United Airlines strands Mother & 3 babies on Christmas Day!

Oh no! Not a mother and three babies!!!

Guess it would have not been so bad had it been a single male. I hate
it when people add unnecessary drama.

Good luck to you. It must be very frustrating,as airlines never lose
luggage.

I couldn't find if someone addressed this further down thread, but why
did United make the OP's wife check the car seats if they were needed
onboard the plane?

That's too bad your bags were lost, but it is a hazard of traveling,
after all, and has happened to many people. I don't think the airline
needs to purchase your baby products for you, however. It might be
more reasonable if they offered you some kind of discount on your
tickets or an apology, but purchasing car seats for you is very silly
to ask for.

I fail to see how you were "stranded" at your final destination,
however. Perhaps you could do a kind and charitable thing and donate
the car seats after you are finished. There are plenty of families in
desperate need, and that would be a very kind thing for you to do,
especially around the holidays. Turn your misfortune into something
good for someone else, and I think you'll find yourself feeling better
for it.

~A

I am so glad I don't have to fly. What a hassel!

If Milwaukee was the travel destination, how could your wife and three
children be connsidered "stranded"?

Wow compared to my "complaint" this is really serious!!!

I hope you are successful with the airline. I wish they would hire
some "Asian" staff to train people in Customer services. Despite
other complaints I must confess Asian airlines are much more helpful.

Good Luck.

Well, whatever you do, don't fly on Delta-
Doesn't Even Leave The Airport

That is, simply put, standard operating procedure for United

I am sorry to hear about your situation. I do believe that you deserve
some compensation for their error.

I would take an earlier flight next time. It tends to get chaotic.

They could have helped you out somehow...instead of sending you on
your way.

For all of those wondering about the car seats:

Wisconsin law requires that children who are
under age 1 and/or 20 lbs must be in a rear-
facing car seat.

2 but not yet 4 be in a car seat.

over 4 but not yet 8, and under 80 lbs., in
a booster seat.

This has been the law since June 1, and they're going to really step
up enforcement on Jan. 1.

Milwaukee's Mitchell Field is our airport of choice, and we live in
Wisconsin. To be honest, there is no place near Mitchell that is open
on Christmas that would sell a car seat. There is a lot of business
near the airport, but most of the places open on Christmas would have
been convenience stores and the occasional 24-hour Walgreen's.

There are buses running to Mitchell, so OP's wife may have been able
to take the city bus to her destination. The website did not mention
hours on Christmas day, but they may have removed any reference on the
26th. The website does not indicate that child safety seats are
required, although strollers should be folded up.

I totaly understand about being stranded by an airline. I had taken a
day flight from Jacksonville to Norfolk for a training session, with
the flight up and back that day.
I made it as far as newark N.J.

everyone boarded the plain for the flight to jacksonville and we were
sitting on the runway getting ready to take off when for some reason
the plane was moved back to the gate and some guy with a hose rinsed
off the wings ( even though they were spotless ).

I got left at the newark airport with no cash, no flight and no
recourse. When I questioned the person at the airline ticket counter
about what they were going to do about putting me up for the night
since they cancled the flight, I was told that it was not their
problem.

I am glad that I was able to find someone in the international flights
area that was willing to provide meal voucher so that i could at least
get some food.

Needless to say .. Newark airport is not somewhere you want to be
stuck in the winter time over night.

I was really feelin the love from the airline that I was flying back
on.. NOT>

i speak from personal experience when i say United is evil. I won't
bore you with details, but suffice it to say i will never upon never
fly United again. They left us stranded in Denver, lost our luggage,
refused to help us and were beyond rude. After hours of trying to get
them to help us, we went to the Frontier airlines desk and told them
our story. These wonderful people gave us meal vouchers, got us a
hotel for the night, and the next day flew us home for free. It was
their maiden flight to K.C. and i cannot tell you how impressed i was
with these wonderful people.

I would talk to the customer relation dept.and demand all what your
out of the pocket your out, and if they stayed in a hotel, and tell
them that you will Take A Class Action Law Suite against their
company. When, and if you sue. Go for all the inconvience, and money
out. Also add the legal fees, too.I would make so much noise that they
would hear your voice in all their coroparate offices, and let the
media know of your raw deal that you received from them.Let me know
what happens, and maybe if it doesn't get solved; then I could lend a
hand. Ok!

How were they stranded? They got to their destination, right?

Someone is being a little overdramatic here.

The airline simply lost her luggage and carseats. Simple as that.

I actually have to agree that they should be reimbursed for the car
seats. Diapers and food, no. But car seats are incredibly expensive
and needed immediately. And once they get the old ones back, the news
ones are unecessary, unlike the food/diapers which would have
eventually been purchased anyway. And I can see why she didnt gate
check them. 3 car seats are huge to lug around in addition to 3 kids
that small AND any carry on luggage! I think the main thing here
though is the lack of compassion. Of course they didnt do it on
purpose, but it wouldnt have killed them to at least be apologetic
about it.. Good luck with United, I hope they come through in some
fashion.

1. While your 6-month old may qualify, your 6- and 4-year olds
certainly are not 'babies'.

2. WHY did your wife and three children fly to Milwaukee for
Christmas? Was it to visit family? Could none of them have brought
you baby food and diapers? Your wife sat in the airport for 24-hours
with no baby food? I'm sure the baby had SOMETHING to eat in
24-hours!

3. Your Christmas was ruined? Really? You don't have the ability to
look at your wife and three children and be grateful that you are all
alive and well and able to spend the holiday together?

Life happens, dude - stuff like this is going to happen, so why not
make the best of it when you find yourself in situations like these?
Yes, everything that happened sucked, but I'm withholding judgment on
UA until I know what they did to compensate you for the loss of your
luggage and carseats.

Why were your carseats checked? Shouldn't your children have been
using them on the plane?

Maybe I'm missing something, but if she got to where she was going,
why is she stranded?

Also, your lost luggage is covered by travel insurance and sometimes
your homeowners insurance. If you put the tickets on a travel credit
card, it may be covered under that, too.

You have to fill out a form to submit a claim - they're not being
rude, they need you to submit the claim in writing. It can be really
stressful travelling with young children during the holiday season -
but United is not responsible for the stressful situation that you
knew you were getting into!

I am just impressed she was attempting to travel alone with three kids
of such young ages. Actually, on second thought, may I ask WHY she
didn't have anyone helping her?
I agree they should reimburse you, but what was their reasoning for
making you check the things other posters have said should not have
had to be checked?
I'm just a curious George I suppose. I just have too many questions on
this one...

I'm confused about something, you state that Milwaukee was your
family's destination so how were they stranded? It's not like they
were stuck in the airport for hours without food or diapers for the
children. Those items are easily purchased and I'm sure she only had
a small supply with her anyway.

According the the TSA website, you can carry on baby food and diapers
so they should not have been checked anyway. The TSA has relaxed some
of those tight restrictions they imposed after 8/10/2006.

As someone else said, you could have gate checked the car seats. It's
done all the time. You need to give them time to locate them before
they will reimburse you. I'm sure there are places you could have
rented some for a few days before purchasing new ones.

No airline wants to lose your luggage. It's not like they are sitting
there saying, "look guys, it's the Smith's luggage, let's put it on a
plane to Australia". Unfortunately, it happens and it's darn
inconvenient.

While I agree they could have been a little more helpful, I don't
think they went out of their way to ruin your Christmas.

Yeah, sure...

They didn't loose your luggage on purpose. Airlines generally don't go
out of their way to annoy their customers. Luggage gets lost, flights
get delayed and canceled, security meausures are there in an effort to
protect all passengers.

Do you think the airlines should have given everyone money for food?
Or just your wife?

Do you think the airlines should compensate everyone who had to
replace clothing or whatever was temporarily lost? Or just your wife?


Do you think the airlines should give refunds to everyone whose hols
were delayed or smudged by what is, unfortunately, a common aspect of
air travel? Or just your wife?

It sounds like your family was safe and together for the hols. Put
this minor inconvenience behind you and get over it. Life is too short
to be bitter about stuff like this.

This has been pretty much my sense of United: that they are rude and
uninterested in making passengers' trips go at all well, even by
airline standards. But I haven't flown United for awhile.

But bags get lost. I think they owe you for the carseats because your
children need carseats every day. But as far as baby food and
diapers, you'd be buying those anyway, and assuming that your luggage
shows up with those things in it I don't think they owe you for that.
They definitely owe you an apology, but I don't really expect that
they'll give you one.

I also don't get how your wife is "stranded". Were her return tickets
in her checked luggage?

In any case I hope your wife gets her luggage soon, because it sure
doesn't sound as if she needs the added stress on top of the children.

That's a really terrible situation to be in. I will be the first to
admit that carrying three carseats through the airport, through
security checkpoints to the gate isn't practical. Not to mention the
fact that your wife was already dealing with traveling with the 3
children. I agree that you definately deserve either everything
returned to you promptly, or compensation for the items lost. I don't
believe you are in titled for a "refund for ruining our Christmas".
Each traveler takes a certain amount of risk when checking baggage in.
Unfortunately United made a HUGE mistake this time. Here's to better
experiences.

While I feel for sorry fr you, you are wrong about at least one thing.
Security does not require you to check baby food. A certain quantity
can be carried aboard the plane. Secondly why didn't you gate check
the car seats. I fly weekly and this is done all the time. Yes ,
they shouldn't have lost your luggage, maybe they should have
compensated you, but your wife could have done some things to prevent
this.