[Phil Hughey]

My family and I were to fly from Newark to Frankfurt on May 31st at 7:20 PM. From the beginning the flight was delayed for 'Maintenance'. After 4 delays, the flight was cancelled at 1:30 AM. I immediately got into the Customer Service line and was there until 2:30 AM when the agents announced they were closing the desks and it would not open again until 5 AM. There were about 100 people in line at this time. We were traveling with a 5 year old child, 2 cats who had been in their carriers for over 14 hours by then, a dog, 4 large bags, 3 small bags and a car carrier so moving around was a major ordeal. We were able to get the last room in the 6th hotel we called and got into the room at 4:30 AM. I immediately got on the phone to reschedule our flight. I was on hold for almost an hour and the first available flight was 3 days later. As several of us were leaving the airport, someone who appeared to be a supervisor for United shouted to us that since our cancelled flight was 'maintenance related' they would pay for all our expenses. The response from United is they are not going to pay for any of our expenses (hotel, taxi) because we didn't get a 'voucher from them. This was impossible because the desk was shut down. They have offered the $200 flight vouchers (which are useless) but that's not what we need nor want.

[jimworcs]

That is disgraceful. You should sue. If you are a European citizen, you can also claim under EU rules as your destination was a European city.

[Phil Hughey]

Hello - and thanks for your input.
I wrote our Congressman for their assistance and was told under the Passenger Bill of Rights that United only has to pay for one night's lodging. This is true and not so much. If you read the Bill of Rights it will say you are going to get certain compensations but at the end refers you to the specific airlines rules of carriage - when apparently trumps the Bill of Rights. So will go back to our Congressman and point out this really isn't a "Passenger" Bill of Rights but is a 'Airline' Bill of Rights - and then ask them to begin a process of correcting it.
I am not a EU citizen but since we now reside in Germany - perhaps there is something that can be done along that line.
Regards and Thanks again