United Trip--on AA and CO!

[Art at ISP]

Well, it looks like UA tried something out of the US playbook. With everything going on in Denver over the past couple of days, you'd think that UA would add capacity to its reservation system to handle the overflow in calls. At least automatic systems could give rebooking information...
I guess not.

My boss and I were scheduled LGA-IAD-CLE on Wednesday evening. The LGA-IAD cancelled due to lack of crew (they were supposed to be coming from DEN). No problem there. We were efficiently rebooked on American Eagle and enjoyed the very last row of an ERJ (my head is still buzzing), but bottom line we got there.

Yesterday, I was scheduled CLE-ORD-LGA, and my boss was scheduled CLE-ORD-LAX. Around 11AM I got an email that the flight was cancelled from CLE--now I don't think it had anything to do with DEN but I can't be sure. The email asked me to call UA. Being a lowly premier I called the number listed and dealt with the moronic auto attendant for 10 minutes before being directed to a res agent--and then got a busy signal. I tried repeatedly and couldn't get through to a human (even a foreign one). My boss happened to get violently ill just before we left and he had to let UA know he'd be delaying his trip by 1 day, and he couldn't get through either.

Forward to CLE airport, and a surprisingly short wait on the ticket counter line. I get a very helpful but relatively new agent who tells me that UA had rebooked me through IAD but the IAD-LGA would be very late (it turned out to be 3 plus hours late). She tried hard to rebook me on CO, and after a while and 2 agent's help was able to do so (although not completely it would turn out).

On to CO, helpful supervisor had to call back to UA to get the agent to finish the transaction and a very pleasant nonstop flight home to LGA.

While this was handled relatively well, I wonder, if I couldn't get to the airport ahead of time, how would I have known that UA had originally rebooked me on a flight leaving an hour earlier than originally planned? To my knowledge, my boss STILL hasn't been able to reach UA-and he he's 1K.

I am not complaining here--I had it relatively easy compared to most others, I am just wondering out loud how they missed the chance to add capacity on res lines, and how many people got fouled up worse because they couldn't reach a live agent? Food for thought?

Happy Holidays all...I hope you do get home in time.

 

[Bear96]

How do you just "add reservations capacity" overnight, for a single event that lasts a couple of days? Add infrastructure, facilities, employees, IT support, etc. instantly, and then get rid of all that three or four days later?

It's one of the busiest travel periods of the year, plus a major hub was shut down -- a tough situation. Everything is going to be over capacity, including phone lines. I imagine UA (and other airlines) have the planned capacity to handle busy holiday travel periods, or bad weather disruptions that occassionally shut an entire hub. But as to having the system always be ready to handle both of those situations simultaneously, which happens only once every several years -- I'm not sure it is wise to expend considerable resources in the way you are suggesting for a relatively rare event.