Lessons learned from airline snafus

On a trip to Japan with our granddaughter in March-April 2014, my husband, Mike, and I flew United Airlines and learned a number of lessons that may help us during and after future flights.

• When checking in for a flight at an airline’s check-in counter or kiosk, double-check all boarding passes for the members of your party to make sure they are accurate and complete for all legs of your journey. Do this before leaving the counter. In fact, print out all boarding passes at home before your departure so there is ample time to inspect them.

Our original March 12 flight from Chicago O’Hare to San Francisco was canceled the day before, and the rerouted flights were unacceptable to us, with a 13-hour layover, an overnight in Los Angeles and an arrival date a day after our originally scheduled arrival, around which we had plans to stay in a booked hotel room and then travel with family members.

Over the phone, we reached a United agent, but she scheduled us on a rerouted flight from Chicago to arrive in San Francisco after the boarding time of our connecting flight to Kansai International Airport near Osaka, Japan. So we kept the agent on the phone until we got acceptable flights plus confirmation of the reservations in an email.

Upon arriving at the Milwaukee Airport for the flight to Chicago, we received our boarding passes, checked our luggage and went through security before discovering that our granddaughter’s set of boarding passes did not include one for her flight from Chicago to San Francisco.

My granddaughter and I ran through the airport back to the ticket counter, jumping lines and being switched to three different counters, only to be told that, indeed, our granddaughter did not have a ticket for that leg of the flight, as the United agent we dealt with on the phone had failed to book that leg for her.

After numerous agents worked on the issue, she was finally given a boarding pass, and we again ran through the airport and security and just made the flight.

• If you check bags at the airline ticket counter, look carefully at the baggage claim receipts to be sure the bags are being routed to your final destination.

We discovered that the United ticket counter agent had failed to send our three bags to Osaka’s Kansai Airport on March 12, sending them instead to San Francisco as their final destination.

During our time in Japan, March 13-17, all three of us were without our luggage.

• Working with a tour company can provide you a contact or resource person to assist if problems arise. We worked with Japan Roads (Novi, MI; 248/747-4048. www.japanroads.com) on our trip and they were excellent, efficient, helpful and invaluable partners during our journey, even having underwear and other supplies brought to us during the five days our bags were delayed.

• In a carry-on bag, always pack essentials — such as medicines, toiletries, a change of clothes, passports, tickets, copies of reservations, itinerary, electronics, maps, tour books and a snack or two — so you are prepared in case luggage is lost or you are detained due to a canceled flight.

• Prepare a baggage inventory for and descriptions of all bags, and carry it with you in your carry-on luggage. If a bag is lost, you can provide the baggage claim agent with a complete description of the bag and identify its contents. 

While it’s somewhat time-consuming the first time you create the inventory, if kept in a computer file it can easily be amended for future travel, serving as a template and checklist for determining what you need to pack. Also, during a trip, these inventories tell you in which bags you will find what you need. 

• Make copies of your passports, itineraries, medical information, reservations, tickets, insurance cards, baggage inventories and other travel documents and place one in each bag.

• If you encounter problems with an airline, hotel or travel agency, there are several well-known procedures to follow:

1. Document, document, document! Keep all receipts, records, correspondence, etc.

2. If you speak to a representative of an airline, hotel, agency or firm on the phone, make sure to get his or her name, and note the date and time of the call.

3. When possible, request that communication be written (email or letter).

4. Often, contacting the CEO or manager of the organization with whom you have a complaint or dispute will expedite your request.

5. Enlist the assistance of others. If you used a travel agent, he or she may well be able to add pressure. If your dispute involves an item or service charged on a credit card, the card issuer may be helpful also. (In our case, I believe United Airlines was encouraged to respond to our requests at least in part because of the efforts of the Department of Transportation, whom we contacted.) 

6. Be persistent. Often agencies ignore your complaints or correspondence until you become a pest! However, present your complaint or dispute in a professional and straightforward manner. An “in your face” approach does not establish a positive or productive relationship.

After four months of corresponding with United, we received two $500 travel vouchers, 10,000 miles on our Mileage Plus account, two United Club passes, a $50 Visa gift card and $355.86 in reimbursement for the cost of a car we had to rent due to another flight cancellation (Chicago-Milwaukee) on our way home. It took another month, after filing a claim, to get the $193.16 we requested in compensation for our baggage having been delayed.

(Regarding reimbursement, we were compensated only for the rental car, not for the insurance or gas to drive it home and not for any additional expenses, such as food, a taxi and parking, incurred due to the canceled flight and subsequent car rental.) 

If anyone would like a copy of the 6-page document we created that gives the complete details of our experiences traveling to and from Japan plus our five months of dealings with United Airlines upon our return, we will email it to you upon request. Put “Brennan Family Saga” in the subject line of your email to me at judge1@charter.net.

CAROL McCART BRENNAN

Marshfield, WI

After emailing copies of Carol McCart Brennan’s emails to United Airlines, ITN received a phone call from a United representative, who provided an update on the Brennans’ case. Carol McCart Brennan sent to ITN copies of emails received from United, which included the travel vouchers, etc., and a cover letter with an apology for an error that caused a delay in the reimbursement from United.