Houston Trip!

So, Donna and I went to Houston to visit her friends (and bridesmaids) Jill and Meredith. Good times, my friends, good times. We saw a very weird art exhibit featuring stuffed (i.e. taxidermy) and be-sweatered squirrels and deer in Galveston, watched my beloved Chargers flail against the damned Patriots, and drank much Shiner Bock.

The airline travel, however, was far from awesome. We took US Air, a carrier that I cannot recommend and may, someday, strongly discourage others from taking. It all comes down to how they respond to my complaint letter (below). I'll keep you all updated.

To Whom it May Concern:

I traveled with my wife, Donna Huffaker, to Houston to celebrate her birthday over the MLK holiday weekend. I choose US Air, despite rarely having used your carrier in the past, due to its reputation and excellent prices. Unfortunately, we were disappointed – nearly from the beginning – with surly and inattentive service.

Upon arrival at LAX for our outbound flight to IAH , we were told by a ticket clerk that we would not be able to make our plane due to the long security line. I’m not exactly sure why this woman (whose name, I’m sad to say, I do not know) kept repeating “You’re not going to make it,” but it did not bode well for our experience with US Air. As it turns out, we made the flight in plenty of time.

All went well until it came time for us to return from Houston. Though our plane pulled back from the gate a few minutes early, we sat on the tarmac for 30-40 minutes waiting to takeoff. As a result, we landed in Phoenix significantly later than scheduled. This, I want to stress, is not my complaint. It is not US Air’s fault that the plane was held by traffic control in Houston. It is not, then, US Air’s fault that the plane arrived late in Phoenix.

However, I believe US Air personnel could have – and should have – conducted themselves differently upon on arrival in Phoenix. That, I believe, is US Air’s fault.

Here’s what happened. (Times are approximate. You may be able to gauge things more accurately via flight records.) We arrived at the gate in Phoenix at 10:40 p.m. Our connecting flight to LAX had a scheduled departure of 10:54 p.m.

I asked the flight attendant whether we would be able to make our connecting flight. “Depends on how fast you run,” she replied, shrugging. I asked if our connecting flight was the last one leaving for LAX that night. She responded it was. I asked if it was possible to let the gate agent for our LAX flight know we were coming. She said it was not possible. (This, by the way, doesn’t sound correct. I have to believe there is a way for an airplane, prior to reaching the gate, to make contact with the gate agents, if only for safety reasons.)

Mind you, I had the ability to ask all these questions for two reasons. We had the fortune to have the front seats of the plane and the misfortunate of having to wait nearly 10 minutes for the jetway driver to make it to our plane. By the time we made it off the plane, the arrival/departure monitor stated that our connecting flight had already left.

Despite a delay caused by the jetway driver and an obstinate refusal by the flight attendant to let our connecting flight know we were coming, we were told that US Air would not be paying for a hotel room. The reason? The delay was not the result of human error, but due to “weather issues coming from Houston.”

I beg to differ. Our luggage made our originally scheduled flight, so I can see no reason why we could not have as well but for the simply outrageous behavior of US Air personnel.

Adding insult to injury, we also received poor advice from Custom Relations as to available hotel rooms. (The number on the blue “Distressed Traveler” slip connected us to a room 10 miles away, $99 a night, and no airport shuttle service.) Fortunately, we ran into a stranded JetBlue flight attendant who clued us into a $65/night room with airport service.

Because of all this, I am requesting that I be reimbursed for the cost of the hotel room, which, with tax, came to $74.15. (A copy of the receipt can be made available, if you wish.) Without some sort of consideration, I do have to warn, I will not likely be considering US Air for any of my future travel.

Thank you for your time.

Yours,

Daniel Evans