United Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

United Airlines treats customers like children. I had a flight on August 11th. They tell you you have to sit on the seats your ticket specifies. Well I did not get a window seat so I politely asked the "mother" of a 8 year old if I can have her daughter's seat. The mother told me no. I went to complain to one of the FA's and they checked my ticket and said that my seat was in the aisle. When the mother left for the washroom. I asked her daughter to get off the seat I wanted to sit there. The child said no her mother would get mad and worried if she can't find her . I told her that if she did not get off the seat I would physically remove her. At this time the mother returned and complained to the FA because she overheard me telling her daughter I would remove her from the seat. She lied and said that I threatened her daughter. The FA took her side. She asked me to sit down. I told her that I would not sit down unless I got the window seat. She then called Airport security and they told me that I had to leave the plane. I told them I would not because I paid for the flight. I told them I wanted a window seat. They told me that if I wanted a window seat that I should have asked in advance when booking the flight. I saw a window seat in another aisle and I asked that if I could have that window seat. They told me no because I was making the other passengers uncomfortable. This was a lie since I am not Muslim so therefore I am not a terrorist. I told them I paid for the flight and would not be returning. They told me that unless the I left the plane would not take off and if they had to they would use force to get me off the plane. Now I am a woman who is five foot three and these cowards were six feet or taller. Also because they were angry at me they were willing to delay and inconvenience other passengers. I will never fly with these losers again, and that mother needs to teach her brat manners. When an adult tells you something you do it. Rude punk kid. Not even a teen and already a punk. Probably on drugs as well that little ###.

On March 9 of this year I booked through Orbitz a flight from Fairbanks, Alaska to Knoxville, Tennessee on Frontier and United Express through Denver. Our Orbitz confirmation clearly stated on the itinerary that the seats for the last leg (Denver to Knoxville on United) "will be assigned at check-in." On August 8, the night we were to leave Fairbanks, we checked in with Frontier Air and were told we would not be able to secure boarding passes for the United Express portion of the flight until we reached Denver. At 6 am (four hours before the flight was to leave to Knoxville) we approached a United Express representative in Denver and were given 5 boarding passes, two with seat assignments and three without. We were assured by this individual that those seats would be assigned but that we could not find out what the seats were until 9:30, one half hour before the flight left.

We arrived at the desk at 9am, concerned about getting seats, and were put off, and told that “if we hadn’t booked through Orbitz and had gone directly through the airline” we wouldn’t be having a problem with seats on the plane. The ticket agent refused to assign the seats at that time. At 9:30 we were informed that the flight had been overbooked and that we did not, in fact, have seats for everyone in our party.

The attendant handed us a pamphlet on the reasons for overbooking and told us we could take it up with customer service.

Our party consisted of three adults and two children, and initially they tried to give us four of the five seats, leaving one of the children back in Denver! As it happened, the children's grandmother did not receive a seat and stayed the entire day in Denver waiting for the next flight, while we carried aboard our two distraught and crying children who did not understand why Grandma had to be left behind on her birthday.

United Airlines caused our family a great deal of stress and inconvenience, through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN, simply because they knowingly overbooked our flight and refused to assign us seats or to allow me to secure seats online months before. We paid for a service which they failed to deliver, and they are not even apologetic about it. The attendant even had the audacity to imply that we were in error for not checking in earlier, despite the fact that we were unable to do so online from our hotel the day before, nor were we permitted to do so by Frontier Air before the first leg of our trip. We made every attempt to secure our boarding passes as early as possible and were stymied by their insolent and unhelpful staff at every turn.

The bottom line is this: United Airlines will allow you to pay exorbitant amounts for seats on a flight, but does not guarantee you a seat on said flight. They will bump you with no thought whatsoever to who is in your party (in our case two small children) and will treat you as if it is your fault.

Apparently, the Denver branch of United Airlines has a reputation for this kind of dishonesty and for poor service. I would recommend choosing another airline for your travel needs. This was despicable treatment.

Very dissapointed and very inconvienced on our flight 7-15-10 from MKE to CLE. Flght was 5 1/2 hours late. We were in an airport until after midnight which meant our destination pick up was after 2:00 am. My husband had a business review meeting the next morning and I was cheated out of precious time with my grandchildren because of lack of sleep. When you spend over $700 to fly such a short distance for 3 days taking almost 6 hours out of that time is very upsetting. We would like some compensation (free ticket e.g.) becaulse our family lives in Cleveland my husbands business is there and we plan on flying there again and again. But in on your airline unless you address our disappointing experience of flight CO 2948W from Thurs July 15, 2010.

My friend and I purchased round-trip tickets from SEA to HOU and back. While in Houstson, we both looked into changing our filghts to return early. In doing so, the agent/s (made 2 seperate calls), both stated there were no additional chages and that we actually would receive a credit of just over $40. The agent I specifically spoke with asked if I would like the "credit" refunded to the original card or given in the form of a voucher. I requested that it be placed back on my friend's card.

On the morning of my return flight, I attempted to check in early and found out that they only changed the time of my flight and not the date. I quickly called and had that fixed and was told I would receive an additional credit of $20 since the new flight was cheaper.

After arriving back in Seattle, I come to find out we were both charged ticket change fees of $600 each totalling in over $1, 200! After filing a request for a refund with detailed information, they are refusing any sort of refund and state that we are responsible for the cost. Mind you, our original roundtrip tickets were just over $300 each. How can it turn from $300 to $900. Crazy if you ask me. Neither of us would have changed our flights if it was more than $100 each.

After responding to their refusal email where they stated we could request that they give us a call, they still have not called or replied via email. HELP!

So I took advantage of Continental's "24-hour policy, " where you can book your flight and then modify or cancel it within 24 hours free of charge. I did end up canceling the flight. The charge for the flight (~$2000) is still pending on my credit card 12 days later. While I do not technically owe the money, the $2000, which is not a small amount (for me at least) is being counted against my credit limit. I'm between a rock and a hard place, as the credit card won't act on this, and Continental is IMPOSSIBLE to reach to figure out what is going on. Over the past two days, I have been on hold close to 3 hours combined, with most of my calls ending up with my hanging up or my battery dying. ONCE i got through and was told that since, by definition, a cancelation within the 24-hour window voids the transcation, the shouldn't have been a charge at all. And yet...Well then came another transfer to another department and another hopeless endless call. Needless to say that that the rep that did pick that once sounded bored and uninterested, at best. So for the fear of losing or my minutes (and sanity) to Continental, I'm just waiting for the pending charge to "fall off" after 30 days.
The irony is that I rebooked the ticket with Continental the next day. It will surely be my last time with them.

Recently(first week of 5/11), we responded to an valpak ad to have our A/C duct cleaned for our condo. United Air Care customer service sales person Josh was very polite and explained all the details about the terms and conditions of the coupon. So, we decided to take an appointment to have a general cleaning of our A/C duct at $39 which includes up-to 8 ducts and any additional ducts would cost $16 / duct. Then on the day of appointment, a big guy called Jerry came along with another Hispanic guy, who in the end was doing all the work.

From the time they entered and till they left we were not comfortable talking with Jerry at all. First of all his attitude. He kept on saying the coupon offers a basic cleaning which would do nothing much, and we should get a deluxe clean which would costs $150 more. Worst part was, he mentioned additional ducts would costs $25 not $16 as mentioned by Josh, the Customer Service guy. When my wife called the company, they kept on saying Josh is not working that day. In the meantime, Jerry was showing his urgency as, we should make the decision quickly or else he would charge for his time too. What a Joke!

We decided to continue with the basic cleanup. At that time, the whole drama began. Jerry went up the attic to check or that's what he claims, and came back saying our entire A/C duct is in bad shape and needs a complete replacement. His explanations were there are lot of bacterias around the furnace, things are broken etc etc. He would never show a picture of the same(though Josh guy had said they will always take digital pictures and show it to customers). Our condo is just 7 years old and there is no way things could have turned into the ways he is talking about. His way of talking was like, as if we are holding him off from doing that work. Above all, when my wife asked for the price of replacement package, twice he mentioned its too expensive and we won't be able to afford it! That's right, that is what he said. At that point of time, my wife called me at work and explained the situation. I smelled something is wrong here and told her to just get them off right away. Since the Hispanic guy was done with the so called basic cleaning, we asked them to leave the place at that time. Of course, they promptly collected $39 and wouldn't really document anything about their findings. There was a point of time, which made me worried about the safety of my wife and our 20 month daughter. Truly, I shouldn't be making these kind of comments about contractors but this situation was little bit too much.

Next day, I called their office and left them a strong VM. Someone called me withing 30 minutes and very patiently listen to me about the previous day happenings. He obliged that Jerry's behavior was wrong and would speak with his manager and get back to me. Its been 2 weeks and no responses from them whats so ever. The same day we took an appointment with another A/C maintenance which is recommended by our home protection plan company. They took a look of the entire thing and said everything is fine but for the Furnace filter. The guy even laughed when we told him, that Jerry told us about the bacteria in the furnace. So in the end, with some uncomfortable and weird moments, we got saved from a big rippoff!

I have decided to complain about United Air Company in all the boards out there and even thinking of speaking with the BBB. Any suggestion or advices on them, please let me know. I have seen in this forum and other, about similar complaints. We all need to take this action together and teach them a lesson.

if you are ever approched to give up your seats and return you will get x amount of dollors in vouchers to use in your next travels---DONT DO IT --YOU WILL GO THRU LIVING HELL TRYING TO REDEEM THEM--THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE TIME YOU HAVE TO INVEST AND THE TROUBLE --AT LEAST FROM THIS COMPANY ((UNITED AIRLINES)) YOU MIGHT BE SO LUCKY TO GET THE SUPERVISOR I DI ((NORA BLANKETY/BLANK ABBEY))) AT DULLES INTERNATIONAL THIS THING NEEDS TO GO BACK TO BE RETRAINED ON CUSTOMER RELATIONS SHE IS THE RUDEST THING I HAVE COME ACROSS IN ALL MY 50 YEARS AND I WONT STOP TILL SHE IS REPRIMANDED FOR HER VERBAL ABUSE ON ME! VOUCHERS ARE JUST NOT WORTH IT RUN WHEN YOU SEE THEM COMING TO ASK FOR YOUR SEAT LET THEM GET THE FINE FOR OVERBOOKING---

On Monday, March 14, 2011 I boarded United Airlines Flt #6540 departing at 0646 hrs from ICT to HNL routing through Denver and San Francisco. Our arrival in Den was early but we could not de-plane because the ground crew had not been scheduled for an early arrival.

As my connecting flight United #372 to SFO was not due to depart until 0855 hrs, I really had no concerns. An hour and 45 minutes later, a United Representative announced that my flight would be delayed 40 minutes, no reason given. When I informed her of my connecting flight United #75 departing at 1225 hrs PDT she assured me and others who had the same flight that we would make it. Thirty minutes (30) later she announced again that our flight would be delayed another 40 minutes and still no reason was given. I asked again about my connecting flight and if they would call ahead and was assured, again, that I would be on time for my flight because of the time change. What that had to do with anything escapes my mind.

We finally boarded the plane, which took some time, then had to wait in line for take-off. I asked and was told rudely that ground cover and storms in San Francisco was the reason for the delay, did I expect them to fly into that?
Upon arrival at SFO, I and others had to RUN to make it to the gate only to find that our flight had left 10 minutes ago. Hm, we couldn't fly into SF, but our flight could take off. Now I had to ask for another flight and was told by United Rep that the next flight was not until 1430 hrs PDT. I could be put on standby for that flight as it was booked full and a confirmed seat on the 1800 hr flight.

I asked if they would check with Continental as United and Continental were now "One?" She said no, they were all booked. I asked if any other Airlines had a flight going out earlier that 1630 hrs, and was told that "I" could check, but it was up to me, and I would have to pay for another ticket with no reimbursement. No help for me there.

So, not only did I have to wait over 2 hrs in Denver, now its 5 hrs in San Francisco terminal added to that had to buy something to eat (cost without tax $10.00) that I was expecting to have in Hawaii.
Many seats were empty on United Flt#77, so I and others waiting Standby were able to get on that one.

We arrived in HNL at 1930 hrs HPT (estimate) and as the rental car company had closed, I had to take a cab to the hotel which cost me another $36.

Now, would you think that that could happen twice in one round trip? What are the odds, 50 to 1, or maybe 100 to 1 or more? I was flying Continental home this time. I was going through Houston. Let me tell you, it does, more often than you think, more often than I thought.

I checked in on line and paid for one checked bag on line. Arriving at HNL Continental Rep (with an attitude) asked for my ticket. I said I checked in on line. I gave him my confirmation and bag and after checking he said that it was overweight and I would have to pay $100. I told him that I already paid on line and it was not overweight, to weigh it again. I was so mad with his surly attitude that I told him I wasn't paying for something that was was clearly underweight and he needed to go back to school to learn how to read a scale. With a glare at me, he tagged my bag and threw it on the belt. Luckily there was nothing in the bag that was breakable or there really would have been an incident.

Continental Flt#2 departing at 1920 hrs HST was late getting off the ground. I told the stewardess that my connecting flight in Houston was for 0900 hrs CDT and could they call ahead that this flight would be late. With a roll of her eyes (I do that with my grandkids so I know) she gives me the same answer as in Denver, that there is a time change. My response to her was that I don't know what clock she was working off of, but it has nothing to do with my flight leaving at 0900 hrs, for which she walked off in a huff.

The plane was so cold that even in a sweat jacket and jeans and the very thin blanket provided, my finger tips and feet were numb. My seat mate actually got up half way through the flight got his carry-on bag and put on his sweatsuit in the middle of the aisle, for which he was told he couldn't do that and he said, "watch me."

When asked several times if I could get a cup of coffee, was told that the other stewardess had the coffee. She was on the other aisle and when on my aisle, flew past so fast, I never got the coffee.

Cloud cover was so bad in Houston that the pilot had to land on the farthest runway and taxi to the terminal which took another half hour. Now its 15 minutes till 0900 hrs, and getting off the plane is a hassle and so is the terminal. I ran through terminal C to the tram to go to terminal B to gate 69. But too late, plane had left just minutes before.

Again had to talk to the Rep. They can't get me on a flight until 1430 hrs. and only on Standby although they can confirm for the 1830 hr flight, there is nothing in between. Asked about United, same response, booked full. Other Airlines? Check them yourself, I don't have time, can't you see I'm busy, that Hawaii flight screwed everything up she said. I was so mad, so tired and cold that I asked if there was anything going NORTH, a small plane, a wheel chair, a flying carpet? I was told I was rude and I could take my complaint to Customer Relations.

Could not get on the 1430 flight. the 1830 flight was at a different gate, so had to run there. Upon entering the gate area I noticed that the announcement at the gate said Flt 2336 to ICT was leaving at 1530 hrs. Talked to the Rep to see if I could get on that flight. He asked if i wanted a seat on that plane. I told him the other Rep didn't tell me about this one and one way or another I was going to be on that plane. Must have looked like a senior citizen on the edge. I thought my nightmare was over, but no, another delay, for maintenance problems. Boarded at 1600 hrs, took off at 1610 hrs and arrived at ICT at 1730 hrs.

In all my years (as I am over 65) United has been at the top of my list for flying anywhere, and yes, I have flown the competition on the odd occasion, but I have never, never experienced the delays, the rudeness and attitude toward customers as I have on this trip, and at one point, I thought it was me, but looking around, everyone was experiencing the same thing. Only one person was willing to put the customer first.
The flight scheduling is appalling. There is no time to get from one concourse to another, even for someone younger than me, and God forbid Mother Nature screw up the schedule, or the plane has a maintenance issue. The cabin is too cold to be comfortable, the seats are so narrow that you're practically sitting in the other persons lap. I don't like to get that up close and personal with a stranger. To get up for any reason you have to be a contortionist.

I know some of you have flown your own company. You know how uncomfortable it is, you know that in your trips you've been delayed, missed flights, were late or even missed important events. Do you just throw up your hands and say, "Well, thats the price you pay to fly?" No it isn't!

I remember when it was a joy to fly with United, when the service excelled over others, when you had legroom and the seats were not so small, the meals came with your flight and your people treated customers with the respect they deserve.

I am one of the millions of "baby boomers" who spend 76% of our savings and yes, social security on travel, of which most of that goes to the airlines. I am one of the millions of customers who travel for pleasure or business. I am also a dissatisfied angry individual.

This may end up in file 13. At least it is a complaint well deserved.

Mr. Smikas, I will take your advice and if and when I fly, I'll try other carriers until I find one that will give me the respect as a customer that I deserve. Should I fail, it would be through no fault of my own.

I was booked on the 2220hrs flight from Newark to Edinburgh Flight No CO108 on Sunday 26th September 2010.

On this flight I noted that two hours had passed and there was no sign of activity from the cabin staff. As is customary I decided to order a pre dinner drink for myself and my wife and duly summoned a steward. I asked for an alcoholic drink but this was refused and I was informed that there would be an opportunity to have a drink when the meal came round shortly. At this time I asked for a comments sheet but was told that these were not available.

A short time later the meal was delivered but I noticed that the drinks trolley was following a good 10 minutes behind the meal. The predicament was whether to eat the meal while it was hot or to wait for a glass of wine to accompany it and chance the meal mean tepid.

When the drinks trolley arrived I was spoken to by the Flight Manager who did not introduce himself but I saw from his nametag that he was a Mr J*******. He asked what my problem was and I told him that I would have liked a drink prior to my meal being served. I was informed that drinks were not served due to a policy decision made after 9/11. I told him that this was not the case and that drinks were served on other carriers. I was then informed that this was a Continental decision and again I questioned that I had been served drink on my outbound flight. Mr J****** then informed me that the policy was not to serve alcohol prior to dinner being served on flights which depart after 2100hrs. Again I questioned this and he retorted that he could not understand why I was getting upset over not being served a drink.

It was apparent at this time that any further discussion with this person was going to be fruitless.

Later in the flight when breakfast was being served there was still a long delay between the food and a drink. I noted that Mr J******* and a female member of staff were distributing the drinks and appeared more concerned with laughing and joking with each other than serving the passengers.

Eventually I was asked by Mr J****** what I would like and I was asked for coffee but was met with the retort “more detail” and again replied that I wished a coffee. Condescendingly Mr J****** placed his hand on my shoulder and stated that I would have to be more specific and state if I wanted it black or white.

As stated I found the attitude of Mr J****** appalling and severely lacking in customer care. It was obvious that it was pointless to question him further regarding any matter and that he was going to take every opportunity to belittle and humiliate me in front of both my wife and other passengers as shown with the way he questioned me about the coffee. I did take time to note that other passengers were asked if they wished their coffee with milk or cream and not the abrupt “more detail”.

I do not know if it is Continental policy or not post 9/11 but Mr J****** was making great play on this issue and I fully understand that this was a great tragedy involving the loss of life on a great scale. Perhaps I should have informed Mr J****** that I fully understood about 9/11 and I could also have informed him that I had experience of working in my professional capacity at the Pan Am Lockerbie Trial in Holland for a period of time. I could also have shown him the identification I had in my wallet from that period of time but I felt that this was irrelevant to the initial complaint.

I would be interested to hear comments on this policy and what actual part alcohol played on that tragic day that led to this ban on it being served and also on the significance of no drink to be served prior to a meal on a flight after 9pm but the suitability of it being served prior to this on a daytime flight. In addition do other members of their Alliance also adhere to this policy or is it strictly a Continental policy?

I have travelled with various carriers over the years and can safely state that this is the worst service that I have ever experienced on a flight. It would appear that the passengers were an inconvenience to the laughing and obvious good time that Mr J****** was having with his staff. As stated I found his overall attitude demeaning and set out to belittle and humiliate. I did not feel that I was travelling on a scheduled flight but more of a charter flight where you have little choice in the matter.

I will certainly have to question whether or not I use Continental in the future.

Recently there was a call for volunteers since the flight was over booked. I was told I would be placed on an alternative flight which would get me to my destination 2 hour later. This was fine with me since it still gave me plenty of time to pick up the package I was to pick up in L.A. before flying to new Zealand that evening.

I recieved a $400 voucher but as soon as the flight left I was told they had made a mistake and there was no room on the flight they told me I would be transfered to. They eventually put me on a flight but it was much later and I missed my appointment. I could accept it if they put me on a flight and it was held up but in this case they simply did not do what they had agreed to do. I was several hours late to LA and it cost me hundreds of dollars to sort the mess out. Customer service does not want to know about it. They say I was compensated. I feel the compensation was for changing to the flight they told me I would be put on, not for agreeing to be lied to.

Unprovoked attack for over an hour by Continental Staff ganging up to try and have a father and his 5 year old son thrown off a plane for absolutely no reason. Results: A 5 year old child was traumatized and his father unlawfully abused, verbally assaulted, harassed and publicly humiliated by Continental Staff in front on a plane full of passengers and his son. Four passengers are prepared to give statements and there is a video tape of part of the incident recorded by one of the passenger. Details below:

1. Captain’s Involvement: I was wrongfully offended, unjustly embarrassed and intentionally humiliated publicly by the Captain over the airplane loud-speaker; he announced…"We are ready to take off though unfortunately we are being delayed because of a situation and problem with a First Class Passenger.” At no time did the Captain make a personal inquiry about the situation and was totally out of line in making such a public announcement. His actions were immature, unproductive (unhelpful to the situation) and totally unprofessional. The Captain’s remarks and actions caused the entire plane (economy class passengers) to look forward and form an incorrect negative opinion and conclusion of me. The Captains announcement insinuated that I was causing a problem and had behaved inappropriately or in a dangerous fashion and was the reason for the delay. The sole purpose for the Captain to make such an announcement must have been to intentionally embarrass, humiliate and offend me publicly. In addition to the initial embarrassment due to the Captain’s announcement, when I was removed from the plane against my will everyone on the plane was bitterly starring at me in disgust and anger. The Captain's action was an unprovoked personal attack against me; it was harassment and public humiliation thus unlawful. Captain’s physical description: Had salt and pepper mustache.

2. Female Hostess Involvement: When I first boarded the plane I went up to the female hostess while she was in the galley and explained to her the situation and asked for assistance. I specifically asked her if the flight had finished boarding. The female hostess was preparing drink and was unhelpful, unprofessional, rude, aggressive, abusive and hostile from the very first moment. As I saw she had no intention to help me, I then decided to speak with the passenger sitting beside my assigned seat to see if he was willing to move. During this conversation I was rudely interrupted by the hostess. She interfered with a civil conversation I was having with a passenger and ordered me to "stop speaking to the passenger...”I told you we haven't stopped boarding yet!" I calmly explained to her that I had all the right in the world to speak to the passenger and that I would not cease my conversation and that she was out-of-line in ordering me to do so. At that point when she realized she would not be able to stop me from continuing my conversation with the passenger, she once again rudely interrupted me...The hostess went on to falsely accuse me of being loud and aggressive and with hostility and aggression she took a step towards me and said..."Back off" trying to insinuate that I was going to assault her. I was stationary and didn't move a step throughout this entire process with my 5 year old son beside me. All this took place in-front of several passengers. Four particular passengers witnessed the whole thing and where outraged with her and the staffs behavior and the absurdity of overall situation. They are all prepared to give sworn testimony and confirm the events that transpired for over an hour, causing the plane to take off an hour late (after it's scheduled departure time).

3. Male Host (bald guy) Involvement: The host was in the galley during the above conversation, when the hostess got frustrated that I would not cease my conversation with the passenger she went to the galley and both the host and hostess came up to me. Host assaulted me...as he came up to me in a combative and offensive manner and using aggressive hand gestures said…"if there's a problem here, you're out of here, off this plane!"...such behavior scared my 5 year old son. Before making such comments host did not inquire about the situation or try to resolve it. He was more interested in supporting his female work colleague rather then to find out what the situation was and attempt to find a solution. Absolutely no effort was made by the host or anyone else to accommodate the situation. His behavior was totally unprofessional, abusive, harassing and his assault, unlawful. He then proceeded to call an "agent" to seek to have me and my son removed from the plane and went to speak to the Captain and then angrily stormed towards the exit of the plane.

4. Supervisor’s Involvement (one called Carlos): No one inquired about what truly happened. No one questioned any of the passengers even after several requests by me to do so. No one cared to hear the truth. No one made an effort to be fair to me and/or any other passenger and to understand what actually happened. For over an hour everyone (Continental Staff) seemed too pre-occupied in trying to find some excuse how to throw my son and I off the plane for absolutely no reason. They all ganged up on me and my son. They united and abused their professional powers of their position in a team effort to continue to engage in abusive and malicious behavior towards me and to continue to unlawfully harass me in front of my son and passengers for over an hour.

Supervisor (Carlos) continued to threaten to have my son and I removed from the plane and have me arrested if I didn't accompany him and his team of people off the plane. Part of the incident was filmed by a passenger/witness. Carlos also forcefully ordered a passenger to stop filming the conversation and physically tried to remove the camera. This is all on film.

Once off the plane, I informed Carlos about my intention to file a complaint. I asked what rights and recourse I had and the protocol for filing a complaint. He said the only thing I could do is go on-line and fill out a form (customer service form). I asked Carlos for everyone's name so I could proceed to do that and he refused to give them to me; saying that I would personally have to ask each employee and it was at their discretion to give me their names. I decided not to speak to the hostel employees and will have my attorney subpoena the flight records to get everyone’s details.

During this incident, I was asked on 2 occasions to step off the plane and abandon my 5 year old son...both times I refused to do so. Explaining that I had no intention to leave my son on the plane alone and/or have him continue to witness such hostile behavior towards me and that I did absolutely nothing wrong to warrant me having to disembark the plane or be treated in such an abusive and hostile fashion. I expressed that such request and behavior by Continental Staff was harassment and inappropriate. I explained that I was happy to discuss the situation with anyone on the plane (where I was) or for privacy in the front galley, so I could keep an eye on my son and he wouldn't have to witness the abuse. I further explained there was nothing to hide and that the passengers should witness to the efforts, conduct and conversation that was to take place by everyone involved.

6. The way all Continental Staff handled the situation made me feel like a common criminal...I was deeply offended, emotionally abused and nearly physically battered in front of my 5 year old son and passengers. I was treated and seen as a criminal by everyone for absolutely NO Cause or Reason! The incident caused me public embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress. It traumatized my 5 year old son and caused him emotional distress as he was afraid of the staffs continued aggressive behavior towards me and realized there was something wrong. My son was very concerned and scared and asked me several times what was going on, what was wrong? He asked me if we where going to be separated and why they didn't want us to sit together? At one point my son asked me if they where going to arrest me? My son had to see me abandon him while being escorted and unwillingly removed from the plane and had to stay alone on the plane in fear and dismay.

As 4 witnesses and a video tape will confirm, at no time did I ever act inappropriately with anyone on the plane (passengers or Continental Staff). I was always calm and polite, kept my composure, my voice was never raised, I made no threats or did anything to provoke anyone. I diligently tried to explain the situation and understand what was going on myself. There was absolutely no reason for any of this unprofessional, abusive, harassing, threatening and unlawful behavior towards me and my 5 year old son by Continental Staff.

7. Due to this incident, I find myself reluctant to deal and communicate with airline staff and have serious concern about traveling on a plane again...The thought of this cause’s me serious stress and anxiety.

I don't know yet what short and/or long term affect this incident will have on my 5 year old son...I will let a professional child therapist make that assessment.

What action can I take to help avoid this from happening to another innocent passenger? Please advise, thank you.

I just thought you might like to know about our LAST excursion with United. We were scheduled to fly to Florida last Wednesday night from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Due to the weather this flight was cancelled. I can understand this cancellation, but the way we were treated was uncalled for. We asked if we could extend it a day on the other end because it would cut us short a day of our vacation to visit our mother. Of course you could do it for $125 a ticket. We were told it wasn't your fault so you didn't have to do anything for us. One of my sisters went on line to find another flight in the A.M. the next day but when we asked to be put on that flight it was extremely expensive. You would rather fly out with an empty plane then accommodate customers. So we were scheduled to depart Florida on Monday evening and then that flight was cancelled again due to weather in the eastern states. Why that should have affected our flight is a little surprising. So we did end up with our extra day in Florida after all. The problem with this is because we didn't know we were getting the extra day there was not preparation for somebody to fill in at our jobs for us. I am responsible for payroll and you know as well as I, everybody wants to get paid!

This brings us to our return flight on Tuesday evening. We got to the airport on time and boarded the plane on time. We sat on the plane for a very long time, unsure of what was going on. I guess it was some technical difficulty. Needless to say we missed our connecting flight from Chicago to Grand Rapids. So late on Tuesday night we had to wait in a long line to find out they were putting us up in a hotel and we asked for food vouchers and were told they would not give us any. So that meant we had to pay for 2 meals we were not prepared to pay for. You see my sister is a diabetic and has to eat to take her insulin. (Fortunately she had that with her). So after waiting for about 1/2 hour the shuttle finally picked us up and we got a room assigned and then we went to the hotel restaurant to get a bite to eat. After finishing we went to the room they assigned us to and we could hear somebody else in that room. We knocked and a lady came to the door. I can imagine what her reaction would have been had we walked in on her.

Mind you during our entire ordeal not once was one of your representatives cordial to us in any way. All we were told is they could not help us and would not help us.

I have always heard to fly the friendly sky's with United. What has happened? I don't fly all that much, but I do make arrangements for my employers to fly and believe me I am going to think twice before scheduling with United. If your new image had anything to do with the new name "TED", you would be better off going back to the old name and old way of treating people. A little kindness and accommodation will go much farther then treating people like they don't matter.

I am not one to complain, but it has bothered me so much to be treated the way we were I thought it warranted a letter. I'm certain nothing will be done about it after all its not your problem. As we were told many times.

The following is what I typed into the United Airlines website that pretends to collect communications from customers. In the end I could find no way to communicate my complaint and requests to United Airlines. There was no way even to tell them that they had "locked the door."

They have hermetically sealed themselves off from customer communications about their service. The following is what I attempted to send:

I attempted to send this as a complaint and when I pressed "Continue" below, twice the system disappeared the communication without doing anything with it (that I could see). So then I called on the phone and was told that the call center (in India) was having trouble hearing me on the phone and that they could not interact with this matter because they will not have the records of what they did available to them for another three or four days, so would I call back. I said no and asked for an email address to send a complaint to and was connected, I was told, to a senior customer service representative. After waiting for several minutes, the phone redirected my call to a several-layers-deep voicemail system for the most general customer contact, that would eventually have taken me right back to the same call center.

So now I am sending this as a "compliment" in the hopes that you read your compliments. You have perfectly isolated yourself from complaints.

We shall see. The following is my communication. If you read it carefully you will see that I am giving you a big gift, but I guess that you will not.

I recently reserved a flight from Vancouver to NYC (JFK). My client in Vancouver changed the meeting, and so I was compelled to cancel. My assistant made a timely cancellation of the ticket. She reported to me that the person who spoke to her on the phone was nasty, was on the phone for about 20 minutes in the process of cancelling the flight, and I was charged a "fee" of $150 for canceling.

Is this what you intended? I have traveled on the order of a million miles on United over the years, and if this is your standard cancellation fee, it is three times the largest fee I have previously encountered.

I would appreciate hearing from you what you intended - what your policy is on timely cancellations of flight reservations with United Airlines.

And, if this is not your standard policy, I would appreciate a refund.

Missed my flight. Was told by United airport CS rep that United could not place me on another airline. Was told by this rep that United only airline flies Denver - Albuquerque. INCOMPTETENT Refused to give me ticket to move to other airline. Went to Frontier to catch flight. United would not relinquish ticket and CS booth in this terminal was not manned. Travel agent had to purchase full fare one way to get me on trip. United refused to honor my ticket home and make right the inconvenience. I spent 3.5 hours on the phone/hold/talking to people in India who finally said: sorry ma'am you shouldn't have missed your flight.

JENNIFER KAPTAIN ONLY HELPFUL PERSON WHO WORKS FOR UNITED, RE-ACTIVATED what was a fully refundable ticket in the first place. Gave me a ticket voucher to make right the inconvenience.

AND Jennifer Kaptain is responsible for me wanting to even use United anymore.

You do not have useful customer service people. After I failed to be helped by the first one, each one echoed "you shouldn't have missed your flight.

I sincerely hope that Jennifer can be recognized and that it is not the India team reading this.

YOU ARE RIGHT, I SHOULD NOT HAVE MISSED MY FLIGHT. THAT WAS EVIDENT. I NEEDED A CUSTOMER FREINDLY SOLUTION. Not to be lied to by a useless customer service rep who has no idea where United flies. Inconceivable.

My parents flew from chicago to beijing ( china) 14 hour flight. They had a medication worth 3500 dollars that needed to be refrigerated. All the medications were in a box size of a DVD box, and it had a doctors prescription with two little ice packs. The flight attendant refused to refrigerate it and the medications were ruined. What do I do? Can I have United pay for my damages?
I called the airline two times before the flight just make sure they would allow this medication to be refrigerated, and both times the representative told me that they don't see a reason why the flight attendant would refuse to do so. Now they are telling me that they are not required to do it, and they can actually refuse to do so, if there is not enough room in the refrigerator. Common, a little box like that? Didn't they cut on all the foods and drinks, so wouldn't there be more room than ever? I can't imagine any humane person refuse on this, unless it concerned the safety of passengers, which in this case obviously did not. Pure laziness and insensitiveness. Thats all I can say

Back in June 2009 my family was flying from LAX to IAD to our final destination of Copenhagen When we arrive at our final location we were missing 1 Baggage. We filed a missing baggage complaint with SAS who the final carrier was.
In tracking down the missing baggage we were told it is still at LAX and it did not make the plane. The other 6 item did make the plane.
I have been try to work with SAS/UNITED for just less than 1 year to get payment for missing items and still do not have a cent from either airlines They are both pointing to each other as not losing the baggage.

Both airlines are requiring receipts for all the stuff that was inside the missing baggage. Who keeps receipts for all the items that are inside a suitcase.
The receipts that we did submit they would not accept as stating not covered like retainers for my daughter teeth.

January 27, I got on Flight 1706 at 4 pm from Austin to Houston. I was upgraded to first class and my fare level was probably a fully refundable economy ticket. I usually buy my tickets to Austin last minute because my schedule is fluid while I am there, but I could be wrong on the fully refundable part on the return flight. I know it was a platinum upgrade fare that I had upgraded myself.

I got on to the plane in the first round of boarding and put my suitcase up in the overhead bin, but the top part was sticking out a little. Some planes that does not matter and was only barely sticking out so I thought the bin would close. I fly enough that I can usually tell. I was trying not to take up too much space because it was a full flight and I had to use the economy area. I wanted others to have room. I didn't check my bag mainly because my computer was in the bag and my luggage stipper started acting up this week. I was afraid the suitcase would come open and my computer could be damaged.

As I sat down I got a business call from an associate and was deep in conversation when I suddenly heard my name being called. I looked up and the flight attendant said she was checking my bag. I asked her why she would check my bag and she said there was no room for it then she replaced my bag with someone else's smaller bag. I immediately ended my phone conversation and jumped up and said please don't check my bag, but it was already gone and I said, I need to get my computer. I ran to the jetway, but the bag was already off the plane, and when I said to the flight attendant that I needed to get my computer she shrugged and said sorry.

I was upset, but sat back down. I didn't raise my voice and in fact the woman next me said she would have been a lot more upset if that had happened to her. I just smiled and grabbed my phone and started writing a two line text to the guy I had hung up on on my iPhone (which I admit takes me a little longer) as the door was closing. The flight attendant who had taken my bag walked over to my seat (1F) and said in a very rude voice, "you NEED to turn your phone off." I said, "just a minute" while I was finishing typing the text. I fly weekly and am on a plane usually 2 times a week or more. I have never had a flight attendant not let me spend a few seconds finishing up something. She stood right over me in the seat section and said more loudly, "YOU NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE OFF NOW!" I looked up turning the phone off and setting my phone down in the little cubby in the seat of first class seats and said, "ok, but you shouldn't have taken my bag". I did not yell, but I was irritated. She said to me, "do you want to stay in Austin?" in a clearly threatening tone. I replied that I didn't want to stay in Austin, but that I didn't understand why she had made me check my bag. She asked why I thought I deserved to keep my bag when there were other bags up there and I said because I was in first class and I had gotten on the plane before anyone else. She again said, "So do you want to stay in Austin." I said I didn't. She went on to say that there were three bags up there and that my bag was sticking out and so I said, "exactly there were three bags and I was in first class." She then said again, "if you keep arguing with me you will stay in Austin." I said, that I was not arguing, I was asking and that she was the one who was keeping this conversation going. At that point she said, "FINE" and so I asked her what her name was. She told me her name was Elissa in a very surly tone. Her behavior was bad enough that the woman in 1 E said she was planning on writing the airline because she was agressive enough that it scared her. I would not say I was scared, but I did feel her behavior was much too agressive.

After we taxied for quite a while and then waited in line for about 5 minutes longer we took off. After she made the announcement after take off about drink service, she got and walked to the back. When she returned she handed me a white sheet of paper that in several language stated I had been given an official federal warning for my behavior and told me to review it. The flight attendant who was repsonsible for first class then came over and asked to take my drink order. I showed her the paper and asked her what it meant. She was astonished that I had been given the warning and said she had heard Elissa's tone and thought it was inappropriate, but didn't know what had happened. We talked for a minute then she said she needed to get the drink service going. She came back shortly before we landed and I noticed she had been in the galley with Elissa. She said not to worry about the paper that Elissa had told her she had given it to me to "cover her butt". She said she had been flying for a long time and had never issued one and again said she was really surprised that Elissa would have done so. I then asked to speak to the Flight Attendant supervisor and was told that it was Elissa. I forgot to get the name of the other flight attendant, but she was a very attractive blonde. She was very helpful and did a good job of trying to make me feel better.

I am a great customer of Continental. I always brag about what a great airline it is. I am astounded that I was given a federal warning about obstructing the flight because I didn't turn my phone at the second she told me to and then complained about my bag being taken. I think this was completely inappaproprite. As session starts I now have to decide if I am going to fly this flight again or go on another airline or leave later. That is the perfect time for me to go on Thursday afternoon. I usually go in on Sunday night or Monday morning and by Thursday that 4 o'clock flight is the perfect time to come back home. I am kind of afraid to get back on that because I really feel like she targeting me and now I am worried that she will continue to bully me. She doesn't have a supervisor on the plane and basically can do what she wants based on the way she acted yesterday.

As a side note when I got down to baggage my computer had come out the bag and was hanging halfway out. Luckily it was not damaged. Let me know if you can forward this to someone. I just don't think the Supervisor on a flight should treat passengers this way especially considering first class passengers tend to be very good customers.

I have flown quantas, british air and fiji air. Never have I had to acquire a visa independently and pay for it. Based upon information on your site, I was surpirsed to see this information and it was a bit confusing at that. So I called for clarification. The young lady who answered the phone, sounded Indian although very clear, assured me I did not need to purchase a visa as it would be taken care of in my ticket.
Imagine my surprise when my husband dropped my mother and myself off at LAX and returned back to the central valley to be told we did not have visas and could not board.
We were returning to Australia for my mothers 86th birthday. Now we were stranded at LAX. It took almost 30 minutes for the check-in attendent to solve the problem but she was able to assist us with purchasing the visa. She was very attentive and apologetic.
Unfortunately she was the only one there and several passengers in line were getting extremely upset at their wait.
Either make the website more clear - transferrirng to another site was not helpful - or ensure that call personnel have the correct answer or provide visa service autamatically like the other airline.
You would think you could determine when passport number is entered it could determine if a visa was needed for entry to that country.