[randompattern]

I purchased four round trip tickets from Pittsburgh to Tel Aviv via Philadelphia for myself, my pregnant wife and my two daughters, ages four and two. We specifically chose US Airways because we had heard that the flight was comfortable and convenient, which was especially important given the length of the flight, my wife's state, and the fact that we were travelling with two toddlers.

The tickets were purchased on USairways.com which included a two-hour layover in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the US Airways flight to Philadelphia was significantly delayed due to mechanical issues, causing us to miss our connecting flight by several minutes.

Understandably, we were quite anxious about the situation and spoke to several gate agents who directed use to a US Airways customer service to re-book our flights. We waited in line for over 90 minutes to talk with a representative, who was far from polite and understanding. She informed us that the next possible flight was out of Newark but she could not get us on a flight to Newark. I suggested ground transportation, but she told us that this was against U.S. Airways policy. The next US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv was scheduled to leave the following evening (24 hours later) but she told us we would be unable to take that flight as it was completely booked. Instead, she booked us on a Delta flight to JFK the following day to catch an El Al flight which she said had room for us.

The next day, when we arrived at the El Al desk in JFK to speak to the ticketing agents, however, they told us that we had no confirmed tickets and that there was no room for us on the flight. We were told we could attempt to fly standby, but there were 8 people ahead of us so it was unlikely that all four of us would be able to travel on that flight.

At this point I, my pregnant wife, and two toddlers had been travelling for over 12 hours without any food. Since we had no boarding passes, we were forced to wait in an area near ticketing which had no seating or amenities. While my pregnant wife sat on the floor with the kids, I headed back to the US Airways terminal to discuss my situation.

A U.S. Airways agent informed me that that day’s flight from Philadelphia did indeed have room for us, contrary to what the agent in Philadelphia had told us the previous evening. However, at that point, there was not enough time to get back to Philadelphia to catch that flight. The agent instead procured seats for us on a United Airways flight that was leaving from Newark. In order for us to reach EWR in time, he suggested we take a taxi there (despite the other agent’s declaration that ground transportation is against policy). The agent explained that we could submit our taxi and food expenses for reimbursement, something the agents the night before had not bothered to mention. We took a taxi to Newark and managed to fly to Tel Aviv successfully on the United flight.

Unfortunately, due to the maintenance issues of the first US Airways flight from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, we spent over 43 hours traveling to Tel Aviv. We had to go through security in three different airports, and trudge around countless terminals. This was a terrible hardship for my young children and pregnant wife. Ironically, the reason we had chosen US Airways was for what we had imagined would be the ease in travelling and the short layover. Instead, our trip took over 25 hours longer than originally planned. We lost not only a full day of our vacation due to the extended travel time itself, but the hardship and stress of the trip resulted in much more extreme jet lag and ruined the first several days of our delayed vacation.

The change to a United flight on such short notice caused us additional hardship. We had ordered kosher meals for our US Airways flight, but United Airlines was unable to guarantee us kosher meals on such short notice. We therefore had to purchase food in the airport for the flight itself. United Airlines also refused to seat us all together, even though our children are toddlers and cannot sit without an accompanying adult. Luckily, despite the flight attendants’ unwillingness to help, we were able to find some very accommodating passengers who were willing to give up their aisle seats for a 10+ hour flight so that we could supervise our children.

To add insult to injury, on the way back to the states, despite three separate confirmations of our Kosher meal orders, US Airways only had a single Kosher meal for the four of us. When I explained to the flight attendant that I had ordered and confirmed Kosher meals for all of us, she seemed very annoyed and showed me that her list only had one name. I said I had no control over the list, but would appreciate if she could see if there were any extra Kosher meals. Fortunately, another more professional flight attendant did procure extra meals and served us a total of three Kosher meals – though we had ordered four. Also, on both flights, to and from Israel, our checked luggage was wet (we had no liquids in our luggage) - it seems they were left sitting in puddles. In addition to all the above hardships, we had to begin our vacation by laundering our clothes.

When we returned to the U.S. we submitted a complaint to U.S. Airways and requested reimbursement. They responded with some travel vouchers that expire in a year. We are considering legal action.

[Matt_FLL]

You’ve been through 43 hours of hell. US Airways definitely let you down. There were so many points of failure. I would feel terrible hearing this story from an individual. To think that you were traveling with a family makes it unconscionable.

I do believe that you’ve done everything right by writing a complaint to US Airways. At this point, you could request more compensation by building a logical argument. However, legal action is very unlikely to yield favorable results. They fulfilled their end of their contract with you by getting you to the destination and back—even though they did a horrific job. Wet luggage, poor customer service, and no kosher meals constitutes as bad service, but not a breach of contract.

I respectfully disagree with one small part of your complaint. You mentioned that you, your pregnant wife, and two toddlers did not eat for 12 hours. The airline is not responsible for making sure that everyone is fed. I’m sure you expected meal vouchers, but please do take care of yourself—the airline certainly doesn’t have a responsibility there.

At the end of the day, I wish you could sue them and win big. This situation is unfair, but I think the vouchers is as far as you can get. Best of luck on your next travel. Certainly, it couldn’t be worse! Congratulations on your new child in advance.

[randompattern]

Thanks for the comment Matt_FLL

The reason I expect compensation (at least for my expenses) is two fold.

Number one, the airline did not get me to and from my destination, I had to pay for a taxi to take my family from JFK to Newark out of pocket (between connections).

Number two, the U.S. Airways agent at JFK (who happened to be very nice) explicitly told me to keep all receipts for my expenses during the trip, including taxi and food to submit for reimbursement.

If I can get him to testify, I might have a case.

[randompattern]

When I said we traveled for 12 hours without food, I was referring to provided food. Obviously we did eat...we wouldn't make our kids fast.

[jimworcs]

Matt, why do you say legal action would not prevail? US Airways did not get them to their destination without considerable extra cost. If you turned up at the airport and an airline said we will get you there, but you will have to pay An extra $500, surely you would have an actionable case for breach of contract? In this case, US Airways forced the party to incur extra costs for a breach that they themselves were responsible for. I would file a claim in small claims, for cash compensation, and I would refuse any voucher. Vouchers are not worth the paper they are written on, and often cost more to redeem than you would be able to buy on the open market.

I agree the kosher meals and rude agents are an irritation and this is not actionable, but the taxi's and additional costs to mitigate the failure of the airline i think are. It would be worth taking a chance in small claims. If you lose, the amount is small and you have the bonus of costing US Airways the time, legal costs and irritation of defending themselves. A more likely outcome is that they will play hardball until the day before the hearing and then offer a compromise deal. Refuse it unless it has cash compensation as part of the deal. I thnk you have a better than evens chance of winning.