Recently my flight was canceled to the United Kingdom due to Hurricane Harvey. However, when I went to rebook my flight the airline said I had to pay a fee first before being scheduled onto another flight. My question is how does this make sense? Is it my fault the flight was canceled or that we were grounded for days due to the ongoing storm? According to them, because I didn’t rebook in twenty-four hours, there was nothing they could do.
See the thing is, I did attempt to rebook immediately after this travesty took place and was then alerted that the Houston Airport was shut down until further notice, that upwards of 9500 flights had been canceled and the airport probably wouldn’t be up and running until Thursday (Mind you this info was relayed onto me on Saturday).
Yes, this news angered me that I would be staying in an airport for a week, but I also realize there were more important horrors going on in the world than missing a simple flight, even if I had been looking towards this trip for months (and later found out that the event I was planning on attending was coming to an end after a long decade).
But be there as it may, what angered me out of this entire situation is that the airline I booked with was well aware of this issue at hand and choose to try and make an extra buck. Now I want to first clear the air and say it was not a western Airline. I’ve never had no real problems with American, Delta, US Airways, British Airways, KLM, even Korean Air and Aerofloat (not-western I know). However, this airline who clearly operates in the United States, does not uphold any of the countries values. Charging for canceled flights it a huge faux pas. It not only seems trashy but completely third worldish. And I would like to ask the United States Government why are they allowing foreign companies to operate in the United States without serious oversight. As I went to message boards to see I was not the only one being charged for the rebookings' of missed or canceled flights, that there charging everyone, which is ridiculous.
To be honest, I simply asked to be put on standby and they told me the only seat available on their next flight was in first class and I would have to pay $8,000 to fill the seat. I can’t tell you how many times Delta has bumped me up to first class for free. Not to brag about Delta, but I’ve been flying with them since I was a baby. I seriously remember my mother telling me that I got on my first Delta flight when I was 16-weeks old, and back in the roaring 90’s they use to send me a birthday card every year with some sort of gift. I suppose after being pampered by an airline like that you have standards.
But I made a mistake this year, booking with a lesser airline because of price. And I suppose that old saying of “You get what you pay for,” is ringing now true more than ever. Never again will I book on price (If I can help it), but on reputation. Because in the end, it’s just not worth it to deal with a company who clearly cares more about profits than people.
