Problems at the gate

I had a similar problem with a lack of a boarding announcement
recently. We were at the Philly airport, flying to Richmond, on
USAir. Both the Richmond flight and a Buffalo flight were leaving out
of the same gate. However, the Buffalo flight was slated to leave
earlier. We arrived in Philly from our connecting flight and arrived
at the gate early. NO announcements were made as to boarding, at
least not over the intercom. When people started moving through the
gate, I assumed it was the Buffalo flight, which was slated to leave
first. But it made me uneasy that they hadn't announced which flight
it was. I asked a fellow passenger, who told me that he thought it
was the Richmond flight boarding, but he wasn't sure either - everyone
was confused. So I got in line, and it was indeed my flight - I am
glad I asked!

I was wondering if they had not decided to switch planes or something,
as the flight was originally supposed to be on a little communter
plane, with just 2 rows of seats on each side, and it wound up being a
larger, 3-row per side plane. My boyfriend and I had originally
picked a window seat and an aisle seat, which had been next to each
other on the seating map - when we boarded, there was a seat between
us with a lady in it! (She gladly switched middle for aisle.)

I do think he airlines need to do a better job of announcing which
flights are boarding, especially when there are multiple flights per
gate.

You deserved to miss your flight, because YOU were not paying
attention. It is not another agents problem to deal w/ you if they
are busy. They dont have any information on your flight anyway. Take
responsibility for your actions, and hit the unemployment line!

Not this time, I don't think so.

Your version of the events does not make any sense and I fail to
believe everything that has happened. I believe that you have
exaggerated the events that took place and it really is not fair to
the other readers of this forum to perception they may make of United
Airlines.

I'm sorry, but this doesn't sound like United's problem. How can you
just stand around waiting for your flight to be announced and let the
boarding time and departure time both pass by? And then to complain
that the agents taking boarding passes for another flight wouldn't
talk to you and you somehow made your way to Customer Service at which
time they boarded your flight just doesn't make any sense.

You are not owed a refund on your airfare or lost wages no matter that
you can produce a contract and receipts. You're missing the point.

Sorry to be snarky about this, but it sounds like you need to find
employment closer to home.

And I'll post here exactly what I tell them:

With the airlines' track records today, you have to leave PLENTY of
cushion and 'wiggle room' on your arrivals and departures. That way ,
if something unfortunate happens and you're late - you aren't getting
fired or missing someone's funeral.

It's unfortunate that the airlines are in such disarray today that we
have to inconvenience ourselves by being a step ahead of their games,
but it's a fact of life of travel today.

I can't imagine leaving so little room for error when flying!

You need to supply them with more information such as dates and times
as well as your flight number.

Despite what the troll below says, the DOT recommends that you try
writing directly to the airline first, including all the information
above, rather than through the DOT. If you go to the DOT website,
they give you some tips on how to write an effective letter to the
airlines.

Nanci--I am so sorry about what happened to you. United's operation
at Dulles is well known to be understaffed. It is typical United
behavior for their agents to not lift a finger to answer your question
and then claim everything was your fault.

I strongly suggest you complain about this horrific service to the
Department of Transportation Consumer Division. They need to know
that United's customer service problems are causing such bad problems
for passengers. You can email your complaint to airconsumer@dot.gov

Good luck!