One day too late
Here’s one depressing email from United Airlines (private email address redacted):
From: United <ema...@info.united.com> Reply-To: United Replies <rep...@info.united.com> To: xxx...@BKPARK.COM Subject: European travel notification Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:23:03 0600 To ensure receipt of our emails, please add ema...@info.united.com to your Address Book. ============================================================ United(R) ============================================================ Dear Mr. Byung Kyu Park, Several European countries have closed their airspace due to unsafe flying conditions resulting from a volcanic ash plume that is covering significant portions of northern Europe. Thousands of flights to and from major European airports have been canceled, and Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, has said that travel disruptions and delays will continue well into Saturday as the massive ash cloud moves slowly south and east. We know that unexpected flight cancellations are difficult. However, our highest priority is your safety and that of our crews. . If your flight has been canceled, we will rebook you on the next United flight with available seats. Check your flight status. http://www.ua2go.com/flifo/FlightInput.do . Even if your flight has not yet been canceled, your travel may be covered by a travel waiver, and you may be able to change your plans without incurring a service charge. http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,53414,00.html . If your travel plans are impacted by this situation and you decide to cancel your trip, you may be eligible for a refund of any unused portion of your ticket. http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52940,00.html In order to provide additional assistance to our customers who are currently in Europe, we have extended the hours of our European reservations centers. http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50394,00.html Please know that we are working hard to reaccommodate all of our customers whose travel has been impacted and to resume flying our full schedule as soon as possible. Sincerely, United Airlines ============================================================ My mileage summary http://www.mymileageplus.com united.com http://www.united.com Partner offers http://www.united.com/page/article/0,8566,1249,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Change your email address http://www.ua2go.com/ci/Login.jsp?return_to=emailsubscriptions&country=us Update your email preferences http://www.ua2go.com/ci/Login.jsp?return_to=emailsubscriptions&country=us Privacy policy http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,1002,00.html You are subscribed to receive information and updates from United at xxx...@BKPARK.COM. Please do not reply to this email. We cannot accept electronic replies to this email address. To contact the sender, write to: United Airlines Operations Center - WHQPW, 1200 E. Algonquin Rd., Elk Grove Township, Illinois 60007 USA Copyright 2010 United Air Lines, Inc. All rights reserved.
What’s depressing about it? The date: it’s dated April 16th, but the volcano erupted on the 14th and the problem with air travel started early 15th. I only wish United had this attitude on the 15th—that may have lead the CS rep to agree to modify my ticket like I wanted to initially and let me travel to London by train (when the bulk of the air traffic had not yet been diverted to train).
Things still would be rough, since my main luggage would not be with me, but I wouldn’t be as depressed as I am now, stuck in the least favorite continent (Europe), in the least favorite country (Germany), in the least favorite city (Frankfurt), and in the least favorite airport (FRA) in the whole universe (I reserve judgment on Martians).
Given that this is presumably a once-in-a-lifetime incident I am not sure how well the lesson would apply, the lesson is learned: in the event of natural disaster, don’t assume things will get better, and let the customer service reps know I will hold them personally responsible for not obeying my wishes (or at least not escalating it to higher level where they know their proper place)—which, in most cases, prove prudent and correct in the long run—in the event things do get worse.