on the early morning of January 15th, 2012. I arrived at about midnight on a plane from Dulles late on Jan 14th. We had to sit on the runway for 45 minutes as our gate was occupied. Luggage was another 30 minutes late and no one was in the baggage area. About 1:15 am, a baggage handler came into the area and was very agitated. He was very flustered, started yelling at people, told me to shut my mouth and not ask another question about my luggage. Another man awaiting his luggage said he thought the handler was about to jump at me so he was at the ready to defend me. It was a very scary experience.

The passengers, including me, awaiting luggage were tired but polite and this employee was out of control. I went to Syracuse Hancock security and asked that they send someone down to the United baggage area because there was a worker out of control and threatening people. I returned to the area and found that my luggage had arrived. I grabbed it and left quickly, not wanting to stick around to see what might happen next. I do not know if security arrived.

I returned to Syracuse on March 22nd and asked how I might file a complaint regarding this incident. I was told to go to the United.com site and direct my comments to Scott **. I am happy to speak with anyone regarding this matter. My phone is **. Interestingly, when the taxi cab driver took me to the airport for my return to Boulder in January, I told him what had happened on that January 14th evening. He said he was pretty sure he knew who the guy was and that indeed he was often inappropriate with customers. Please contact me to let me know that you have received this complaint. I appreciate your help in making air flight safe and enjoyable.

United changed my first class flight for which I paid $5000 for a Cleveland to India itinerary and wanted to charge me $75 to change the flight back to what I originally scheduled. When I asked Felix, the supervisor, to help waive the fee, his attitude was very demeaning and he refused and hung up on me. I am a silver elite customer from Continental and have never been treated this way.

I purchased a flight through Expedia. The flight was United flight 1509 leaving Tampa on March 30th, 2012. I was to switch to United flight 5190 in Houston and that would take me to my destination of Kansas City. I was to return on Sunday, April 1st, on United flight 4108, connect in Houston to flight 1029 and be back in Tampa that night. I've cancelled the flight through Expedia and they advised me that I would need to contact United directly. Agents weren't able to assist, so I'm submitting this complaint instead to see if anything can be done.

The reason for the cancellation was that on March 18th, I was in a car accident. I have hospital records if you need but my car went off the interstate and flipped. Due to this, I am unable to make the flight as I am still recovering. I have been told that I have a $308.20 credit on my account but that when I used it, I would be charged $150 for making the change. I have no problem getting a credit voucher, however I would like the $150 waived due to the circumstances.

I booked a flight with United months ago, requesting and receiving exit row seats 21A and 21B. I paid an additional fee for these seats. A couple of hours ago, I checked my online itinerary and noticed my seats had been changed to middle seats 13D and 13C. After 30 minutes on hold, I spoke to a representative who had no idea why my seats had been changed. After another 30-minute hold, I spoke to her supervisor, who had no idea why my seats had been changed. Another 20 minutes on hold, I speak to her supervisor, who said she had no idea why my seats had been changed and they have no access to passenger history.

She added that other people have been assigned those seats and there is nothing I can do about it. My assumption is that passengers with a higher MileagePlus standing than I requested 21A and 21B and United decided to bump me out of those seats without informing me in order to satisfy that customer. This level of systemic incompetence is frightening and discouraging. United Airlines continues its tradition of operating in a manner which is disrespectful to its clients. I try to steer clear of them at all costs, but it was unavoidable on this trip and I'm now paying the price. Never again.

I have now been on hold almost one hour waiting to speak to an agent at United Airlines. This is shameful. The FAA should not allow this airline to operate like this. I never had this much trouble getting through to an agent when I needed to speak to a Continental agent.

I'm very disappointed with United Airlines and its absolutely horrible or non-existent customer service. I was on hold for 40 -45 minutes. The agents that answered the phone has no information to provide. They don't even pretend to be interested in helping you. The email address for refunds that is provided on site is failing even though this is the only way to get for refunds, "This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Delivery to the following recipients failed. refunds@united.com" So pretty much you have no recourse.

On the other hand, if you are the lucky one and have a completed eRefund, you can not use it online and have to wait for an agent! This is the only business that does not let you use your eVouchers online or display it anywhere in your account. It seems they are hoping you will forget you have it and never use it. I only wish I did not have to deal with this airline and will try to avoid whenever possible. I hope that others who feel the same will boycott United/Continental until they treat their customers as they deserve! Shame on them!

Contrary to all their communications before the merger, United has significantly changed their mileage plus premier benefits when it applies to their economy plus seating. Regardless of status, they require a $59 fee for seating in the front of the plane. When I questioned this, I was essentially told I was stupid for missing something that must have been in small print, if there at all. When I requested to speak to a supervisor, the customer service woman hung up on me.

I was fortunate enough to avoid having to fly United Airlines due to an emergency in the family but unfortunate enough to have to deal with their customer service. In trying to get a refund for my flight, I have thus far talked to 2 people over a 4-hour period, including wait time without getting to anyone in the refund office. Apparently, the lines have been set up to send to general customer service, no matter which automatic message I choose. And the poor customer service person I spoke to had no idea that was happening.

Then I gave up and submitted an online request 13 days ago and did not get a single response. When I sent an email to the refund office, it bounced back, citing their inbox as full. That is failure at multiple levels. Tonight, I have waited 2 hours to talk to customer service and am still on hold. This is really ridiculous. I cannot believe United is still in business.

I have been trying to get in touch with United Airlines to assign mileage credit for the two United Airline flights on March 1, which would have bumped into Star Alliance Silver status. I have sent several emails with no response. I called the 1-800 number 3 different times. First time, I was put on the line for over 2 hours with no human ever picking up the phone. The second time, I was waiting for over one hour. In both cases, I have to hang up, sick and tired of waiting. The third time, it simply hangs up on me citing "high call volume" and asking me to "call back later". I searched on the internet and found out that many people ran into the same issue due to United/Continental's mileage system program merging in early March. I am appalled that the company has no attempt to reach out to impacted consumers and have not even fixed the issues after almost a month.

For three days, I have been trying to reach an agent to possibly change my flight on the May 27th to a direct flight from Munich/Frankfurt/Seattle or Munich/Chicago/Seattle because of the scheduled 5 hour wait in San Francisco right now. When I arranged the ticket on March 11th, I had been advised to try again, things always open up, and I had been told.

On Thursday, March 22, I have been waiting for two hours on the phone without being able to speak to an agent. Unfortunately, I had to hang up, because I could not wait anymore. On Friday, March 23rd, I got hung up after waiting for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Today, March 25th, I tried again. Waiting for three hours, nothing happened. Is there actually somebody at the end of the line?

I don't want to be cynical, but it's very hard to listen for such a long time the same recording over and over again, how your program has improved, its # 1, etc., etc. I have been using mileage plus for 12 years, always was happy, never experienced anything like this before.

I just wanted to let you know that I was very disappointed in our service with your airline, coming home from our trip in Costa Rica. First of all, we got to the airport at 9:40 and our flight wasn't leaving until 2:50. We stood in line to get our boarding pass for almost 3 hours. I realized you had a storm in Houston that day but it should have never taken that long to get our boarding passes to Houston and when we got there, our flight was leaving at 9:20 and it was getting close to the time we were supposed to be leaving. We kept checking the departures and they said it was leaving on time.

Then at 9:30, it said the time changed to 12:55 which we were fine with, and when I asked the lady at the counter, she said to go to the customer service counter and then we were standing in line and someone asked who was flying to Minneapolis, and then they gave us vouchers for the Red Roof Inn with $20 per person for the restaurant for dinner at the hotel. We got to the hotel and they didn't have a restaurant, all they had were these compressed artificial sandwiches in a refrigeration system in the lobby area. They were horrible! So when we got to the hotel, I got on the phone and waited 2 1/2 hours to get a person and half hour on the phone with them to find a way out of Houston.

Well, we finally got a reservation for the next day in the afternoon. So while we were waiting for our flight to leave, we were at our gate and it was 10 to 15 minutes before it was going to be boarding and then all of sudden, the gate changed to another gate. So everyone got up and went to another gate, then finally we arrived in Detroit to wait for our flight there and we had time so we finally went and had a decent dinner. Then we went to the gate where we were flying out of and our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:23 and got delayed to 9:40, which meant we would not make our connection in Chicago. So the lady saw how long our paper trail was, which was a lot, and connected us with a flight on Delta Airlines which was not completely full, and would take us straight home to Minneapolis.

We really appreciated her help. We paid insurance on our flight and should had never had to rebook our own flight, it should have been done at the airport and if you're going to give somebody vouchers for a restaurant and hotel, there should be one there. We had to hurry because it was late and the last shuttle bus was leaving at 11:30, so we had to get out there as soon as we could. We have flown many times and never have had as many delays as we did with your airline. We were both disappointed in this airline trip. Our flight was on March 11th.

I am in the hospitality business and own a business. I flew on your airline from Liberia, Costa Rica to Newark, NJ on March 19, 2012, Flight 1446. I would like to let you know that your flight attendants need to be retrained, replaced or retired. They have very little patience and their personality are much to be desired. I know the older flight attendants have the best flight schedules and you would think they would be happier knowing they are senior to the less senior flight attendants. Of the four flight attendants on our flight, only one (in first class) acted like she enjoyed her job. With all the people out of work, you would think they would take that into account also.

One of the flight attendants splashed water on the passenger sitting next to me and almost the second time, if I did not reach for the orange juice in time. There was no apology and we had to ask for extra napkins. They serve without eye contact and that is how accidents happen and bad PR begins. Also, if the flight attendants have long hair, please tell them to pin it back. One of them kept pulling it out of her eyes and then scoop ice for the next passenger. When we reached Newark, NJ, two flight attendants were in the rear of the plane nowhere to be seen. The third one was at the front of the plane with her back towards the passengers. The fourth one was at the door with baggage in hand and with a very weak goodbye. By this time, it was approximately 8:40PM and we had a 10:20 connecting flight to BWI.

However, when we checked the departure board to see which gate we needed to proceed to, we found out our flight has now been changed to 11:43PM. After about an hour, we went to United Customer Assistance. There were two employees there, one was helping a customer. I went up to the other and waited, waited and waited. I could tell he was working on something, but I would at least expect a "I will be with you in a moment". I finally turned around and went back to where the line started. As I turned around and looked back at the agent, then he tells me to come back! I wanted to make sure that the plane was actually coming in and would be taking us to BWI since it was so late! We needed to advise our hotel at the BWI airport what the situation was again. He advised me he did not know, I should ask the agent at the gate and they would have more information. More great customer service!

When I did ask the agent upon boarding flight 4186 to BWI, she blamed it on Vice President Biden who came to the airport that day and it pushed all the flights back. Funny, there were only two other flights we noticed that were delayed. Right before this, they called everyone to board and another female agent came out of no where, saying something about carry-on luggage, tagged, cargo hold, put a green ticked on it. Everyone was looking at each other as she put green tags on our carry on and then moved on to the next, not telling us where to take them or pick them up. The male flight attendant on board flight 4186 spoke so fast and so low over the intercom that you could not understand half of what he was saying. Again, sounding like I want to get this day over with, just going through the motions. He wanted to get the day over with, he should have been in our shoes! All this to a full plane of passengers. No one ever explained why the plane was late coming in!

Your phone and airport ticket agents and other airport employees were very professional. Although we were booked to fly out of BWI to Coast Rica on United, your agent(s) first booked us on a flight that did not exist on the day of our first flight, March 5, 2012. We were then put on American Airlines and the senior flight attendants were very friendly and made you feel welcomed. The other problem we had, your computer system would not allow me print our boarding pass 24 hours in advance nor would it recognize my name and I could not reach an agent after trying for almost five hours. Therefore, on March 4, 2012, we booked a room and drove to BWI to see what the problem was. The agent there could not get my boarding pass to print, however, a manager was able to get one to print. At that point, I thought all was well until we returned to the airport at 4:30AM the morning of March 5th, only to be told our flight was not at 6:40AM and that was when they put us on American Airlines.

In conclusion, I feel that a flight attendant's job is to make the passengers as happy as possible and treat people with the same respect as they would like to be treated. The only way I will fly United Airlines again is if they are the only airline to my destination.

A week ago, I described how United Airlines cancelled the leg of a flight I needed to connect to an international flight without rescheduling it. I also described how impossible it was to reach them at the phone number they had left for me to contact them. Eventually, my husband called our credit card company to see if we could get a refund since it did not look as if we were going to make our trip. The credit card company could not refund us as we had purchased our tickets more than 3 months prior to the date we were calling them about it, but they gave us a number for United and told us we would get through. We did after an hour and a half of waiting. Once we actually did communicate with a person, our problems were resolved very satisfactorily. We were re-routed, but actually made all our connections on time and with good service. Maybe after United irons out all the glitches resulting from the merger with Continental, getting through to them on the phone might be easier. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of our trip after our initial mega problem was resolved.

Flight from Chicago to Detroit had mechanical problems. I was left on board with no air conditioning for roughly an hour and a half. I ended up late and ran into some personal problems due to the delay of about 2 hours. I would like to be compensated for my loss.

Trying to use my frequent flyer miles was almost impossible. I waited for over an hour several times, and I finally got someone from the Philippines, who was absolutely incompetent and very difficult to talk to and kept putting me on hold. It's complete confusion. I couldn't use the internet, as I did not have my new frequent flyer number or PIN, and I was unable to get new ones. At one point, I contacted customer service, who finally told me they were too busy to talk and said "Goodbye." After two days of complete frustration, I finally got my reservations; and when I printed one of them, it was 21 pages long with one or two lines on each page. Really?!

We missed the connecting plane due to unknown delays by United. We got to the airport in Baton Rouge, LA and for some reason the flight was moved to 25 minutes later. We looked out the window and there's no plane. Then, we're altogether one hour late and our connecting flight leaves at 12:55, in which we got there 1 pm to Houston. We did not make the flight, not to mention we had to travel a half hour through the huge airport. The 2nd plane was going to Boston at 1:30; the desk people said it was too late to get that one. Then, they said next flight is 4:55, which is 4 hours and we are going to miss the person picking us up at Logan Airport because they work at night. We made it to Boston like 11:00 and it was not good. After all that, our bags are missing after watching the last piece of luggage taken off. We went to the luggage counter and they said our bags have been there from another plane. There is no communication to know what is going on from A to B. Please assist.

I would like to investigate if the above mentioned airlines are involved in price-fixing, specifically after the official merger was completed between United and Continental. For the last 2 to 3 years, the airfare between Chicago and Houston has fluctuated between a low of $175 to high of $250, for advance bookings (3 weeks in advance). After the merger was completed, the prices now range from $323-$363 for the same advance fares. I would like to find out how to investigate this claim. There are lots of airfare sales going on, but between these two "hub" cities, prices have doubled!

Atrocious customer service and inexcusable disrespect: After waiting in line (like a good and fair customer) for 20 minutes, I made it to the front, only to be directed to a kiosk by an uninformed and rude UA representative. I told her my goal was to purchase a ticket (at the counter) and that I needed to do so today to complete the process for travel (required of my military unit) for War College training at Carlisle Barracks, PA. She said, "the staff was not trained to process tickets that were not booked online", which is ridiculous. She then went on to say that the time required to support my needs "would not be fair for others in line". What? She then instructed me to leave and come back after I had reserved a ticket, online or via the 1-800 number, which she gave me. I proceeded to make the reservation via 1-800-523-3273 and returned to the desk/kiosk and alerted another member of the staff that my ticket had been booked and need to make the purchase.

This second ** then went a step further and told me "you'll just have to wait until we clear out all these people" Of course, that was not acceptable. So I went to another kiosk and demanded service, thereby encountering a third brief verbal altercation. However, eventually, the individual did manage to get my ticket processed and a flight assigned. I was humiliated and furious. The management was contacted (per my request) and took more than 20 minutes to come forward to hear me complain. I informed him of the experience. He was apologetic on behalf of UA. Nevertheless, process defects are rampant and obvious. The so-called leader reiterated that his staff was unskilled/untrained ("in booking tickets"), as an explanation for this horrible event. I asked him what would be done to rectify this situation and the unprofessional behavior of his team. He said that he would address the issue (whatever that means).

Bottom line and my final words to him: "I am a board certified surgeon and a lieutenant colonel in the Army of the United States. I expect nothing more than the respect that I demonstrate to the customers I serve everyday, particularly while I am doing it in the service and defense of a nation. Get your process in control. Educate and train your staff. Teach them about courtesy and respect". As I left, I had to wonder if the cavalier and careless effort to provide quality customer care correlated with their perceptions of my ethnicity/race. I was the only African American in the line (just until I walked away). Then someone who appeared to be of the same background joined the ever-growing line of customers. The same "ever-growing" line for which I was told to wait. There is simply no excuse and I do expect an official apology from the airline.

I will never fly with UA again! That is, after I use the remaining voucher. Just so you know, the voucher, I might add, is one I did not need or seek but accepted as compensation for allowing a married couple to utilize my seat earlier in December 2011. In that case, United Airlines, as common practice, overbooked the flight (which occurs all too frequently) and actually planned to deny (or at least expressed intentions in doing so) the newlyweds' joint travel to their scheduled post-nuptial events. Just doing my part to help. It seems that I have done much more to support UA than UA has ever done to support me. Your advertisements (regarding customer care and quality service) are absolutely false and should be considered a major breach, and even fraudulent. Also, needless to say, the negative event and interactions mentioned above, obviously, became a small public spectacle and played with the dignity of a military officer, good customer and more especially, a man attempting to arrange business travel. I should hope no one else suffers the embarrassment that I experienced today. Fix this craziness now!

I just want other people to be aware of this scam by United Airlines frequent flyers Mileage Plus program. I want to make it perfectly clear that I never had any problems with Continental or their One Plus frequent flyers program. It was always a pleasure with no problems ever dealing with Continental. But ever since United merger, the whole program and overall service from United, has been unsatisfactory.

Because of a worker's computer issue in California, I've been flying back & forth from NJ every year for the past 4 years, accumulating over 24,000 frequent flyer miles. If I can accumulate less than 1,000, then I earn a free round trip in US.

Besides flying, there are other ways to earn miles. I frequently get emails about special promos to earn miles, mostly from shopping online at their Mileage Plus Mall. When their New Year's promo promised 500 bonus miles in addition to the regular miles earned from shopping at online mall, it would be enough to earn me the free flight. So when I spent over $80 at SHOES.COM, where you earned 4x the miles. I thought there would be no problems with my account being credited. Especially, since I made sure to click the icon on the email, to start the shopping process.

After 2 months of getting the run around by customer services reps, they kept promising me that it took at least 40 days to get the miles credited to my account. After waiting the 40 days, I contacted them again, asking why I still didn't get miles. Their response this time was they needed e-receipt and 2 weeks to process. So I forwarded the e-receipt and waited. But still, no miles. Again, I contact them. Their response now is that their records show that I didn't click the icon, which is an absolute lie, so I am not entitled to miles and the free flight that I earned for being a loyal customer.

I replied back to them with what they can do with their miles. Hopefully, I can earn the free flight from a different source. I won't be flying with United! I won't ever spend another dollar with them again. When I have to fly to California this summer for workers comp exam, it will be with one of their rivals.

I had a flight out of Reno, NV via San Franciso, CA. It was snowing so they de-iced the plane twice, which caused the flight to be delayed. Because of this, the connecting flight from San Francisco, CA to Ontario, CA had left prior to us getting there. I had to sit in the airport for eight hours until the next flight to Ontario, CA. When it was time for the next flight to take off, they informed me that the pilot didn't show up to fly. By this time, I have been sitting for over eight hours. I did get another flight, but it won't get to Ontario until after 12 pm. My little three-hour flight just turned into a 15-hour flight from hell. I will never fly United and I will not recommend them in any way, shape, or form. This was the worst thing I have ever been through!

My wife and I booked a flight to London but had to cancel. The ticket was nonrefundable but when I cancelled the reservation, the United agent said that we had one year to use the funds for the purchase of another ticket. All we had to do was remember the reservation (booking) number. We called and gave them the booking number to apply the funds to a new flight. The agent said that the ticket was cancelled because we didn't cancel the flight reservation.

I did cancel the flight reservation. I was told, "Oops, system down, call again in 24 hours." We called again and this time, the agent said that the merger was causing record transfer difficulties and delays. After three hours on hold and another hour of a supervisor calling someone else, she gave me the contact information for customer relations. I called twice for a total of another five hours on hold with no pick up. I emailed customer relations without response.

I am now ready to go to small claims court if they do not reply to a registered letter. I'm not a casual traveler. I've been a premier member of United for 25 years! United has the worst customer service of any airline and I travel a lot.

The merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines has been the biggest debacle I have ever witnessed. The computer system is in complete disarray and the customer service departments are next to nonexistent with hold times up to seven hours in some cases. I was on hold on Monday for over five hours before being disconnected. This is the norm since the computer merger on the 3rd of March. Our promised Premier status has been dumped and long time frequent flyers are being completely ignored.

My UA Mileage Plus Credit Card, which carries with it Free Baggage from UA and priority boarding, just two of the promised perks when booking a flight with it, are now worthless as the card has been dropped from United Airlines' own website as a payment option. Hence, we are now being charged for baggage and being relegated to the last boarding groups. Agents at the ticket counters are clueless and say they can't help. Even they are apparently being forced to use worthless 800 numbers only to be disconnected themselves. The anger and frustration of thousands of passengers is palpable and I want to know what recourse we have.

Pitiful, I'm unable to buy a ticket on the website. Mumbai is of no help either. The elite "private lines" don't answer, disconnected or roll over to Mumbai. Are they kidding?

Nothing is like being held hostage by Continental/United Airlines. We are currently trying to book a flight for our family summer vacation using miles. We had to cancel our initial reservation due to personal conflicts and rebook. Our mileage was not put back into our account and after countless hours (3 to 4 hrs) of being on hold with the "Mileage Plus" program to find why our miles had not been re-deposited, we were told that we need to contact reservations. The agent was very curt and said she was going to transfer the call to reservations. When she returned to the line, she said there weren't any available lines to reservations that I would need to try and contact them myself. She then disconnected the call.

The next day, I called the reservation line and once again experienced a 2 to 3 hour hold time, only to be told that I needed to contact the Mileage Plus program. When I explained that I had already done so and was told to contact reservations, the agent said she could not help me, period. I then had to re-contact the Mileage Plus program and spent several more hours trying to get through, only to be told that I would be placed on hold, as the reservations department would handle this matter. At this point, I was extremely frustrated and after another 1.5 hour wait to no avail, I disconnected the call.

Several days later, the miles were finally re-deposited. Now, we are faced with the dilemma of trying to ticket the flight. Every time we log onto our account to complete the ticketing process, the website will not complete the purchase and we receive an email stating that if we do not receive another email confirming the purchase within 3 hours, we need to contact United directly. The issues with this, the flights are only held until midnight the following day and if the reservation has not been completed by that time, the reservation expires. What is a person supposed to do if they are unable to complete the reservation process? There are not enough hours in the day to stay on hold with United in hopes that someone will finally take the call. This merger is catastrophic and I hope Mr. ** is held accountable for this disaster. I make approximately 40 round trip flights a year and given the choice, I will no longer fly "United".

My husband and I were scheduled to fly Continental from GSP South Carolina to GVA Switzerland through Newark tomorrow. Unfortunately, between the times we bought our tickets and now Continental merged with the worst airline on earth: United. We confirmed our flight this morning and not two hours later, a United computer called to tell us that the first leg of our flight had been cancelled, making it impossible to catch the second leg. The computer left us a number to call and apologized for our inconvenience. As far as I can tell, in order to save money during the merger, United fired all its and Continental's employees, for no one ever picks up the phone.

The other night we stayed on the phone for three hours to change our seats, which we never did because no one ever picked up. We read on the internet that people have stayed up to 12 hours on the phone to no avail and that even travel agents had trouble getting through. At the moment, we've pretty much lost our flights. Mercifully, we paid by credit card and will contest; moreover, we got insurance. Getting money back from United would probably involve talking to a person and it has been established that that is not an option. I will go around the world to get somewhere before I ever fly United (not again because I've never done it). United's behavior is extreme; unfortunately, it is endemic to the world we have created for ourselves. Bring back regulation. This little experiment in "free market flying" has failed miserably: it's not free, it's not market determined, it's not profitable and it's obviously not flying.

Cancelled Flights, lost baggage, misinformation: After our one week vacation in Mexico, we arrived at Cancun airport. The ticket agent called over his supervisor and they proceeded to work at their terminal, spoke Spanish and looked very concerned. After a half hour, they informed us that our connecting flight out of Chicago had been cancelled, that they were able to find us another flight but we would need to make another connection in Toronto, switch airlines to AC and we wouldn't be home until 3AM the next day. Our option was to overnight in Chicago and they would try and get us a direct flight from there to our home in Halifax, NS the next day. With no other choice and time running out, we accepted these changes, made our way quickly to Duty Free and boarded our flight with moments to spare.

We landed in Chicago and were told we had to pick up our bags, contrary to what we were told in Cancun. We collected our bags and then corralled through customs and eventually connected with "unfriendly" United reps at the bottom of an escalator, insisting we put our baggage on a conveyor belt if we were connecting to another flight. We asked if we could speak to a ticket agent as our boarding passes needed to be reconfirmed and reprinted for the remainder of our journey. This ticket agent had a lot of difficulty finding our new flight changes and called Air Canada to confirm they had room for us out of Toronto. There was no link made and this was the problem apparently. She then spent another 20 minutes trying, unsuccessfully, to reprint our boarding passes and reminded that our baggage would go straight through to Halifax.

The luggage was taken and we made it to security with minutes to spare where our Duty Free was taken from us because no one explained that it was to be put in our "checked" baggage. We went back to United ticketing to ask if there was something they could do and we were told we had to pay $45 to check our two bottles! We arrived in Toronto and once again, were informed that we indeed had to get our luggage again. We waited at carousal for 1/2 an hour, no baggage of course, had to fill out forms after running around looking for help from someone as to what we were to do about missing bags before boarding our next flight. When we arrived at the gate to board with AC, they couldn't find our reservation, no link they said.

The flight with AC was very nice and comfortable, which was appreciated after 16 hours of complete nonsense and frustration. No surprise that our bags weren't in Halifax and weren't delivered to our home (by Air Canada) two days later. First and last time that I'll fly with United!

I booked hotel in conjunction with flight through United website; hotel was Hilton chain. I cancelled over seven days in advance and was told there were no cancellations (even though it's stated on Hilton policy allows for cancellation in this time-frame). United is using Travelscape (Travelnow), a low-budget group to handle reservations/cancellations. This is undisclosed when using the United reservation service. I am out nearly $400 for a reservation which would typically be an easy cancellation with no penalty!

It's unbelievable! I was charged twice, and I had to wait over an hour on the phone to talk about the overcharge on my credit card. This company has a serious problem. I will never fly United Airlines again! I have never been as frustrated as this business transaction. I honestly do not know how they stay in business. It is 3 AM, and I am still on hold. Never again will I use United.

I came back from the Azores, Portugal, visiting my son in the Air Force. I bought a few gifts. I went to Tercira to Lisbon to Newark to Chicago. On my last leg Chicago to Lincoln, NE, the ticket agent noticed my baggage was 8 lbs over. She said I had to take out 8 lbs, or pay $100. You can imagine with all the people looking at me and waiting, I was very intimidated. What am I going to do with 8 pounds of clothes? I had no way to carry it. So I handed over my credit card. She got frustrated, and started in on me for having too much in my bag. I had one full carry-on already.

I packed my gifts to bring home is what put me over, and from Tercira island To Chicago, no one ever said a thing. I got to feeling beat-up, when your line agent, "R emailed me for his name" came up and asked what was the hold up, and the ticket agent complained about my bag and waved my credit card at him. He looked at me, handed me a plastic bag, and said "let's save you some money, and fix up a second carry on with 8 pounds of your clothes". That was awesome. I pulled out some jeans and a coat. The luggage is then 50 lbs. That was a 5-star service, and it made my day. That was a simple and swift answer. He was looking out for me. Thanks a lot R. It was a nice trip, over all.

15 flight cancellations in one day! United really stinks and I'll never fly with them again. They cancelled my flight today without notifying me and booked me on a flight 2 days later and just assumed I would be satisfied! I did a little research and I saw from flightaware.com that they cancelled 15 flights today alone and the day is not over! I think the United/Continental merger will put them both out of business. Do not fly United again, I won't.

Pasted below is the final form I filed on United Airlines' website "customer feedback". It is now six days later and the only thing I have received was a bounce back message saying this website form was received. My husband has another tale this morning of the endless loop of customer service holds. He was on hold about another 1.5 hours today and got a "reservations" rep to admit that there would never be a live person to talk to who can authorize a refund and tell us the amount. The only live people are in "reservations." Truly, an Orwellian experience. I feel like I am in a Terry Gilliam movie and there is no escape. We would love to participate in a class action suit with all those affected March 3, 2012 by the computer "integration." Below is what went into their United's 256 character web form for customer feedback.

We are seeking reimbursement for 5 tickets purchased 3/4/2012 for United flight 5561Y (3/3/2012) from Aspen to Denver that was delayed for mechanical problems. It took off 75 minutes late. We ran to catch our connecting flight #541Y in Denver, which also had been delayed. When arrived at the gate, the plane was stopped 20 feet from the jet way. We watched it pull away. It was the last United flight to Boston for 3/3. I stood in customer service line at DIA for 2.5 hours. The service rep then scheduled us for flight #739Y on 3/4 at 8:48 am to Chicago, connecting to Boston, arriving late afternoon.

Meanwhile, my husband held 1.5 hours on phone to reach a UA service rep. He hung up after I got tickets. We slept in a hotel in Denver and woke early to get the flight, only to find that it had been canceled. No reason given, although internet stories indicated that UA was having computer integration problems. There were no weather issues at DIA that morning. I held one hour to reach a UA service rep who said we could take a later flight to connecting to Boston and arriving around 11 p.m. Knowing of the computer issues, and based on our experience thus far, we had no confidence that United would actually get us to Boston that day, which was imperative. So I told her we could not take that offer and that we would be purchasing tickets on another airline and that in order to compensate us appropriately for the experiences of the past 18 hours, we should be reimbursed the cost of those tickets.

She said she could only authorize reimbursement for the Denver to Boston portion of our trip (a total of $1179.10). Thus far I have received no notification that UA is reimbursing us that expense. She said that to seek additional compensation, I should contact a customer care manager 8:00-5:30 during Monday-Friday at 1-800-932-2732. I called that number today, was held for 50 minutes, and hung up because I had to get to a meeting. We understand that computer integration can cause problems and would be willing to chalk this up to a few bad days for United. However, folks, like my party of 5 who were greatly disadvantaged by the communications issues you were experiencing, should be reimbursed all of our extra costs. We are seeking $2,774.00 for 5 days of tickets purchased on Jet Blue. I also request a UA letterhead statement faxed to ** stating (1) the reason why flight 5561Y on 3/3 was delayed and (2) why flight # 739Y from Denver to Chicago was canceled on 3/4. Thank you.

Attorneys: please help. This is unconscionable. In front of me in the line on 3/3 was a couple from Amherst, NH who had been on the same Aspen plane and also missed the Denver connecting flight to Logan. That means there were at least 7 paid passengers on that plane and they should have known we had arrived at the airport. How could they take off without us? That's when our nightmare began.

I was sitting in seat 4E on flight 1408. When the flight attendant came around to take orders for the meal service, she took the order from the person sitting next to me on the window, ignored me and proceeded to take meal order from the rest of the 1st class cabin. She then came back to me for my order. I asked for the chicken salad and was informed none were left. I asked why she didn't take my order when she initially was at my seat and she informed me that I did not fly with United enough and she needed to service the customer that have flown with United more frequently. I find this conduct highly disturbing as well as downright rude. I was flying on my award miles. I have a mileage balance of 95,000+ miles. My husband is Premier Elite Gold. How does the flight attendant know what my status is?

I have tried to call numerous times and keep getting cut off due to large volume of calls according to the recording. I was on United flight 1717 from Houston to San Diego. A very heavy lady sat down next to me, and while she did she sat on me I tried to pull away and could not. I asked her to move and her response was this: "Seat is made too small." I told her she was sitting on me and needed her to move. She continued to ignore me and said, "Maybe you should move your seat," and she began knitting and hitting me with every move. I moved my arm and then she was hitting me on my chest. Then, I went to an agent and asked them to find me a seat and that the lady hurt me while sitting on me and knitting. I waited in the back by the bathrooms until I was moved to another location. I have a right to have an entire seat to my self when I pay for a seat, so why should I get half a seat just because someone is much larger than the seat? You can contact me at **.

My family traveled to and from St. Croix. On the last leg of our trip we were informed that United only had 2 seats available for our flight home. We had started our travel the day before at 2 o'clock. Of course we demanded seats and were told that in no way could they supply them and that if we wanted a flight home, we would have to stay in Denver for 3 days before a flight was available. The alternative was waiting 8 hours for a flight to Bozeman, MT (we live in Gt. Falls) and pay for our own rental car to get home.

My wife and daughter took the two available seats and my 9-year-old son and I sat...waiting. We did not agree to be not seated. The airline gave us 4 $100 travel vouchers that can't be combined as compensation. Can you imagine, I need to pay for 4 other flights before being compensated? No compensation for rental car or hotel in Bozeman. Obviously this is not okay. I was given the airlines pamphlet on overselling seats. This states that all customers not given a flight to their destination within 4 hours, receive 4 times airfare not more than $1300 for compensation.

I paid an out-of-the-pocket amount of $78.00 plus gas for rental and $139.00 for hotel. I got into Bozeman around 9pm on Sunday and had been traveling for 38 hours, so didn't feel safe driving home in the dark in Montana, in February with my son. I have contacted United Airlines with no response. This is theft. They did not do what they were paid to do. I didn't even get to my final destination on their Dollar! Horrible airline...no wonder they are being bought out! Do not fly United! I will be hiring a lawyer.

Like many Americans, United has been a part of generations of travel in my family. My dad has a lifetime Red Carpet Club membership from his days as CEO and President of Dymo Industries. Sadly today, this may come to an end. Never have I been so frustrated and disappointed by a company who supposedly prides itself on service. Today was the day of their merger yet for the almost eleven hours I spent trying to get through on the phone, I heard over and over again that I could expect the same great service and even better rewards.

I needed to change a flight that unfortunately for me was to fly out the Monday after their merger. Linda, the supervisor whom finally took care of the change, assured me that this would get better when things settled. However, this did not erase the complete disrespect for my time nor did she in any way offer any type of apologies for my nightmare experience. I have three emails into customer service abyss regarding this tragedy that began at two o'clock Saturday, March 3rd and did not resolve until 7:00pm Sunday, March 4th.

I had three phones in my house playing the United messages over and over like something out of a bad horror movie for over 3 hours on Saturday and finally gave up. Then today, after 1 hour 50 minutes, I got someone in a call center in India that must have been new on the job because he completely messed up everything he did. I then had to start the painful process over again to fix what he had done taking another 3 hours.

What I finally figured out was that if I chose the option of booking a ticket rather than changing a ticket, I was promptly (37 minutes) greeted by a native speaker in America. This is a horrible message to send to their customers. They take our money in America but to get it back, we need to go to India? Not OK!

After many excruciating hours and being horribly sick on top of all this (illness was the reason I had to change), I reached a very nice person who suggested I speak with a supervisor. She told me it would be about 20 minutes; it was 1 hour and 14 minutes. Linda (supervisor) in Houston did end up taking care of the change but could not have been less sympathetic and did not want to hear about my experience. She failed customer service 101. If you can't do anything about it, at least apologize and let the customer vent.

What she should have done: Offered to waive the change fees or at least offer me some type of travel voucher to compensate me for my valuable time. If she does not have this type of authority, she should not be a supervisor. Puppet supervisors only aggravate a situation and especially this one. I have been with Verizon for 16 years because of their stellar customer service. I have ordered shoes from Zappos because of their award winning customer service. I myself have run a successful service business for 20 years because of our commitment to our customers.

Anticipating this merger, they should have set up extra call centers and instructed all of the reps to shine. Instead, they made me feel penalized for their merger and have now lost me and as many people as I can take with me for something that could have easily been avoided. Maybe they do need to enlist Tony Hsieh or at least have all your people read his book, Delivering Happiness. It really costs very little to keep a customer and so much to lose one. Shame on you United for turning the once friendly skies into the most unfriendly skies in the air.

Last March 31, my husband and I were booked on United flights out of O'Hare, to go to San Jose Costa Rica (SJO), to visit our son, who was in graduate school there. On March 30, when I went to print our boarding passes, I realized, much to my horror, that I had booked us (several months earlier) to San Jose California (SJC) instead. The flight times and cost were not much different, so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. In a panic, I called United Airlines, and a wonderful reservation clerk helped me find flights the next day, that were approximately twice what our original tickets had been.

She told me that she could give me a travel waiver that we have to use in the next year, but that the travel waiver would be for the full $810.60, and would allow us to avoid the horrendous charges (I think they were approximately $300) that we would have been charged for changing our tickets at that time. I accepted her offer. The problem now is that even though I've spent more than 3 hours on the website, I cannot figure out how to utilize our voucher, and with the deadline drawing near (only 26 days away), I am panicked that I could lose the waiver. After not being able to figure out the webpage, I contacted customer service last week, and got an electronic response that they have no record of the waiver.

Please help me. I don't know which way to turn. I am not asking for any additional compensation, I only want to be able to utilize the $860.10 waiver that I am entitled to. Please show me how!

We flew from Pittsburgh to Chicago early morning on February 9, 2012 and made it on time. We were waiting for our 9:20 am flight to Honolulu to take off. At around 8:45 am, the attendant made an announcement that there would be a delay for a mechanical issue with the air conditioner. We got updates hourly (about 10:00, 11:00, and noon with no new news). Then around 1 pm, they announced they were going to board us and we boarded around 1:30 pm. We boarded and taxied to the runway, but before we could take off, they said the mechanical problem was still there. After another wait, we taxied back to a different gate around 3 pm. Then they said they thought we would take off around 6 pm.

Then around 4:30 pm, they announced that they were cancelling the flight. We were relatively lucky and got in line to rebook. We were about 12 people back in line. They booked us on a flight to San Diego that night (February 9) and they we flew out in the morning from San Diego around 9 am to Honolulu. We ended up arriving in Honolulu around 2 pm on Friday February 10 when we were supposed to land around 2 pm on Thursday February 9. [That is over a 24 hour delay]. And when we arrived in Honolulu, our bags had not arrived yet, they came about an hour later. I had already paid for a house for the weekend and a rental car in Oahu. That put me back at least $350.

Also, we had major issues getting our rental car because we were over a day late, even though we had called them. It was a major hassle. In addition, we lost a whole day in Oahu, when we were only staying for four days. We were not able to see or do some of the things we wanted to do because we lost a whole day. We did not get to see Pearl Harbor or Waikiki. While each person in our party got 2 $15 meal vouchers while we were delayed and then they put us up in a San Diego hotel for the night, we did not get a compensation for our missed day in Oahu.

On our way home from Kauai on Tuesday February 21 (we changed islands in the middle of our trip, it was part of our itinerary), we had a 2 pm flight to San Fransisco from Kauai. That flight was delayed over three hours and it did not take off until 5:30, which made us miss our connecting flight out of San Fransisco at 11 pm. We were then put on another flight to Denver then home to Pittsburgh. We were supposed to be home around 10 am on February 22 but did not land until close to 2:30 pm. They also gave us 2 $15 meal vouchers per person and a hotel room in San Francisco.

I had a paper ticket, state ID and passport and was not allowed on CO5025 on Feb. 22, 2012 at 9:30 because the gate attendant said she could not find me in the computer. It was the 3rd leg and 4th airport of the day which began at 4:30AM. I was flying to be with my 15-year old son before surgery. The flight was not full and she issued me a pass for the next day. I missed seeing him before surgery. Also, I had to spend $220 on the only not sold out room under $400! I was not offered any food vouchers or hotel stay. The attendant said, "look lady, I don't have you in the computer". I burst into tears knowing I would miss seeing him and she rolled her eyes. I want a full refund in cash to help cover costs of the overnight stay. There is no reason with a boarding pass and ID that I was not allowed on an empty flight. It was a nightmare.

I was terribly discriminated and threatened by the United flight attendant Dustin on flight **, February 9, 2012. I requested a cup of OJ and a cup of water when drinks were served. Dustin refused to offer me water. Below are the ridiculous lies that he gave to me.

He said that he can only serve one drink per customer at the first round, so he could only offer OJ but not water. A few minutes later after the first round beverage serving, he told me that he could not serve water because the plane was ready for landing but he and another flight attendant had two serving rounds afterwards. Then he said that he ran out of Coke. I requested Coke to replace water after repeated refusal; he later gave me an opened coke and claimed that another customer did not want it, so he could give it to me. Then he asked me to remove the napkin from my used cup so he could pour the coke. I was simply stunned and speechless! How could he possibly treat a customer like that?

I was also terribly threatened by Dustin who told me that he would send me to authorities after landing after I pushed the service button twice, asking for water. I flew quite often on business and pleasure, and this is absolutely unheard of, the worst, horrible, harassing, and discriminated experience of my whole life! I did not argue with him on the flight as I did not want to disturb other customers. However, I am writing to formally complain now, so similar cases would not happen to other flying customers, to request removal of Dustin from his duty in air and request a full refund!

My 73-year-old handicapped mother was left at Chicago O'Hare Airport on February 13, 2012 sitting on a wheelchair. According to the United Airline staff, the attendant either took her to the wrong gate or the aircraft was at the wrong gate. They could not give me an answer. Her ticket clearly stated "special services: cannot descend." Accommodations were clearly made with United Airlines prior to her arrival there and clearly written on her ticket! She had to stay there for hours until another flight could take her to her destination.

She was a nervous upset mess, and the only compensation was a $15.00 food coupon!

My baggage was delayed, while traveling to Antigua, on Sept. 3, 2011. I have been writing/telephoning since my return on Sept. 17th, but to no avail. All I am being told is that LIAT is responsible for paying my sister and I, for our clothing that we had to purchase while on vacation. While in Antigua, Mr. **, baggage handler for LIAT, informed me that Continental was responsible. Continental said they have a contract with LIAT, and sent me letter with LIAT's overseas number for me to contact them. While I was in Antigua, LIAT never answer their phones, and I don't feel I should have to handle this, since their contract is with LIAT. I had a direct flight, with seats confirmed, but Continental bumped me off the plane.

I was to arrive in Antigua in four hours. I arrived at 12:20 AM, on Sept. 4th. The airport is closed, except for customs. The baggage handlers are gone. LIAT never answered phone calls. The clothing arrived on Tuesday afternoon. My sisters arrived on Friday. I had to purchase clothes. Who can we send the file to for help. They have ignored us completely. There is no local number for LIAT, and I sent two emails, had someone in Antigua contact them, and also had a reservation at airport promise to give Mr. Anges, who we had spoken to, when I had to take a cab to airport to pick up the luggage. It cost me an additional $32.00. I want to send info to someone who could help, and put the word out there that Continental/United/LIAT are irresponsible. This was truly a trip from **.

I booked 3 tickets for my self, Nirmala ** and Mala **. Due to medical reasons, I had to cancel the trip on 12/26/2011, two days prior to our journey. I was advised that the refund will be done on receipt of medical report. I faxed the medical report and a letter requesting for refund on 1/14/2012 by fax and certified letter. I received an acknowledgement from Preshant ** with reference number ** on 1/18/2012. I called the UA agent and advised that I cannot reschedule the flights and need refund. She told me that my refund request is in process and refund will be done in 10 days. I charged my tickets on my Master Charge. As of today, I have not received any refund and my charge card MC does not show any credit. I was charged $688.20 for the 3 tickets. Please review and advice as soon as possible.

I have been a United Plus member for some years but haven't traveled a lot. A year and a half ago, I began working in Qatar. In 2011, I traveled 60,000 miles on United codeshare flights with Qatar Airways.

When I began working in Qatar, I asked United about Mileage Plus, and they assured me that all of my codeshare flights would fully count in my United Plus account. (Most of these flights are advertised as United Airlines flights, operated by Qatar Airways).

Now I discover:

1. None of the flights give me any credit toward any Premier Level in United Mileage Plus. 60,000 miles later, I'm not even allowed to board early or spend an hour in the United Lounge at the airport.

2. I cannot request an upgrade on any United/Qatar Airways codeshare flight. I have recently had surgery and need an upgrade for an upcoming flight from the US to Qatar.

United will not upgrade me on its direct flight from Washington Dulles to Doha (United 7961, operated by Qatar Airways) and neither will Qatar Airways because I don't have a Qatar Airways frequent flyer membership.

United will upgrade me on a non-codeshare flight to Frankfurt, where I can spend the 5 hour layover not in the United Lounge because I have no United miles. Then I can fly the second leg of the flight (following surgery) on Lufthansa. Lufthansa will also not upgrade me. This is a hoax... pure and simple. I want my miles transferred to Qatar Airways where I can actually use them. Any suggestions?

$70 for a second bag? Are you kidding me? So let me get this right - you want people to travel to the other side of the world for over a month and you want them to take one bag with them? If you were a real international airline like KLM or Emirates, you'd know not to use your passengers as part of your money making schemes. Maybe if you actually cared about your passengers, all these American airlines that are charging ridiculous fees would not have to file bankruptcy or get into mergers.

Your $70 is more than Delta's ridiculous charge of $60 and I could fly 2.5 times with it with 2 bags on a domestic flight. Maybe if your rates were lower or if your in-flight service was worth it, we could talk about this charge being justified. But I find no reason for you to charge it. And getting your customer service reps to give me a stupid answer like "We were the last ones to do it" is not exactly comforting. I only bought this ticket because I had flown with you before and thought I'd give it a second shot. But I guess this will be the last time. I'm going back to giving my loyalties to better and bigger airlines, which obviously is a list you will never get into.

My family was scheduled on a flight, December 18th, from Dulles International Airport to Newark Airport with a connecting flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was United Airlines flight #4931, code-shared through Continental. We arrived to the airport well before the recommended 90 minutes and proceeded to the United check-in gate. We asked the people working the lines if we were at the correct location and they confirmed that we were. The line moved very slowly because there were not enough ticket handlers, only ticket kiosks, and there was no one to tell the passengers when there was an open screen for them to use.

Finally, we arrived at the screen and check in and paid the baggage fees, for which no receipt was printed. After confirming the seats, the screen said to wait while the boarding passes were printed. But nothing was printed and the screen told us to contact a continental representative. There was only one employee at the desk who was pretending to help people with their kiosk issues, and his only solution was to have them check in at a different kiosk. When we explained that we had already gone through the process, he told us to speak to the only ticketing agent who was there.

For the hundreds of people in line, there was only one person who was not a baggage handler. He was doing a very good job of dealing with all of the stressed passengers who had flight issues, but it was inappropriate that he was the only one available. When we were finally able to speak to him, it turned out that even though it was a Continental flight through United, he had not yet been trained on the Continental system. So we had to go start over in the Continental line.

They were finally able to give us our boarding passes, and then we proceeded on through security but were unable to make it to the boarding gate in time. Yes, if we had run we would have been able to arrive in time, but I have a disability and aged parents so it was quite impossible. At the United boarding gate, we were told that no one could help us with a replacement flight because we were not connecting passengers.

They gave us the number to contact Continental. The first Continental representative was unclear about whether Puerto Rico was a national or international location and was unable to help with replacement tickets and connected me to United. The United representative was incredibly unhelpful and connected me to American Airlines for no reason and without telling me.

In the end, the person at the gate was kind enough to help us get replacement tickets on standby for the next morning. However, had we followed his original advice and left the terminal, we would not have been able to get the tickets and we would have been charged over $2000. It's great that Continental and United are merging, but since neither Continental nor United employees have any idea about what's going on with the flights, we were unable to make ours. We also lost hundreds of dollars in hotel and rental car fees.

I booked a flight on Continental from SAN-SJO which turned out to be a code share, United from SAN-DEN and Continental the rest of the way. When I checked in online (redirected from Continental's website to United), I was asked about baggage and when I said 2 each, the popup said "no cost". Suspecting differently, I tried to locate information on United's website, which did not speak to travel from the US to Central America. I then called United and it took talking to 4 different representatives for someone to tell me he "thought" I would be charged for the 2nd bag. (He was correct although uncertain).

This is "bait and switch" as I see it, even an out and out lie. I would have had no choice at the airport but to pay out the nose. Then, after arriving, we didn't open 1 bag for several days and found when we did that of the 15 tubes of silicone sealant we had packed, which aren't available in Central America, United had removed 9 under the guise of "hazardous materials". The new "advice" note from TSA says that the airline is responsible for removal of materials, but please call TSA which we did. The SAN representative was pleasant, courteous and helpful, even finding out that United had removed the sealant in error, but the bottom line was that we were told try to contact United. (In the meantime, we received an email from United offering us a $100 voucher).

Understand that we aren't novice travelers and included 3 copies of the abbreviated MSD from the manufacturer indicating the product was not considered to be hazardous under either national or international standards. Also included was the complete chemical composition list, which no one apparently bothered to read. But, it was so "hazardous" that United left 6 tubes in our luggage. In desperation, we located a United baggage customer service number which, like many other complaints I've read, was in some country where the representative's English was totally unintelligible. We insisted on speaking to a manager and for 45 minutes, he told us he had no local phone number for United in San Diego, he was unable to contact anyone, had no phone numbers for any United employee anywhere in the world, was totally unable to do anything, "why hadn't we reported this earlier", "we should go to the airport in San Diego to report this" (we're 3000 miles away and gone for 2 months), "we should go to the airport in Costa Rica to report this" (that's only 3 hours away).

After arguing for those 45 minutes, he finally connected us directly to the baggage department in San Diego. So, the logical conclusion is that he was lying. The story hasn't ended yet, but we did talk to a nice human being who spoke understandable English in San Diego and who seems to want to cooperate. I'm so weary from struggling that I have chosen to make this report before arriving at the final outcome.

After booking my latest award travel, I noticed there is now a close-in fee charged within 21 days of travel and this fee is charged separately, above and beyond the already charged fee and on top of the 37,500 miles that I am using for the flight. I, and my family members, have booked several award tickets within 21 days of travel but this time, there was an extra fee charged before the actual ticket was even distributed to my email account!

I called reservations to inquire about this charge and the actual policy in which it was created only to receive the answer "It is just United's policy." The first representative I spoke to said it was effective October 21, 2011 and the second said June 15, 2011 but neither could point me to the actual policy or justification on the website or verify if the policy notice had been distributed to customers even mileage plus customers. Needless to say, the second representative claimed that she was the manager and there was no one else I could speak with to get additional information. I highly doubt someone sitting in an Indian call center is the last level of customer relations.

And, if so, United may want to re-think its effects on customer service. My call to **** was solved by the representative putting me on hold for 30 minutes to go and search for the policy in order to answer my questions. She returned only to point me back to the link for fees and taxes that only informs one of the fees. I believe this charge to be another outstanding fee charged by United on top of the numerous and extraneous bag fees and other elusive fees. Furthermore, if this policy was implemented in October, just prior to the holidays, United should be ashamed.

Since I've been a mileage plus member, I've experienced United's poor customer service, representatives that cannot actually solve any problems when you call the 1.800 number provided on United's website, bogus fees that a customer cannot even be certain are legal, the general lack of saver award flights which is 25,000 mile seats when people would actually be traveling, and the general elusiveness of award flights and why anytime one would want to travel on the weekend, the award flights shoot up to 50,000 miles. I will post this complaint to Facebook and Twitter in order to get people to take a stance against these fees or at least contest them at every chance possible. Additionally, an inquest should be launched into their legitimacy.

In March 2010, I contacted United Airlines (UA) to arrange for my first use of my accumulated miles in my Mileage Plus account. At that time, I was told in an email that I had already used 100,000 of my miles. Since that day, UA and I have exchanged many emails. I told them I paid for all my flights and been saving my miles ever since I joined in 1986 because my parents had been reimbursing me for my airfare. All of my flights were to visit them. UA claims that they had issued different types of awards to me over the years, that I had requested one of them, and that someone else could have requested some them on my behalf.

I never knew anything about these awards and there was no other person who could have requested them on my behalf. The first time I used my miles was in 2010. UA listed awards they said I used, starting in 1988 on two trips to Hawaii. I've never gone to Hawaii. I stated to UA many times that their documentation was incorrect. I have demanded that they credit the 100,000 miles back to my account.

We traveled from Sydney to Los Angeles, 11 of us in the travel party. Cost of flights amounted to 15000 bucks. There were mostly kids in party. Travel included promotion of 2 x 23kg (50 lb) bags per person. This was confirmed with the agent prior to departure and with UA Sydney. We arrived at check in at LAX and sighted numerous passengers having problems with check in staff and awaited our turn, expecting some form of problem. Well, they denied our tickets included excess bags and charged us accordingly, 70 bucks per bag plus put each through as a separate transaction for the three bags we had, which cost us three separate transaction fees, which inevitably cost us more.

It didn't matter how much we protested, we were told that we didn't have to catch their plane. The UA staff was very rigid, sarcastic, rude and non-compromising. This employee didn't give a damn. When asked to speak to a supervisor, she provided her friend alongside her and purported her to be the supervisor. May has well have spoke to Krusty the clown. It was an otherwise beautiful trip to States where everyone was so nice and welcoming, until the experience with these clowns. I will never travel with UA again. Much better competition out there and cheaper. Old planes, old staff set in their ways and ** service.

We experienced delays and visited their appreciation site as may be entitled to compensation for delayed flight. On checking this out, they offer petty discounts on flights as if we are ever going to fly with them again. They are dreaming to think I would step a foot on one of their planes again or give them another cent. They are rip offs! Their form of compensation was further insult to this experience.

We purchased 2 award saver airfares to Hawaii, and one award airfare to Hawaii (use double miles to choose your own flight), in February. In July, I paid $118.00 per ticket for an upgrade to economy plus, and I have a receipt. My husband, my daughter, and myself, and an infant were all sitting together in economy plus. As of today, I was notified that our flight was cancelled, and we were moved to another flight. This flight did not allow us to connect to our connecting flight from Honolulu to Kauai. Also, my six year daughter was on a different flight. I called and had United put us all on the same flight, at an earlier time, so we do not miss our connecting Hawaiian airlines flight.

Please also note, my husband was not even notified about this flight changed. We booked on different confirmation numbers, which means we need to be notified for each confirmation number. United only notified me of this change, and not my husband. After we were all put on the same flights, I asked if we were in economy plus, and was told my daughter who is six is in economy.

The supervisor was very unaccommodating, and would not help us. We were told there were no seats left in economy plus, and if we want to sit together, we all need to move to economy, and request a refund. We paid for economy plus, well in advance of the people who are taking up those seats. We booked our seats the day they became available.

When is it okay to split up a family, with a one year old, and a six year old. Not only did we pay for our six year old to sit next to us in economy plus, they moved her to the back of the plane, to sit next to some stranger. How negligent and absent minded is United for employing ill-equipped supervisors who cause problems, rather than solving them.

My six year old daughter is sitting in economy next to a stranger. I am trying to call someone to resolve this, but I get the same answer. There is no one to call to help me with this. We need to be in economy plus, as we have an infant, and need the extra space. Now, instead of being excited about my much needed vacation, I am stressed out about trying to have my family sit together, or even my six year old daughter sit with one of us in economy plus, a ticket we paid for. They simply tell us to ask for a refund. Someone else needs to pay, and it's not us.

My father, Ashok **, and my mother, Saroj **, had booked my ticket through Swiss Air (Booking Reference LP8JYQ), and was traveling from Washington Dulles, to Mumbai, India. The first leg of the flight was provided by United Airlines. When we booked the tickets (23rd March), we were allowed two bags per person, without baggage fees. This is shown on the ticket. However, when they checked our bags at the airport, they were told that only one bag per person is allowed, per United's policy.

This is not consistent with their ticket. They were charged $50 for one additional bag to be checked in, as United allowed only one bag per person, free of cost. As a customer, this is very frustrating. We would like to request the $50 charge to be returned. The money was paid from my credit card, (Nimish ** ). This is cheating customers. We had submitted the complaint previously to United, through BBB, however they denied the claim, saying that the policy of the originating airline would be followed. They sent me a $50 coupon to be used for future United flight, however, they refused to refund the money. I do not accept the voucher.

This is more issue with the contracted groups with United and the fact that they pretty much throw up their hands and just do nothing. We left a camera on a plane, which was our fault but was a 35mm, not a pocket camera. More important were the pictures on card. We went through all the channels to track down, hoped it was still there, but getting straight answers and help if virtually impossible these days. If anyone has any ideas as to try and find, probably via the cleaning service that was probably where it ended up, please let me know.

On November 11, 2011, flight 0846 attendant "Richard" approached me regarding a bag that had slid out from under a seat, and rudely asked, "What is that?" I told him, "It was a bag." He later admitted to knowing it was a bag and stated that is was United Airline's policy to ask passengers rude, sarcastic questions instead of asking passengers to place bags under seats. Richard, the flight attendant, is a bit scary. He should not be allowed on any flight. I will not travel with UA again.

I logged on to check in online 24 hours before my flight to Colorado Springs Nov 4, but was unable to do so because the United confirmation number that had been e-mailed to me by United repeatedly came up "invalid." I finally got "live" help, sort of, by contacting the dot.com support number. My reservation had not "gone through" because "something was wrong with [my credit] card." I had paid for the flights with United Mileage Plus frequent flyer miles, and no one at United had emailed me that there was any problem with the Chase United Mileage Plus credit card's paying asst'd fees. Two hours on the phone, with no outright apologies, and every effort was made to make this my fault (didn't read fine print etc.), "my" confirmed seats were no longer available. But there were seats in the back row (not reclining) or Economy Plus singleton middle seats that we could book two of.

I am working with UA to resolve a complaint and so far, they've offered mileage and what amounts to a $20.00 discount on a future purchase. Unacceptable, considering the numerous delayed and finally cancelled flight and then losing our luggage for a day. After reading through these complaints, I can only imagine what UA Customer Service people are encountering. Are all airlines this bad, or only UA? Maybe UA's CEO should visit this site.

I was told by United Airlines that I no longer have 182k miles in my account. I used to have a Citi card but cancelled it, because it was $50 a year. United mailed (USP) me a request and asked me to sign up on their website. I did that. Then they never mailed me anything through the post or through email that says they were going to cancel all my miles, which they did because I did not use my account in some way.

I wrote them several times, asking them to reinstate my miles, because they never notified me in any way about my losing my miles for not using my account. Those miles were worth thousands of dollars and took 12 years to accumulate. How can they just wipe them out in one swoop? They blamed me, for not going to their website. I did not know I was supposed to go to their website, if I had no reason to visit it. I was not told they changed the rules in the United Rewards Program. They wiped out $5000.00 worth of rewards I was counting on to use.

I need some consumer protection here, because all the airlines are following suit. This is not a game. In today's economy, this is very callous, and it should be stopped. It seems like the airlines have learned a lot from the banks that they are associated with. What is our recourse, and why do we allow them to get away with this poor behavior?

I could not be more dissatisfied with United. I booked reservations on September 18, 2011 for travel from Boise, Idaho to Chicago, Illinois (reservation # **). My checking account was charged via a debit card, for a total of $842.80 on September 20 and $607.40 on August 16. I have documentation of these charges via my bank statements.

I received a call on Tuesday, October 11th, from a United representative, stating that they needed to change my itinerary due to a plane change. First, the agent attempted to rebook my children alone on a flight through Denver. When I protested, he then found a direct fight the morning of December 19, and re-booked us all on this flight. That afternoon, I was routinely looking at my checking account on line. To my horror, I was debited two charges by United of $551.70 for a total charge to my account of $1,113.40, for this schedule change initiated by United. These charges were not credit card charges. The funds were drawn straight from my bank account.

I spent 40 minutes on the phone that afternoon with an agent. The agent at the end told me that the refund would be processed in full, and that it would be refunded in 3 business days, instead of the usual 7-10 due to this error on the part of United. I waited 4 business days and I still got no refund. Today, I have made two calls, one of 58 minutes in length, the second of 50 minutes. At the end of the first 58 minutes, I was informed by a supervisor that no one could help me, as the refunds department was only open from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. When I completed the second call in the afternoon, I was told that $753.40 of the $1,113.40 would be refunded in 7-10 days. And I was told that I needed to send a separate email for the remaining $350 to the refunds department via the internet.

The net effect of this error is that I have loaned United Airlines $1,113.40 for the next 7-10 days. This is completely unacceptable. I will be following through for a refund of all of my overdraft charges. I simply cannot afford this error and the lack of my own money due to a mistake on the part of one of your ticketing agents.

I made a reservation in August 2011 for a flight leaving on August 11, 2011 for my 86-year old father, 76-year old mother and their two large dogs. I was on the phone with a gentleman in India for almost two hours; I repeated several times (at least twenty times) that it had to be a non-stop flight and that the two dogs must be on the same flight. He assured me that it would not be a problem. When we arrived at Charlotte International Airport, two hours before the flight, we were informed that the US Airways was the airline that United Airlines sub-contracted for that flight, and they do not accept animals. Therefore, they would not be able to fly with their dogs. There were no other flights that could accommodate them and their animals.

The supervisor Rodney ** said that they could fly through Delta, but we would have to go ask them if they would accept the dogs. I asked why we had to check on this when their company was the one who totally messed up the whole reservation. At this point, the only bright, helpful person took it upon herself to help us (this would be Sheila **). She worked on a solution for over three hours. That solution was that they would have to wait until the next day to fly, and have connecting flights to get to their destination with their dogs. While we were not happy due to the fact that they are elderly, and my father is sick with cancer, we had no choice. As Mrs. ** worked on the travel changes, she got no help from her supervisor Rodney **, as a matter of fact he disappeared. United did give them a voucher for lodging and in airport meals; however, when Mrs. ** tried to get Rodney ** to approve them again, he was nowhere to be found, and he told her to contact someone else.

After a six-hour wait, with two large dogs that were in kennels the whole time, a Mr. ** finally emerged to approve the vouchers. However, when we arrived at the hotel, the voucher did not cover the cost of the dogs. Also, as an added perk of the wonderful customer service we received when we got to the airport, the next morning at 4:30 the wonderful skycap Anthony ** promptly informed my 86-year old father that the $3 he gave him for wheeling in the two dogs (not more than 10 feet) was not enough, and he would have to give him more money for him to get their luggage. Never mind that my husband and I were well aware that the $3 dollars was on this day a low tip, and we're prepared to give him more money (just not in front of my elderly parents), but then he shoved money at him, and told him to get his dogs inside the best way he can.

When I got home, I did try to contact the general manager of United Airlines, Jim **, but I have not received a call back from the several messages I have left him. Also, I did not note that the cost of the non-stop flight was considerably higher than the cost of the flights they were put on, but there was no mention of compensation for that loss of money. So, I was out the difference of the flights, hotel stay, gas expense for the travel back and forth to the airport and the hotel two times, and food cost because after being at the airport for six hours, there was no way we were going to wait for gate passes to get my parents a $10 dollar meal and the unacceptable stress that was put on my family, as well as the worthless supervisor, Rodney ** horrible customer service and the total disrespect of my parents by a skycap that should have been scrubbing toilets, if he is allowed to continue employment at Charlotte International Airport.

My office booked me a flight to Baltimore. I needed to cancel so I did so in advance and was told, since there is another passenger, that I couldn't cancel my flight until the other passenger flew the flight. The UA lady then said that since I am canceling the flight that there is a $150.00 penalty fee for canceling.

This is the second time that UA did this. The first time, I had to cancel due to an emergency and they didn't care. They took my ticket that cost me $900 and told me that the ticket is only worth $300 and I would also have to pay $150 fee to use it.

United employs thieves. United employs thieves.

Online, I booked a reservation using both frequent flyer miles and money to keep the price as low as possible. When I tried to pay online, I kept getting an error message. I called United and a very nice agent helped me to pay for my tickets and told me he'd email me my receipt. I was surprised when I received 3 separate receipts in my inbox -1 for the tickets, 1 for the $50 booking for using the phone and 1 for a $150 "close in" fee. I immediately called customer service, where the agent credited the $50 fee, but told me that the "close-in fee was cascaded to you in an email, so that can't be refunded."

I certainly didn't see the email, there was no warning on the web site, and the agent failed to tell me about this fee. Ironic, because my schedule was flexible and would have moved my travel dates so as not to be charged 20% extra to travel on United.

I sent an email to United customer service and I never heard back. Guess they don't read their emails either. Sent a letter, got a letter in return saying, "sorry, hope you have a better experience with us in the future." Just received an email, telling me that "you would have gotten a pop up advising you of the $150 fee and while unable to refund your money, I am attaching 2 electronic travel certificates, " but there was no attachment.

When any other company charges my credit card without my prior consent, that is considered an "unauthorized transaction". Why is United allowed to make unauthorized transactions on their customer's credit card accounts?

The first agent was incapable of giving me a window or aisle seat, although, I made my reservation one full month ahead and was very flexible as far as dates. The second agent lied to me and assigned a fake seat, perhaps just to please me. Then, I realized that no seat was assigned to me! A company that lies to its customers is doomed to failure. Can anyone give me other options?

I will never fly United again, even if it saves me money. My flight to Dulles was delayed and having a tight connection, I checked with the counter who told me that 20 minutes between flights is plenty of time and that even she, who had a five-year old, had managed to navigate between terminals within five minutes. Well, she must have been superman because it took me at least 15 minutes to wait to get off the plane, and then literally run from the gate to the sky train, and finally, to my other gate.

Needless to say, I missed the flight because the flight decided to take off early. Well, thank you very much United for not giving a second thought about your passengers who experienced a delay. What is possibly the most appalling is the staff. It is very obvious they care nothing for their customers and will go out of their way to minimize work for themselves. No wonder U.S. airlines are going bust. Who would want to be treated like they owe the employees a favor? It was obvious that the employee just told me that I could make it for the flight because she was too lazy to find me an alternative and just wanted me to go away.

Also, when I got to Dulles, the United club lounge is possibly the worst lounge ever. They might as well just put a dummy to man the counter because that is exactly what the counter staff are. The lady just kept saying that she was not supposed to be working there so she knew nothing. Gee, thanks. Right now, my 5:30 flight has been delayed to 7:20 and then, to 7:33 and then, now, to 7:45. No reason was given; we just had to accept it. My two-hour trip has taken me 12 hours, and counting. Talk about flying in the stone ages. I could have driven to Albany by now.

On 08 Sept 11, I arrived at the Medford, Oregon airport one hour prior to departure time. With just one agent at the counter, people waiting to be checked in, five people in front of me and two passengers who were delayed checking in, time was running short. Then, another agent was finally brought in. I was next in line and I was told that my suitcase was overweight for, I was thinking, 2 or 3 lbs. I needed a credit card for the extra fee and I needed to hurry as I still had to go through security. I am an elderly short woman and I had to practically run to the tarmac. I never had the chance to transfer the contents from my suitcase to my carry on. I will not fly with United again.

I was having trouble purchasing a ticket online. I contacted UAL and the agent said she would ticket the flight and she would not charge the usual $25. Next day, the price of the flight and the $25 fee was on my credit card. I contacted UAL and they said to use their refund site. There was no place to file a refund request for an agent refund. I contacted UAL supervisor and she said UAL would automatically refund the fee in 7-10 business days as it was in the agent's notes with the reservation.

The refund has not occurred 14 business days later. This is the second time UAL has done this to me. I don't trust them at all anymore. Give them your credit card and they can overcharge what they quote you and then they will force you to try to get it refunded. It's a real trial and I think most people give up. Even if they refund, it's months later so they keep your money without paying any penalty for their wrongdoing. United, are you pulling a scam on people? At $25 a ticket, you're pocketing a lot of cash illegally. They know few people have the time to complain. Shame on them, using a name that plays on our democracy.

We have spent a lot of time thinking about the right words to use to describe our recent experience with United Airlines. One word continues to bubble to the top: Appalling.

On June 17, our attempted United flight (#0930) from San Francisco to London has been cancelled due to a global computer breakdown on United Airlines. This has left our family angry, incredulous and certain that the way in which they treated us and other passengers has significantly undermined their brand integrity.

We expect to be properly compensated for this experience, which I consider a breakdown of nearly every facet of United Airlines' business. But first, let me briefly recount our experience as this information in this letter should be read and shared across their company, particularly given that, in your own words, "United is committed to continuous improvement and achieving success."

Earlier this year, our family (which includes our 7-year-old son), booked a non-stop flight on United from San Francisco to London for our dream vacation. It would be our first trip to England. We spent more than $5,700 for the non-stop round-trip flight, which included a pricey upgrade to their Economy Plus seats.

While it would have been much cheaper to fly and make a one stop (Sun Country Airlines, for instance, was offering a $1,000 per person round-trip fare), we decided to pay extra to travel United for the convenience of NOT stopping along the way, thereby getting to London quickly (anyone travelling with a young child can understand that decision). The Economy Plus seating was a large, extra sum as well, $297, and we made this decision after some debate.

At 5:15 p.m., we arrived in San Francisco to make our 7:15 p.m. flight; however, we were informed that their computers were all down. We are told that they had no idea when they would be back up (a single employee was dispatched to inform us, via walking through the increasingly frustrated crowds, to verbally update people, without the assistance of a bullhorn or microphone). The information was mostly useless and it was mostly left to the passengers to trickle down the information.

For five hours in that line, we waited with our luggage. There were more than 1,000 others in line with us. It was only at the 3 hour-30-minute mark that they begrudgingly offered water and Oreos, the latter of which wasn't really a favor.

Finally, their system went back up at 10:15 p.m. and, finally, United crew and passengers scrambled to board our flight to beat the FAA restrictions around the flight crews daily working hours. Passengers beat this deadline with one minute to spare. We were all seated, finally, and ready for our trip.

Apparently, we waited because their crew did not load the luggage in time. Then, the captain announced that the crew was missing a key flight document. Nonetheless, finally, we were told that we'd be taking off shortly. So we waited more.

A little after midnight, they cancelled the flight. Imagine the anger and disappointment. Really, imagine it. Even worse, we were stuck on the plane for an additional hour layering insult to injury because of their incompetence. Because apparently, United could not find someone to open the plane door. Yes, you read that right.

The day continues and when we were finally allowed to disembark the plane at 1:30 a.m., there were two police officers waiting by the jets door to be on the lookout, I assume, unruly passengers - there were just as many police officers as there were United staff members to book new tickets for the several international flights that were cancelled that night. There was no need for the police. The passengers here, having gone through this horrific experience, were models of professionalism. But, again, they put their airline squarely and firmly ahead of any feelings they had for their inconvenienced travellers.

At 1:50 a.m., a United employee told everyone that we would need to wait until 3 a.m. to get our luggage back. No one was offered a hotel. They did not broach this topic with us. We were not offered transportation to a hotel. We were not offered any vouchers. We were only told that, because the flight was officially cancelled, we would have the benefit of not incurring a fee for changing our flight plans. Um, some benefit. "Are you ** kidding me?" was the shared reaction among passengers.

Then, amazingly, things got even worse. We waited until 3:45 a.m. for luggage that never came. Their barebones, helpless staff at that point meant that we'd get no answers for anything. Angry, tired and with our 7-year-old limp in our arms, we left WITHOUT our luggage, spending our own money on a cab to get home. We had taken public transportation to the airport, but it wasn't operating in those wee hours of the morning. We arrived home at 5 a.m. about the time our initial flight should have landed in London.

There was no sleep for us. We had to set about contacting our hotel in England, being informed we would still need to pay for that night, and the next one, even though we were still in the United States. We had to contact our rental car agency, being informed the special discount we had received for reserving our car for a week would no longer apply as we would now be there for less than 7 days. We had to find a new flight spending a total of three hours on hold with United only to NOT get a live, breathing human on the phone. We had to find our luggage, contacting baggage support and telling them our story.

This is when United customer service practices become especially appalling. My wife is a cancer survivor, and her anti-cancer medication was in her suitcase. When she explained that to a baggage support team member, she was informed that the luggage was being held and was earmarked for London and they couldn't return it. Yes, you read that correctly.

Now take a moment to put yourself in this position, from the moment we had arrived at San Francisco airport, to now being told that our luggage may be going to London but not us. So, not surprisingly, my wife cried. Pointing out the need to have her cancer medication, she was told by an unhelpful staff that, while they understood the situation, they couldn't guarantee they could return it to her that day, even though our luggage HAD NEVER LEFT San Francisco. And here's the kicker: She was told that if United were to deliver the luggage to us, they would charge us for that convenience. The manager, however, was the first and only United employee throughout this harrowing odyssey to offer us anything more than an Oreo cookie and vague communications commitments. He said he would give us one $50 voucher for our troubles. PLEASE. Getting our luggage returned to us would have cost more than that!

So take a moment to think about what we experienced with United to this point. Think about their history of getting planes off the ground and in the air and servicing passengers and accounting for travel disruptions and unanticipated issues. Think about their actions. Think about every step of this experience and what it means to their brand.

Like others, we ultimately were left with no choice but to carry out our own research as no one at United would help us, and we identified a flight on a competing carrier that would leave Sunday, meaning we would, at a minimum, lose two days of our trip.

In other words, we are holding THEM accountable for our family being unable to see Stonehenge, Salisbury, the Longleat House, Cheddar Gorge, and the cheese factory in Cheddar. Those are experiences we will never get back that we spent months planning for in advance. We explained the situation to British Airways and had them put the tickets on hold. We were told we would need to go through United Airlines to release our tickets (that hadn't been done yet) and to get confirmation that they all would protect us.

So we had to go back to the airport Saturday (a one-hour drive) to retrieve our luggage and navigate the buffoonery of United to book a new flight ultimately, on British Airways. This took more than 3 hours of our time, even though we already had a confirmation of seats on British Airways.

Over the course of this awful experience, a number of themes clearly emerged: United, a global carrier, had absolutely no backup logistical plans in place after the global computer breakdown. Given the number of delays and cancelations in past years due to blizzards and even volcanic eruptions, this is mind boggling. United communication practices were abhorrent, lacking specifics, transparency and respect. United customer service was indifferent to this unprecedented failure on behalf of its passengers.

In short, we expect far more from their brand given their long history of navigating the myriad issues and topics I have outlined and recounted in this letter. We expect far more from an airline that charged us more than $5,700 as well as the other expenses we personally had to incur due to their incompetence and indifference.

This includes: Economy Plus airfare (we paid $297 for this service, but did not get it on our British Airways ticket) and we expect them to reimburse us for this.

We expect to be reimbursed for our transportation to and from the airport for the June 17 flight that was cancelled - $20 for a taxi ride to the Bart train; $33 for the Bart train; $30 for the taxi to a relative's home early Saturday morning. They saved United money by driving us the rest of the way home.

We expect to be reimbursed for the expenses associated with going back to the airport on June 18 to retrieve our luggage and get booked on a new flight: a $5 bridge toll, and $20 for short-term parking.

We expect them to cover the first two nights of the hotel we had booked in England that we lost because they were unable to get us to London on our time plan.

As passengers, we had zero options as part of this experience. Because their computer system was down, they couldn't release our flight. When the system was back up at 10:15, although a reasonable airline would recognize the flight needed to be cancelled and they needed to protect the passengers, they did not do so. This is especially frustrating that the Sun Country Airlines flight to Minnesota for a connection to London had not left yet. They also held our luggage hostage, taking it from us and saying that they would charge us to get it back. In this highly competitive environment for airlines, where margins are low and fuel costs are high, they simply cannot forget, or overlook, the importance of stellar customer service. And they have failed us and many others.

I look forward to their prompt, careful response to this letter and to learn how they will maintain the brand standards they purport to have. How are they going to take care of this family? We have lost a lot of respect for their brand and, as they assess and verify our experience and come up with some viable options for us, I expect them to share this letter with as many leaders at United as they can.

As their own customer commitment says: "Our goal is to make every flight a positive experience for our customers."

Clearly, they failed us.

When I changed the day on the United leg of my trip, United not only charged me $175 but also cancelled my flight home on US Airways. They refused to do anything about it and left me stranded in Sacramento with no ticket and no option but to buy another ticket home. What happened resulted to tears, anger, loss of money, and the need to fly on standby.

I am unable to log into my account to redeem miles that were about to expire. I tried contacting them through various means and had to settle on emailing them, which generated an automated email reply. It's been over 40 days and no reply. I called into their customer service (9/9/11) for assistance to reinstate the miles and they wouldn't without having me spend another $75 to buy more miles! The original miles were earned. Why would I want to purchase more miles to use the miles that I previously earned? The supervisor, Rick **, was difficult and unreasonable. He kept quoting their service times when I already told him that's what I tried first before having to resort to email. And even then, there was no response! 5000+ points is not worth another painful conversation with United's customer support.

United flight #6165 on 08/7/11 was canceled 2 hours after original departure time. A hotel was booked for 08/27/11, which we were not able to keep but have been billed for. The cancellation was not due to weather, but rather a flight attendant becoming ill.

I was traveling with my boyfriend to Denver Colorado to participate in a bike race to qualify for UCI sanctioned Masters National World Championships. We traveled with our bicycles. The baggage fees, round trip, were $960 dollars. This fee was more than double our airfare and more than the cost of an international round-trip airfare.

United indicated the reason for the outrageous fees was partially due to special handling for the bicycles. The bicycles wouldn't fit on the baggage belts or on the carousels for luggage upon arrival to the airport. The bicycles arrived via the baggage carousel. The bike carrier was damaged.

The primary issue is the "highway robbery" fees for traveling with bicycles. These fees are based on "special handling". The fees charged are just another way to gain money and are not based on anything other than another way for United to "milk the customer". The fees discourage anyone from traveling with bicycles. These fees are discriminatory against individuals traveling with bicycles. No other "sport luggage" is charged such outrageous fees.

My name is Erinlee ** with United Member Number: **. I have been a frequent flyer with your company since 2007. I have acquired roughly 66,000 frequent flyer miles with your company. I have been planning since March to fly over to Buffalo, NY to see a school friend to surprise her for her wedding day. Only her mom, dad and sister know that I am coming to make the surprise even more special. I have been in contact with your reservations desk a numerous times since March to April. I was told that as I had so many frequently flyer miles, it was probably best to purchase the remaining 14,000 miles to get the round trip (80,000 miles is what is needed for that trip).

Since purchasing the remaining miles, I have had difficulties with the reservations desk saying that there are no seats available. Then, upon calling again, that I would have to wait until the end of August to see if there was any open seat. I called again at a later date just to inquire (as a full paying customer) and I was advised that there was still plenty of seats. As you can imagine, I was so surprised as to why I was having such difficulties booking a seat with my miles.

So, I called back yesterday and had minimal luck getting an easy flight from Melbourne, Australia to Buffalo, New York, between the 12th and the 25th of October, having to stop over at LA for a night, and stopping to two other avenues before reaching Buffalo. I have never had such a hard and more frustrating experience trying to book a flight with your airline.

As a frequently flyer and someone who has used and loved your service, I am very disappointed with the lack of help and with the customer service on the phone. I would like this to be passed on to whom ever it may concern, as I am understandably angry and frustrated at this process. I would like a better avenue to book and utilize my earned miles to get a better flight as there seems to be many seats and direct avenues to get to my destination.

I have had the worst ever flying experience with United Airlines today.

I have been traveling for 10 hours now. I was supposed to go to Providence from Pittsburgh and I had a connecting flight in Dulles. Not only the first flight was over an hour delayed, we get to Dulles and then from Dulles. First, the flight was delayed for two hours and then they put us on the plane and made us sit on tarmac for two hours. Finally, they cancelled the flight citing weather as the reason.

After they cancelled the flight, the in-flight crew or the pilot had no courtesy to actually mention what to do about getting on next plane, or who to talk to.

To make matters worse, there was no gate agent to help with anything. When I called United, first they made it difficult to call them by not providing a number any where obviously on their webpage. Finally after 25 minutes of holding, I get a customer service agent somewhere in India because of outsourcing, who is of no help.

I know I am never going to fly with United just because of their customer service.

I flew on a first class flight operated by United Airlines from London, UK, through Chicago O'Hare and into Winnipeg, Canada. My bags did not arrive on schedule--which is a normal occurrence (especially for United)--and although annoying, it isn't the end of the world. The reason why I am writing though, is once my bags finally arrived, they had been opened and items had been stolen out of my bags (iPod, gifts, cologne, etc. - valued around $1,000).

Trying to get any sort of compensation from United was an absolute nightmare. The only way to contact them about any baggage issues is to call their baggage help line where you will be transferred to agents from the Philippines or India. They cannot speak to the claims department. They cannot provide you information on how to contact the claims department. And they can't send messages to the claims department to get information on my claim.

I would be placed on hold for long periods of time (longest being about 30 minutes) and I would be told different information each time I called. At one point, an agent told me that my claim had been denied, and then back tracked and told me that he was reading the wrong claim! The agents have no ability to help the customer. They are just a middle department, with no authority, no decision-making ability, and a hope of trying to frustrate the customer enough that they don't pursue the money that is owed to them by United.

This is all without even mentioning the fact that baggage handlers (the people who are responsible for what gets put onto airplanes for the safety of the airlines) have opened up my bags and stolen items from them, with no consequences from United and with no consequences from the police (although a police report was filed in Canada).

United is a bunch of crooks.

Me and my wife Christine ** flew into Dules airport from Albuquerque NM going to Pittsburg. When we arrived, they informed us that our flight to Pittsburg has been cancelled. We had to wait ten hours for another flight. I talked with them about connecting use to Pittsburg by another flight. We didn't receive meal vouchers, hotel or any services. This was a two-day business trip which was ruined by our late arrival.

We had to spend $162.00 on a hotel; $142.00 on a cab; $43.00 on food and a shuttle to bring us to our destination after arriving at Pittsburg, 12 hours late at a cost of $200.00. I feel that there is a need for a reimbursement like free travel vouchers etc.

As a preface to my complaint, I want to say that I am an American citizen and my wife is a Singaporean citizen and a permanent resident in the United States. My wife also has a rare immunological disease that has left her with severely impaired vision and great difficulty walking. Stress and her immunological disease do not go well together. In fact, undue stress can put her at risk of a flare-up of her disease that can completely cripple and/or blind her overnight. This is what I had in my mind the entire time during my experience with United Airlines.

My wife and I were booked on United Airlines Flight 804 that was scheduled to fly out of Singapore's Changi International Airport on at 7:00am on August 14, 2011. It was supposed to go to Tokyo.

We showed up at 5:00am (with family to see us off) only to learn that our flight had been cancelled at the last minute. There were many frustrated passengers already there who were waiting in line and milling around, trying to figure out why a flight that was confirmed as being on schedule at 4:30 am was suddenly cancelled. We waited over an hour before someone (not a United Airlines staff member) had the courage to confirm to all of the passengers that the flight had been cancelled and that there would be no more flights out that day. We, ourselves, were only told many hours later that we had been re-booked onto a Flight 546 with China Eastern Airlines to Shanghai in Communist China on Monday morning. There would be no other flights out until Tuesday.

We were rebooked without having any opportunity to talk with someone about our travel needs. Also, we were not booked to any one of a number of other airports (Taipei, Tokyo, Manila, Hong Kong, even London, etc.). No, we were booked on a flight to Communist China on an airline that is not even a partner of UA.

Rather than making a big deal about it, we tried to go with the flow and make the best of the situation. We checked in with CEA the next morning and were told specifically by the CEA agent that we would not need to do anything with our luggage in Shanghai (I asked specifically about this) because United would transfer our luggage automatically to United Flight 878 out of Shanghai to Los Angeles. The agent did clarify, however, that we would need to collect our luggage and go through customs in LA. The window for our connection to Chicago = 90 minutes - tight but doable.

We had trouble with Shanghai security over my wife's passport and because of the kind of tickets we were issued by China Eastern Airlines that caused them to question why we were in Shanghai. This is in Communist China and we do not speak Chinese. At this point, we had yet to speak to any United Airlines staff member.

After making it through security (the first time!), we made it to a different terminal where we manage to find the UA ticket counter. I walked up to what looked like a United Airlines Information ticket, and I waited for half an hour while 4 agents dealt with one person about an issue being discussed in Chinese. When that conversation concluded, I waited another 10 minutes for someone to finally ask me in broken English, "What are you doing here?" (I am the only one in line.) I explained that I would like to confirm what is going to happen to my luggage. I was told to come back half an hour when open check in begins for Flight 878. Nobody can answer my question until then.

We waited and half an hour later, we got into a long line waiting to check in at the main UA ticket counters. The line was moving very slowly, and I told my wife that I am very concerned now about our luggage, so I left that line to go back to the UA ticket information booth. I was told if I have a complaint, I can send an email to UA Customer Relations. I confirmed that I don't have a complaint; all I have is a simple question! I was told again about United Airlines Customer Relations. I have to stress very strongly, "I want to talk to a UA representative right now about what to do with my luggage because my 5 hour layover is getting very short!"

Eventually, I was able to talk to a UA supervisor, Connie **, who told me that I was given the wrong information in Singapore and that we would have go back to baggage claim to collect our baggage, go through customs and security (again), and then check in with the other passengers. So we rushed back to the other terminal and of course, found our baggage in a holding area an, and we had to wait in another line to claim it.

We only managed to make it to our Flight 878 at the final, final call. We were the last people on the plane. I was sweating bullets and my wife was exhausted. We didn't have time to ask for a wheel chair or any other kind of assistance.

Our Flight 878 was 45 minutes late getting into LAX, and so we had only 45 minutes to collect our baggage, go through security and customs and make it to our connecting flight. We were once again the last people on the plane. Once again, we are sweating bullets and by now both my wife and I are exhausted.

Once we were on the plane the lead stewardess sees our condition and asks if we would like to make arrangements for a wheel chair in Chicago. I told her that Chicago was home and we would have family waiting there, but thanked her anyway. She replied, "Good, because it would have been hard to find something at that hour anyway."

After we landed at O'hare airport after midnight, we went to the baggage claim to collect our baggage, only to find that it would take United Airlines 45 minutes to start the carousel moving while 3 United Airlines agents in baggage claim tried to find out why it was taking so long to get the baggage from the cargo hold to baggage claim. This was a fitting end to a terrible and stressful trip. If I were alone, I might have considered it an interesting adventure, but I was with my handicapped wife and we were almost delayed in Communist China!

I have subsequently learned from United reservations that United Flight 804 was supposed to have originated in Tokyo and according to UA's own records that flight from Tokyo was cancelled the night before. They knew there was issue at least the night before the morning of the cancellation.

I have also learned subsequently from this very Consumer Affairs website that this very same thing happened to Flight 804 from Singapore on July 31, 2011, just 2 weeks before our own experience.

Our original flight was cancelled at 5:00 am on August 14 (Singapore time). As I write this, it is 7:44 am on August 19 (Chicago time) and while I have managed to talk to several people in reservations along the way, I still have yet to be able to talk to anyone from United Airlines Customer Relations. I sent two emails saying they were backlogged and would get to me when they could. I am still waiting.

For our trouble, United (via a reservation agent) offered us "maximum compensation" for our trouble via what they call "Friendship Kits."

Our compensation? More miles and/or discounts on future United Airlines flights. Are you kidding me?

My daughter was flying from San Francisco on August 15, flight 847. The flight got delayed two hours. She was supposed to catch a connecting flight (5998) to Roanoke, which she missed. She is under 18, she cannot check in into a hotel by herself, she cannot get a cab.

I drove to DC from Lynchburg, VA after work (3.5 hours) to pick her up. Her flight arrived at 11:53, we were there until 1:30 a.m. We were told that since her luggage was supposed to go to Roanoke, it will take a while to get her luggage at Dulles.

When it was 1:30 a.m., I went back to inquire about the luggage. A very rude crew member told me that the luggage was not yet at the staging area. It was time for shift change and he was unsure when the luggage would be there. He informed me that I should let the luggage to go to Roanoke and have them mail it to me. At that point he gave me an 800 number to call.

We left the airport and drove to my cousin's home. On the morning of 16th, I called the 800 number. I was told on the phone that the luggage will go to Roanoke and he put a request in to get it mailed to me. I called the 800 number again at 3:15 p.m. I was told by Raj that the luggage was checked in to the 2 p.m. flight to Roanoke. He said he cannot file a claim for mailing the luggage to me since my daughter did not complete the trip. He suggested that I go to Roanoke (1.5 hour drive from Lynchburg, VA) to pick up the luggage.

I purchased a ticket on United Airlines on June 23 for a round trip flight from London (LHR) to San Francisco (SFO). I had no trouble getting on my flight out of London on July 29, but when I tried to get my return flight back to London, United told me that my ticket had been revoked due to credit fraud. I used a debit card to pay for my flight and have my bank statement to prove that the funds I used have already been withdrawn from my account and are in the hands of United.

After speaking with several United staff members over several hours (including a trip to the airport), I encountered only two who were willing to help, but unfortunately I've been told that United's Fraud Department is unwilling to release my ticket even though I have proof from my bank that I paid for it.

They are doing this on the grounds that when they called my grandmother's house (I am currently studying abroad and use my grandmother's address on all my bank statements) to verify the transaction, she did not approve it. Whatever the conversation was between the United Fraud Department and my grandmother, I am certain that she did not understand what they were asking her and so denied the charges.

If a child had answered the phone and refused to verify charges made by a different member of the household, would United take that young person's word as truth? If I was not available to speak with, considering I had purchased a flight from London to San Francisco that left on the previous day, why would United take the word of someone at the house who is not me?

I was unable to make it to my brother's funeral in Liberia, thanks to United Airline's constant "mechanical" failures. The flight out of San Francisco (UA 906) on 8/13/11 was delayed due to mechanical failure, causing me to miss the connecting flight to Brussels. The next day, the flight to Brussels (972) was again delayed because of mechanical failure. Thanks to United. I missed 2 days of the funeral. I will never fly this airline again!

Rude service from customer service director (Mr. Sher **) of United Airline at SFO airport. Apparently, although my check-in was delayed due to inappropriate service of United Airline agents, they refused to take responsibility and tried to charge me more from results of my rescheduled flight.

We arrived at SFO two hours earlier than check-in time. I knew we had to see the agent at the counter since my flight is going to Canada (international flight), but the United Air agent guided us to the line for self check-ins. After wasting 30 minutes there, we were directed to the line for the agent counter. Although we still had 1.5 hours till departure, we got nervous since the line was never shorten. Finally, another United Air agent showed up and called passengers who needed immediate boarding. In that way, 6 to 8 group of people (whose departure time was 10~20 minutes earlier than us) behind us were picked up for faster check-in process (which means our turn was further delayed). Finally, we got the agent counter, but the agent said we were 2 minutes late from the cutline to check-in for Canada (they said we had to do it 1-hour before departure to Canada without exception). Later, we realized the 6 to 8 people behind us who were picked up were traveling within the US, so we WERE the one who needed the real emergency (another misguidance by the agent).

We could not board the original flight due to "2 minutes late to check-in", which we believe was caused by the United Airline agents. Because of that: 1) We could not leave for the vacation on that day (one day delayed since all flights were full on that day), 2) we've wasted prepaid hotel charges (two rooms for our group of 6 people) and 3) we had to shorten our trip by missing many points at our destination.

Well, things already happened and nobody can change that. Now, we wanted to minimize our damage to retrieve our point #3 above by changing our returning flight by one day later than schedule (to keep our original 4 days trip), since our beginning departure was one day delayed. So, we asked for change on returning flight by one day. Surprisingly, it was refused and I was told to pay $150 per person ($750 total) for a schedule change!

All check-in regulation (1 hour window requirement for Canada flight) cannot be controlled, but we think the United Air should handle our case more generously since all of these happened due to misguidance of their agents (we didn't even mention our loss on the hotel #1!). Later, their service director (his name is Sher **) came and showed very rude behavior. Finally, he said go home since there is nothing they're willing to do, and feel free to file complaints by showing his name proudly. I was very surprised at his attitude on handling their customer's concern and to try to make money using our situation. I wonder how he could manage it as a supervisor and why the United Air keeps him in that position.

I planned a red-eye trip from Reno, NV to Toronto, Canada to see my sick mother who's a has just had a cancer surgery. I wanted to get to Toronto early so I can spend a whole more day with her. When I got to the Reno airport, passed security sitting waiting for the flight, I noticed that it has been delayed and people lined up to see what happens to them. Needless to say I did the same. The flight outbound to SFO 5530 was delayed by 2 hours supposedly because of fog in SFO. I got to the counter after long wait asked if then put me a different flight since my connection to Chicago would have been left an our before we could have arrived after 2 hour delay.

The lady put me on the next flight 544 which in a perfect world would have given 9 minutes (yes NINE minutes) to catch the next flight. I asked if I can go a different flight next day, she insisted that I can catch. I called united and I was told that because I was checked in they cannot do anything I needed to talk to the counter. I talked to them told them there's not enough time to catch the flight and she insisted that I be OK. I went to the plan and came back and asked if she can put me on the next flight from Denver to Toronto, she said because my last leg was with American not United she couldn't. I took the flight and needless to say we got in late! too late for my even late connection. So I had to rush to very next flight and with some miracle get on the delayed flight to Chicago which of course caused me to loose my connection to Toronto.

I arrived at YYZ around 1 pm exactly six hours later than I should have. Had they let me come on the next day I would gotten there only three hours later. But this is not what maddens me. Because of the stress and all the sick passenger, I got cold/flu, so not only I lost the day in between flights but I lost my day with my mother and I got sick so instead me taking care of her, she ended up taking care of me. It used to be that these a..holes in the airlines only jerk you around when you were en route but now they intentionally mess up your flight plans from the Origin! Now what do you think should be the punishment deserving this crime?

Hi, my name is Ben **. I'm a United Mileage Plus member with # **.

This specifically concerns UA Flight 804 out of Singapore to Japan on Sunday, July 24. The flight was canceled and I was left to fend for myself along with 300 other passengers. The next flight out with United wasn't available until Tuesday, so I had to scramble to find a flight on my own 7 hours later with Singapore Airlines.

The resulting delay in my arrival ruined my schedule for the afternoon and evening of July 24th. It also ruined my work day on July 25th as I got in on the morning of the 25th. I run an office here and couldn't afford the lost time I suffered with the missed flight.

Furthermore, my girlfriend's baggage was lost on Flight 803 coming into Singapore on July 15th. And to top things off, as she returned to GSP on July 24th from Singapore, we had an ongoing nightmare since United managed to lose her luggage again. She didn't receive it until 72 hours later, after spending more than 5 hours on the phone over 3 days.

In short, United Airlines single-handedly ruined our vacation to Singapore. It was a big annoyance on the front end of the vacation with the delayed bag. Then, it was despicable customer service given the 2 big issues we had coming back after a nice vacation, and I've been shocked at how poorly the overall situations were handled on the back-end for me and my girlfriend.

I seek at least 2 times the cost of the vacation for us, since they ruined it, and have not (1) Had the Compensation Department call my girlfriend within 24 hours of baggage delivery as they promised they would. (2) Answered my complaint email that I sent to Customer Service (they would not give me an actual person to speak to).

The cost of our vacation was $5,000. I'd like at least $10,000, but if I could settle it in small claims court for $7,500 I would.

What would be the best route to take? I'm just appalled that their response has been so bad, and I hope they're not treating everyone they deal with like this. The foreign carriers treat people much better than this, so it's an embarrassment for the US for this large company to act in this way.

Ben **, MBA

My family and I got to the airport and we boarded the plane. After a while, we have been told that there is an electronic problem, and the plane cannot take off just yet. So, we had to wait for more than an hour before moving.

When we got to Washington DC Airport, we have been told that our flight to London has taken off already. The customer service then told us to head to another gate. At that gate the lady checked the system, and told me that we were transferred to another flight, but that plane has already closed the door, and there is no point going to the gate.

I went back to the customer service section and waited until they booked me for a flight on the next day. I spoke with them, and tried to explain to these people that I am with a wife and a three-week old child.

We have not prepared for an extra day; with a monstrous ticket price I paid (which meant I don't have much money left on me to buy but a pint of formula milk and some purified water). After sometime, they gave me a courtesy reservation in a hotel.

The next day, we went to the airport, boarded and waited for more than three hours sitting in the airplane and then were told that the plane is broken. So back to our old friends, the customer service, who without hesitation transferred us to yet another flight, and another day. As gracious as ever, they gave me a courtesy reservation in another hotel that was much worse than the first.

The next day, they transferred me to a flight to Dubai. This time we took off, but by the time we got to Dubai (and had to wait for more than five hours), my child got very sick and she didn't get enough care because we were in an airport. She is just an infant. The airport people thankfully called a doctor, and after a while gave her a medicine that calmed her until we got to Dammam Airport.

When we got our luggage in Dammam, we found some of them are broken or torn, and some of our stuffs inside them were missing.

The United Airlines website does not tell you that the flight between DC and Boston is operated by US Air, nor does it indicate that in addition to the fare, there is a $25 charge for the first bag. They're not being up front about both of these is deceptive.

In December of 2010, I purchased two roundtrip tickets to Chicago/London, for June-July of 2011. I selected seats, including economy plus seats for the return flight. Upon arrival at Heathrow to return to Chicago, my seats had been changed from the ones I had selected and paid for seven months in advance. Instead of a window and aisle, we were now in the middle seats, one in front of the other. The explanation was that it was changed on May 7 (in other words no real reason at all). The woman at check-in told us to talk to the people at the gate.

Anyone who has been to Heathrow knows that the gate is not even announced or open, until an hour before departure. We raced to the gate upon announcement. We were told there was nothing that can be done because our original seats were already occupied. They couldn't even give us two seats together. Their suggestion was to board and ask someone to move. No service whatsoever. I applied for a refund for the economy plus, but was told that the seats we received were economy plus. I will never fly United Airlines again.

I was booked on United Airlines # 869, departing SFO on June 29, 2011 for Hong Kong. The flight did not depart as scheduled due to mechanical problems. It was discovered after all passengers were onboard, and ready for departure. The other passengers and I sat on United Airlines # 869 for over an hour before we were instructed to disembark. I was rebooked by the United Airlines premier executive counter staff for another flight; which would have required me to fly from SFO to Shanghai, spend one night in Shanghai before boarding another flight the next morning for Hong Kong.This would have resulted in my arrival for a crucial meeting in Hong Kong a day late, but at least would have brought me there. Much to my amazement, this rebooked flight was canceled. Subsequently, I had to endure an entire day stranded in SFO with the dilemma of either waiting to fly out on United Airlines # 869 the following day, or waiting until Cathay Pacific's ticket counter opened later in the evening, to see if I could secure a standby seat.

After many frustrating hours in a very surreal situation in SFO, I was able to board the Cathay Pacific flight for Hong Kong. It is a full 12 hours after boarding my original UA flight. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, as if being stuck at SFO for a day and missing some influential meetings wasn't enough, I found my baggage did not arrive, as I was told it would before boarding in SFO. Prior to my checking into the Cathay Pacific flight at SFO, the ticketing agent called down to baggage personnel who said, and I heard myself say, that he had my luggage and was getting it onboard. He even read off my bag number. Without my baggage, I was unable to neither change nor access any of my meeting materials. With an important meeting soon after my arrival since I arrived in Hong Kong much later than planned, I had neither time nor choice, but to go ahead and attend the meeting in the leisure clothes I had stepped off the plane in. This predicament left me in a very embarrassing situation. The attire was unacceptable, as was the flight experience I endured to get to Hong Kong.

My luggage did not arrive in Hong Kong until 8 PM of July 3, 2011. I arrived in Hong Kong 6 AM of July 1, 2011. I checked with United Airlines and Cathay Pacific repeatedly daily and no one seemed to know where my luggage was. I was then informed it has been sitting in SFO.

Here is the chronology of information given:

July 1, 2011 at approximately 5:00 PM PST: Told by United Airlines luggage at SFO. United Airlines asked to have bag transferred to Cathay Pacific flight ASAP, so it would arrive ASAP. United Airlines said they'd try.

July 1, 2011: I tried to access my baggage information online. Tag # ** was unable to access information.

July 1, 2011 at 9:00 PM PST: I called United Airlines again and was informed my bag was placed on UA #869 on July 1, 2011. UA #869 departed at 4:30 PM as per United Airlines agent, but I was told earlier at 5 PM the bag was still sitting in SFO.

July 2, 2011 at 2 AM PST: Cathay Pacific said the bag was still in SFO. This contradicts earlier information given.

July 2, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST: I called Cathay Pacific. I was informed data shows the bag was placed on UA #869 on 6/30/11, and would arrive HKG on 7/2/11 at 11:31 PM.

July 2, 2011: Cathay Pacific supervisor in HKG called. He admits he can't find out what happened to the bag or where it is. No idea if on plane or not.

July 3, 2011 at 5:00 Am PST: The luggage was finally delivered in Hong Kong while the fruits I packed inside rotted. The fruits I packed inside rotted/ smelled horribly and damaged some valuable medicines.

Due to this unacceptable travel nightmare, I had to delay my trip to Beijing until I was finally reunited with my luggage. I did not want to leave Hong Kong until I knew for certain I had my luggage. Moreover, without the meeting materials and information I had in my luggage, the substance of the talks I was to deliver would be greatly hindered, and diminished in significance. The delays cost me financially not just in my having to purchase clothing and items I was without for those days without my belongings, but in my missed opportunities to meet with very important international contacts.

Furthermore, I found the service given by United Airlines in SFO totally UNACCEPTABLE. As a Premier Executive member, with United and Gold Advantage membership with American Airlines, I would say I am a seasoned traveler. Being subjected to delays and cancellation, then again cancellation after being rebooked and having to wait 12 hours later to catch a standby flight, only to find my baggage was lost for few days was surreal. The frustrations, anger and embarrassment of being forced to proceed with meetings in improper attire should not have followed me on this very important trip. During the delays at SFO, passengers were not offered any form of compensation. No food vouchers, travel vouchers, hotel vouchers-- nothing at all. Only bottles of water were all that United Airlines could offer to their "valued" customers.

I demand that this travel horror I had to endure be looked into SERIOUSLY by United Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airlines. However, some reasonable compensation for the great inconveniences I experienced would help to put this past us.

Thank you

Eddie

My luggage did not arrive along with my flight ** yesterday when I arrived in Washington National on July 20, 2011. I filed a baggage claim around 9:30pm on July 20 and I asked them to have my luggage delivered in a nearby hotel as soon as it arrives. I had put the hotel front desk on notice to inform me as soon as the bag got to the hotel. I was told by United that I will be informed by 3am and that I would receive my bag at the hotel by 5am (July 21) at the latest. I needed my bag for critical business meetings starting at 7am. I did not get a call and I had to call United instead (first at 2AM then again at 5AM). I also did not receive my bags despite two additional calls after 5AM. After frantic repeated calls, I was told that the bags were delivered at my hotel front desk at 6am. After the agent hung up the phone, I called the hotel front desk and no bag was received. I'm back on the phone right now asking about my bags.

I am frustrated and deeply disappointed with the service, especially as a longtime United traveler and Executive Premier member, and urge United to take notice of such incidents and handle issues more responsively and promptly. It's 10:30am the following day and I'm still left hanging. I have no idea if I will go with my bags or have to go through this one more time.

On Tuesday July 19th, I had a flight schedule to leave from LMT (Klamath Falls, OR) at 6:09pm to SFO (San Francisco, CA) on United Flight 6269.

I come up to Klamath Falls once a month on this flight for business. This flight is a small plane which never has more than 10 passengers since I have been on it.

On Tuesday, I arrived at the airport at 5:30pm. I had no luggage to check in as I never brought one ever since. I was told by the United agent that I would not be allowed to board the flight because I did not arrive one hour before the departure schedule. I explained that ever since I have flown this flight, it has never been on time. I have waited at the airport up to 2-3 hours before. Besides, I had no luggage to check in and all the passengers were still waiting. I argued with the lady for 20 minutes and then she threatened to arrest me. I told her I needed to be on the flight because I have to give my wife injections for her medical condition by 10pm that same day. Since the passengers were boarding and I already cleared security, I could not think why they would not let me on. She refused to let me board. I watched all the passengers get on.

I requested to speak to TSA who said they had no authority over the matter. I once again pleaded, I said that my wife has a medical condition and that I needed to be back in SFO to give her the injections. They refused to listen. I even called my wife and they would not speak or listen to her. I watched the plane took off and no one at United was willing to help.

Finally after the flight left, the lady at the counter said that I could drive to Medford (1.5 hours away) and catch the flight around 9pm and be in SFO at 10:40pm. What was the point? On top of it, she made me pay extra. Why didn't they just let me on the flight I was supposed to be on?

I have had a bad experience with United once before and never complained. This just tops it! My wife had a medical condition and no one in your staff even had the courtesy to listen. This is the worst airline out there and I cannot stand the horrible and rude staff! It is not about the money, it was about principle. I still do not have any clear idea as to why I was not allowed on that flight. Were the attendants racists? That is what I feel. If I got there 40 mins prior, the flight was not full, had no luggage, and had passed security check point, why was I not allowed on the flight? Forget all that, my wife had a medical issue and I needed to back in SFO.

The next time that I will need to fly from SFO to Klamath Falls. I will do whatever I can to avoid flying United Airlines again. My wife's family owns a hotel construction and management business and they all fly frequently, both domestically and internationally. We will be sure to relay this experience with them as well as to everyone we know to ensure that no one else gets this type of treatment from a business that is supposed to be in service.

It was not even like anyone listened, that's the worst part. I am in the service business and I know how one unhappy and dissatisfied customer can hurt your business. I had more than a valid reason and will provide all medical notes and doctors notes if needed to prove that my wife has a medical condition.

If something happens to my wife because her medication was not given on time due to your staff not allowing me on the flight, I will get the best attorney out there and will sue United.

I flew a United flight from Pittsburgh to San Fransisco on July 10, 2011. I printed my boarding pass, I went through security, I scanned my ticket and I boarded the plane.

Upon arriving in San Fransisco my boss asked me if I could look into taking a later flight out of San Fransisco. I looked at my itinerary online and saw that my flight home on Wednesday had a status of "Cancellation Confirmed".

Having never canceled my return flight I called my travel agent to find out what was going on. I was then told that I "never boarded the plane to San Fransisco". I found that to be funny since I had just crossed the Golden Gate bridge and driven down Lombard Street. She was told to rebook me on a different flight home because they couldn't reopen the ticket. So, we did, for another $361.

Aside from this, really think about what this means. I traveled across the country on a full flight without detection. I made it through security, I boarded and plane and I landed but no one, not even the government, thinks that I did. God forbid I was in a plane crash or a tragic accident here. And what if this happened to a passenger that was on the no fly list? Or wasn't but was up to no good? How scary is it that this type of security breach is a reality...

The next day I was told that I would not receive credit for my flight towards my frequent flier miles. This flight would put me a mere 450 away from Premiere Exec status. I called United.

Customer Service rep #1 told me that "there was no way I was in San Fransisco" and, after I said it made me concerned for national security, said "It shouldn't". I said "I have my boarding pass in my hand. Here, you can hear it if I crinkle it. I sat in seat 10F. I bought a sandwich on the plane and have the credit card proof. Now if I wasn't on the plane, why would I buy Airline food?". She said she was sorry but I wasn't on the plane. After a bit more discussion she put me on hold and got my ticket reopened telling me I could get credit for the flight if I took the flight home as originally scheduled - and canceled. I said "No thank you. I'd like to travel with an airline that will record I was on the plane." Granted she was doing the best she could with the information she had, but I wanted to speak to a supervisor.

The supervisor did nothing for me more than the customer service rep. She looked up my US Air flight that I have returning home and confirmed I was confirmed (duh) and "Is there anything else I can do for you?" I asked if she understood the severity of this situation and she agreed she did. But, there is nothing she can do for me. I asked her who I can talk to to assure me that this isn't normal and perhaps help with retribution for my lost money, reminding her that I have been a loyal passenger since 2004 and had status for many years prior. She said to email the customer complaints department and that is all. I said that I would be reporting this incident to TSA, Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau to which she ok with.

I looked everywhere for a number to contact the complaints department but all that is listed is mail or email.

I'm still appalled that I was "lost" and that our airlines, in a time of heightened security, don't know who is on their plane. I would have hoped that at boarding my ticket wouldn't have scanned or something but it all went through just fine. They call it a "glitch in the system"...I agree, but its also a glitch in their commitment to national security and passenger safety.

I confirmed my seating Friday morning, but had no choice but to upgrade my seating for both legs for an additional cost. I parked at Long Term, took a tram, and arrived at the airport at 6:30 pm for my 8:14 pm flight. It was when I found out that I was bumped from my flight. The ticket person was professional and helpful, but I was rerouted for the next morning at 6:45 am through Denver. I went back to Long Term Parking and paid. I got up at 4:30 that morning and spent the next, almost 3 hours, in a straitjacket-seating. That was the most painful time I have ever had on a plane -- jammed next to an equally uncomfortable teenager. I lost the equivalent of a full day from my July 4th weekend. I will probably never fly with United again.

On May 4th, 2011, I purchased a total of 3 airline tickets, and requested that one be refunded (same day). By May 9th, all three tickets had cleared my bank account (they were debit purchases); and the refund was also posted. Then, on June 15th, 2011, -- without my knowledge or consent -- my personal checking account was charged $694.80 (the price of the ticket/ refund). I have been trying to get my money back from United Airlines since then. I submitted their 'refund request' e-mail, and was told to wait for 7-10 days. Their response was that I had already received a refund on May 9th (separate issue). I sent them another e-mail and faxed them my supporting documents on June 24th.

I have not heard back since. It is July 6th. I have made several phone attempts. I always get disconnected before I get to speak to a manager or supervisor. So, it goes nowhere. I have made several e-mails, and additional 'refund requests' just to see if somebody at United Airlines will fix this. There was not an authorization for this charge; however, my bank needs a police report to 'fix it on their end'. But, my local police station wishes to call this a 'civil' matter -- meaning, I cannot obtain a police report. So, I am forced to deal 'directly' with United Airlines. As I am trying to fix this matter for myself, I wonder why it's okay for a corporation to make a 'mistake' of this nature and ignore it, while the money earns them interest. If I did that to them, it would be theft. I would go to jail -- and they would recover their money.

This flight delay has caused problematic situations for my family. My parents' flight was from SAT to MRY on June 12, 2011 at 7:55 pm. The flight was delayed and late for almost 2 hours. By the time they arrived at their one stop in San Francisco, Monterey Airport have already closed. They had to drive 4 hours from San Francisco to Salinas, CA to complete what was supposed to be a good trip. United knew Monterey Airport is closed and should have come up with resolutions before they left San Antonio 2 hours late. I tried to stay calm and deal with the situation to the best of my ability, but the service I have received prevented me from having any respect for United as a company. When my parents were in San Francisco, the customer service offered no help and blamed them for being late to my flight. Is United Airline team composed of unintelligent people or they don't communicate with each other to realize San Antonio flight was delayed?

The representative rudely said you can go rent a car to drive home or rent a hotel home to get the early flight at 0800 on the 14th of June 2011. They asked will United compensate them by paying the hotel room and they said no because it is their fault for being late. Again, is their team accumulated by brainless high school drop-outs? I'm sorry for being so rude, but obviously I'm very upset. On 13 June 2011, I called customer service to start the refund process and the representative was, well, simply ignorant and rude. I called and he answered: "How may I help you today." I said, "Hi, I need to get a refund for my ticket." He said: "What is your confirmation number?" I replied: "I have two. But the first one is **." He said: "OK, I found your record on file. You need to start the process on your end."

I asked: "What does that mean?" He said, "You need to process the refund on your end, it's very simple." Wow. Is that how you train your personnel? Give incomplete instructions and try to make the customers feel stupid after a long night of dealing with United unprofessional service? I admit I got really mad (can you blame me?) and went off on the guy: "If it was simple, I wouldn't have to ask questions. So obviously it's not simple. What do I have to do to get my refund?" "You have to send an email with the flight information and get your refund." Why couldn't he just said this straight out from the beginning? I asked, "Where would I find this information? To whom would I send the email to?" He said, "To refunds@united.com." I said, "I want to talk to your manager." He ask, "May I ask the reason for getting a manager?" I said in ** attitude and I do apologize, but I was very upset at his attitude, "Because I want to." "Please give me a second to connect you," he said.

Dial tone, dial tone, hangs up. I know that one, two, three ignorant, disrespectful personnel cannot represent the whole company, but I've had a very bad experience. I did not get the proper help to get to my destination or any consolation for my loss and the cause to rent the car to go home. Furthermore, I did not receive the appropriate instructions for my refund when I called. And I'm not even going to start on the accent of the representative. I was born in a different country so I completely understand the language barrier, but man, that guy was hard to understand and the attitude did not help. I am very disappointed in United. I am an Active Navy. I am not currently deployed or in any harm way, but I still cherish every moment that I do have with my family that's miles away. I never know when my number will be called and my life might be sacrificed. All I ask is for United to stop wasting my valuable time and give me the respect I deserve.

This is about my flight from Chicago, ORD to Frankfurt, Germany on April 15, 2010. Arriving in Frankfurt FRA, Germany, in contrast to Lufthansa, who offered hotels, food and refunds to their passengers, United did not offer anything and was of no assistance to me at any time in this situation. I was without my baggage for five days and United did absolutely nothing in this situation in my case. I would like to be justly and properly compensated for my expenses. I have been given a lot of grief from United representatives and this is getting to the point that is very uncomfortable for me.

I live in Fargo, ND and United is the only airline I can use to fly to RZE, Poland. Until now, United was always very reasonable during any delays or other difficulties. I was promised by United representative refund of $511.60 on May 13, 2010 at 9:24:08pm, but this never was delivered. (United Airlines ref # **). I was also promised refund of all the costs related to alternative transportation to Rzeszow, Poland from Frankfurt, Germany. United ticket number **. On my part, I was always very kind and cooperative with United representatives. This time my experience is very negative and very uncaring from United Air. I kindly ask you to assist me in this situation. I would like to submit the complete documentation that I already sent to United Airlines in May 2010.

I redeemed my frequent flier miles on April 2nd, 2011 for a round trip flight originating in Chicago flying to Atlanta on 5/26/11 and returning on 5/31/11. I purchased an "upgrade" to economy plus seating for each leg of the journey for $29.00 each which totals $59.00 USD. I was charged on my credit card. On 5/19/11, I received an email confirming my flight and asking if I would like to upgrade to economy plus seating. I confirmed that my credit card has already been charged.

I contact United Airlines at 800-864-8331 and at first, it is confirmed that yes, I have economy plus seating. When I point out that I have received an email offering an upgrade to economy plus seating, which is clearly an error and it's a good thing that I remembered that I've already purchased and been charged for the upgrade, otherwise, it's possible I would pay twice for an upgrade, I'm told, "Oh wait, no you don't have economy plus seating because the flight numbers have changed. You will have to pay for the economy plus seating again and then send a letter (snail mail) to receive the refund."

Now, I'm very confused. Do I have economy plus seating or not? Why in the world would that change just because the flight number changed? Why in the world would I have to purchase the upgrade again? Why in the world would it be my responsibility to request a refund and by snail mail no less? I asked to speak to a supervisor and was put on hold for over 30 minutes (I'm so glad phones keep track of time spent on each call). I have to point out that their "on-hold music", which I've been listening to for over 30 minutes, is awful. It's Rhapsody in Blue in such poor quality that I wonder if they know what an electronic audio file is. It sounds like a cassette recording of an old vinyl record.

Finally, the same gentleman came back on the line and told me that he couldn't transfer me to a supervisor because they are so busy taking other passenger complaints, so he walked over to his supervisor personally. He informed me that I have been upgraded to economy plus seating on the flight, that there will be no additional charge, and I will not have to send a letter requesting a refund. I requested that he send me an email confirming that I do in fact have economy plus seating on the flight.

This entire experience has led me to wonder is this is just a bug in their software (don't get me started on how poor their entire website is) and that I should never have been offered an upgrade in the confirmation email in the first place.

I was on my way back home to Serbia,from Phoenix-Arizona. My flight from Phoenix to New York was late from 11AM till about 3 PM. In Phoenix, I was reconnected to another flight, but still because of delay, I was not able to get on time. In New York, I got other reconnection, but it was next day. So I had to spend a night and a day till 7.30 PM, when was the time of this next day flight. At desk of Continental Airlines with this reconnection, they gave me list of hotels where I can spend the night and following day, as I did. I was traveling as single woman and about my damage, I can write about my fear and unplanned expenses that I had in this case. I'm looking for best way to compensate my lost.

My husband and I booked flights on United Airlines to travel to Italy for our vacation. We did not want to check-in luggage for convenience and safety, so after booking this flight (over 6 months ago), we purchased two carry-on bags, following instructions on United Airline's contract of carriage. We packed those bags as carry-ons, including all valuables in those as those were supposed to remain in our possession.

On February 10, while boarding our flight at SFO, we are forced to check-in our carry-on bags at the gate (note that the carry-on dimensions were as per United's contract of carriage and not oversized or overweight). The gate staff claims it was a full flight so there is not enough space to take everyone's carry-on bags. We are given baggage claim tags up to Rome (breach of contract of carriage by United Airlines).

The United Airlines luggage handler immediately walks away with our carry-on bags without giving any opportunity to repack valuables. Flight is delayed for over 1 hour after boarding all passengers and we are stuck sitting on the plane at the terminal gate. The pilot announces that there are mechanical issues (gross inefficiency shown by United Airlines). While boarding the connecting flight at Washington Dulles, we are assured by the United staff at the gate that our forced gate checked carry-on bags will make it to this flight and will be in Rome when we land. We reach Rome on February 11 at 7.45 am but our forced gate checked carry-on bags do not reach Rome, the final destination (gross incompetence on part of United Airlines).

We immediately file delayed luggage report with the United Airlines Handling Agent at the Lost and Found Baggage desk at the Rome airport and by calling United Airlines. We leave for Venice that day as part of our pre-booked train trip and are assured by United Customer service that our forced gate checked carry-on bags, once found, will be sent to the hotel address in Venice. The United Airlines Handling Agent at the Lost and Found Baggage desk at Rome reiterates that it is solely the responsibility of United Airlines to deliver our bags to us and they (the agent) are not in any way responsible. They will only file the report but we are asked to follow up on the status by calling United Airlines at the 800 number (irresponsible agents used by United Airlines).

United Airlines claims on their website that they will deliver delayed luggage within 24 hours, but in our case, even after 24 hours, United Airlines could not give us a confirmation of where our luggage is and when we can get it. When we called their customer service for status, we are advised to have some patience as they will let us know when they can find out. We get a follow up call on the night of February 12, and are asked to travel to Venice Airport on the mainland (1.5 hours each way from Venice hotel) on February 13 after 9 am to pick up the forced gate checked carry-on bags. With the forced gate checked carry-on bags being our only luggage, we do not have any clothes or personal items for over 48 hours, and that too, after a 15 hour long flight.

Once we get our bags on February 13 from the Lost and Found desk at the Venice airport, we see that our TSA approved locks on both the forced gate checked carry-on bags are broken with one tampered lock hanging from my husband's bag. The lap is stolen from my husband's forced gate checked carry-on and jewelry is stolen from my forced gate checked carry-on. We immediately report this to the person at the Lost and Found desk in Venice but she refuses to assist us in any way, claiming that this is solely the responsibility of United Airlines and all reports should be filed with United by calling their 800 number. Venice airport Lost and Found have nothing to do with our luggage (refuses to even give a contact name and phone number at their agency). They are very irresponsible agents used by United Airlines

Thoroughly victimized, we go the police station at the Venice airport and file a report of the stolen items from United Airlines forced gate checked carry-on bags. We immediately call United customer service on February 13 to report this incident of stolen items from our forced gate checked carry-on bags. We are asked to follow up with a written claim which we have done and are waiting to hear back from United Airlines

Had United not forced us to check in our carry-ons and immediately let us walk away with those while we were boarding the flight, we would not have been a victim of theft during our travel to Rome from the USA. United Airlines has demonstrated vast incompetence, negligence, bad customer service, irresponsibility, and possibly breach of contract of carriage and criminal actions during our entire incident (forced gate checked carry-on, delayed flight, lost luggage, luggage delayed over 48 hours, items stolen from luggage). Our so longed for and costly vacation to Italy was significantly ruined, and with a stolen laptop, we completely lost all our sensitive data and are dangerously exposed to identity theft. Our vacation time was thereafter spent on trying to contact various financial institutions and credit bureaus to safeguard our identities.

United Air Lines, without informing me they were doing so, invalidated the 138,504 miles I had in my Mileage Plus account. I received no email, regular mail, phone call, or any other type of announcement that they were changing the rules of their frequent flyer program and taking away miles for account inactivity.

I had accumulated the miles in the 80's and 90's. I decided to allow the miles to sit in the account until I needed them for a big trip. Such a trip was coming up for my planned wedding anniversary. When I went to retrieve the miles, I was informed that my account was at 0 miles. I protested, but their customer service people told me that they "could not restore miles." I even offered to give up all the miles in exchange for two round-trip passes, but they declined.

When I asked why I wasn't informed of this change in policy, they told me it was on their website. Apparently, among my other jobs in life, I am required to follow their website.

This represents outright theft. In checking online, I have found many other people who have suffered the same fate and have an interest in a class action suit. Please lodge this complaint.

It has become clear, after checking for months, that United and Air Canada are now engaged in price fixing and collusion on their nonstop route from SFO to Vancouver. No matter what date, time, day of day, etc, the price for both airlines is exactly $500.75. And it has been for some time. This seems to have begun when Alaska dropped out of this nonstop route, requiring a stop in Seattle. There is no way around it and the prices are way higher than they used to be. To make matters worse, United and Air Canada are code share partners and Star Alliance members. Can anything be done? Thanks!

I am writing you on behalf of my sister, Christina ***, who was on the United Airlines flights Sat. December 18th from Vienna to Los Angeles via London Heathrow, ticket number: xxxx. Unfortunately, she is not able to write this letter herself as she is stranded at the London Heathrow airport. She arrived at the Heathrow Airport with the Austrian flight 451 and was boarded onto her connected United flight to Los Angeles (United 935) which was supposed to leave at 10:30am.

After six hours of delay due to "engine troubles," they were ready to take off. Unfortunately, by that time, a storm pulled in and the Heathrow airport, closed its services and grounded all the flights! Now, I realized that these things happen. What I don't understand is that my sister had to and still has to sleep at the airport because United has no customer service. She was not helped by anyone and the passengers were told to "go online and find their own flights."

There were no United Agents available to assist. In fact, as I just recently found out today, they left at 4pm and let Lufthansa and Virgin agents to sort out the mess. Passengers were given no option to sleep at a hotel, no options to re-book flights and no money to buy food and other necessary supplies! Now, I don't know about you, but this is absolutely unacceptable!

We pay around $1000 for a flight, if not more, and get treated as such? It is also well known that London Heathrow as well as Charles de Gaulle airports are the worst European Airports to fly in and out of but that does not excuse their inability to deal with situations as such. I just got off the phone with my sister yet again (and mind you she is calling from her Austrian cell phone to the United States. Imagine the costs of that.) and there are absolutely no flight options with United until the 23rd of December (and mind you the weather report is predicting another storm on that day). Passenger relatives are booking flights for their stranded family members and are paying for another ticket! Now, I would like to know what it is that you expect your customers to do in a situation as such? Thank you very much for your response and further assistance.

I was to board Flight UA-6382 at SFO on 12/13/2010. Flight time is 6:58 AM. When I reached at the gate at 6:50 AM, gate was closed, and I was told by the attendant that gate closed at 6:48 AM as per United's policy. I pleaded with them to let me board as I arrived at the gate in time as per my boarding pass, but attendant kept telling me that you should have been at the gate before 6:48 AM. If that's the policy why don't they specify it on the boarding pass.

How on earth will I know about that I have to be at the gate 10 minutes before flight time otherwise gate will close? And a guy sitting at customer service counter told me that 6:58 AM flight time is the time plane is supposed to take off from runway, not the time for place to leave the gate. Upon my request, the customer service at UA counter put me in waiting line for next flight which was scheduled at 10:58 AM.

I was in waiting number 4, and I requested Ms. Alandria T Webster, customer service supervisor, to prioritize me in waiting list if possible. She categorically said "no". I asked her to write that on a paper which she obliged. My credit card was charged $50 to put me in the waiting of next flight. But the seat could not be confirmed in next flight as that was completely booked and all passengers showed up. So only option was to fly next day. So I made the booking for next day, and I was told that there would not be an extra charge, and that $50 charged on my card wouldn't take effect as my seat wasn't confirmed. But that charge has shown up on my credit card bill.

My spouse suffered a lung collapse and was barred from travel during the time for which we were originally set to fly. I called United and changed the tickets for a future date, and was told that the $450 in change fees would be refunded to us with an application from us for a refund, which included dates of travel, confirmation numbers, and a letter from the pulmonologist. I submitted everything required immediately, and never heard a response. I then called United and was not referred to refunds, but was told that I could not submit my request for refund until we had completed our rescheduled travel.

So I waited three months, and then resubmitted everything again with an original letter from the physician. Still, nothing. I called again, three months after that, and was still told that there is no phone contact with anyone from the refunds department. The operator suggested that I fax my request, instead, which I did. He told me I would receive a response within 5 to 7 days. It is now 10 days after my third submission for a refund of the change fees, and I have yet to hear one thing from United.

I have been a United Airlines Mileage Plus member since the 70's. I hope you can help with a problem with my account. I have already filed an on-line complaint with United (to which they have responded, they will not reinstate my miles without my spending $100 to purchase miles) and have written to Glenn F. Tilton, President and CEO, UAL Corporation, ** Chicago, IL 60601, who has not responded at all. As of July 2010, I had about 49,000 miles. I was looking forward to using these for an overseas trip within the next year. I got notification that the miles were expiring in September 2010, and I needed to have some activity in my account.

A few years ago, I had accepted an offer of a United Airlines Mileage Plus Chase Credit card. It was free for a certain period. When the time came to assess a yearly fee, I was told I could change to a different type of account with fewer perks, but still linked to my Mileage Plus account. So, when I needed activity in my account in September, I considered donating miles, but I checked with Mileage Plus, and was told that using my credit card for a purchase would count as activity. So I used it and figured I'd done what I needed to keep my miles. In November, I found all my miles had disappeared. After half a dozen phone calls to Chase and Mileage Plus, and about 2 hours on the telephone, I learned that this credit card is not linked to my Mileage Plus account, and that all 49,000 miles have been lost.

Yet, on the same day, some Mileage Plus agents I spoke with, told me the Chase card was linked to my Mileage Plus account, and that using it should have counted as activity to keep my miles. I don't know whose mistakes or misunderstanding this is. I know I did what I was told. I needed to do to keep my miles from expiring. I know it is not my fault, if I was given wrong information. I should not be penalized because someone else made a mistake. United Airlines should have to stand behind the information given by their agents.I am requesting that my miles be reinstated for a limited time, perhaps as little as two or three months. During that time, I will be sure to have activity on my account. I have lost nearly 50,000 miles, the equivalent of 2 RT continental flights, or an international flight, probably $600-$1000.

United Airlines never loaded my bags which included two guns and ammunition. TSA cleared the guns and suitcase containing the ammo, and never loaded them on the plane for a hunting trip that was nearly ruined. When I finally got my bags, they were tampered with and the lock broken. Replacement locks were not supplied with a key. United claims my bags were "confiscated". United has not responded to my e-mails nor phone calls. I have a case number but no one at United Airlines has shown any desire to help me with my complaint.

After no response to voice mails from my travel agent or myself, I wrote them concerning my partial refund. My wife and I were bumped from our first class seats to economy plus on Flight UA186 on July 23rd. We paid for first class seats and they were confirmed (confirmation # xxx). I included copies of our original boarding pass and the boarding pass issued at the gate when we were bumped. My written request was received in their office on November 22 but I have not received any response. I am asking for the $754 difference in fares between first class and economy class seats from San Fransisco to Philadelphia on UA186.

I will never fly United Airlines again! Not ever! November 30, 2010. Palm Springs to Green Bay, WI. I changed planes twice. First in Las Vegas and then at O'Hare in Chicago. The 30-minute flight from Chicago to Green Bay was canceled a half hour after the original 9:20 p.m. departure time. I didn't know why the flight was canceled, but I heard other passengers say they thought it was due to the weather. I don't know where the weather was bad because there was light snow in Chicago; and a flight to Appleton, WI (30 miles from Green Bay) flew out a little after 10:00 p.m. All the passengers on my flight were told to go to customer service where we stood in line for over an hour and were then issued tickets to the next flight out at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. We were also given a "discount coupon" for lodging.

I chose to stay at the airport for the night (as did about a dozen other passengers) as I didn't have money for a hotel. I learned from another passenger the next day that her hotel cost her $80 (the discount rate). There were mothers with toddlers and infants; there were senior citizens who were confused and scared about what they should do and where their luggage was. I witnessed the "so-called" customer service people either ignore them or tell them there was nothing they could do. It was unbelievable to me, the lack of concern that was shown to all the passengers who were left stranded and on their own—literally. Shame on United Airlines!

We were waiting for the second leg of our flight, going from Chicago to Green Bay. A barely audible announcement told us that the flight had been cancelled, no explanation given. After standing in line for well over an hour, we were told that the cancellation was for bad weather (despite sunny skies outside and in Green Bay), and that they could not pay for a hotel room, and could not even promise us a flight out the next day. I was forced to pay almost $300 for a rental car, drive unknown roads for 3 hours at night, and despite a complaint to the FAA and United, never received compensation for the missed flight, nor for the rental car. United only bragged about their on time record. My trip was ruined, and I was out almost $300, and United obviously didn't care. The government was of no help.

On Oct. 31 2010, I flew on UA 651 from Newark to Chicago O'Hare. I left an expensive pair of glasses on board the flight. As a fellow passenger was deplaning, he picked them up, saw my name and address and phone number on them, and phoned me to leave a message that he had them and would mail them to me. But a UA staff member demanded he turn them over. He then phoned me to let me know he'd turned them over, unfortunately, without the name of the flight attendant who'd taken them.

Despite contacting UA by phone and email through the appropriate channels, I never got my glasses back and never got an explanation or apology, except a form email saying they weren't responsible. I subsequently lodged a complain with untied.com. Moral of story: If you're a kind person who finds items left behind on a flight that have ID on them, don't hand them over to UA, or if you do, forward the UA staff person's name to the person who lost the item.

Here is why I will never fly with United Airlines again, even if it were the only airlines out of Alaska! I would mush a dog team to Seattle first!

We were on our way home to Kenai, AK from Lihue, HI. We arrived at the airport almost an hour and a half ahead of time. The flight to San Francisco just said "delayed". When we asked, no one at United could say for how long or why the flight was delayed. We were not too concerned, as it was a through flight to Seattle and we were assured we would get to Seattle on time. Two hours later, the plane arrived. No explanation was given as to why it was late.

After we had boarded and the door closed, they announced that the flight number had changed and it was now Flight 41, going on to Chicago and not Seattle! We were going to miss our connection in Seattle to Alaska Airlines, by arriving two hours late in SFO! When we arrived in SFO, we were told to just "go to customer service." I am a heart patient and have a spinal injury as well. I had asked for a wheelchair. I was told it was "too late" to get a wheelchair and I would just have to walk. My husband said that I could not walk that distance, but they were unconcerned, shut down, and walked off. I limped to customer service in agonizing pain and out of breath.

We were given a hotel voucher and meal ticket for airport use. However, nothing was open at 1 AM! We made it to the shuttle bus area and waited half an hour for a shuttle. Once at the hotel, we were told there was a $40 charge for "incidentals" that the airline did not cover. I asked how many "incidentals" could I use in 3 hours?

Three hours later, we had to be back to check in for our flight. We arrived at the ticket counter and were told that they couldn't check us in because we were "reissues" and the computer wouldn't "let them" check us in yet. I started to wheeze and the ticket agent told me to "go stand over in the corner", as I was scaring the other passengers! Also, the carry-on that we had carried all the way from Anchorage to Lihue, and back to SFO, suddenly "grew" too big to fit in the overhead. The agent rudely told my husband that he had to pay $25 or the bag would be confiscated and disposed of! My husband said that Lihue had no problem with it, as did USAirways and that United had caused this problem in the first place.

No good, we had to pay for the now "oversized" bag. I explained that my medication was in that bag and I needed the bag to be with me. Plus, I saw much larger bags with other passengers. I know he only did it to be arbitrary, because he did not know how to reissue our tickets. We asked for a supervisor, but were told "none were available." Again, we asked for a wheelchair. They were "being used" by other passengers. Again, I was forced to walk almost half a mile to the gate, and almost passed out twice.When we finally got to Seattle, we discovered United had never even contacted them about the missed connection! Thank heavens, Alaska Airlines is a lot more considerate, as they re-booked us on an earlier flight and contacted ERA Aviation about our flight to Kenai, AK.

I am not a stupid flier. I worked for USAirways and I know the rules very well. I would have been fired for this! I am glad the merger between USAirways and United never happened! Too bad Continental had to suck up this lemon airlines.

In May 2010, I bought two round-trip tickets from an agent of United Airlines in Beijing. Both flights should be non-stop directly from Beijing to Washington, D.C. (on July 6th, 2010), and back from Washington D.C without stop to Beijing (on January 3rd, 2011). However, on September 20th, 2010, I checked the flight status and noticed that United Airlines changed the return flight from non-stop to connecting flights, all passengers need to change airplanes in Japan. Both tickets are bought for my old parents, who do not know English or Japanese. I do not want them to suffer more hours during the back trip, or get lost in Japan, so I called United Airlines using their customer service number.

The representative I talked to on September 22nd is a female. She asked the reason why I want to cancel my return flights. I explained to her because United Airlines change the schedule of the flight. She then called the refund department of United States (based on what she said), put me on hold for a while, then she told me that: since I am living in United States now, even though when I bought the round-trip tickets, I used Chinese currency, they will refund me in US dollars. She asked me whether that is okay to refund me in US dollars.

I said: it's okay. I also asked her how much refund I can get, she put me on hold again, and talked to someone for a while, and told me $1444 will be mailed to me to my US address by check. She asked me to offer her my full name, my home address in United States, and she promised me the check should be sent to me within 20 business days.

At end of the conversation, I double confirmed with the representative, she double confirmed with me that: due to United Airlines changed the schedule of the flight, half of the tickets price $US1444 will be sent to my address in Virginia within 20 business days. After the conversation, I believe my return flights have been cancelled, so I then booked two non-stop return tickets for my parents from other airline company. I waited until October 19th, which is already 20 business days. And I did not get the refund check from United Airlines. Then I called the same telephone number, again, to check the refund status. On October 19th, based on their Internet guidance, I called 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) and select "refunds" from the "more options" menu.

Since October 19th, I talked to more than 10 representatives in reservation department of United Airlines through this phone number. Some told me I should go to the website of united.com and request refund online, some told me my tickets are non-refundable so I cannot get refund, some told me to contact the agent where I bought tickets from back in China, some told me the refund will be sent to me from China in Chinese currency soon, all kinds of answers are different from one and another. I felt so frustrated and do not know what is the true answer at all, since even from the same department under the same supervision, they are telling different stories. But none of them tell me when I can get my money back and how much my refund will be. Beside, their attitude is rude, some representative even transferred me to talk with machine without my permission, some hang up my phone.

Below are some examples of how they answer questions: (1) Is there any record of the first conversation I made with the representative on September 22nd? Their answer is simply no. (2) How can the first representative tell me the refunds will be $1444 and will be sent to me in my US address within 20 business days. Their answer is, "I don't know, but she should not say that." (3) Now I need the refund to pay for the new tickets I bought from days as what she promised me? Their answer is "that's not our problem." (4) How long can I get the refunds if by contacting the agent back in China? Their answer is "I do not know." (5) How much refund I can get?

Their answer is, "I do not know, maybe half of the tickets price." Finally, the supervisor told me, I do have to initiate another refund request through United.com, and requested refund again. When I asked her, "Does that mean all I did before for the refund is nothing," she said, "Yes, I am sorry." I asked her, "So on September 22nd, I talked to nobody?" She said, "Yes." Whether they will give me refund or not, I do not know, but she told me that even the refund is issued from United Airlines, it will be sent back to the agent in China where I bought the tickets at the beginning. This procedure is way different from what I was told on September 22nd. And how can I accept that $1444 is not a big amount of money, but the worst part is their attitude. I really cannot understand how United Airlines can treat customers in this way, and can still continue their business. If any lawyer is willing to help me, I want to start the procedure to sue United Airlines entire reservation department for their poor service and knowledge, I can also pay lawyer fees as long as it is affordable.

I flew first class in flight 7642 from Dulles to San Antonio. I would like to know which "airhead" approved of the snack, which was close to 1,000 calories. There was enough carbs to cause heart failure. It was revolting, disgusting, and uncalled for to serve a Halloween grab bag as a meal on a 3 and 1/2 hour flight. You should be ashamed and your polite attendants know it. What an insult and in such bad taste. I will try hard not to fly United.

Today, October 9, the flight UA 843 from Chicago to Sao Paulo was cancelled due to mechanical issues with the aircraft. United sent me to Ramada hotel, not really close to the airport. It took me more than 1 hour to get the shuttle because the first one that got there got full and the round trip was of about 45 minutes. Tomorrow, I'll have to be at the airport at 05:30, but the hotel shuttle for 5:00 am and 4:00 am are full. The only option is to get the 3:00 am or a cab. I'm taking the cab and I think United must pay for this. I'm also losing connection flights in Brazil.

I am a passenger of United Airlines with its Mileage Plus member # **. I am filing a complaint here. The complaint is: Around August 1, 2010, I bought a ticket (Z class) about $3000 at the United website, as usually I do, of a round trip from Los Angeles to Hong Kong with outbound on August 3, 2010. When I called UA late September to use the second half of the ticket in October (or November if sold out October) after the local National Day holidays(October 1-5), UA representatives told me that this second half ticket would expire on October 2, two months after the first half was used, not as usually six or twelve months expiration. And, this returning ticket has no value now or no residual value.

However, I was not informed, or alerted, about this completely new two month expiration when I purchased the ticket. We are repeatedly told that tickets would expire in twelve months, in some cases six months. Actually, I flew UA again to China's another city Beijing on August 24 and back to LA on September 4. Had I been informed of this unusual expiration, I could have simply used the ticket. UA fails to inform me about this change. It's like if UA flight is 9AM, customers assume it means local time. But if UA means its London time, customers should be informed of change, or change of assumption. There are simply a lot of assumptions in business between UA and its customers, such as six to twelve month ticket expiration in this case.

A customer deserves a notice or alert to a change of basic assumptions. A customer deserves fair treatment from the United. I spoke four times with 1K desk and customer services last several days. I was told that it's my fault of not reading the details of rules. In this case, United Airlines is not fair and responsible. Thanks for your attention.

I am willing to get on a three way telephone call with an supervisor at United and together we will call one of their many numbers and try to get the proper information regarding flights and the Mileage Plus program. Then together we can spend about 4 to 6 hours on the telephone without getting any answers, placed on hold and forgotten about, disconnected, rudeness, and of course their famous statement of all is to say "you need to call another telephone number to get answers to your question". I bet my challenge to United Airlines will not be accepted!

When I tried to purchase a round trip ticket from SFO to HKG, the Singapore Airlines(SQ) offered US$1650 round trip for the class B fare. According to the United's web site, Mileage Plus member can use the miles to request for the upgrade. However, the agent from SQ told me that their flights departure from SFO is not upgradable, only for the flights from LAX or JFK.

In the mean time, the same route and the class B fare on the UA's flights cost over US$5,000.

First, I think the UA's web site is misleading to their customers. Second, I think the Star Alliance Airlines use their dominate power in SFO to jack up their fares and the Mileage Plus members will not be able to use their miles as they advertised.

We booked first class flight to Las Vegas. We decided to extend our stay and when we went to change our departure date, United assessed us a $300 service charge. I've never heard of such a ridiculously high fee. When I called about it, they had every reason in the book for charging us the fee, but they were very sorry about it! We expected better service after spending a significant chunk of change on first class tickets, but I was informed this is how they treat their highly valued customers. I refused to pay the money, so we returned on the original date planned. One thing I am absolutely sure about, we will never fly United again.

United is awfully good at letting their Mileage Plus members know about airline "improvements" but less so in other ways. Know that standing by for a flight is now a $50 privilege. Somehow, never saw that new feature coming and got the news today at LAX. I fly United 2-3 times a month and standing by helps keep work-life balance. Unless you're a 1K, the fee applies. At only 80K a year, guess my business isn't that important.

On July 1, 2010, I made reservations through Orbitz for my wife and myself leaving Dulles Washington Airport (9/20/2010) to Seattle Airport (United Air Flight 201). I received back from United confirmation of the flight and confirmation of the seats 20a and 20b. I also received the return trip and seat confirmation. I received from both United and Orbitz several emails from July 1 through 31. August trip validation emails stating my seats 20a and 20b were confirmed. On the evening of August 31, after I received email from Orbitz of confirmation, the email from United did not have seat reservations but Orbitz did. I called United Airlines customer service and talked to Seth, who informed me my seats were cancelled by Orbitz and I should call Orbitz. In the meantime, he told me the only seats available were 20b and 19b.

I asked Irene to connect me via a conference call to United customer service. Connection was established and it was Irene and so hail from United. Sohail advised Irene my seats were cancelled by Orbitz. Irene went into her Orbitz online computer and validated no records were sent to United cancelling the seats. United insisted Orbitz cancelled seats and reassigned us seats 19b and 20b. At this point, I asked for both Orbitz and United to please escalate this to supervisors. Several minutes later, United supervisor Nikki and Orbitz supervisor Daniel talked to each other. Orbitz plainly proved nobody from their company made any changes as he asked United's Nikki to prove the ID agent information. United provided the agent ID as the ID change number with no ID of the agent making the change.

After two hours of both being on the telephone, I got no satisfaction from United or Orbitz. However, very mysteriously my wife and I now had reservation in seats 19b and 20b that were made this evening and the United supervisor Nikki insisted that I made them online. Eventually he admitted I did not make them and they were done internally by a United agent. He outright lied to me and Orbitz. I was told that Nikki could not do anything for me. I asked to be upgraded to first class since it was clearly United; he cancelled my seats and he told me this could not be done, that I must go to the airport and talk to the United gate agent.

I spent hours trying to reason with both to no avail. I am a frequent flyer of United and used Orbitz in the past with no problems. This is the poorest customer service I have ever witnessed. I purchased a service on July 1st. Service was confirmed only to be told by the airline the service was changed. But they could not tell me who changed it as Orbitz who proved the change was not done by them because the Orbitz agent number did not match, that it was done by United; United said it was not done by them but by Orbitz, but they could not provide Orbitz the agent ID number who made the change. Who is the loser? My wife and I who are going on vacation to see my grandchild we have not seen for 5 years. My wife and I have to set apart because United bumped us and will not owe up to it. So I paid for a service I did not receive.

Not being able to sit next to my wife after our seats were confirmed by Orbitz and United. I have the paper work. United bumped us and will not owe up to it. I feel they should upgrade us to first class for all the trouble and heartache they put us through on not delivering what I paid for.

I have witnessed the most appalling customer service situation ever. I was scheduled to travel from the flight from Denver to San Jose at 9:34 on First Class. As I approached the gate, I was accosted by the representative with an offer to fly on the previous flight for $50 extra. I agreed and he told me it was not going to be first class but economy. I said it was okay. When I went in, my hand baggage was snatched from me and I was put in a Seat **, middle. I asked the representative if I could be moved to the emergency row middle seat instead.

I have never seen anyone answer me as impolitely as he did. When I asked him why he would not give me a seat that was empty given that I was downgraded, he asked me to leave if I wanted to in the most impolite tone I have ever heard "You got **. You can leave if you don't like it," was what I was told, which I did. I found when I got out that my bags have however left. I now have been charged $50, have lost my bags, and I am at Denver Airport. I am going to blog and post this experience in every site that I can. I will make sure that over the next 2 hours that I am stuck here, this post will feature in a dozen forums. I am a Star Alliance Gold member with 500,000 Lufthansa Miles. This is about the worst I have been treated anywhere. My bags with about $5000 of electronics has left on the flight. I have no idea how it is going to get picked up. I have been charged $50 which the guy at the gate says he cannot refund.

On July 29 we were heading back from our honeymoon from Hawaii. When we arrived in Chicago, we were going to our next flight and they closed the doors in our face. The flight could not wait 5 minutes for us to get there. We were put on stand by and booked on another flight, which we got on. By the time we got home to Vermont, we had been up for 37 hours. I have been corresponding with United about this and have gotten no where. We are asking for a refund of 1/2 the total cost of our flight back, which would be $1500.00. They are denying us that. None of this was our fault, and we would expect some results and expect them to honor our request for the refund. This has gone on long enough. I will go as far as I can to get results. If United wants to keep good customer relations, they need to honor our request. Thank you.

Flight delayed. Not giving us any information. Going on 3 hours. August 25, 2010 (flight 7509). Denver to Louisville (departure time 10:11). My ride can't pick me up. I need to get cab. Will miss bridal dinner I am hosting.

We arrived at the terminal at 6:30 a.m. for a 8:15 a.m. flight. What we encountered was sheer chaos. Guessing, I would say there were approximately 200 people waiting to check in and check bags. There was one woman posted at the line entrance near the counter. Her duty was to direct people to another line across the lobby. This is where the we stood with about 100 other people. Shortly after that, another gentleman came out to give us excuses why the line wasn't moving (layoffs etc. unacceptable). By now people are cutting lines, because it is completely out of control. The 8:15 am flight to Chicago left on time leaving about 35 people stranded in the check in line. Not once did any United air employees do anything to help move the lines or provide any options.

We reached the ticket counter at 9:00 a.m. obviously having missed the 8:15 flight. All employees completely indifferent to anyone's situation. Then fortunately for us, a lovely woman named Belinda Lee started her shift at 9:00a.m. and was kind enough to try to help us get on another flight. To no avail, she refunded our money, gave us 3 vouchers and we headed home. The whole vacation canceled. I will never fly United Airlines again!

Upon checking baggage into United Airlines and paying for two pieces of luggage, $60, the attendant behind the counter told me that the luggage was overweight. He then blinked at me and told me he "would take care of it." After the leaving the counter, the attendant trailed me and told me, "That piece of overweight bag would have cost you an additional $100 easily." He was seeking a tip clearly. If I had been more alert I would have taken his name and reported him to United. I told this story to someone and they had been subject to the same type of extortion attempt. I wonder how pervasive this is in the US airports.

There were a group of ten of us and we showed up at the airport 2 hours before our flight 5:30am. We got to the self serve and the individual "helping" did not give us any information that we were standing in the wrong line nor any help what-so-ever. So, two attempts made on the computer and picking up the receiver, we were finally told to go to a queue line area number 6. By this time we were running very short on time. The line was huge and we asked the representative helping in that area what to do because our flight was at 7:30 and it was now about 6 am, she told us to just stand in line (this was her answer to many people that had concerns).

We stood in this line for close to an hour and almost at 7 am, we get to Mr. Paul ** who informs us we are too late. He repeats this to us a couple of times. We asked what he could do and he stated that we needed to go to Malaysia airlines (who had booked this flight for us because they were late getting in and thus we missed our connecting flight the previous day). I asked him if he could arrange this with his computer system and he said, "No, you have to go to Malaysia." We witnessed another acquaintance being helped by a United representative that was on the same Malaysia flight and we brought this to Mr. ** attention and he blatantly called the next customer to his window. I asked to speak to his manager and he continued to call the next customer.

After I repeated myself a couple of times, he finally got on the phone to "call his manager" who I never got to talk with because thankfully another representative that my cousin went to, arranged the whole connecting flights. I was appalled at the service that Mr. ** provided. His uncaring and horrible manner was an embarrassment to United Airlines and the US as many of the people needing help were from different countries. In fact my niece had to help a lady that was queued in the line to check in because no one from United would help her or her husband after they repeatedly asked what they needed to do.

I found this really stressful, unduly, all do to the fact that Mr. ** refused to do what he was supposed to do and that is to provide caring and good customer service to everyone. I would like to know that he was sent to a class on how to problem solve and provide better customer care because it was awful and really a horrible way to come back into the US after traveling abroad and receiving incredible customer service from all ports we flew in and out of in Taiwan and Singapore. As a US citizen, I was so embarrassed we have such poor quality of service. I hope that United Airlines does a revamping of the customer experience because it was as I've stated shameful and absolutely horrible.

This was my 3rd trip to China in 2 1/2 years. I had always flown with Asiana on the long legs to and from China. My most recent trip cost search had United Airlines with the lowest price. Leaving San Fransisco, we were delayed 2 hours with mechanical problems. I had a 2 hour difference when landing in Beijing to catch a Bullet Train to Qingdao. Next available train was 12 hours the next morning. United is not responsible for connections missed unless they are with their airline. Strike Number 1!

The first meal served was a joke. Actually it was an insult. Chicken and Rice dinner, that weighed all of 3 ounces. With a piece of knarlly chicken the size of a half dollar. A salad with six small pieces of lettuce. No tomato, no carrot, no radish. And a Brownie. Wuuu Huuu! I told the personnel that the food was an insult to every passenger on board. I refused to eat a bite of it. Four hours later we received our next meal of noodles, their service was great bringing the hot water to add to the noodles. And the last meal. Oh Boy! A hot Turkey sandwich with cheese wrapped in aluminum foil. When trying to unwrap the aluminum was imbedded throughout the bottom of the overly crisp bottom of the sandwich. Which on first try I missed some of the imbedded aluminum foil, and bit down on it. What a memorable dining experience.The kicker is, they offer for $9.00 a supposedly gourmet meal at any time.

Oh I forgot. Their 2 hour invasion of customers for catalog sales. Which they parked their little roll cart with products right in front of me. They kept one employee perched at the cart blocking my view of TV available for me to watch. As other employees would continually come into the command post.

United Airlines is a joke! Wait! They offered me something free if I go to their web site because of my inconvenience. To the Hierarchy of United, you know where you can put my freebie from you. You can only mess with and treat people the way you do for so long. You will eventually put yourself out of business from your own greed. You aren't as smart or business savvy as you think.

I was scheduled to board a United Airlines flight from LAX to JFK with an international connection from JFK on 8/1/2010. An employee directed me to go to counter 6 at 7am, which had an assisted check in. Upon several requests, they declined to let me use the kiosks. 2 hrs later an employee was able to assist, by that time it was too late, missed the flight. I had to rebook my entire trip for next day (8/2/2010) costing me $1500 plus travel expenses, a day of work, have to rebook my daughter's trip (she was scheduled to come back with me) and heart ache. There were at least 4 other victims I knew of, 1 family consisted of 4 people, that's 7*2000 = 14,000 add'l expenses for all of us. I am not sure if this might be going on with United Airlines for a while. There were atleast 25 people total on the waiting list. I am not sure if they knowingly overbooked and gave the finger to the rest of us or are suggesting that a third of the flight missed their flight (seriously, this is very irrational).

Upon reaching the counter United Airlines employee mentioned that we could have used the kiosks. If we used the kiosks, we could have saved a lot of heartache and money. To my knowledge there were atleast 7 of us that suffered and potentially 25, for just 1 flight. How many more are there? I had to rebook my entire journey, costing me $1500. I have to now change my daughter's itinerary who is supposed to return with me, I am sure it's going to cost somewhere between $600 - $1000. I have encountered travel expenses to and fro from the airport. I was scheduled to work remotely, so I am losing a day's worth of work. I have seen several people being affected by extreme indifference of the employees of United. It is not just me that has these additional expenses. There were at least 6 other people I knew of, and there were 25 all together who might have been affected in just one flight to JFK.

My son, 16 years old, was booked for travel on United Airlines between Medford, OR (MFR) and Kansas City (MCI) for travel on 8/4/10. The round trip ticket cost $538.78. Due to an unforeseen event, he needed to return a day early, 8/3/10. I called United and the representative informed me that to change a $538 round trip ticket on one leg for one day would cost an additional $1,279.02. When asked what the cost to purchase a ticket on the same flights, I was told it was $523.40.

At that time fares on the same flights were available online for $374. The "customer service" representative was not a native English speaker and did not appear to understand the insanity of charging 2 1/2 times the cost of a ticket to change an existing ticket on the same flights. Instead of a reasonable change fee, I was forced to purchase another ticket and my son's existing return ticket will be worthless especially given the exorbitant change fee to use it at a later date. I won't be flying United again.

My wife bought my ticket online using our checking account credit/debit card. When I got to the airport, I discovered that although they both use the same account, our cards have different numbers. Because of this, I was told by agent #** that I could not use this ticket. She was rude and told that if I wanted to fly, then I had to repurchase my ticket because it is an FAA requirement to show the credit card. This is not true, it is a United policy. I was assured the credit card used to purchase the ticket would be refunded within 24 hours. I had no choice so I "voluntarily" bought another ticket. The process took almost 2 hours to purchase the other ticket and I nearly missed my flight!

Although I was assured that the refund would be automatic, it was not. On 7/17/2010, I called the automated system and "no record of refund" associated with either ticket. I completed an online process to request refund from either ticket. On 7/20/2010, I called customer service. I spent 38 minutes and was assured by Bawan that refund had been issued and would show up that evening. To date, it has not shown up. On 7/22/2010, I called automated system and "no record of refund" associated with either ticket. On 7/22/2010, I sent emails to refund desk and customer service. On 7/27/2010, I called automated system and "no record of refund" associated with either ticket.

On 7/27/2010, I called customer service and spent 53 minutes. I spoke with Dev and was told there was no record of the original ticket or refund. Then I spoke with Nicky **, supervisor, I was told that the refund was being "processed" and would be taken care of. Just be patient. I was told there was no department or person I could speak to, just send another email. To date, I have spent 9 hours trying to wade through United Airline's bureaucracy, disorganization and track down this refund.

I was originally booked on flight ** to Burlington Vermont on July 15th 2010. The plane arrived late and boarded later. Once on the plane, I was informed that the entire plane was to be deboarded as our flight to Burlington was cancelled. When I tried to rebook my flight, I was informed that I would not be able to arrive in Burlington before 10:41 PM on July 16th. My job interview was scheduled at 7 AM on July 16th, therefore, arriving close to 11 PM was unacceptable. I was not offered assistance with hotel accommodations and I was still charged for my hotel in Burlington since I was unable to cancel my reservation with the required 24 hours notice, and I still had to pay for an additional hotel in Chicago where I was stranded by United airlines.

On July 16th, I was headed back to St. Louis on flight ** but my flight was once again delayed by over two hours, creating additional cost. Then, when I finally arrived in St. Louis, I was held hostage on the runway. The entire experience was appalling. I am unemployed and I missed my job interview and therefore was unable to interview. So, I have lost health care, retirement, income, vision, and dental.

My 82 year old mother was left in a group of chairs with several other elderly customers (one 95) for an hour waiting for a wheelchair to deliver her/them to the baggage claim area on July 6, 2010. She was frantic, and my son and I were frantic when we had my mother's luggage but not her.

The Baggage claim representative, Andrea A., was not very helpful and blatantly lied to my son and me. She said these persons needing wheelchair assistance were in a special room with a United Airlines representative helping them. I was in contact with my mother via cell phone, and they were not in a special room, they were in chairs where the electric cart dropped them off, and no one from United or any other airline was anywhere to be seen until I started asking for her whereabouts.

Andrea said "Wheelchair Dispatch" was checking the room, but this was also not true as only two wheelchairs showed up in the hour they waited, one of which transported a man trying to make a connection and the other which my mother took as she was the first person to be deposited in the chairs. Andrea got upset with me for trying to explain to her that her explanations did not make sense, and she called a supervisor, Corinne M., who arrived at the same time as my mother (almost 1 and 1/2 hours after her plane had landed). So while she apologized, she was singularly ineffective in helping.

Clearly these passengers were not treated with the level of attention, respect and care they deserve defined by United's Commitment to Service. I believe the United Airlines staff responsible for transporting elderly passengers on July 6, 2010, deserve official reprimands in their files for failing to transport these elderly people in an expeditious manner. And, most importantly, United Airlines needs to address the issues it has in the Denver airport regarding transportation of those needing special assistance so that this does not continue to happen (This is the second time my mother has experienced problems with wheelchair transportation in the Denver airport).

One day each of us will probably be old enough to need assistance, and I hope that you are never treated like my mother was.

PS I was particularly unimpressed with two other comments made by Andrea A. in Baggage Claim: First she told us that the priority was to get wheelchair passengers to outgoing planes, and that incoming passengers were accommodated after those passengers trying to catch planes had been accommodated (this statement isn't really designed to allay ones concerns, is it?).

Second she suggested that next time I should meet my mother at the gate although she said I would be unable to take a wheelchair with me but would merely be able to wait with my mother for a wheelchair to show up. How exactly would that help my mother or expedite her transportation to the Baggage Claim area?

Upon my arrival at Chicago-O'Hara Airport, I went immediately to baggage claim to get my bag and get on the next leg of my flight. The way that the baggage handlers treated the baggage was appalling! I observed one fellow who could speak no English literally throw a package that was marked "Fragile" more than 20 feet onto the floor. Other handlers were throwing bags here and there.

I was lucky enough to see my bag come down the conveyor belt and I took it upon myself to go get it before these idiots broke some items I had paid a lot of money for overseas. The number of my flight was UA 941 arriving on June 29, 2010. These guys were brutal to the baggage and could have cared less who saw them do it. Then due to the flight being 20 minutes late and the fact that these bozo's threw all the baggage in piles, my entire group missed our connector, but fortunately we were put on another.

On May 21, 2010, I flew to London and Naples, Italy. The itinerary was a flight from San Francisco to London by way of Los Angeles on United (flights UA 0114 and UA 0934, respectively, confirmation number NX4KPK), followed by an Alitalia flight from London to Naples on May 22 (AZ7899 and AZ7644, confirmation number MVP7TE). I had about three hours between my arrival at Heathrow and my flight to Naples, also from Heathrow.

The United flight began well enough, taking off on time. Upon arrival for the scheduled plane change at LAX, United notified passengers that the LAX to LHR flight would be delayed by two hours. I immediately found the United Airlines desk at LAX and asked them for assistance in ensuring that I would not miss my next flight from Heathrow to Naples. The woman at the United Airlines customer service desk at LAX was very helpful. She said she was booking me on the next Alitalia flight from Heathrow to Naples using the same confirmation number of my existing Alitalia flight. She said the United Airlines flight to Heathrow would still likely arrive in time for my flight. However, in case the United Airlines flight arrived late at LHR, I must present the voucher she gave me to Alitalia at Heathrow. Alitalia, she said, would put me on the next flight out to Naples. Thinking all was well, I proceeded to the gate and waited to board the delayed flight to London.

The United flight took off later than expected, following an additional 30-45 minute delay on the runway. Having left LAX about three hours late, the United Airlines flight arrived at Heathrow well after the Alitalia flight to Naples had taken off. I proceeded to the Alitalia desk and explained that the United Airlines flight had been delayed, but that I had taken pre-emptive measures by talking to United Airlines customer service. I presented them with the voucher and explained that United Airlines had booked me on the next Alitalia flight to Naples using the same confirmation number as my original booked flight.

The people at Alitalia told me that they could not honor the document given to me by United Airlines, that I was not, in fact, booked on the next flight out, and that I was a "no show." That the "no show" was beyond my control was irrelevant, they said. Furthermore, they asked that I pay them 450 British pounds for a new round-trip ticket to Naples to replace the original $260 ticket I had purchased. I refused and asked to speak to the manager. The manager told me much the same thing and further indicated that this was a problem for United Airlines to handle, not Alitalia.

I asked Alitalia to phone the United Airlines representative at Heathrow, who was located at a different terminal. The United Airlines representative spoke to the Alitalia representative on the phone, and then to me. Alitalia, she said, were supposed to put the passenger on the next flight out as a courtesy to United Airlines, however, they could no longer do so due to new Alitalia regulations. She said she was swamped with customers as it was a bank holiday weekend, and could do nothing more to help me. I explained that the delay in my arrival at Heathrow and subsequent missed flight was due to a United Airlines flight delay. The United Airlines representative repeated that she was swamped with customers and was unable to assist me.

I continued talking to Alitalia, and again to United Airlines, and even called my Italian speaking Neapolitan contact who spoke with the Alitalia representatives. Nothing helped. By this time, the last Alitalia flight to Naples was closed. Having no other recourse, I left Alitalia and went to British Airways. British Airways had a place on a flight to Naples that evening, leaving from Gatwick. The cost was 600 GBP (about $900 USD) for a round-trip ticket, plus the cost of the coach to Gatwick. Not wanting to be stuck in London over a holiday weekend with no place to stay, I bought the ticket.

I would like to request that United Airlines reimburse me for the $900 British Airways flight to Naples, as well as the missed $260 Alitalia flight. I am a frequent United Airlines flyer, hold a United Airlines credit card, and try to fly United Airlines whenever I can. All my previous experiences with United Airlines have been quite positive. As such, I was surprised to have had to pay out of pocket for a missed flight due to an unexplained airline delay. I would very much appreciate your attention in this matter.

United Airlines tried to extort money from me by saying I had an upgrade, but not disclosing that the upgrade miles had not been cleared on my account. A trip that could have been healing after a long illness was obliterated by corporate greed.