United Airlines Does It Again

[Dakota Hunter]

My son and I have been in the Newark airport since 8 am this morning waiting on our connection to Johannesburg. It has been delayed over and over again and we have been moved to 4 gates . I said I would never Fly United again or go through Newark after the last horrible experience I had with United and this airport. They started out our trip this morning by not checking our bags all the way through to Johannesburg from Greenville SC. This caused me to have to claim my bags in Newark and go through the entire process of rechecking bags & gun cases. It took me 2 hours of completely unnecessary hassle to accomplish this.

 

[slam8031]

that stinks--sorry! Hope your hunt is better than United has treated you!!!

 

[sierraone]

My son and I have been in the Newark airport since 8 am this morning waiting on our connection to Johannesburg. It has been delayed over and over again and we have been moved to 4 gates . I said I would never Fly United again or go through Newark after the last horrible experience I had with United and this airport. They started out our trip this morning by not checking our bags all the way through to Johannesburg from Greenville SC. This caused me to have to claim my bags in Newark and go through the entire process of rechecking bags & gun cases. It took me 2 hours of completely unnecessary hassle to accomplish this.

You have obviously made it 2 out 2. Don't make it 3 out of 3. Good Luck.

 

[CAustin]

My son and I have been in the Newark airport since 8 am this morning waiting on our connection to Johannesburg. It has been delayed over and over again and we have been moved to 4 gates . I said I would never Fly United again or go through Newark after the last horrible experience I had with United and this airport. They started out our trip this morning by not checking our bags all the way through to Johannesburg from Greenville SC. This caused me to have to claim my bags in Newark and go through the entire process of rechecking bags & gun cases. It took me 2 hours of completely unnecessary hassle to accomplish this.

I hope you are able to make the trip after all the hassle

 

[BRICKBURN]

Bloody hell.

 

[Still alive]

I think there is a lesson to be learned here? United has the worst customer service ever. Nothing a customer can do

 

[Challer]

I find much of the problem is Newark. It’s a horrible hub. Dulles is a much better United hub

 

[R.M.C.]

Newark sucks no matter what airline you go through. Not defending United, but nothing runs smoothly in that shit hole . Hope everything works out!!

 

[rookhawk]

I think there is a lesson to be learned here? United has the worst customer service ever. Nothing a customer can do

American Airlines: Hold my beer.

 

[sierraone]

You have obviously made it 2 out 2. Don't make it 3 out of 3. Good Luck.

@Dakota Hunter when you return, in addition to your hunt report, please advise us on all of the problems incurred with your trip using United Airlines.

 

[Jaegger]

Damn … cuz, we all know how much preplanning goes into these trips & significant delays can derail or domino The Plan … Ugg!

@#&!? United … this is no longer an occasional oopsy but developing into a full blown trend & it appears to not phase United customer service merits or credibility in the Industry!?

Fingers Crossed they get their !hit together in short order so the many travelers can continue on … Happy Trails

 

[Rare Breed]

Damn … cuz, we all know how much preplanning goes into these trips & significant delays can derail or domino The Plan … Ugg!

@#&!? United … this is no longer an occasional oopsy but developing into a full blown trend & it appears to not phase United customer service merits or credibility in the Industry!?

Fingers Crossed they get their !hit together in short order so the many travelers can continue on … Happy Trails

I’ve learned the hard way…I will pay more and take longer to get to my Africa destination but I’m using Qatar period

 

[Jaegger]

I’ve learned the hard way…I will pay more and take longer to get to my Africa destination but I’m using Qatar period

I totally agree!! I’ve become a Qatar follower w/ their modern aircraft, quality onboard staff/service, they honor their advertised schedules, standard 2/luggage policy & firearm friendly sooo … I’ll be booking my 4th trip w/ them this Sept.

 

[mdwest]

American Airlines: Hold my beer.

Sad.. but true...

Frankly, Im not a fan of any US based carrier that does long haul international flights..

Its a pretty sad state of affairs when Aeroflot (Russia), Garuda (Indonesia), and Turkish Air.. all rank significantly higher in the top 100 list than the "top" US carrier (Delta) that's ranked 30th.. United (60th).. and American (76th)...

Hell.. Azerbaijan Air and South African Air both beat American ranking by a large margin lol..

The US airline industry is a travesty and an embarrassment...

The World's Top 100 Airlines of 2021

View the World's 100 Best Airlines 2021 as rated by air travelers in the global airline passenger satisfaction survey.

www.worldairlineawards.com

 

[rookhawk]

While it doesn't help the OP, the general rule of thumb is this: don't hunt if you can't get there on Emirates, Qatari, or Ethiopian.

They're about the only ones that have a decent track record as of late.

Connections and switching carriers are the devil's playground.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

I had similar experience with United on flight over, still in SA, will give full details in my safari report after I hopefully make it home next week!
I will say this as of now, Never again on United!

 

[Tanner Lee]

Sorry to hear about your problems with United. That’s not how you want to start a safari.

I hope United can start to get these problems sorted out it would be nice to have another reliable direct flight service between the USA and SA since SA airlines basically collapsed on us.

 

[sestoppelman]

Sucks big time!
I learned the hard way that Jet Blue wont transfer firearms to another airline, while headed to SA some time back.
Had to claim bags, deal with the police and recheck, and the whole rigamarole at JFK!
Oh what fun that was!!

 

[wesheltonj]

While it doesn't help the OP, the general rule of thumb is this: don't hunt if you can't get there on Emirates, Qatari, or Ethiopian.

They're about the only ones that have a decent track record as of late.

Connections and switching carriers are the devil's playground.

You can add Turkish to that list. But until the civil war is over in Ethiopia, not on my list.