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Missed your flight to Chicago? That’ll be another $2,350, please

July 23, 2008

Philip Gibicar missed his flight to from Bakersfield, Calif., to Phoenix. He thought US Airways might put him on the next flight or, at worst, charge him a modest change fee. Instead, it demanded an additional $2,350.

What’s this world coming to?

We knew the flat-tire rule was dead. But this is too much. This time they’ve gone too far.

Here’s what happened to Gibicar. When he arrived at the airport, he couldn’t find any US Airways representatives. So he phoned his online travel agent, Expedia, to see what he should do about getting to Phoenix and making a connection to Chicago. Expedia’s well-publicized promise left him reasonably assured that he would be taken care of.

Apparently there are some things Expedia can’t protect you from. When he returned to the counter later in the day, once the US Airways workers had come back, he was given something of an ultimatum.

I was left with the offer of fees totaling over $2,350 for both ticket changes. The ticket agent said I was over the two-hour limit from missing my first flight to avoid the new fare penalty.

Of course, Gibicar hadn’t arrived at the airport more than two hours late. He just wasn’t at the ticket counter 90 minutes early, and had to leave because US Airways staff had already vacated their post. Appeals to US Airways, United and Expedia have so far been unsuccessful.

But Gibicar has learned his lesson.

The moral of the story: Get there early, like at least 90 minutes early, even for a domestic flight.

These days, I think US Airways is out to get additional dollars out of you anyway they can. What kind of nonsense is this two-hour policy anyway? I’ll avoid US Airways altogether.

It might have been cheaper for someone in his situation to drive to Los Angeles and buy a Southwest Airlines ticket, rather than cough up another two grand.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

21 comments

  • Bob

    We need more information here. Just how “late” was Gibicar?

    For instance, let’s say his flight departed at 12:00pm. You’re making it sound like Gibicar arrived at the airport at 10:31am and was charged $2,350. Somehow I doubt that was the case.

    So when did his flight depart and what time did he arrive? Did he arrive early enough to check in at a kiosk and proceed to his gate?

    I have no idea how big the Bakersfield airport is or is not, but could not get some other airline’s agent to go wake up a US Airways agent?

  • Shane

    I live in Bakersfield. It is a small airport in an isolated area outside town with virtually no traffic. No local resident should be late. The staff checks people in right up to 30 minutes before hand. Then they close the counter and go to the other side of security where the same people are the boarding staff. As a note, I generally arrive one hour early and have never had a problem getting through the counter on time.

    It’s unbelievable that US AIRWAYS charged him so much but also unbelievable that he couldn’t make his flight on time.

    As for it being cheaper to drive to LA, it is. I fly out of Bakersfield for business but I fly out of LA or Fresno (both just short of a 2 hour drive) but generally saves a couple hundred dollars and has better flight options (like southwest or frontier).

  • http://nabeelzeeshan.blogspot.com Nabeel

    Why the hell was he flying US Airways in the first place? We need to avoid all bullshit and customer unfriendly airlines such as US Airways, United Airlines (horrible), American Airlines (they have stopped giving out pillows, or was it Delta)

    Anyway, I only fly Southwest, because they are a little friendly (I am not saying they are angles … some of the flight attendants are plain ignorant) … but Southwest is cheap and much better than all other money hogging airlines.

    And I think Gibicar was wrong too in this case. How come he didn’t ask about the US Airways attendant? Sometimes they switch counters and what not. He should have known better.

  • getaclue

    No. The lesson to be learned here, is ENOUGH OF THIS FU***NG BULL****. People are just going to have to find an alternative to air travel. Apart from being unsafe, since our government has “relaxed” maintenance and investigatory standards so that no one sane should even think of boarding one of those flying junkyards, air travel is waaay overpriced and more importantly, has gotten far, far too intrusive into our private lives to be worth the trade off.

    I would have told the airline to shove it and sued them for fraud.

  • Jennifer

    I’m confused. There were no US Air employees anywhere in the airport? What time did he arrive? How long before Gibicar “came back later in the day?” Theres a lot missing to this story.

    And to Nabeel- WN doesn’t fly everywhere. You can’t always rely on them. And when you do, it doesn’t always turn out well. I have a WN doozy of a story but I get itchy every time I repeat it so I’ve stopped telling it.

  • Jeffrey Winiarz

    I guess the other piece of missing information is he needed the agent to get a boarding pass or just to collect the luggage. Not familiar with Bakersfield and whether US has kiosks there (sounds like it doesn’t), but I suspect if he had checked in on-line and printed the boarding passes prior to arriving at the airport, the experience may not have been as bad. He could have possibly gone through security with his luggage and gate checked everything if need be. Then the gate agent on the other side of security could take care of things. For a fee, of course, but certainly less than $2350.

    But given the state of the airline service today, he did nothing wrong and he encountered a not-so-helpful airline agent.

  • Jasper

    While I have little mercy on late-comers, and *hate* that airlines let them jump in line, so that folks who are coming on time (me) have to wait longer, I do think that airlines should try to get late passengers on a later flight, through the old ‘stand-by’ option.

    I don’t know what went on in this case, but I would not have paid the $2350. Surely there is a cheaper way to get to Chicago, even from a small airport like Bakersfield. At least, there should be a cheap ticket to LAX, SFO or another large airport nearby from which you could get a decently priced ticket to Chicago.

    Allthough I hate the expensive pricing of airport internet, this might have been a time to pull out a couple of bucks to check travelocity, orbitz and the like.

  • Carver Clark Farrow

    If this is indicative of US Airways, I won’t be flying them ever again. I don’t know if its a rule or not, but AA generally permits you to standby for any flight that day, even after 2 hours.

  • Michele

    the issue to me is there is absolutely no reason any flight within the U.S. should ever cost $2350 for ANY reason. Late fees, change fees, flying “day of” pricing, etc. should still not have been this much. And the apparent attitude of the employees-whom I presume are probably neighbors if this is a small community, is appalling too. I just pulled up the airlines’ website. I can get a coach seat at this very moment to fly from Bakersfield to Chicago tonight for $830. roundtrip is $1249–both of which are outragious too. So, why is his trip double this? None of this makes sense.

  • http://www.menogo.com Reem Greiver

    Why dont you post all the complaints also on Menogo.com – airlines such as Swiss Air, Arkia and ELAL for example have taken it very seriously and even compensated the clients.
    http://www.menogo.com is a critique sie, complaints based with advise and alternatives

  • Meg

    Michele, his ticket is double that amount because he was changing two tickets.

  • Michele

    It was a connecting flight, should have been considered as one. either way, these prices are ridiculous.

  • Carly

    I recently arrived at an airport in Mexico three hours early for an international (code-share) flight. Two hours before the departure, the check-in window for the airline I was flying with was still unstaffed. I showed my itinerary to an employee of the airline I purchased the ticket from, and they told me that I actually had to line up at one of their check-in counters. The counter was on the extreme opposite side of the terminal and was unstaffed. There were no airline employees anywhere nearby, but there were many passengers waiting with me. Wouldn’t you know, it turned out they were on a later flight and I should have been waiting at the check-in counter for the airline I was flying with, as in, the window that was still unstaffed two hours before my departure (two hours being the MINIMUM permissible check-in time according to the conditions of my ticket). Neither airline would help me and I had to purchase an entirely new ticket. As someone who was in Mexico volunteering, unpaid, for six months, I found it a laughable way for the country to say “gracias and adios!”

  • b.scott

    It’s not just US Airways. The same thing happened to me in Sao Paulo, SP Brazil with Delta. I was there 50 minutes before my flight left back to the USA, but because I’d missed the 60 minute cutoff, I’d also missed finding any staff to help me or re-ticket me. The Delta offices and counters were completely abandoned. Yes, I was late–and I honestly expected that I’d missed my flight. I was willing to pay a reasonable penalty for my error in order to be re-ticketed. After getting a four-hour runaround by Delta’s customer service in Sao Paulo, I was left with the ticket counter, the SP Delta customer service, and the Delta international support line all telling me there was nothing they could do. I ended up paying for a $2500 ticket on United to get back home to Phx.

    I couldn’t find a modicum of customer service with Delta in SP. I really do feel like Delta couldn’t have cared less about my situation. They offered no help, nor did they show any interest in my situation. I really felt like I was shown the door and asked to take my business elsewhere. I did.

  • http://www.ARoadRetraveled.com Simone di Santi

    For domestic trips, I honestly try to go where Jetblue flies to!!!! LOL It’s really scary out there…from what I read, it’s more like a nightmare. I really have no complains about Jetblue.

    The last time I flew Delta (12 years ago) they kept double booking seats…I found myself without a seat on both flights to and from. But, I complained when the only available seat was at the very end of the plane which I specifically asked not to be placed when I booked my seat due to motion sickness in the back. So they got me a first class seat.

    I’ve flown with Northwest several times….they seem to be systematically late — especially when it involves an international flight connection. One good thing they did was wait for the passengers who landed at the exact minute the connection flight was due to depart. The luggage didn’t make it though till a couple of days later…

    I’m happy with JetBlue….and at least you don’t have to pay for your first piece of check-in luggage or snacks.

  • Sherrin

    I just bought a ticket on United. I accidently used the wrong departure date and my cell phone could not get thru to the human so I could change it. I called another day.

    They wanted to charge me $150 plus a new ticket worth more than $900 when they could see I made a mistake. My son would have returned to Tulsa while in flight to Albuququerque. It could not be done.

    So, what can I do?

  • http://www.buyertours.com/ Glenn Sanford

    I ran into the same challenge just this morning. I’ve just blogged my full rant on my blog at http://www.glennsanford.com/ however USAirways customer service sucks big time. I contrasted it to Southwest Airlines which will give you 100% credit for a missed flight on any future SWA flight. I can tell you that I was prepared to rebook another flight on USAirways even with a $150 charge on the original ticket however I will now never flight USAirways again if I can help it… Long live SWA.

  • Kimberly Pack

    It’s amazing that everyone has their “favorite” airline. I’ve been in the travel business for over 18 years and I don’t consider one any better than the other. I’ve been cancelled, missed flights, overbooked, bumped you name it. I swore I would never fly United after being stranded in Denver for 8 hours, come to find out American out did them with 21 hours in Dallas :-) Oh and lets not forget Continental who put me on a flight that was delayed and made me miss my connection in Houston to Cancun. Yep my first night of Vacation was spent in Houston…priceless.

  • Kirk

    I had my mother fly here to stay with our kids. We paid $550 for her round trip ticket from SLC to DSM.

    A couple of days before she was to return, we had a death in our family and my wife to the funeral and the other family related things and I had an overseas trip that I had to go on so we asked my mother if she could stay a couple of days more and she agreed.

    I called US Air to change her ticket, just moving it back a couple of days, same route, same times everything just the same. They came back and said that to do this would mean that I would now have to pay $602 just to make this change. I told them to cancel the ticket, we got what we could get and then I used some miles and flew her home. Hard to imagine that one leg of a return ticket could be more than than the whole ticket.

  • Rick Damiani

    I think something that a lot of the commenters are missing is that the airport in Bakersfield is one of those tiny regonal airports that has just a handful of flights every day. Airports like that don’t have a ‘concourse’ or continuously manned security screening areas, so the rules are very different than somewhere like LAX. Tickets are a lot more expensive, too. Like 3 times as much as flying into a ‘normal’ airport.

    What happens is that something like 30min before the flight, the ticket agents close up shop and open the security screening area to let people into a waiting room. Once everyone is in the waiting area, they are led out to the runway to meet the airplane. Show up late and there isn’t anyone at any of the counters that can help you, because *all* the agents are busy screening passengers.

  • http://www.cockam.com Allan Jayne

    Stranded in a foreign country because the airport ticket windows didn’t open on time?

    At least if you booked on an airline based in your home country you can try to use courts to get them to take responsibility.

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