United dinged me for the last time

[muzikbiz22]

Thanks for the tip, but I looked into that too and I don't remember the exact amount but it was even more than airport parking for 2 weeks. Perhaps they have a mileage limit for dropping off at a different destination and we exceeded it or something. One time we used Uber to and from our closest airport, but we seldom use it because the flights always cost more plus there are no direct flights to hardly anywhere and they can turn a 3 hour trip into a 9 hour trip. I can't remember now but for some reason we aren't using Uber to get to LAX so either they wouldn't do it or it was too expensive. We tried to hire someone like a friend or neighbor to drive us and pick us up but never settled on anything. One wacko shuttle driver we hired was driving 100 mph at 4 am headed toward a closed section of the freeway. He was supposed to be a professional and should have known it was closed. The GPS that came with my phone knew that.

Call me stubborn, but for some reason it irks me to pay so much just to have a car sit there. I could understand if they have a minimum but after covering the office staff and the airport shuttle it just seems like an unfair profit. I don't mind paying for airfare, hotels, taxis, restaurants, dive ops, or just about anything else because I feel like I'm getting something for my money. But the parking lots have you by the huevos and they have your credit card number.

Sooner or later we'll figure out a solution. I looked up the taxi rate and it's a good thing I don't have a weak heart. I guess the real problem is that we enjoy ourselves so much, particularly in Mexico, that my girlfriend starts booking the next trip while we are still there! Meanwhile I dream what it would be like to just cancel our return flight and go somewhere else instead of home and not be worrying about our car. That reminds me--I need to book airport parking for our trip in October

San Diego is only a few more miles for us than LAX but we never seem to find the good flights from there, except for Hawai'i. In that case we find some really good direct flights. SouthWest is supposed to start flying to Hawai'i but with my luck it will only be from LAX. The good thing about Hawai'i is that we can't afford to stay very long so the airport parking doesn't amount to as much

Long Beach now has flights to Hawaii.

 

[Hoag]

@JamesBon92007 I live about 100km (60miles) from Toronto. Normally, I can get to the airport from my place in under an hour. Parking at YYZ is insane and can often add significantly to the cost of the trip, but I have found a couple ways that can lessen the impact. I will often reserve a spot online a month or more in advance. By doing that, I can often get a discount of up to 20% compared to just showing up at the airport parking lot the day of the flight.

Another option that I do quite often is that since both weather and traffic can be issues, particularly in the winter, I will often find a hotel near the airport with long term parking. Then I can go the day before, park the car in the hotel's long term parking facility and relax. In the morning, I hop on the hotel's airport shuttle and I am there in a couple minutes. I have found that airport hotels with long term parking are often no more than the cost of parking at the airport and they take away all the stress of trying to fight traffic the day I fly out.

 

[Kharon]

Call me stubborn, but for some reason it irks me to pay so much just to have a car sit there.

Out here in the northeast we have hotels that offer stay and park. If you stay overnight either on the way there or the way back the parking is free. Anything like that out there?

 

[Kharon]

Well, thanks after all United. You screwed me but I made lemonade. After a week in Bonaire (Delta to get there almost direct) I'm flying Divi to Aruba and meeting my wife there for a week. Then a Southwest flight home (business class) with just a short layover in DC (an hour and change). Best part, United miles are paying for the car on Aruba for the week. Good use for them as I will never fly United nor use their credit card ever again. ROFLMAO

Looking for any suggestions for topside, non nightlife activities. The more out-of-the-way and hidden-gem the better.

 

[tkaelin]

I'm flying Divi to Aruba

This may be the weak link in your plans. Enjoy your trip and post a report.

 

[Kharon]

This may be the weak link in your plans. Enjoy your trip and post a report.

Divi is certainly NOT Insel. I've never had a problem with Divi.

 

[DeputyDan]

Divi will not be an issue.
Some of the other local carriers however ......

 

[AggieDiver]

Just to pile on the "Never United" bandwagon, I won't ever fly them again if I have another valid option. I was a Continental fan...a big one...as in would go out of my way to fly them instead of just about anybody. Once United bought them, I took it as an ominous sign when they stopped the crews from announcing over the intercom that they were a "Houston-based former Continental flight crew". What has followed has been the most sustained and long-term assault on their customers that I have ever witnessed. At least by a company that is still in business. United employees really do seem to act as if they really despise their customers. When you ask questions at the gate or look at the flight attendants when getting on the plane, it really isn't that uncommon to get a look in return like you are gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe.

My last experience with them was last year flying Houston to Grand Cayman. I had setup to fly to GCM on Southwest via FLL using points, and at the last minute had to shift the plans by a week because Irma was going to hit Florida the day after we were flying down. So we shifted to fly the direct flight to GCM out of Houston on United. On the way down, they lost one of our two bags. On a non-stop flight. We checked in over 2 hours ahead of the flight. Two bags checked in side by side, but one bag made it, one did not. How does that even happen in the first place? But the fun was just starting.

That was on Saturday. I called Saturday evening to find out what their plan for getting me the bag was, since I knew they only flew Houston to GCM on Saturdays. I got to speak to a lovely member of their New Delhi based customer service team who helpfully notified me that the bag was last entered in their system in Houston that day. Duh...I was there when that happened. Tell me where the bag is now. "Ok sir, I have no other information on where the bag is". Ok, tell me how you are going to get it to me. "Yes sir, we will send the bag directly to you at the Little Cayman Beach Resort in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. I spent at least 5 minutes trying to explain that "Little Cayman" Beach Resort is on Little Cayman, not Grand Cayman, and that I would not be going back to Georgetown to pickup my bag. "Oh no problem sir, they will have a driver deliver it to you." Ummm...ok. But that 70 miles of deep ocean between Georgetown and the hotel might present some difficulty for your driver. Try as I might, I could not convince him that he needed to change the location in their system for where the bag needed to go. For that, I would have to call back when the bag was located and there was more information in the system on the routing.

So I called Sunday morning. 18 hours ought to enough time to find the bag right? This time, I got to speak to a lovely young lady from an unnamed eastern European based customer service team. She sounded maybe Czech or Polish? In any case, she was thankfully able to tell me that my bag had last been entered into their system in Houston, Texas on Saturday. (Groundhog Day moment) Then she was kind enough to inform me that the bag would be delivered to me at the Little Cayman Beach Resort in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Wash, rinse, repeat. Finally I had to hang up to go get on a dive boat with rental gear without convincing her that their plans had a glitch in them and without any further info about where my bag was.

Imagine that same scene repeating Sunday afternoon with the New Delhi based team members and Monday morning with the Warsaw/Prague based team before finally getting a Houston based person on the phone Monday afternoon. They eventually got the bag to us late Tuesday afternoon. Never once, in all of the calls did any of their agents apologize for our inconvenience. Never once in any of the conversations did any of them offer anything to compensate us for not having our gear there to dive with.

Contrast that with an experience I had on SW about a year earlier. Our flight was delayed due to equipment problems in another airport. I received a text about it while on the way to the airport. Since I was almost there, we went ahead and checked in, even though the flight was delayed by several hours. The first words out of the counter agent's mouth were "I am sorry for the inconvenience", and the second thing she did was hand us each a voucher for $200 for future flights to compensate us for our trouble. That has always been my experience with Southwest. They are happy you are flying with them. They want to make you happy. They do their best to not ruin your trip, and if they do something wrong, they will compensate you for it, usually without you having to ask for it.

I used to be a Continental fan...now I am a much bigger Southwest fan. They have earned my business.