Travel Woes
I went to Kansas City last week for a conference. Deepest into the heartland I've been to date. And actually, I loved it. The first night I wandered around the hip part of town, Westport. I had a few beers at a pub, McCoys, and ate a bison burger made from local Kansas bison. Then I walked to the "Plaza," which was a bizarre combo of chain stores and cool sculpture. I headed back to Westport to check out another bar, and caught an open mic. I started chatting with a musician, and he took me to his favorite bar, Harry's Bar and Tables, and bought me a yummy blueberry lemonade. It was a great night.
The rest of the time I was pretty much hostage to the conference and the "plaza," though I did have a lot of fun wandering around the Nelson Atkins Museum and eating some good Chinese food at Bo-Ling's.
On my way back home, my flight got derailed. I spent an hour (at least) on the runway of the Kansas City airport because Denver, my stopover, had snow. Why oh why didn't they offer to let us out and book us on a flight in the morning? When I got to Denver, I discovered my flight had been cancelled, by calling United's reservation line. No one was waiting for me to help me when I got off the plane. I spent about an hour trying to get on another flight, which did not happen. United made no effort to get us out of the airport. I stood in line with other stranded travelers for an hour and a half, at least. While we were in line, United staff kept trying to get us to leave. Go get a hotel room, they said. That easy, eh? You can book a flight tomorrow by calling United's reservation number, they said. "What's the number?" people shouted. I don't know, call information, was the helpful response. By the time I got the desk and someone gave me a number to call about a hotel room, the only room left was 25 miles away. It was 11:30, so I decided to sleep at the airport and try to get on an early flight in the morning.
I know corporate accountability is a notion that has long been dead, and god knows I've had enough shitty treatment by corporations, but I was truly shocked by the disorganization and utter indifference of United Airlines. I want a public airline NOW. I hope United collapses, and Obama should let it. Why are we rewarding incompetence? Who built this fucked up system where consumers have no rights and corporations can walk all over us?
The rest of the time I was pretty much hostage to the conference and the "plaza," though I did have a lot of fun wandering around the Nelson Atkins Museum and eating some good Chinese food at Bo-Ling's.
On my way back home, my flight got derailed. I spent an hour (at least) on the runway of the Kansas City airport because Denver, my stopover, had snow. Why oh why didn't they offer to let us out and book us on a flight in the morning? When I got to Denver, I discovered my flight had been cancelled, by calling United's reservation line. No one was waiting for me to help me when I got off the plane. I spent about an hour trying to get on another flight, which did not happen. United made no effort to get us out of the airport. I stood in line with other stranded travelers for an hour and a half, at least. While we were in line, United staff kept trying to get us to leave. Go get a hotel room, they said. That easy, eh? You can book a flight tomorrow by calling United's reservation number, they said. "What's the number?" people shouted. I don't know, call information, was the helpful response. By the time I got the desk and someone gave me a number to call about a hotel room, the only room left was 25 miles away. It was 11:30, so I decided to sleep at the airport and try to get on an early flight in the morning.
I know corporate accountability is a notion that has long been dead, and god knows I've had enough shitty treatment by corporations, but I was truly shocked by the disorganization and utter indifference of United Airlines. I want a public airline NOW. I hope United collapses, and Obama should let it. Why are we rewarding incompetence? Who built this fucked up system where consumers have no rights and corporations can walk all over us?
posted by Ms. at 11:18 PM
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