Comments on: Thank you! United fixes “last vacation” for terminal cancer patient

By: Dhekker

Dhekker — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:11:23 +0000

I don’t know where to start, I am kinda slow,(head trauma).A couple near and dear to me just found out his C/battle is futile,Terminal.He had a marrow
transplant fail last yr.& All the saved cell’s died in freeze. How do i go about
getting this couple a hawiian vacation,or to some where. He has been through
hell, and will again. Any help would be great!!

By: Chicky

Chicky — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:09:34 +0000

@ Eric Smith. I’m with you. For both reasons. Bottom line: “do unto others…” Glad UA found it in their hearts to make this happen.

By: Sean C.

Sean C. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:42:41 +0000

Kudos to United for helping on this one! I don’t think UA flies to Bali, so I am fairly sure it must have been on a codeshare partner. Regular “revenue” tickets may have had a higher priority for rebooking on the partner airline’s flights after a schedule change or cancellation. This, and the separate reservations possibly contributed to the separate routings. For what it is worth, I would have contacted the reservations department after the initial reservations were made and have them reference the other person’s PNR (passenger name record.) Reservations agents would list this as TCP (to complete the party) referencing the other name and record locater. If someone were manually re-booking passengers (as I imagine may happen with limited availability) then they might book the two on identical routings.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:00:30 +0000

It’s heartwarming that Chris was able to guilt United into doing the right thing, but they were still very wrong to begin with (and not even because one of the travellers was a dying cancer patient). Note that the flight itself wasn’t cancelled — one of the confirmed, booked, frequent flyer tickets was. I suspect there are still seats for sale on both flights, just not in the “free” (no, it’s not really free; you pay up front for the tickets to earn the miles in the first place) category.

Frequent flyer awards always have to be booked separately (if from different accounts); my family has 4 separate reservations for the trip we’re on right now. Once United was notified that it erroneously cancelled the original ticket, it should have accomodated by either reinstating that ticket (if any seats, even paid, were available), or rebooking both of them on the other flight (again, even if only one “free” seat was available). I’d have the same problem — my 4 year old and 6 year old can’t travel on a different flight from my wife and I.

So again, congratulations to Chris for getting the right outcome, but shame on United for messing up a basic thing like this in the first place.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:22:13 +0000

Chris: A heartwarming pre-holiday story. I hope the friends can enjoy their time in Bali and your assistance made all the difference.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:03:11 +0000

The OP doesn’t indicate which flight was cancelled. It may not have been a flight operated by United, which would not be something under their direct control.
It’s possible that United had to work with the carrier providing the actual service on the leg in question, and either had to get their overbooking group to give them another seat, or even buy the seat directly from that carrier.
Either way, kudos to United for fixing the problem under these circumstances.

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:55:44 +0000

Might not every vacation we all take be our last one. That’s why we all need to enjoy every moment of every day. I’m glad you were there to help with this situation Chris. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

By: Eric Smith

Eric Smith — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:37:25 +0000

Probably true, David. But you know, if the airline called me and explained the situation and offered me a flight one day later, I’d give up my seat.

1. It’s the right thing to do.
2. I’d enjoy the trip more knowing I wasn’t the one who denied him his last trip.

And I hope I’m not the only one who would make this call.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:14:40 +0000

I think the best quote here can be extracted from the Cancer Treatment Center of America Commercials with a lady named “Peggy”.

To quote “The doctors told me I had 6 months to live and it was disheartening. When I went to Cancer Treatment Center of America, the doctors told me I didn’t have a stamp on my foot saying when I would expire”.

I hope these two individuals think about this statement. Will you live a few weeks, months, years? Who knows. I am glad Chris did his best to solve what MIGHT be the last trip for this individual. Still, think positive. Doctors can take a guess but like any science, nothing is perfect. I wish you well nad HOPE those experimental treatments will help.

Justin

By: David Z

David Z — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:42:01 +0000

Did they overbook the cabin?

That’s the first thing that came to my mind. In reaccomodating the two, someone was probably bumped off as well. Sigh.

Hard choice to make.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:04:02 +0000

Thanks from this corner down in Dixie, too, Elliot. It’s truly folks like you that make this a better world. I only wish you could have related that United offered a sincere prayer for his “clinical cancer drug trial” to turn out to be a positive step in a possible recovery or, at least, in prolonging his life a while longer. if I ever wished anyone could enjoy a vacation to the nth. degree, this would be the one I’d choose.

By: Eric Smith

Eric Smith — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:17:05 +0000

It would be interesting to know exactly why he was originally bumped. I remember a story a few months back where an awards passenger was bumped from 1st to coach to make room for a deadheading employee. Wonder if this is something similar? Strange that they suddenly found a seat.

Thanks for being such a friend to the traveler. Hope your T-day is special. And that goes for everyone else here, too.

By: Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:27:52 +0000

Why does it take adverse publicity, or the threat thereof, to get people to do the right thing. Now, what did UA do? Did they restore a seat from inventory? Did they overbook the cabin? This is interesting stuff to understand . ..

By: brian

brian — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:15:03 +0000

“final vacation” – hard words to read.

Thanks for being such a great advocate!

By: Malik

Malik — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:49:14 +0000

We’re thankful that we have people like you. Thanks for all that you do.