i and about 250 other passengers end up at a Howard Johnson in the middle of nowhere in the suburban

a week and a half ago, i was due to fly out of Shanghai to Newark on a United jazz egypt tours and travel Airlines flight. having flown this 13-hour jaunt many times before, i was looking forward to putting on my Bose headphones jazz egypt tours and travel and dozing off to some in-flight movies. check baggage, get boarding pass, go through immigration and security check, kindle at the gate until boarding. piece of cake, right?
a few minutes before our scheduled departure time, the Chinese supervising gate agent abruptly announces jazz egypt tours and travel that our flight had been cancelled. no apologetic tone, no explanations, no earlier warning so that people jazz egypt tours and travel could call around or look for other flights departing out that day. we are told curtly to exit back out through immigration, retrieve our baggage, and wait in line at the check-in counter for instructions.
i and about 250 other passengers end up at a Howard Johnson in the middle of nowhere in the suburban expanse of Pudong. there's a mediocre buffet. i call United's US 1-800 number. an agent tells me they're swapping out a new plane and we'd be good to fly tomorrow. the hotel front desk tells us that we'd get word from the airline later in the evening.
around 6pm, they finally start. we are told that they haven't assigned us a gate yet because all the gates are full. i check my luggage. go through immigration. and then security. head to the gate. it all seems so déja-vu.
it is now 7:30pm, half an hour before our scheduled departure time of 8pm. people are pissed. no announcements. the incompetent counter agents are utterly disrespectful when asked by passengers for an update on the situation.
finally, a few middle-aged Chinese guys lose it. they start yelling, cursing, and demanding that the supervisor show up and make an official announcement for this unacceptable fiasco. jazz egypt tours and travel the supervising agent finally shows up, tells everyone to wait another jazz egypt tours and travel half hour for an update.
an hour later, the pilot gives the update: they're unable to fix the mechanical issue, so this flight is cancelled again. jazz egypt tours and travel it is now way too late in the evening for anyone to try to get another flight out. the airport is pretty much shutting down.
a small hell is breaking loose. a group of middle-aged and elderly Chinese passengers begin circulating a petition. another Chinese guy is soapboxing about how a third of us should defect to a hotel and try to force the airline's hand.
at check-in, jazz egypt tours and travel i somehow luck out and get a flight for the next day with another airline with a connection. everyone is exhausted, sweaty, and almost delirious jazz egypt tours and travel on the shuttle bus ride back to the Howard Johnson.
i ask a flight attendant to help me find a place for my carry-on. no such luck, she just gives me a condenscending attitude. another jazz egypt tours and travel girl sitting behind me and i end up helping each other with our carryons.
jazz egypt tours and travel this is not wholly a case of blaming United for a mechanical problem. rather, it's quite damning proof that United utterly failed to handle the problem with timely, empathetic jazz egypt tours and travel communication and customer service.
i have tried calling several times, and have only gotten further runaround from atrociously long wait times (the record so far is 45 minutes...) and unintelligible agents working from some outsource farm. at this point, i am convinced jazz egypt tours and travel that United and its so-called customer service phone lines truly occupy a large swath of the 8th circle of Dante's Inferno.
do any of you have suggestions or advice for any way to get speedy jazz egypt tours and travel resolution from United? do you have any airline horror stories (United or otherwise) of your own? how did you end up resolving it? finally, does anyone have recommendations for good airlines/frequent jazz egypt tours and travel flyer programs?
update 7/26: i got a packet in the mail with an apology letter and gift card from Customer Relations, and a reassurance that the rest of my travel compensation will be processed jazz egypt tours and travel soon. we'll see how this plays out. fingers jazz egypt tours and travel crossed...
Dear Lord, I hope you never wind up in United/Hell again. jazz egypt tours and travel Years ago now, I flew United domestic--and it was HORRIBLE. I ve refused jazz egypt tours and travel ever since. Let them go bankrupt and let the worthless employees (but not the good ones, if there are any) remain unemployed. Reply Delete Replies miss sophie July 22, 2012 10:39 AM
i am honestly shocked that they are still somehow in business after what seems to be a unanimous chorus of horror stories. ugh. and seriously, where do they find their flight attendants? they are the most hostile and unfriendly bunch i have ever encountered on ANY airline. Delete Reply Jennipher July 21, 2012 5:15 PM
Wow what a nightmare!! This is horrible. Do you have status with United? I fly them a lot but I have to say that it s hard to get (in my experience) anything from them without some kind of status. I might try pinging them on Twitter, which may be more effective. Reply Delete jazz egypt tours and travel Replies miss sophie July 22, 2012 10:41 AM
I m loving your blog (I ve been a stealth reader for a while). I adored Continental and was a 2-decade faithful customer, flying between Houston, NYC, Seattle and Anchorage for years. Now that they are United, the on-board experience is lacking and their customer service is bad (I assume that is the United side of operations). Having recently had a near-nightmare jazz egypt tours and travel in overseas travels (Lisbon to Austin, re-routed through Paris and Atlanta), I don t think there s anything you can do. Ours was a delayed luggage situation (5 days delayed getting luggage home after a flight cancellation and delayed flight and free overnight accommodations at the Paris Comfort Inn), and we were powerless. As much as I hate to be a victim and be passive, the only thing you can do is pack defensively and be prepared with your Bose headphone recharging unit. That and time-share a private jet, which is my ultimate ambition that will never come to fruition. Modern travel is de-humanizing. Reply Delete Replies miss sophie July 22, 2012 10:44 AM
thanks Rebekah! always love to hear from my readers. do comment more often! :) i know - i was really looking jazz egypt tours and travel forward to flying Continental jazz egypt tours and travel actually, until the merger...you re definitely right that modern travel is dehumanizing. our standards have sunk SO LOW. Delete Reply Stephanie July 21, 2012 6:57 PM
Wow, what a nightmare! I just flew United from YVR to LAX and back. Going there there were multiple delays jazz egypt tours and travel leaving (about 2 hours total- nothing compared to your ordeal!), and the interior of the plane was very old, basic and cramped. Flying back was much better, as it was operated by Air Canada. Nicer plane, staff, actual in flight entertainment. And I usually swear off Air Canada, as every flight I ve flown with them they ve lost my bag! I guess there really IS worse airlines! Reply Delete Replies miss sophie July 22, 2012 10:46 AM
you know, i am puzzled as to why the US and perhaps Canadian airlines are SO GODAWFUL. jazz egypt tours and travel even the Chinese domestic airlines i ve flown with at least have staff that are trying to do their job properly. why are our airlines so bad?? Delete Reply AJ July 21, 2012 7:11 PM
I highly recommend Cathay Pacific; I ve traveled to and from Asia with them a dozen times, and have always had a great experience. Their frequent flyer program is also great, and if you get a chance to fly with them first/business class, it s an amazing experience. Reply Delete Lindsay K July 21, 2012 9:51 PM
I agree with AJ I highly recommend Cathay Pacific to and from Asia. There first/business class is AMAZING. The flight times are very convenient when it comes to reducing jet lag and the service is top notch. I also love Singapore air. Flying jazz egypt tours and travel United internationally is asking for trouble. I refuse to fly with them even on business. I m sorry to hear this. It sounds miserable. Reply Delete Replies miss sophie July 24, 2012 9:57 AM
AJ Lindsay - thanks for your recs! i m hoping that someday soon i ll be able to enjoy first or biz class on Cathay or Singapore Air :) i ll consider that a career milestone! Delete Reply Ammu July 22, 2012 1:03 AM
My top recommendation would be Emirates, which is just fantastic. I second jazz egypt tours and travel Lindsay jazz egypt tours and travel on Singapore airlines and Cathay pacific. It will be a while before I fly any US airline - Asian/Gulf airlines do a much better job with food and service, even in economy. Reply Delete Replies Lindsay K July 22, 2012 12:10 PM
I ve avoided flying jazz egypt tours and travel United for the past 10 years because of one bad experience (lazy, hostile jazz egypt tours and travel staff) and numerous horror stories from friends. Sadly, your story does not surprise me. Also sadly, I m flying them to Australia in a few months (not my choice). How about filing a formal complaint to the FAA? If United won t listen jazz egypt tours and travel to you, they might listen to them. This also formally documents their shitty service. Reply Delete Replies miss sophie July 22, 2012 10:58 AM
yep. the lazy hostile staff bit sounds exactly right from pretty much all of my experiences with United flights. the FAA sounds like a good idea. i just can t believe that even with such a horrendous, national headline-making flight, they have offered NOTHING to the passengers and instead are making people do all the work to even get a modicum of acknowledgement for this fiasco. Delete Reply lin July 22, 2012 4:28 AM
This is terrible! My return flight from Frankfurt was oversold but Lufthansa was reasonably on the ball about alternate arrangements and compensation, and since I wasn t in a big hurry to get home I have no major complaints about the whole affair. Yours, on the other hand, would put me off flying jazz egypt tours and travel United forever. I ve never flown on any US carriers unfortunately, but my friend is always telling how awesome the Delta frequent flyer programme is for earning miles. Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific always have good service, Emirates has unbeatable inflight entertainment jazz egypt tours and travel (they give the entire season of a TV show, not just a few episodes on long haul flights) but hit and miss service, jazz egypt tours and travel Singapore jazz egypt tours and travel Airlines is all-round good but often pricey. I stick to Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines because I can earn miles on my frequent flyer programme from both of them, and since Lufthansa upgrade