Edmonton never looked so good. It required an 18-hour travel ordeal yesterday because of overbooking practices by United Airlines, but I got lucky and made it here for the morning skate and tonight’s game between the Islanders and Oilers at Rexall Place.
Normally, it’s against my policy to use the Islanders blog to relate stories about a sportswriter’s life on the road. We all have problems, and you’re here to escape yours and have fun discussing the Islanders with like-minded souls. But I’m making an exception today because United is overbooking flights out of its Denver hub to such a scandalous degree that it almost caused me to miss my first assignment in 35 years.
The original title of this blog was: “For Islanders results, write www.united.com.” But a miracle happened last night that allowed me to board the last flight from Denver to Edmonton last night. I was told it would be two days before I could get from Denver to Edmonton and was planning to fly ahead to Vancouver before United’s fumbling mismanagement worked in my favor and kept me from spending the night in Denver International Airport.
If you’re only interested in hockey, you can stop reading here and wait for a later blog before game time on Robert Nilsson’s thoughts about Islanders coach Ted Nolan and the trade that sent him to Edmonton last February plus defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron's comments on what it means for him to return to Edmonton. Also, Newsday readers likely will receive an early story in which center Mike Comrie addresses his departure from Edmonton and the salacious rumors that made his life here miserable. That could change if the game is over in time for the first edition, but I will make sure to at least post the Comrie story on the web. The game story definitely will be in Newsday’s second edition, which generally is available on newsstands and to some home delivery customers.
Obviously, there’s no substitute for being here, and that information would not have been available to Islanders readers if I had not been in the right place at the right time last night to escape the “overbooking hell” United has created in Denver. So, I’m offering this account of my troubles yesterday as a consumer warning to fellow air travelers.
To sum up, I checked in far enough ahead of flight time for my luggage to go to Edmonton on my scheduled flight at 8:38 a.m. Sunday morning, but even though I arrived at the gate before that flight boarded, I couldn’t go to Edmonton because United sold me a ticket for a seat that didn’t exist.
I should have recognized signs of trouble when I purchased two separate and very expensive tickets for the Islanders’ five-game road trip to Denver, Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa. I booked the first two legs to Denver and Edmonton with United because it offered the lowest fare and non-stop service from Denver to Edmonton. The rest of the trip is on Air Canada, starting Tuesday morning from Edmonton to Vancouver.
I was able to select seats on every flight except the one from Denver to Edmonton. I was not alone. I spoke with many United customers who had been waiting up to two days for their flight to Edmonton, and I listened as agents boarding overbooked flights to many other United destinations from Denver begged for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for hotel rooms and vouchers for future travel. The catch was that they had to be willing to spend two extra days in Denver.
Obviously, United overbooks to a tremendous extent in order to have a herd of stranded customers available at all times to fill all available seats leaving Denver. I consider Denver International the most difficult airport in America to negotiate because of the distance from downtown, the distance from the car rental locations to the terminal, long security lines, the need to take a tram to outlying concourses and the overwhelming length of the longest concourses in the U.S.
So, I dropped the car two hours ahead of flight time. By the time I got to the main terminal from the rental car location, it was 6:56 a.m., and I was directed to a long line where international and domestic customers had to wait to reach a bank of self-serve computer kiosks where you enter your information and are issued bag tags and boarding passes by an attendant on the other side.
It took 51 minutes to complete this process at 7:47 a.m. Why so long? Because United personnel only occasionally directed people at the front of the line to open kiosks. It was so frustrating to see three, four, five, six kiosks open at a time after people checked in and were waiting for their bags to be tagged that I started directing those at the front of the line to open kiosks. So, I came off as the frantic traveler when, in fact, United was lazy and disorganized about directing people to check in. When I got to the front, I noticed one elderly couple that had been standing by the same kiosk for literally 20 minutes, and I asked if they had checked their bags. Of course, they were unfamiliar with the new technology, and United personnel had just ignored them.
There’s a 45-minute cutoff for bags to be checked ahead of international flights, so, mine made it despite the long line. I ran to the end of the security line and got there in a minute at 7:48 a.m. Besides getting through security, I had to go an incredible distance to Gate 88, which is located in an extension off the end of one of Denver’s huge terminals. I arrived at 8:13, a full 25 minutes ahead of flight time. I often have joked with my wife that the worst way for a sportswriter to go would be a heart attack at the end of one of these long runs. It was a real possibility yesterday.
My flight had not started boarding when I reached the gate. In fact, it boarded not five minutes later, as scheduled, but closer to 15 minutes later.
Just one problem. United agents didn’t give me a seat when I checked my bag. I was told to get it at the gate. Only the gate agents said they had none to give. I was fifth on the standby list when the flight closed. I then waited on standby for a flight at 11:30 with the same result. In between, I was told there was no other way to get to Edmonton via alternate routes or alternate airlines for two days.
Still, I waited for the last departure at 5:55 p.m. It then was delayed to 7:55 p.m. because the aircraft wasn’t available. I was told that I was 10th on a list of 23 standbys and could not expect to leave for two days. If that had been the case, it also would have messed up my Air Canada ticket because I couldn’t have gotten to Edmonton in time for the first leg of the ticket to Vancouver on Tuesday.
But I got a break. I had just finished writing my original blog about the experience around 7 p.m. when United announced a gate change for the last flight to Edmonton. It was moved to Gate B-92, which is as far away as you can get from the trams. United didn’t announce the flight was going to leave 30 minutes earlier than the 7:55 p.m. time that had been posted all afternoon. The gate agent already had boarded most of the plane when the change was announced. She began calling standbys, many of whom had given up or were expecting a later departure. I was standing in front of her when my name was called, took my boarding pass and didn’t look back.
The Islanders did everything possible earlier in the day to facilitate coverage by Newsday. They had Nolan call me after practice, and Ted said he would call me after the Edmonton game to give me quotes if I were writing from Vancouver. Luckily, that wasn’t necessary. I made it to Edmonton for a great round of interviews today.
Please take these difficulties into consideration if you are booking travel on United to Denver. If they won’t assign a seat when you book the reservation, then, you are placing yourself at United’s mercy, which is in extremely short supply. If you are returning from Denver and must check bags but are flying within the United States, do yourselves a favor and check curbside at the arrivals level. The line there takes 5-10 minutes. Curbside at the departures level is considerably longer but still not as long as going inside. I had no choice because I was going to Canada and had to use a passport at the main check-in counter.
Better yet, if you can avoid United to Denver, my advice is to do so. I know that will be my policy in the future.
Comments (15)
Why can't you just fly with the team, don't the announcers fly with the team?
Your predecessor flew with the team at all times and sat next to the superb Media Relations Cooridinator and always had a wonderful time. Subsequently, the Isles fired the media relations coordinator in question and replaced him with his college-student intern and your editor had you and Mr. Hahn swap beats. So with that said, how come you can't fly with the team if Mr. Hahn could??
Greg,
Pardon me while I chuckle, cuz I have heard and read all this too many times before. (and say "without a travel agent, you're on your own?")
;)
Prior to my blogging days here I spent all my blog time over at the UAL financial board on Yahoo. (cuz airlines and airline management is what I know).
Over 5 years beginning in November 1999.
Have never been a fan of UAL. (The Wonder Bread of Airlines).
Became a hated enemy of UAL beginning in late 99 all the way through their inevitable BK filing (which was coming regardless of the events of 9/11) based on my blogs, observations and predictions (all wound up accurate) for them.
My "handle" on the UAL Yahoo message board?
appropriately, at the time........"ualrisingnot"
The more things change....?
Thanks for the effort to report us news...
BTW, I look forward to your upcoming Hockey posts, those are intriguing storylines.
EVERYONE has experienced the pain you endured with your travel disaster. And NO airline is innocent.
Okay sport's fans, my last comment on "Dance Night at the Pepsi Center".
I just got this e-mail from an old old friend of mine who's the type of person that periodically sends out these pithy "feel good" messages. She has NO IDEA what happened on Saturday night, doesn't even know that I am a psychologically challenged hockey nut, or that I was even at the game.
But the timing and ESPECIALLY the last line of this little hallmark moment kinda knocked me over (which the usher or the cop at Pepsi Center COULDN'T do).
"Today's Message of the Day is:
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love Truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you Smile.
Send to all the people you love and don't want to lose in 2008, even Me...
If you get 3 back, you are a great friend.
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should Dance.... "
Just my philosophy, I could be nuts.
Greg, I can totally relate. I had a similar experience with United on my way back to Winnipeg from NY with my father after seeing the first game after the trade deadline last season, a 3-2 OT loss to STL with Ryan Smyth in an Islanders jersey.
We showed up in Chicago and 2 of 4 flights to Winnipeg were canceled and it could have been 3 days waiting to get back. United had to clear the stand-by list and that was the only way we'd get back. We ended up on separate flights the next day, but I was less than impressed with United.
Greg ... I don't mind hearing your travel problems ... you needed to vent ... we've all been there I'm sure ... but yours had a bit more complexity to it regarding making the 2nd leg of your trip with Air Canada. Thanks for going through all those traveling horror shows to bring us closer inside the game with your articles. I appreciate it. I live in NJ, and I know the best 3rd party info I can get from the Isles are your articles in Newsday.
Here is my own story to keep you entertained while you are on your way to Vancouver.
When I freelanced for FOX Sports doing hockey back in the 90s... we were stranded by United Airlines after a Wings game. We rushed to the airport to make sure we were there 2 hours early for a 915pm flight ... we got there and checked in .. got boarding passes ... even with seat assignments .. only to find out 10 mins before we were due to board that the flight was cancelled due to a snow storm that stranded the plane in Minnesota that we were to use.
We just wanted to get to Newark airport .. so we didn't understand what Minnesota had to do with us being stranded in Detroit ... but here was the kicker ... there were other planes there not doing anything .. some were to fly to Chicago, and others points west that were cancelled due to the same storm approaching ... but they wouldn't use those now idle planes to fly us back east because they needed those planes at other airports the next morning ... we were infuriated ... we were then told that flights to Newark, JFK and LGA wouldn't be available till the next afternoon .... but we'd have to be on standby .... No Thanks United .... they didn't even offer a hotel.
So the three of us rented a car ... I think we hit the road around 10:30pm and dropped it off at the car rental at Newark airport by around 9am the next day ... it was a great drive .... we did the I-80 shuffle ... and driving at night there was no traffic .... we even stopped at a truck stop and grabbed a bite .... we each drove about 300 miles so it wasn't too bad ... had a little adventure ... but at least we had one another's company.
I also had a close call once. The gate agent said that the FAA allows airlines to overbook each flight by 15%. She also said that if you are not assigned a seat number when you book your flight that you should call the airline immediately and they will try to work with you should other passengers cancel. BTW, how soft do the isles look tonight?
TJ
There is no regulation that restricts the airlines on how much they overbook. They can do 100/200 percent (and I have seen oversales that high, hell I used to SET OVERSALES that high on certain flights), they can do zero.
The FAA has no oversight in that area. The FAA "regulates" the area of safety, and that is all. Oversales/overbooking have nothing to do with safety.
As far as what the gate agent told you about "calling the airline immediately" that is standard pablum given out by gate agents to get you off their line so they can BS the next person in line. Nine times outta ten you will be Mick Jaggered (no satisfaction) if you call the res people. People in reservations are trained to go by the book. Which usually means you'll get a standard "can't, won't or don't" response.
If you get a "cheaper" fare on an airline but are unable to secure a seat assignment at the same time, (kinda like the scenario described by Greg) it doesn't mean (initially) that the flight is oversold or that they have sold you something they don't have. What it means is that they are withholding seat assignments for either:
A/A frequent flyer with gold or platinum status who may purchase a comparable fare after you. Their frequent flyer number will trigger "the system" to give them a seat assignment before you.
or..
B/ANYONE who comes along and buys a higher price, usually the highest price, seat. The "inventory" designation of the higher price seat will also trigger the system to give them what could have been your seat.
And then, depending on the flight (everything is based on historical data), the airlines may simply set aside (block out) advance seat assignments for the airport to give out to cover themselves with handicaps, kids travelling alone etc. in order to prevent last minute departure issues which would impact their precious on-time stats.
The rule of thumb if you don't get a seat assignment right away after getting your cheap fare is.....
A/Plan on getting to the airport EXTRA EARLY on the day of departure to get any crumbs that are left (middle seat)
or
B/Check back with the airline EVERY DAY up to your departure day either on the website or by calling them to see if any seat assignments have opened up. It does happen, but DO NOT count on the airline to automatically assign you one if it happens. YOU HAVE to do the legwork by calling or checking.
or...
C/Don't buy the ticket on that flight.
or..
D/Buy the ticket through a reputable travel agent (they still exist), pay the extra fee involved, and make sure that THEY will check the flight for you up until departure day and hopefully grab that open seat when it becomes available. This scenario happens all the time.
Otherwise, 8 times outta 10, or better, you will wind up in Greg's dilemma.
And if you wanna complain about it don't do it to the FAA or even the airline itself.
The ONLY customer service statistics that airline management pays attention to (and that point IS ARGUABLE) are complaint letters sent to the Department of Transportation.
Not just my opininon.
One more trick that is true for United Airlines ONLY.
United's "system" is currently designed to release all blocked seat assignments within 24 hours of departure time.
So if you call or check the website within 24 hours of your flight you SHOULD be able to secure a seat assignment.
If you still can't get one at THAT point, bring a good book, plan on the worst.
And this ONLY works for United. Not the other idiots.
Now, with any luck, some 90 day wonderboy genius from the Wharton School of Business who is trying to climb the airline corporate ladder at UA will read this blog and plug in his Johnny Decoder ring and put a stop to that "little trick".
I would have gone postal on the line and been cuffed at the airport. Thanks for being the consummate professional that you are.
Boo hoo hoo. You spent a day at Denver airport. Do you think you are the only one who has had these troubles?
Do you not realize in this day and age how difficult it is to operate an airline profitably? With all the problems of the world having direct impact on operations in this industry, overbooking is necessary for these airlines just to survive. The alternative would be $2,000 tickets and drastic reduction in service. If you can't deal with it, charter your own jet, you princess.
You are the idiot for not booking your flights back in July when the Islanders schedule came out. You certainly would have been able to pick up a seat at that time. What is your excuse for waiting to the last minute when you knew so long ago that you needed to fly from Denver to Edmonton on Sunday?
Let's have full disclosure from you before you recklessly trash United Airlines. After all, you are a reporter...When did you buy your ticket? I'll bet it was only a couple of days ago. Why didn't you buy your ticket in July if you are too soft to take any uncertainty? And most importantly, United Airlines certainly provided you with compensation for keeping you off a flight for which you had a ticket. There is no mention whatsoever of that compensation, which goes right into your personal pocket, in your crybaby rant. Why not? Because it likely was substantial, and Islander fans, who already think you have one of the cushiest jobs out there getting paid to follow the team around the country, will think you are even more of a spoiled princess if they knew you got to fund your next vacation with the travel credits that United Airlines provided to you for spending an off-day in the airport, while on your employer's clock and dime.
You are a solid beat for the Islanders, and I very much enjoy your hockey writing and most of your blog entries. However, you had an off-day with your United Airlines rant. Stick to hockey or people will think you are an even bigger princess than Sidney Crosby.
GC
"Do you not realize in this day and age how difficult it is to operate an airline profitably?"
Do YOU know the quickest way to become a millionaire?
Answer. Buy an airline for a billion dollars.
Greg,
You're blog is horrible and please don't write anymore. They are too long and too boring. Their no need for your blog on this website. Thank you.