Jul 21 2006

Stuck In The Denver Airport - United Airlines 4TW

By Jeremy Schoemaker 12 comments

One of the downsides of living in such a small town (Lincoln, NE) is that its really hard to get a non stop flight anywhere. Usually I have layovers in Minneapolis, Denver, or Chicago depending where I am flying.

My assistant/business manager, wife, 1 month old baby, and myself are on our way to Las Vegas. I am mainly going to support 2 of my friends who I am sponsoring in this years World Series Of Poker.

Yesterday I called in some favors and was able to get a press pass (for shoemoney.com) for me at the World Series Of Poker that I have to pick up by 5pm today or they said forget it.

Well…. We landed in Denver to catch our connecting flight to Las Vegas and ….. surprise…. the flight was canceled. Weird eh? I actually have the boarding passes in my hand and the flight was canceled. Wonder when they were going to notify anyone. Anyway they tell me I need to wait for customer service… which took about 1 hour for them to tell me WE are #20-24 on the standby list for the 2:30pm flight…. weeeeeeeeee

If we cant get on that then we wont get to Vegas until tomorrow. I asked the united rep if they are going to refund the 600$ in show tickets and hotel reservations we have for tonight and he laughed and told me to read my contract… that did not really help the situation.

I wonder if I can bribe the airline guy to move us up on the list.. is that like a violation that will lead me to getting a cavity search or something…

Anyone else stranded in the Denver Airport want to talk SEO/SEM/PPC or whatever send me a email

Ken Savage said on July 21st, 2006 at 1:48 pm

Take one for the Shoemoney team and slip the dude at the counter a Ben Franklin or 2.

If he doesn’t take it and help you out then on to step 2

twist your hat sideways, stick out your tongue and bust a phat beat rap old school b-boy style about how you have the skillz ta pay the billz!

[Reply]
Ken Savage said on July 21st, 2006 at 1:49 pm

any if that doesn’t work then put your baby on the counter next time you have to change a poopy diaper.

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Hawaii SEO said on July 21st, 2006 at 1:54 pm

Dude… That sucks.

That’s one of my issues with airlines.

Everyone wants the cheapest flight… But!
It might be the cheapest for a reason.

It’s not the fault of the consumer as much as the airlines and online travel agencies. Air travel is sold like a commodity. (I need a truck-load of sand, who has the cheapest sand?) There is “Value�? tied to these travel purchases that most people don’t think about.

Is there a reason why cheapest airline is the cheapest? Are they always late or loosing bags, etc? (Do they suck?)

Is there a good reason why the most expensive airline is the most expensive? Are they just over priced or do they actually deliver superior customer service?

What are the customer service rankings as reported by the Department Of Transportation?

What kind of food is served if any? Is it nasty? Do I need to pack a lunch?

What is the age of the aircraft you’re selling me a ticket on? Is it brand-spanking-new? Or is from the mid 70’s and likely to have a mechanical issue that will cause a cancellation or delay?

All airlines & aircraft are not the same. Some are much better than others. Some of the best ones don’t have the cheapest price but wouldn’t you prefer to travel on a new aircraft with an airline that has excellent customer service? How much more would you pay to depart on time and not loose your luggage? $5.00? $10.00? $100.00?

Most people think… A seat is a seat & the cheapest seat is the best seat. No need to know that the DC-10 you just purchased a ticket on stopped being manufactured way back in 1988.

I don’t know a single person who thinks like that about cars….
A car is a car & the cheapest car is the best car.

I don’t know about you… But… I would happily pay an extra $10.00 to fly on a new plane versus one from the 70’s. Wouldn’t you?

Rental car companies charge more for nicer and newer cars. Why not airlines?

What if you rented a car from Avis and they handed you the keys to a broken down 1975 AMC Pacer? Wouldn’t you be a little disappointed since other people are getting a brand-spanking-new Mercedes for almost exactly the same price?

[Reply]
Tom said on July 21st, 2006 at 7:19 pm

Maybe your friends can pick them up for you? Or maybe ask someone else to get them for you? Anyway, that stinks =-\

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JeffPosaka said on July 21st, 2006 at 7:36 pm

You got to get your own Cessna (or at least join a club) if you want to live in a small town. You could pimp it out with your logo.

A pilot’s licence is about 4K and some study time in the “library”.

Your daughter will be more impressed with a pilot’s license than with the big AdSense check.

[Reply]
jawinn said on July 21st, 2006 at 8:41 pm

No wonder at all why the airline industry is loosing millions. Sorry to hear about your trip being ruined.

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Chris said on July 21st, 2006 at 11:04 pm

Damn man, just read the post. Did you make it on that next flight?

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R said on July 22nd, 2006 at 2:56 am

Check out Ze Frank’s HILARIOUS show on his experiences with Delta. First they stranded him, then they wouldn’t refund him a few weeks later

The original incident:
http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/05/051506.html

The letter explaining they were screwing him!
http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/06/062106.html

Don’t blame me if you get addicted to The Show…

[Reply]
Jeff said on July 22nd, 2006 at 12:45 pm

I have had trouble with United also. They constantly screw things up! For example, when I flew they overbooked the flight (3 months adv purchase) and also overbooked the following flight which we were not able to get on either. I feel like they overbook flights just to make sure they all are filled then worry about the people stranded later.
Hey it doesnt cost them any more money to work it out and give incentives to all the pissed people.

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Josh said on July 22nd, 2006 at 8:33 pm

You’ve hit the nail on the head Hawaii SEO.

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FunCareers said on July 23rd, 2006 at 6:20 pm

My wife flies some 150,000 miles per year and if there is a problem, if she gets stranded, jerked around or abused, you can bet your boots it’s United that’s screwing up. Could we just boycott United so they finally go out of business… please.

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A Day in the Life… » Blog Archive » Trip to Denver said on July 25th, 2006 at 3:26 am

[...] That’s right, I’m off to see Ms. Julie Caro. Her birthday is on July 30th, so I’m going to Denver to spend a week with her. I have to leave my house at 5:20 AM to get to the airport and make my 6:57 AM departure, so I have decided that it’s much easier to just stay up until it is time to go. Although I won’t be back in Oklahoma until next Wednesday night, I am taking my iBook with me, so you all can still look forward to at least one post everyday. I just hope that I have a smoother time with United and DIA than Shoemoney did… [...]