Arriving at the airport, well in advance of departure (rental car return ticket shows 2 hours before departure) I was advised by the United Gate Agent while checking luggage that my outbound flight to Chicago (ORD) would be delayed by 3 hours and I would need to be re-booked.
I accepted this as fact and we went about rerouting the flight home.
The Agent selected a flight with two connections, and on US Airways instead of the United flights I'd booked with Priceline. I purchased a ticket through Priceline with the travel protection.
First issue, because it was a different airline, the baggage policies were different. I had to pay fees for the bags. Then there were no economy seats on US Airways so the only way I could get on the flights was to upgrade. Because the upgrade included a checked bag this made more sense anyway.
I took the first flight, made the connection for the second flight but arrived after the third flight (all US Airways for the night) departed PHX. This was the last flight out of Phoenix that night, and I was told I would have to re-book on "the next available flight" But because the original problem was because United did not have "equipment available" US Airways said they had no obligation to provide assistance.
I found out that I would have to pay for meals, transportation and the hotel until the next day.
When asking US Airways, they said it wasn't there problem because United had booked a flight with a 27 minute connection time (and the US Airways flight arrived 14 minutes late, and the departing flight pushed back 4 minutes early) Even if I'd arrived on time, I would have had just 12 minutes to deplane and make the next flight before the mandatory 15 minute rule. US Airways has an internal policy that prevents connections of less than 60 minutes, but this can be overridden by United as a code share partner, and apparently was.
When I contacted United, they said it wasn't their problem because the flight was "re-booked through your travel agency" or so the records at United showed. I assured them I had NOT contacted Priceline from inside the terminal after checking my bags, but their Agent posted otherwise in the notes, so therefore it was fact.
Contacting Priceline and the Travel Insurance company (yes I purchased trip protection too) was no more helpful. Priceline said because the airlines had made the changes they were not responsible. Same answer from the Travel Insurance Company, they only covered what was booked with Priceline.
To add insult to injury, the original flight that was anticipated to be 3 hours delayed? Well it departed 30 minutes after my US Airways flight, and the connection in Chicago would have been met with an hour and 45 minutes to spare. Apparently it was a crew time issue (or another drunk pilot) and when they found a new crew or reworked the numbers my original flight departed the gate just after my nightmare began.
Thumbs down to United, US Airways, Priceline and BerKelyCare
I say thumbs down only because there is no icon for "middle finger up"
I accepted this as fact and we went about rerouting the flight home.
The Agent selected a flight with two connections, and on US Airways instead of the United flights I'd booked with Priceline. I purchased a ticket through Priceline with the travel protection.
First issue, because it was a different airline, the baggage policies were different. I had to pay fees for the bags. Then there were no economy seats on US Airways so the only way I could get on the flights was to upgrade. Because the upgrade included a checked bag this made more sense anyway.
I took the first flight, made the connection for the second flight but arrived after the third flight (all US Airways for the night) departed PHX. This was the last flight out of Phoenix that night, and I was told I would have to re-book on "the next available flight" But because the original problem was because United did not have "equipment available" US Airways said they had no obligation to provide assistance.
I found out that I would have to pay for meals, transportation and the hotel until the next day.
When asking US Airways, they said it wasn't there problem because United had booked a flight with a 27 minute connection time (and the US Airways flight arrived 14 minutes late, and the departing flight pushed back 4 minutes early) Even if I'd arrived on time, I would have had just 12 minutes to deplane and make the next flight before the mandatory 15 minute rule. US Airways has an internal policy that prevents connections of less than 60 minutes, but this can be overridden by United as a code share partner, and apparently was.
When I contacted United, they said it wasn't their problem because the flight was "re-booked through your travel agency" or so the records at United showed. I assured them I had NOT contacted Priceline from inside the terminal after checking my bags, but their Agent posted otherwise in the notes, so therefore it was fact.
Contacting Priceline and the Travel Insurance company (yes I purchased trip protection too) was no more helpful. Priceline said because the airlines had made the changes they were not responsible. Same answer from the Travel Insurance Company, they only covered what was booked with Priceline.
To add insult to injury, the original flight that was anticipated to be 3 hours delayed? Well it departed 30 minutes after my US Airways flight, and the connection in Chicago would have been met with an hour and 45 minutes to spare. Apparently it was a crew time issue (or another drunk pilot) and when they found a new crew or reworked the numbers my original flight departed the gate just after my nightmare began.
Thumbs down to United, US Airways, Priceline and BerKelyCare
I say thumbs down only because there is no icon for "middle finger up"