[SandyVictimNJ]

After 7 days of no power, heat, running water, or gasoline, there is no end in site to the disaster of Hurricane Sandy in NY and NJ. The power company says it can take 2 more weeks before power is restored. By pure coincidence, we had a vacation planned to visit relatives in the south via a flight to Atlanta on Nov 8th. Unfortunately, now there is a Nor'Easter planned to hit that day. So this evening, I called to move our flight one day earlier and was told it would cost $450 per ticket. The tickets were $365 each. I was willing to pay the $150 change fee per ticket (also highway robbery), but they told me I had to pay a higher fare because the flight was only 2 days away. PS...same flight just one day earlier.

I told them I was doing them a favor by filling seats on a plane, and avoided the risk that they cancel the Nov 8th flight and have to offer us a refund. I also told them that it would greatly help us to get out of the disaster area a day earlier, and not be trapped here for more days due to the coming storm. I don't feel we should have to pay the increased fare, given the circumstances.

And then there is this.... after explaining this to the manager, I was told that NJ wasn't the only place to experience disasters. The airline based their policies on disasters that occurred in other regions, because other regions suffer disasters too. She cited New Orleans and forest fires in Arizona. So to add insult to injury, I had to endure some pointless lecture from a heartless, insensitive woman who could care less about the victims of disaster, but would rather defend the policy of US Air to gauge travelers.

Hey US Air, you know what you can kiss ... I will tell everyone I know about your completely callous employees and senseless price gouging policies.

[Matt_FLL]

I have two siblings in Manhattan who were deeply affected by Hurricane Sandy, so I can definitely relate to this story. I wish you and your family a speedy return to normalcy.

With that, I would be ready to picket outside of US Airways after reading this story… if airlines turned a profit. The truth is that they don’t make money at all. They just try to stay out of bankruptcy.

Planes would fly half empty if every ticket price was equal to the airline’s actual cost to fly someone from point A to point B. The goal is to fill every seat. They sell a cheap ticket to the leisure traveler (e.g., someone visiting family in Atlanta) and then subsidize it by charging triple to the business traveler sitting next to you whose company is paying for the ticket. The idea is that the airline will stay out of bankruptcy and more people have an opportunity to fly. How do you identify a business traveler? Most notably here, businessmen/women and other travelers in this criteria will book at the last minute. Instead of putting a fence around these people, fares will increase as the departure date approaches.

The downside is a situation like yours. You’re still a leisure traveler… and a very screwed over one! However, the entire system would break if they made special exceptions. So I agree that your situation is completely unfair and that you’ve been let down by the system. But I cannot come up with a better theory for aviation economics. And above all, you should be treated with respect after everything you’ve gone through over the past week. And the supervisor's insensitivity doesn't go away. That is outrageous. I hope you still got to enjoy the weekend with your family, and safe travels in the future.

[jimworcs]

Although sympathetically written Matt, I absolutely disagree wth your analysis. There are many highly profitable airlines around the world, who operate effectively without subsidy. The US market is massively distorted. The airlines fought for "de-regulation", meaning they can charge what they like and have little or no regard for the cosumer, but they do not want to compete in a genunely deregulated market. They lobby hard to prevent foreign owned competitors, they fight any attempt to allow normal business rules to apply to them. For examle, state attorney general's consumer protection divisions cannot enforce actions against airlines. They also seek anti-trust immunity to allow them to have local monopolies and take over competitors and block them out from their fortress hubs. It is from this position of power and control that the airlines are able to abuse their customers. It never ceases to amaze me that people in the US, strong advocates for free markets internationally, accept this status quo in their domestic air market and put up with the abusive practises. The airlines are the new robber barons and they seem to be getting away with it.

The banrkruptcies of the major airline groups are due to poor management. AA stayed out of bankruptcy for decades... but their decision to file had more to do with their desire to rip up the employee agreements that they themselves had signed than for normal ecoonomic conditions. They are immune from the consequences of their bad management. Normally a badly managed airline would fail and a hungry more efficient start up would replace it. Here, instead they are saved and continue, after walking away from their obligations. The system encourages bankruptcy. Delta, US Airways, United and American have all benefited from this bizarre system, whilst peddling the myth that this is the 'only way" .

On the specifics, Virgin have behaved abominably and I am shocked. During times of crisis, such as New Orleans or Sandy, (both once in a century scale disasters), people have to resort to self help. In this case, the airline could not get them back in a timely fashion and they set out to find their own way via Chicago or Philly. In such circusmstances, it is immoral to profit from the disaster and this is precistely what Virgin have done. Has America lost its moral compass? Making money from a disaster on the scale is repugnant.

[AbiEndowed]

My flight from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) was scheduled for 09:04am on 01/11/12. I got to DFW/the airport in time and queued at the United Airline E terminal as my flight was scheduled for United Airline judging from my flight number UA5206.
When I got to the top of the queue, I was asked where I was travelling to and my flight number by one of the female staff members who assisted me to use the computer portals by the check-in desk and my details were read and received by her and the computer-portal, she then passed my paperwork to another male staff member so that I could hand my luggage to him. He refused to accept my luggage and claimed that it was 2pounds over the limit and that I had to shed off some of the items in the luggage. I opened my suitcase and removed some items and beckoned to the same staff as he had moved off to assist the next person on the queue. He told me that I had to run the whole process again via the computer portals. I felt this was unneccessary as I had already done so within 5 minutes, but as he insisted, I proceeded and had to wait as other customers were using the computer portals. When I reached the portals and started to proceed, the portal rejected my data-entering, showing that the departure desk had closed.
At this time, I was furious as I could see people around me and did not understand how the desk could be closed with staffs everywhere and passengers still checking in. At this point I was referred to speak to a senior staff member (another woman), who informed me that my flight should have been at the D terminal on Air Canada and not on United Airline. Alas! how could I have known this? My flight number was a UA and not a AC, why did the woman that helped me earlier not have told me this?
It is illustrated on my itinerary which travel was scheduled to have being operated by Air Canada (18/10/12: LHR to Toronto was on AC0849 and AC7995 for Toronto to DFW.) My return was shown as UA5206 on 01/11/12 for DFW to Toronto and AC0848 on 02/11/12 for Toronto to LHR
At this point, I felt that the service/assistance I received from the United Airline check-in/counter staff was very appalling as well as confusing as they started passing me from pillar to post, with no sense of direction.
In the midst of my confusion, I was signposted to call the customer service on 18002416522. As soon as I stated my ticket number 0162084028178 and my booking code: D79VVH to the agent on the phone she confirmed my name and travel on United Airline and not Air Canada. As I was confused at this information, I explained my plight to her and she still insisted that it was United Airline. In order to confirm this information, I requested tthat I would get the desk senior staff so she could explain to her. I handed the phone to the Senior Staff that had non-chanlantly assisted me at that time. I am unsure as to what she told the agent on the phone who then reverted and stated that I was supposed to have been on Air Canada and had missed my flight.
The family I went to visit stay at Midland Odessa, which was 5/6 hours away by road and I had flew into Dallas the day before so as to catch the early flight back to London. On requesting for an alternative, as I had to return home on that day, I was only given options of either travelling back on 22/11/12 or to pay $2000+ for another flight in another airport that was 4 hours away (subject to traffic) and she could not confirm if I will be able to make it to that airport in time.
I felt abandoned on a strange island, the United Airline staff were not sympathetic at all, they did not understand that I was in transit and knew no one in Dallas. I had to haul my suitcases and drag myself from one terminal to the other like a destitute searching for alternative flights and finally found a seat on American Airlinewith connection on British Airways. I did not have a choice but to purchase a one-way ticket at $2185.70 (Imagine, my original return ticket is a third of this one-way price at 499 pounds sterling)
I am requesting that you please assist me to investigate the matter. I would greatly appreciatye that a refund of the $2185.70 be arranged as I strongly believe that the error made was as a result of misleading information by the airline. They had changed carriers without notification to the passengers and even their staff, otherwise the first staff member that assisted me should have informed me and I would have had enough time to board my flight.
Thank you as I look forward to your positive response in this regard.