Letter to United
My summer has been eventful and I have not posted in over a month. A Cali report is coming up soon, but in the mean time, I felt this was important to share. I had an awful experience with United's Check-in at LAX yesterday morning. They were grossly understaffed, the staff was rude, and the lines were disorganized. It caused me to miss my flight, and then spent most of my day at the airport.
July 8, 2010
Mileage Plus #: 03233187860
Twitter: lightninglychee
United Airlines, OPCPW
P.O. Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Anne Marie. I am 26 years old. I was born and raised in Chicago, and still live there today. Both my work and my personal life require a lot of travel. I attend many conventions around the country for networking and the promotion of my business. On my travels, I met my boyfriend, Michael, who lives and works in Washington D.C. He also travels frequently to see me. It is not uncommon for me to take up to four flights in a month.
Since July 2009, I have flown United about ten times. I follow United on Twitter to keep track of news and deals. Every Tuesday, Michael and I check United’s E-fares to see if there are flights available that we can afford and fit within our schedules. We buy a round-trip ticket about once a month using United’s E-fares. (Michael has also flown United about ten times in the past year.) I prefer to fly United. The planes are clean, prices are good, the staff is helpful and I favor Chicago companies over others.
Back in February, Michael bought me a United plane ticket to visit my family in Los Angeles. While my flight there was the usual easy and problem-free one, trying to get on the flight back home was far from it. I was grossly disappointed with my United experience for the first time.
My flight home was flight #0336, departing from Los Angeles at 12:46PM and arriving in Denver at 4:17PM on July 7, 2010. The connecting flight to Chicago was #0254. It left Denver at 5:11PM and was to arrive in Chicago at 8:40PM.
I arrived at LAX around 11:15AM. The line was the longest line I had ever seen at an airport in my life. There was no staff directing anyone as to where the end of the line was. I walked past the end of the line for a good five minutes until I realized it was actually in the opposite direction I was walking toward. I turned around and stood in line for a while. After talking to those in line around me, it appeared that domestic, international, BagCheck/Online check-in, E-ticketing, odd-sized baggage check-in, military, business class and future ticketing were all piled into one giant line.
At one point, the line was so long, we were made to wait outside. It took me over an hour to finally get to the check-in desk, only to be a few minutes too late to check my bag. Many United customers around me were angry, and raising their voices at the staff. Many were waiting for their bags to be taken, and trying to wave staff down while shouting. The staff at the desk then became irritable. Despite being civil and polite with them, I was still treated rudely by several of them.
After asking to be put on standby, the desk attendant insisted I pay $50 to be put on standby. Otherwise, I needed to wait in line #6. There was no staff around to ask which line was which. There were two lines labeled #6. I waited in the wrong one for over 10 minutes, only to be turned away by yet another rude staff member. I didn’t even say anything to her. She just looked at me, pointed to the line on the right and said, “NO.”
I then went into the right line, where there was a United customer stomping on the ground, shouting and swearing about how she is going to miss her flight, I witnessed her cutting in front of the line. Another man also just walked up to the desk, cutting in front of others. A family, who was telling some story about how their mother must get on the plane made their way up to the line by asking others to get in front of them. These actions made others in line angry, as they claimed they had been waiting for hours. There was no staff to watch over these lines. There were only two agents taking care of lines #6 and #7. I waited over an hour and a half in this line.
After being stuck in the check-in area for almost three hours, I was finally put on standby for United flight #0122 to Chicago. Despite arriving almost two hours before my flight and the reason for checking in late not being my fault, I was not given the opportunity to get on an earlier flight on a competitor’s airline. I was relieved to have been able to get on flight #0122, which ran on time with no problems. However, out of all the flight check-ins I have experienced in my life, this was by far the worst. It disappoints me, that an airline I have preferred for so many years was the one that gave me this experience.
I know this was not just a problem with the airport. The security checkpoint took less than ten minutes for me to get through. Michael’s flight home was with Alaska Airlines, and departed only a few minutes after mine. He was able to check-in with Alaska Airlines, get through security and make to his gate forty minutes before boarding time.
Although I am not entirely sure what happened, it felt like United’s check-in area was severely understaffed, causing a chain reaction of ridiculously long lines and angry customers, which in turn made the staff angry. I am writing to United because I think they should know about my experience and what was most likely the experience of other United customers. This was an unfortunate end to an otherwise great trip. When friends, family and colleagues ask about my trip, this is the first story they hear. I will not soon forget this and will now take it into consideration when purchasing my next flight.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
[Full name Removed]
July 8, 2010
Mileage Plus #: 03233187860
Twitter: lightninglychee
United Airlines, OPCPW
P.O. Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Anne Marie. I am 26 years old. I was born and raised in Chicago, and still live there today. Both my work and my personal life require a lot of travel. I attend many conventions around the country for networking and the promotion of my business. On my travels, I met my boyfriend, Michael, who lives and works in Washington D.C. He also travels frequently to see me. It is not uncommon for me to take up to four flights in a month.
Since July 2009, I have flown United about ten times. I follow United on Twitter to keep track of news and deals. Every Tuesday, Michael and I check United’s E-fares to see if there are flights available that we can afford and fit within our schedules. We buy a round-trip ticket about once a month using United’s E-fares. (Michael has also flown United about ten times in the past year.) I prefer to fly United. The planes are clean, prices are good, the staff is helpful and I favor Chicago companies over others.
Back in February, Michael bought me a United plane ticket to visit my family in Los Angeles. While my flight there was the usual easy and problem-free one, trying to get on the flight back home was far from it. I was grossly disappointed with my United experience for the first time.
My flight home was flight #0336, departing from Los Angeles at 12:46PM and arriving in Denver at 4:17PM on July 7, 2010. The connecting flight to Chicago was #0254. It left Denver at 5:11PM and was to arrive in Chicago at 8:40PM.
I arrived at LAX around 11:15AM. The line was the longest line I had ever seen at an airport in my life. There was no staff directing anyone as to where the end of the line was. I walked past the end of the line for a good five minutes until I realized it was actually in the opposite direction I was walking toward. I turned around and stood in line for a while. After talking to those in line around me, it appeared that domestic, international, BagCheck/Online check-in, E-ticketing, odd-sized baggage check-in, military, business class and future ticketing were all piled into one giant line.
At one point, the line was so long, we were made to wait outside. It took me over an hour to finally get to the check-in desk, only to be a few minutes too late to check my bag. Many United customers around me were angry, and raising their voices at the staff. Many were waiting for their bags to be taken, and trying to wave staff down while shouting. The staff at the desk then became irritable. Despite being civil and polite with them, I was still treated rudely by several of them.
After asking to be put on standby, the desk attendant insisted I pay $50 to be put on standby. Otherwise, I needed to wait in line #6. There was no staff around to ask which line was which. There were two lines labeled #6. I waited in the wrong one for over 10 minutes, only to be turned away by yet another rude staff member. I didn’t even say anything to her. She just looked at me, pointed to the line on the right and said, “NO.”
I then went into the right line, where there was a United customer stomping on the ground, shouting and swearing about how she is going to miss her flight, I witnessed her cutting in front of the line. Another man also just walked up to the desk, cutting in front of others. A family, who was telling some story about how their mother must get on the plane made their way up to the line by asking others to get in front of them. These actions made others in line angry, as they claimed they had been waiting for hours. There was no staff to watch over these lines. There were only two agents taking care of lines #6 and #7. I waited over an hour and a half in this line.
After being stuck in the check-in area for almost three hours, I was finally put on standby for United flight #0122 to Chicago. Despite arriving almost two hours before my flight and the reason for checking in late not being my fault, I was not given the opportunity to get on an earlier flight on a competitor’s airline. I was relieved to have been able to get on flight #0122, which ran on time with no problems. However, out of all the flight check-ins I have experienced in my life, this was by far the worst. It disappoints me, that an airline I have preferred for so many years was the one that gave me this experience.
I know this was not just a problem with the airport. The security checkpoint took less than ten minutes for me to get through. Michael’s flight home was with Alaska Airlines, and departed only a few minutes after mine. He was able to check-in with Alaska Airlines, get through security and make to his gate forty minutes before boarding time.
Although I am not entirely sure what happened, it felt like United’s check-in area was severely understaffed, causing a chain reaction of ridiculously long lines and angry customers, which in turn made the staff angry. I am writing to United because I think they should know about my experience and what was most likely the experience of other United customers. This was an unfortunate end to an otherwise great trip. When friends, family and colleagues ask about my trip, this is the first story they hear. I will not soon forget this and will now take it into consideration when purchasing my next flight.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
[Full name Removed]