My nightmare vacation - US Airways flight

[CowboyPrincess]

I'm back from my week in Patriots, Giants, and Commanders territory..

I want to start by saying that once I got to my destination, I had a wonderful time. Marc and I had so much fun in Connecticut and NYC and I got to see some really great things and eat some really good food.... But very very few pictures... read on and you'll find out why

Airport arrival.....

I arrived at DFW Airport over 2 hours early after a 2 1/2 hr drive to get there. Everything was going smoothly. I got my car in the Express parking and the shuttle was right there to take me to my terminal. The shuttle driver was very helpful and cheerful. Once I got in the Airport, I went to the ticket counter to deal with my e ticket and check my luggage. I got rushed through and they took my luggage away from me before I could get my cigarettes and money out of what was suppose to be my carry-on. Too late, can't do anything about that... no cigarettes, no money and two hours to kill. I walked around and looked at all the nice shops and chatted it up with another lady that was also traveling to the east coast.

Now to the flight from Hell......

US Airways customer service was rude and very unfriendly. They loaded us like cattle on a small plane that was going from Dallas to Washington D.C. and then I was on a 737 for the trip from D.C to Hartford. Go figure... small plane for longer leg of trip and large plane for the little jump. The flight was absolutely horrible. I spent 3 hrs in turbulence. I had my safety belt cinched up and still got bounced around. I ended up with bruises on both shoulders, my left thigh, my right butt cheek and a bump on my head from hitting the window. I was more worried about my head busting the window than I was about the plane dropping out of the sky (though there was air between me and my seat on several occasions). 60 miles outside of Hartford, the pilot came on the speaker and told us we would be landing soon and that we picked a bad day for flying (what was his first clue - my bruises or the waitresses sitting in jump seats and no beverages on the flight?). We had a bumpy landing and I was never so glad to be on the ground.

NOW for the best part....

SOMEONE STOLE MY DIGITAL CAMERA!!!! When I got to my hotel I noticed my lock was gone on my suitcase. Marc and I did an inventory and came up with the following items missing from my luggage...

HP Digital Camera
Camera case
2 - 1 gig of SD memory - ENOUGH FOR 2000 PICS
2 rechargeable batteries
4 pack of AA batteries
Montana Silversmith belt buckle
30+ dollars of backup souvenir money that was in my camera case

AND IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH.....

When I returned home, they had rifled through my luggage again. They left my shampoo and conditioner bottles open and I had conditioner all over my clothes. They left a zip lock baggy open and Sicilian olive juice was spilled from the contaner and was all over my clothing and the inside of my suitcase. They went through my undergarments and there is liquid makeup on them (the makeup WAS in a zipped make up bag.

Now..... if you fly US Airways after reading this.... You're out of your cotton picking mind!!!

NEVER AGAIN!!!!! NEVER!!!!!


Oh... by the way - They loved my Novacek jersey up there - They were so friendly - They have this amazing one finger wave up there.. I said thank you for that wave by showing them that it was a three layer Cowboys tribute... Novacek jersey over a 5 times Champion sweatshirt which was over a turtleneck w/ our hallowed star on the neck..... LOL

 

[Faerluna]

What a nightmare. I'd totally file a report with the airlines and the appropriate police department about the loss of the camera.

 

[03EBZ06]

Man, that is horrible. I travel frequently and I rarely ever fly with US Airways and few times I've used them, I was not impressed with their service at all. I won't use them unless it is the last resort.

With all the traveling I've done, I've yet to lose luggage or had anything stolen from the luggage, knock on the wood.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Sorry to hear about the camera and flights but at least you had a good time while you were there. You gotta love those one finger waves. You see them all the time on the drive on 35 south through Texas esp around Austin.

 

[CowboyPrincess]

What a nightmare. I'd totally file a report with the airlines and the appropriate police department about the loss of the camera.

I tried in Hartford. They told me the only thing they could do was give me a web address for the TSA. It wasn't until Charlotte that I got some type of help. They told me to talk to the US Airway people in Dallas and said that if I didn't get assistance that I needed to call their corporate office. He gave me the number and email address for that. He said Hartford should have contacted the state police and had a report taken. Dallas gave me a form to fill out, but they want me to produce reciepts for all my missing and ruined property. I really don't think I'm gonna get any resolution to this one.

 

[Yeagermeister]

I tried in Hartford. They told me the only thing they could do was give me a web address for the TSA. It wasn't until Charlotte that I got some type of help. They told me to talk to the US Airway people in Dallas and said that if I didn't get assistance that I needed to call their corporate office. He gave me the number and email address for that. He said Hartford should have contacted the state police and had a report taken. Dallas gave me a form to fill out, but they want me to produce reciepts for all my missing and ruined property. I really don't think I'm gonna get any resolution to this one.

They make it as hard as possible so people won't go through the hassle.

 

[Hostile]

Here's a tip, mention the word lawyer every chance you get. "My Daddy's a lawyer..." You'll be amazed how helpful they will suddenly become.



Oh yeah, check out what I won.

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103784

 

[VietCowboy]

i use to fly on us airways always because my undergrad airport only had them for a while (now they have northwest). have rarely had a good experience. I was flying into Nashville for my grad school interview and was delayed (THERE WAS NO INCLEMENT WEATHER) and was stuck overnight in philly (at least they gave me free night) and I ended up running into an old friend who ironically was on the flight right before that caused us to delay. she told us they were flying around philly for over 2 hours before they could land (again, NO WEATHER TO CAUSE THIS) so that's why it got into my airport late, causing me to miss my connecting flight.

that sucked because I was late to my all day interview, although everyone was great (and obviously, i got in cuz now i'm in nashville) but we used that as an ice-breaker. everyone has a horror story about US Airways. I don't ever want to fly US airways again.

 

[Kangaroo]

Here's a tip, mention the word lawyer every chance you get. "My Daddy's a lawyer..." You'll be amazed how helpful they will suddenly become.



Oh yeah, check out what I won.

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103784

I always found this helps you are talking to the lackies so I cut through the BS. I say I need your name and I need to talk to the manager right now in a tone that says do not play with me. I throw around the word unacceptable for some reason I have always gotten responses with that word and you could always use Hos suggestion.

Or you can whip this line out Do I need to get my lawyer involved and tell them you are going to file a compliant with the department of transportation here is a good site for you with links about the airlines and complaints.

Do not let them off the hook that is what they want kick them in the teeth and step on there nads.

http://www.airsafe.com/complain/complain.htm

 

[Nors]

I fly a lot business and really have not had any horror shows like that.

Carry your laptop and any valuable like item carry on is my experience and recomendation.

Only thing of value I ever check is golf clubs and to date I have not had that lost, and I can prove what I loaded and get value back if lost.

LOL - Hartford/Springfield airport
Been there a hundred times. Why did you fly there and not Laguardia or Newark? Far more direct to NYC

 

[CowboyPrincess]

Here's a tip, mention the word lawyer every chance you get. "My Daddy's a lawyer..." You'll be amazed how helpful they will suddenly become.



Oh yeah, check out what I won.

http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103784

You are such a cruel brother! You had to rub it in didn't you??? Ya know... MOM loves me best anyway :

 

[CowboyPrincess]

I fly a lot business and really have not had any horror shows like that.

Carry your laptop and any valuable like item carry on is my experience and recomendation.

Only thing of value I ever check is golf clubs and to date I have not had that lost, and I can prove what I loaded and get value back if lost.

LOL - Hartford/Springfield airport
Been there a hundred times. Why did you fly there and not Laguardia or Newark? Far more direct to NYC

Marc's family live in Plymouth and Terryville Connecticut. We were going everywhere else from there.

 

[the kid 05]

wait princess and hostile are bro n sis?

sorry to hear about your ruff trip through the air port. maybe santa will bring you a new camera

 

[Passepartout]

You need to sue those the Airlines
For the way that they treated you
They had no right to do that. :bang2:

 

[CowboyPrincess]

Ok... I called US Airways regarding my nightmare flight and stolen property. First I talked to some rude idiot named Alex. He was an absolute jerk. Said they were not responsible and do not replace electronics under any condition. He kept interrupting me and at one point told me that he was done talking to me and that he had other people to talk to. I asked to talk to the customer complaint department and he told me there was no number for them. I asked for a corporate number and got told no. I went to their website and amazingly found the non existent customer complaint number. I talked to Fred and he listened to my whole story. I told him that I had been refused a reference number 4 times and it was required for a claim. He gave me a number and told me he was sending me coupons for future flights to make up for the turbulence and bruising. He then gave me a number for customer relations and for the TSA and told me not to take no for an answer. I talked to both. The TSA is going to make good on my ruined clothing from the return flight and US Airways said they would investigate my carry-on being taken from me and checked in, the lock being removed and they said they would most likely be replacing my camera, memory, case and buckle. It took 5 hours on the phone to get somewhere. If I hadn't gone to the website and looked for a number, I would have gotten nothing.

I'm still not going to fly with them ever again.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Ok... I called US Airways regarding my nightmare flight and stolen property. First I talked to some rude idiot named Alex. He was an absolute jerk. Said they were not responsible and do not replace electronics under any condition. He kept interrupting me and at one point told me that he was done talking to me and that he had other people to talk to. I asked to talk to the customer complaint department and he told me there was no number for them. I asked for a corporate number and got told no. I went to their website and amazingly found the non existent customer complaint number. I talked to Fred and he listened to my whole story. I told him that I had been refused a reference number 4 times and it was required for a claim. He gave me a number and told me he was sending me coupons for future flights to make up for the turbulence and bruising. He then gave me a number for customer relations and for the TSA and told me not to take no for an answer. I talked to both. The TSA is going to make good on my ruined clothing from the return flight and US Airways said they would investigate my carry-on being taken from me and checked in, the lock being removed and they said they would most likely be replacing my camera, memory, case and buckle. It took 5 hours on the phone to get somewhere. If I hadn't gone to the website and looked for a number, I would have gotten nothing.

I'm still not going to fly with them ever again.

Stick it too them

 

[Cochese]

That sounds awful, but your first mistake might have been putting a lock on your suitcase, I diddnt think that was allowed any more...

 

[CowboyPrincess]

That sounds awful, but your first mistake might have been putting a lock on your suitcase, I diddnt think that was allowed any more...

That is actually what I've been told. The last time I flew was back in 2000. I had no idea that a lock wasn't allowed on luggage anymore until Fred told me on the phone. Things sure have changed since 9/11

 

[Cochese]

That is actually what I've been told. The last time I flew was back in 2000. I had no idea that a lock wasn't allowed on luggage anymore until Fred told me on the phone. Things sure have changed since 9/11

Actually I did some googling after my initial post, and it seems like you can still use locks, but these are TSA approved locks that both the TSA and you can unlock.