United  Airlines  Customer  Relations  PO  Box  66100  Chicago,  IL  60666  

 

Harrison  Taylor  Godfrey  3526  North  Third  Street  Arlington,  VA  22201  

 

July  28,  2012  

 

To  Whom  it  May  Concern,  

  I’m  writing  today  to  express  my  deep  disappointment  regarding  my  travel  with  United  Airlines  on  Sunday,  July  1  and  Monday,  July  2  between  Dulles  International  Airport  and  Bilbao,  Spain.  The  multi-­‐stop  flight  was  

originally  booked  on  June  19,  2012  (Confirmation  #EGFBT1)  using  United  miles  of  my  travel  partner,  Travis  Luther  Lowe  (MileagePlus  Silver  Member  #  DW746682).    I  was  slated  to  depart  Dulles  at  10:01  PM  local  time  on  Sunday,  

July  1,  to  commence  a  three-­‐part  itinerary  that  would  take  me  through  London’s  Heathrow  Airport  and  Frankfurt,  Germany,  ending  in  Bilbao,  Spain  at  5:50  PM  local  time  the  following  day.  Unfortunately  my  flight,  UA924,  was  

delayed  at  Dulles  due  to  mechanical  difficulties  and  did  not  depart  until  approximately  11:30  PM,  roughly  1  and  ½  hours  behind  schedule.  As  a  result,  I  did  not  arrive  in  Heathrow  until  approximately  11:40  AM  local  time  the  

following  morning.  By  the  time  I  deplaned,  I  had  missed  my  connecting  flight,  LH905,  to  Frankfurt,  which  departed  at  approximately  11:45  AM.  These  things  happen,  and  while  disruptive,  this  is  not  the  cause  of  my  disappointment.  

  Once  I  had  ascertained  that  I  had  missed  my  connection,  I  proceeded  to  the  United  Ticket  Desk  in  

Terminal  1  (if  memory  serves  me)  to  rearrange  my  travel.  The  agents  there  were  perfectly  accommodating  and  drafted  me  a  ticket  for  a  direct  Veuling/Iberian  flight  5745  between  Heathrow  and  Bilbao  departing  at  5:15  PM  

that  afternoon.  An  image  of  the  paper  ticket  in  question  is  attached  to  this  message.  I  was  instructed  to  proceed  to  Terminal  3,  from  which  the  flight  would  depart,  where  I  would  exchange  the  paper  ticket  for  a  boarding  pass.  I  did  

as  instructed.  Upon  arriving  at  Terminal  3  I  did  not  find  a  Veuling/Iberian  desk  in  the  ticketing  area.  However,  staff  there  informed  me  that  I  could  take  my  paper  ticket  to  the  boarding  gate,  where  I  would  be  able  to  present  it  to  

the  desk  agents,  receive  a  boarding  pass,  and  board  the  flight.  I  waited  until  the  gate  was  announced  (roughly  40  minutes  prior  to  departure)  and  proceeded  there.  This  is  where  the  trouble  arises.  

  At  the  desk  in  front  of  the  gate  I  was  informed  (in  a  very  curt  and  unsympathetic  manner)  by  

Veuling/Iberian  staff  that  they  simply  did  not  accept  the  paper  ticket  issued  by  United.  This  declaration  was  reaffirmed  after  they  contacted  their  superiors  via  phone.  Contradicting  the  United  representatives,  the  

Veuling/Iberian  staff  asserted  a  relationship  didn’t  exist  with  United  whereby  such  transfers  were  permitted.  It  wasn’t  a  matter  of  the  flight  being  full  –  I’d  later  learn  it  was  half  empty  –  it  was  simply  a  matter  of  procedure.  As  

luck  would  have  it,  my  travel  partner  en  route  to  Bilbao  from  London,  Travis  Luther  Lowe,  saw  me  at  the  gate.  As  the  boarding  process  had  already  commenced  and  there  would  be  no  possible  way  to  exit  the  terminal,  clarify  

United’s  apparent  contradiction,  and  return,  we  had  no  choice  but  to  a  last-­‐minute  one-­‐way  ticket  at  the  gate  for  $367.11  so  that  I  could  board  the  flight.  Had  that  not  happened  I  would  have  been  stuck  in  London  without  

immediate  recourse,  disrupting  my  travel  schedule  indefinitely.  

  Clearly  there  was  some  sort  of  miscommunication  or  misunderstanding  between  United  and  Iberian/Veuling.  What’s  so  disappointing  to  me,  though,  is  that  I  was  placed  into  the  position  of  having  my  travel  

itinerary  thrown  into  disarray  by  this  miscommunication.  More  importantly,  my  travel  partner  and  I  were  compelled  to  purchase  a  new  plane  ticket  out  of  pocket  because  United  staff  made  the  seemingly  incorrect  

assertion  that  the  two  airlines  had  a  relationship  which  allowed  for  the  itinerary  to  be  transferred.  To  add  insult  to  injury,  the  Iberian/Veuling  staff  explained  they  would  not  be  able  to  provide  a  receipt  for  the  $367.11  transaction;  

a  copy  of  their  email  reasserting  this  statement  and  a  screenshot  of  Travis  Luther  Lowe’s  credit  card  statement  is  included.    

The  purpose  of  this  letter  is  to  request  a  reimbursement  to  Travis  Luther  Lowe  for  the  $367.11  and/or  reimburse  Travis  Luther  Lowe  for  the  loyalty  mileage  expended.  

In  conclusion,  one  of  two  possibilities  led  to  this  unfortunate  result:    

(1) United  airlines  employees  misunderstood  basic  information  about  United’s  partner  carriers  such  that  

I  was  presented  to  the  choice  to  be  stranded  overnight  or  compelled  to  purchase  a  last-­‐minute  ticket  (2)  United  and  Iberia/Vueling  are  indeed  partner  carriers,  and  the  itinerary  transfer  should  have  been  

honored.  

Thank  you  for  your  time  and  attention  to  this  matter.  

 

Sincerely,  

 

Harrison  T.  Godfrey    

 

CC:   Vueling  Airlines  Customer  Service     Iberian  Airlines  Customer  Service  

  Travis  Luther  Lowe  

United  Airlines  Customer  Relations  

PO  Box  66100  Chicago,  IL  60666  

   

Travis  Luther  Lowe  29  Capp  Street,  #2  

San  Francisco,  CA  94103    

July  28,  2012  

 

Dear  United  Customer  Care,  

  I’m  writing  to  echo  the  disappointment  in  United  expressed  by  my  friend  Harrison  Taylor  Godfrey  above,  

particularly  as  the  reward  miles  used  were  linked  to  my  MileagePlus  account  (#DW746682).    

As  of  about  a  year  ago,  I  shifted  my  loyalty  to  United  Airlines.  A  big  part  of  my  disappointment  with  my  

friend  Harrison’s  ordeal  is  that  it  seems  uncharacteristic  of  the  experiences  I  have  had  repeatedly  as  a  United  Airlines  customer.    My  preference  would  be  to  remain  loyal  to  United,  but  that  will  be  governed  by  the  response  to  

this  situation.  

My  hope  is  that  United  will  examine  this  issue  closely  and  suggest  a  reasonable  remedy.  I  have  included  the  following  documents  to  assist  with  this  process:  

a. Confirmation  of  booking  for  Harrison  Taylor  Godfrey’s  flight;  

b. Images  of  transfer  document  Mr.  Godfrey  received  at  London  Heathrow  by  United  representatives  which  were  rejected  by  Veuling/Iberian  employees;  

c. Copy  of  an  email  re-­‐iterating  Vueling/Iberian’s  claim  that  a  receipt  couldn’t  be  produced  for  the  last-­‐minute  flight  we  had  to  purchase  from  Heathrow  to  Bilbao;  

d. Screen  shot  of  Chase  credit  card  statement  showing  purchase.  

Thank  you  for  your  attention  to  this  matter.    

Cordially,  

 

Travis  Luther  Lowe  

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