We were supposed to leave Dublin on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at about noon. The US was still coping with the aftermath of the Polar Vortex, so our first flight was going to be 2 hours late getting into Washington Dulles. We only had a layover of 1.5 hours. And apparently, everyone in the check-in line at United was in the same boat, because it took us two hours to get through the line to the counter just to talk to someone.
Once we got there, we were told that they would take us to Dulles, but the next available flight to Charlotte from there would be on Jan. 10. Of course they would put us up in a hotel and give a meal allowance! Yeah, right. Having slept on the floor of the Milwaukee airport in February of 2011 after a cancelled flight (and the sickest I had ever been), and seen the news reports of airports crammed with people sleeping all over everywhere every time there is a bad storm, I happen to know they don’t do that here. Maybe they do in Dublin, but I doubt even that.
Their suggestion was that we take the flight to Dulles and gather our bags there, then try to arrange something ourselves once back in the states.
SERIOUSLY?!?
No way. You fix it from here before I step foot on an airplane. Nice try making it someone else’s problem.
After our ticket agent made several trips to talk to her superior, we finally got them to send us back to London on Tuesday, and got booked on a non-stop (again on USAir) from Heathrow to Charlotte first thing Wednesday morning. Probably the best we could have hoped for under the circumstances. Besides – bonus evening in London with Alex!
If you remember, our flight over there was delayed and we were re-routed. The whole trip was booked with United. We never stepped foot in a United airplane.
Word to the wise.
Which reminds me of a brouhaha caused by United several years ago – apparently they are still not your best bet for travel:
But now we’re safely home, the dog and cats are happy to see us and we are sorting through photos and ticket stubs, maps and literature … reliving the trip of a lifetime.
What a ride!
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