Why was my entire return trip cancelled without my knowledge?
 

I took a trip from Seattle to Madison, WI last week and I got to Chicago for my layover and an hour before the flight to Madison, I got a message that the trip was cancelled and I wouldn't be able to fly out until the following morning. I opted to then take a bus to Madison that night rather than stay at a hotel, which they wouldn't comp for me anyways.

Yesterday when I went to check in at the Madison airport for my return trip I was told that there was no seat for me. They said they see I did book that flight but I had no reservation. The person then asked if I had problems flying out there and I told him that the second leg of my trip had been cancelled and he said that because I had no insurance that they cancelled the rest of my trip. They wer able to book me on a nother airline for a flight out that same night. That doesn't make any sense to me...to cancel a leg of one flight and then to totally cancel my return trip.

Is this right? Can I get some kind of compensation for all my problems?

Why? When you made the decision to skip the Chicago to Madison leg you were considered a no-show by the airline, and they cancelled the rest of your itinerary. Standard practice.

I didn't realize just because I didn't show for one leg of my flight that they would cancel the entire return trip. That just seems odd. Okay I made it halfway to my destination, but sorry we'll cancel everything after that!

Yep - that's the way it works. You made the decision to skip the 2nd leg, and unfortunately you did that without informing yourself of the consequences.

It sounds like you were rebooked for the following morning due to the cancellation. When you no-showed for your flight, the rest of your itinerary was automatically cancelled. To have prevented this, you should have spoken to a customer service representative (or called reservations while you were on the bus) to advise them you were making your own arrangements and tell them to cancel the "protection" flight but not the return segments.

Do you know why the original Chicago-Madison leg was cancelled? If it were for mechanical reasons, the airline may have given you a voucher to pay for your bus ride (or a voucher for a night at a hotel.) If it were due to weather, then you would have been on your own anyways.

Why was the flight cancelled?

Was this United? Here is their policy:
http://www.united.com/page/article/1,,53028,00.html

See the part about overnight accommodations. They may have comped a room, maybe pay for the bus fare.

What is the name of the company? Just because the company has a policy, does not mean you have no rights. Companies make policies to protect themselves in case a matter goes to court. But they also have a reputation to protect, and, regardless of how it seems at times, no reputable company wants to lose customers. And most do not want to drive away future customers because of a bad reputation.

You still have the right to appeal to the company. If the first person you speak with is unhelpful, appeal higher up the chain of command, to corporate HQ, if necessary. If that fails and nothing is resolved within a month, contact an ombudsman for one of the major travel publications. They usually get results.