Be happy, Nina that

United called you at all

That they called you as soon as they did

That you got re-booked despite whose "fault" it was

That you can aofford to go in the first place

That you are a very flexible traveler.

As a former travel agency employee and current airline employee, I would advise you never to believe a word of what they say. Airlines and travel agencies have made an industry of lying, because most people accept the lies. The best ripost is to lie right back at them, and things will usually work out, just as they have this time.

Airlines and travel agencies Governments have made an industry of lying, because most people accept the lies.

Oh Nina, you have not lost your sense of humor I see.."I called them at 9:00AM and was lucy enough to be connected to India". Love it, LOL!! You have my sympathy as lately I feel I have lost so much time on stupid phone calls with various companies. Thank goodness you got this worked out. And yes, thank goodness you found out in advance and not after you arrived in Frankfurt. I have talked to more people lately they have sort of "lost" their enthusiam for travelling thanks to the way airline passengers are being treated. Although I will still fly I can understand people reluctance to go through all the garbage flyers are dealing with.

Moi lie to Big Brother ... perish the thought

Nothing works better than a good whine, a few lies, and 'pretending' to be humble.

It's sad that this has to be done so often. You start out with the best intentions and find yourself matching them lie for lie. Actually I am very good at that!

For no good reason, I just called United and insisted on talking to a supervisor and I told him what Lufthansa had told me about United failing to enter my ticket number in the system.

Well..... as luck would have it, I got the same supervisor in India that had handled my first call with the agent. First thing he said to me ...'airlines always blame each other if a mistake is made, don't believe what Lufthansa told you'!!!!!!!!

Hmmmmm, if I am lying, would you believe me if I said that I am telling the truth? Has anyone EVER told you something and then told you not to believe them because they were lying??? Hasn't ever happened to me.

You're so right Dukey about them even bothering to inform me of the change, especially two months in advance - in that respect I do consider myself very lucky. Of course I do check back periodically to see if any scheduling changes have been made, but two months out, I wouldn't have bothered to do that - yet.

Now I'm waiting for the new e-ticket that they were supposed to email two hours ago - the supervisor said that for some reason it didn't go through, but that some other department handles that - truth or lie?

Bottom line, we'll be in Paris again, and that is all that really matters. A couple of palmiers, and some macaroons, and I'll forget all about this.

Nina

I'm totally with Dukey, and may I add this:

If, in all the years of flying with United, or any other airline, this is the WORST the OP can come up with, that she had to spend some time sorting out not having a 5 hour layover (which is not bad at all, in the major European airports, given what they have to do there for amusement of pax) then I would say the OP's life, as it were, is very very gentle indeed.

I for one, do NOT appreciate this "vent" because it points to this "all about me," demanding mentality that some people only exhibit when they book an airline ticket-it's as if that ticket gives them carte blanche to complain about any sort of nit-picking thing that the airline does or does not do to their satisfaction-and considering the tremendous pressures that major airlines are under these days, the enormous numbers of pax they carry all over the globe, the thousands of operational issues that come up each day on all of these flights which are carried off, all around the world EACH DAY WITHOUT A MAJOR HITCH, (remarkable by any measure)-the fact that that they took the trouble to call at all, and in advance, speaks volumes about their well-run, customer-service orientation.

Moreover, those who would complain over nothing also seem to forget that we, the traveling public, can get free tickets in high season to Europe that would otherwise cost well over $1000 a head, and great sale fares at any time, to boot, fares that one could not get 20 years ago-thus the carriers have contributed mightily to bringing the world together, as it were, for better or for worse, and have been a key factor in globalization.

And as to this post, let us not overlook the fact that the OP herself admits that she told a "falsehood or two" to get what she wanted - which speaks volumes about the OP, rather than the airline-I'd say SHE is the one who owes United an apology-instead of cluttering up the board with this self-centered rant.

Hi Nina,
Interesting series of events. I'm glad you were able to get it all worked out. I had a similar "he said, she said" incident with Iberia and American Airlines a few years ago. I think they all must do it

Well Nina dear, guess you can consider yourself chewed out and put in your place

Nina66,

Now that it's water under the bridge (so to speak), I was wondering if you received a record locator number from Lufthansa when you originally booked this flight?

If you did received a record locator number and now that you are rebooked on the same flight, did they give you a new number?

I also agree with Girlspytravel. This was a really minor event. Lying should be reserved for major occasions.

I had a similiar experience with United. I strongly suspect that if you are flying using FF miles United feels they have the right to change your ticket if they have a paying customer. I cashed in all my miles recently with United and will no longer fly with them if it can be avoided.

"The agent informed me that they were not allowed to make outgoing calls if this should happen. I guess that India doesn't have a 101-6868 long distance calling plan."

The best line in the post. ROTFLMAO, Nina!

Hi Nina,

Have you gotten your email confirmation and your new e-ticket?

We had tickets on United from San Jose to Munich last summer - using FF miles, so of course I booked the tickets 10 months in advance. In the interum, our flights were changed 3 or 4 times. I wasn't overly worried about the time changes since they didn't make a huge difference, although when all was said and done, we did have a 6:30 am flight from SJC, so we did have to get up awfully early in the morning.

What really bugged me though was that when I made the original reservations, I made our seat assignments - the plane had a 2-5-2 set up and we had 2 seats on the side, so 1 aisle, 1 window, no neighbors. With each change in schedule/flight that the airline made, we were reassigned center seats, once not even together. United claimed each time that they couldn't reassign our seats and each time I pressed the issue and got my original seats back. It was really weird. Not sure what was going on - perhaps since we were flying on FF miles, they thought they would reassign us the crappy seats and leave the better ones to paying customers. Have they forgotten that frequent flyers usually are the paying customers?

Hi GST,

>..we, the traveling public, can get free tickets in high season to Europe that would otherwise cost well over $1000 a head,...<

Where do I sign up for the free tickets?

Yes, Nina I guess you should have just acted like a good little sheep & taken whatever they dished out. You're just a lowly, faithful customer & should be grateful that they're going to allow you on any flying Greyhound/airplane.

Girlspy, you raise the art of satire to a new level!

I, too, wonder if they do this to people using FF miles. When I used miles on a trip to Paris a couple years ago, United changed my return flight to the next day. I wouldn't have minded an extra day in Paris, but my gripe is that they changed the return date while I was IN paris - so, no, I did NOT see the e-mail alerting me to this change until I returned home.

But the funny thing is, I showed up on the original return date (because I didn't know about the change) and was given my reserved seat, so the original reservation was still in the computer somewhere. I wonder if someone else got bumped off that flight because I showed up after all. I never did figure it out. That's United for you (but I still fly them - seems like they have the best schedule for west coast flights).

Forgot to mention - United's e-mail "alerting" me to the change in return date was sent something like 12 hours before my return flight, which wouldn't have given me a lot of time to find an extra night's hotel.

But it all worked out - sometimes ignorance pays off.

Nina--There is absolutely nothing wrong with your post or with your having done what you needed to do to get on the flight for which you purchased tickets. What your very meaningful post tells me is that the airlines are playing games with us, and, should I face a situation like yours, I need to do just as you did.

The hysterical poster who chewed you out for no good reason has a clear personality disorder, if you ask me.

I think the attitude and workings of the airlines are awful. You buy a ticket in good faith for a date and time that you want/need. You are forbidden to many ANY changes whatsoever without paying a hefty charge. If you can't use the tickets, too bad for you. We can't give it to anyone, even a family member. Why? Please don't say 9/11, it was that way long before then.

On the other hand, the airlines are free to move our seats, change our times, and even change our dates, and we are expected to just accept it. How do they get away with this? I've never understood it. We pay for the ticket and they have all the control...

Just keep in mind you can believe everything Nina66 says - unless, of course, when it isn't the truth.

I have stopped flying with United because of cancelled flights, flights delayed hours (obviously because they didn't have as many passengers as they wanted on a flight and so made everyone wait for a flight that wasn't departing for hours). Through my supermarket purchased I receive United FF miles. From time to time I call United and donate the miles to our military people that can use them once they are on US soil but need to get to their home area.

BTW, ever problem I have had with United has been when I have paid for the tickets.

Hi LoveItaly,
That is a wonderful idea to donate the miles! We have odd amounts of FF miles in several programs that we no longer use. Thank you for sharing the news on this (and incidentally, I'm not surprised it was you to know about something like this b/c you are one of the most generous posters I know!).

Hi there Texas Aggie, how are you? Hope life is treating you well.

Actually I have to give my stepson the credit for donating the FF miles. I had various FF a/c's with miles but not enough to take advantage of anything. We were talking and I mentioned it. He then told me that I could donate the miles (I never knew) for our military personnel OR also to Make A Wish that gives very ill children a "dream come true". Who knew? So I would encourage anyone who has FF a/c's that will never be useful for free flights to call the airline(s) and see where they can be donated.
You take care, good to hear from you!!

Celianne - You can do all what you want if you buy a full-fare ticket. On some airlines, you may even get a complimentary upgrade to first class! Imagine that!

And if you count for inflation, I would think even full-fare tickets today are still cheaper than they are 30 years ago.

Nobody forces you to buy discount fares.

Hi rkkwan, not to continue the discussion but I have had full fare tickets purchased from United..but it didn't do me any good when the flight was cancelled..and that happened too many times (flying the westcoast).

P.S. I would change the title of this post to say "United Reservation Change-JUST worry about ME, I'm the ONLY CUSTOMER THAT MATTERS."

Perhaps a minor event to some but interesting and informative to others. Why on earth should anyone be annoyed at Nina for her posting??
Some people on this board need to lose the big chips on their shoulders that are about to turn into boulders.
Why do you need to respond with criticism?
This posting generated some interesting information and I see nothing wrong with it.
What seems wrong are the angry little folks with chips on their shoulders.

Interesting, Nina. My experience was somewhat similiar when I discovered VA cancelled 2 returning flights home for me and one of my friends (but not the third friend) when I called to re-confirm the day before we were due to fly home. The reason I was given for the cancellation was that we missed our connection in Heathrow when we flew into London. I wonder if they expected us to stay in London the rest of our lives. It took six phone calls (they also cannot call out on their incoming only phones) and most of my last day in Rome to get re-confirmed.

LoveItaly - if you have full-fare tickets and your flight get cancelled, just have UA endorse it over to any other airline. Or just refund it and buy a different one on another airline.

[Don't know if other airlines have this perk, but if you're a Continental elite, you can buy full-fare tickets on even sold-out flights. Must be 48 hours in advance for silver/gold, no limit for platinum.]

Hi rkkwan, I am talking about constant flights between SFO and Santa Barbara. What other flights? It happened so many times when I was flying back and forth between the two airports I don't even want to think about it. I will not fly United again.

wow, someone on this post has a major chip on her shoulder!
Can we start a new conversation about off-shore call centers and how incompetent they are?

Not sure if this fits but call centres - my friend is currently on a round the world trip. He tried to book with BA - gave them the itinery and they said it would have to go to ticketing and it would take 48 hours. 6 days later they were still saying they didn't know the price so he decided to call AA to see if they could come up with a price quicker.

While he was on the phone to AA his mobile went, I answered the call, it was BA - they were quite angry that he's phoned AA because that meant he had cancelled one of the flights they had booked. I was told to tell him to stop talking to AA and rebook with BA.

AA could give him a price there and then, so in July guess who he flew with?

LoveItaly - True, in your case, if you get into SFO and then your flight get cancelled, it doesn't do you much good. Except perhaps have them fly you down to LAX and then back up to SBA.

But just to set the record straight. SFO-SBA is run by Skywest on contract for UA Express.

Also, it's true around the country that regional flights get cancelled much more frequently than mainlines. It's a price you pay when living in a smaller city.

Good for you Nina. You did what it takes to conduct business these days. If it isn't incompetence, it's downright lying--so you do what you have to do to make life tolerable.

The experience we had with United the first time we used FF miles for a flight to Italy was a real charmer. At that time, they had a gate in Milan. However, they were only able to get us to Zurich with two plane changes in Canada on a Canadian airline (we were able to change this to only one plane change in Toronto). We got to pay for an overnight airport hotel room and our tickets from Zurich to Rome on the now defunct Swiss Air. We should have pursued this as you did Nina and perhaps we would have made better arrangements. We were pretty green and just put up with it, but we did stop flying with them.

Another experience with them was a lost day on a trip to London. They put us up at an SFO airport hotel. I did write a letter of complaint on that occasion and while not admitting any wrongdoing they did give us something, I think it was either money off our next tickets, or buy one flight and companion flies free. Nothing would have been done had I not been persisent in writing letters.

We just went through a mess with routing made by a cruise line for our upcoming Panama Canal cruise which starts in Acapulco. They had us flying to LAX from OAK with a plane change, then to Chicago with a five hour layover and plane change on to Acapulco. 15 hours--we could have gone to Europe faster!!! We managed to make different arrangements at a cost of $100 for cancelling their terrific arrangements.

So, needless to say Nina, I'm in full agreement with your displeasure and the manner in which you handled it. It isn't "all about me," it's about the way people are treated nowadays, and sadly not just by airlines. Whatever happened to "the customer is always right?"

First off, these were not free $1,000 tickets. We used 60,000 FF miles per ticket, plus $1466m each, to upgrade. This is absolutely the highest fare we have ever paid - probably because we are flying out Christmas weekend. This was not by choice, DH recently started a new job and so has no vacation time to speak of. His office is closed over the holidays, so he has six paid days off, plus the two weekends. He added a day before and a four days after, giving us two full weeks in Paris. So I have every right to expect what I originally paid for. Not that that is a guarantee that I will get it, but I feel that I am entitled to it. Me, me, me .....

Kerouac - two contradictory posts -

".......Airlines and travel agencies have made an industry of lying because most people accept the lie..... The biggest ripost is to lie right back to them."

Then in your second post you chastize me for not telling a big lie! So in your mind, there are degrees of lying? Please post your scale of acceptable lies for specific occasions, for future reference. I was taught that a lie is a lie, size doesn't matter.

i am kane - the locator number with Lufthansa is the same as my original locator number with United. That hasn't changed.

Ira .... ready for this and this really is the TRUTH. I finally got my _first_ "Travel Itinerary" approx. three hours after my last telephone call to United. Since it was not an E-Ticket with all of the particulars, I called them back and asked them to send an E-Ticket Receipt not just the Itinerary.

That was at approx. 1:30PPM (PST). Since then I have received SEVENTY THREE Itinerary and/or E-Ticket Receipts over a ten hour period. Yes ... SEVENTY THREE. It is now 12:11AM (PST) and they are still coming. Some are dated October 19th and some October 20th!!!!

So dear Ira, in answer to your question, yes I have received my E-Ticket

DH says that obviously there is something wrong with United's system.

When I am online, I can hear a 'bing' sound everytime I receive an email. I've heard two more while I have been writing this post. It is now 12:15AM (PST), so I am assuming that I am now up to 75 or 76 E-Tickets!

At this rate, my mailbox will be full by morning - even though I deleted 72 of them already. I'm afraid to call them about this glitch, gawd knows what will happen to my reservation if I do

ME, I mean Nina