United Airlines Complaint

United Airlines Customer Care United Airlines, Inc. 900 Grand Plaza Drive NHCCR Houston, TX 77067-4323 Susan E. Schaller 3220 Belfort Avenue New Orleans, LA 70119 November 21, 2013 Formal Complaint and Request for Compensation To Whom It May Concern: This is a complaint in reference to UA flight 6044 out of New Orleans to Dulles, confirmation code NJW4VF and eTicket No. 01672822570322. I checked in to my flight to Dulles, which was a connection to a flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil with a final destination of Londrina, Parana, Brazil, at around 4pm on November 20, 2013. The counter woman with United informed me that the flight to Dulles was delayed, that it would be a close call to make my connection to flight 861 to Sao Paulo, and that I should speak with someone at the gate to get a seat closer to the front of the aircraft so that I could run to make my connection. I lucked out with security and arrived at gate D7 shortly thereafter - around 4:15. This time is corroborated by texts I sent when I arrived to the gate. No one from United was at the gate until over an hour later, which was after the original boarding time for our flight, 5:17pm. Air Canada representatives were the only ones there until that time, and they could not help me nor any of the other three Brazilian women who were also going to miss the same flight (I am from the U.S. myself). When a woman from United finally did speak to us, she told us there were no other options for us to get to Brazil expect flights that would get us there 24 hrs later than our original flights. In the delay in helping us, we missed any other possible flights we could have taken, including a flight on American Airways that we knew had openings because the husband of one of the Brazilian women was on it. Additionally, she refused to help me with my final flight connection, from Sao Paulo to Londrina, because it had Varig-Gol Linhas Aereas as the carrier. Now, in addition to being one day delayed, as of right now, I have no way of actually arriving at my final destination. It was entirely United’s responsibility to rebook that flight for me because it was United’s delay that caused me to miss my original flight. Instead, the travel agency through which I booked my flights is now scrambling to help me. The Varig-Gol Linhas Aereas flight that I missed is G3 1190, from Guarulhos to Londrina.

We arrived in Dulles on flight 6044 around 11:30. We were not allowed to get our baggage, so were stuck in Virginia for 24 hours without even a change of clothes, and provided with a total of $14 worth of food vouchers for a need of four meals. It is the complete culpability of the United personnel in New Orleans that I have now missed a full day of work needlessly, missed a full day of the event in Brazil that I was to attend, had no provisions for an unexpected overnight stay, was not sufficiently compensated for the additional unexpected meal expenses in Virginia, and still have no way to get to Londrina currently. I want to be upgraded for my entire trip with United including any baggage fees, and I want compensation for my entire trip with United, compensation for the day’s work that I missed (approximately $100), and compensation for the capoeira event that I have missed by not arriving in Brazil on time ($185). I await your prompt attention to this matter. Thank you,

Susan Schaller