United Airlines Offers Travelers 30K Miles For Operational Meltdown

Apparently the offer is arbitrary considering that some of us had the same operational issues and did not receive the offer. I’m sure it’s going to be a struggle communicating with UAL and requesting the same compensation that others have received.

Got the offer. My 11 hour LHR-SFO flight on Monday was a 21 hour odyssey.

The young Doubt, whose EWR-GRU flight on Monday left 16 hours late, did not.

How many meltdowns a year has each one of the AA3? 6, 8 ? Its amazing how US consumers are loyal to unreliable Carriers...

Cash/credit for refund plus difference in cost to fly on another airline would be best. After having our flight cancelled with no communication regarding this status from United, plus the cost to get home on another airline that we incurred, why would I want to fly United again? It doesn’t matter how many miles we received as goodwill compensation, we won’t be on United again. Plenty of options to choose from!!

Got stuck in Texas on the way to Australia
Was told they could only rebook me for NEXT WEEK! I said I could not wait that long, they said because I booked with miles there was nothing they could do
No refund, no bonus miles offer, didn’t even get my original miles back yet. Gonna try calling them again when the dust settles. If it ever does

I find this all very interesting. I had a 12 hour international flight as my second connecting flight and it was delayed 13 hours overnight and all United offered was 10k miles. Since it was a technical, and not weather related issue, my travel delay insurance kicked in, but not my trip interruption clause did not. I'll certainly be asking United for more than 10k. I also have status with them, if that makes any difference.

They have lots of customers, sure, and in the short run that won't change simply because travelers have to settle for what there is. But people loyal to them? Where?

My family got home 3 days later than scheduled (which involved sleeping on cots inside IAH.) The only communication we’ve received from UA was for a post-flight survey asking if we’d recommend UA to others. What an absolute joke.

I was stuck in the airport for 3 days and have received nothing - not even a refund on the cancelled flights I could not take (and I’m platinum…)?

Customers have to apply for the 30K miles, so it is not automatic. Not everyone will apply.

Customers have to apply for the 30K miles, so it is not automatic. Not everyone will apply.
They know who the people are - hence they are sending emails, why not just automatically add the miles?

Like Randy the only email I received was rating my flight. My flight was canceled with no standby or reschedule. Also received an email asking if I had anything positive to say about any United employees I may have incurred. Let's talk about not reaching a live person on the phone and the $2000 we're out with our airbnb.

The offer is hilarious right after a major devaluation. 30k might get you a one way flight from SF to LA with 3 stops in between.

It's probably 10k for the problems and 20k for Kirby flying private.

#mileagepengos

Why should we only make fun of Delta, United deserves some love too.

For anyone questioning what 30,000 miles gets you, I just cashed in 30,000 for a seat in Premium Plus from SFO TO EWR in early November. It allows for two checked bags, one carry on, a free hot meal, and free alcoholic beverages.

BTW, I don't run into travel issues because I fly at off-peak times and off-peak seasons. Always build in the plan for delays... be able to arrive a couple of days before events, and arrive earlier at airports to be prepared for unusual circumstances.

OK I guess but when SWA had their meltdown during Christmas, not only did they give everyone 25,000 pts but they also reimbursed for travel expenses incurred. I booked 2 tickets on AA to get home and got paid for those. Car rentals and hotels were also reimbursed.

Oh... and my cancelled SWA flights were also refunded proactively as well.

They can just devalue points again to recoup their loses.

Great, I hope United will do the same. Our United flight has canceled on Friday, I decided to buy 4 news tickets from Alaska Air to get home next day $$$$$. Just requested refund from United and stil wait!!!!

A United voucher would have been better. If 30,000 is enough depends on the situation and how much inconvenience and time is involved.

That's what the company is hoping for too.

I waited 5 hours at EWR for a DXB flight last week and missed my connection on reaching. United failed to reissue my ticket for the next flight resulting in my being with them on the phone for over an hour at DXB before I got a flight 6 hours later. I never got an email offering anything despite being a 1K passenger

I was one of the thousands that were effort by the cancellation, and lack of communication by the airlines. I lost my standby to two employee who got on the flight because their friends worked at the gate. Finally, got on my last flight only because a pilot says "screw it we are getting home" a flight that was originally got in at 11 am I was in Newark at 4am. 30,000 doesn't cover the cost or my headache. It will be sometime before I fly again.

My husband and I had the first leg of our international trip canceled in April. We drove 3 1/2 hours to O'Hare in Chicago.
The second leg was delayed 2 1/2 hours according to UAL's system and then another hour because their passport reader couldn't process 20+ passports.
The 3 1/2 delay caused us to miss our connection in Frankfort, miss the first 24 hours of our cruise, and drive back home after an exhausting return trip home.
United did NOTHING. We have two apology emails saying circumstances were "beyond their control."

Would someone be kind enough to post the link to where I can apply for the MileagePlus miles? (it should be the same link in the email).

I also experienced disruptions on UA from Newark but I flew them on Friday (6/23). My flight was heavily delayed due to storms and the FAA short staffing (according to UA and the pilots). I didn't get an email though about the bonus miles, likely since the meltdown started a day later. I'd love to be able to apply though to see what happens. If anyone can post the link, I'd greatly appreciate it 🙂

When leaving St Thomas we Missed connecting flight in Houston by 10 minutes due to audio mechanical problems. We sat on the plane waiting for the repair to be completed then just as long for what they called ‘paperwork’ regarding the repair. After this, they tested the audio with the passengers & there were additional audio problems. We were then told they would need to replace a panel but would take merely minutes. However again, after the completed the repair we waited an additional 20 minutes for what the pilot reported to passengers as ‘waiting on the required paperwork’!
They told us they could make up most of this time in flighty & without WiFi available we couldn’t reach out to our connnecting flight. We repeatedly requested assistance & we’re told that we’d be able to get sssistance from ground crews when WiFi becomes available halfway thru the flight.
This never happened & passengers had no WiFi whatsoever during the flight or even on the ground after landing & sitting there while we missed our only connecting option.
This connection flight also departed 3 minutes ealrly early while we received text messages that we had been cancelled from this flight.

We were stranded all night & couldn’t get assistance for w hotel.
We were forced to walk for over 30 minutes to an exit in Houston airport due to their conditions while airport employees sat on the floor & refused to use their transport carts to help me even after explaining that I had had numerous back & neck surgeries.
We found a hotel to sleep for 3 hours located 30 minutes away.
The airport employee was worthless while watching taxis pulling up & taking people out of line. He didn’t direct anyone & many arguments between passengers broke out while it became a free for all.
We stood ext to an airline worker who took off their uniforms because they were so embarrassed by what was going on.

Unbelievable experience with rude employees who were also very racist against the white passengers needing assistance. We watched & took note of how differently blacks were treated by black employees. They were ruthless toward white customers.
Aweful experience with United Airlines

Our luggage was destroyed with 1 bag missing a wheel & the corner of the bag.
They did NOT want help & said we need to call some phone number for sssistance.
I had to raise my voice & get the attention of others around us in order for them to eventually get us a new bag after I told them I know they have bags when they lied to us& said they didn’t.

I cannot tell you how many additional problems we encountered with United during our trip.
They did not care & would not help us.
We paid so much money $900. in upgrades seats for 2 people on 4 planes yet they kept changing our seats& separating us.
I want refunded for taxi expenses of $140 to & from hotel room, $200 hotel room, meals, luggage replacement, seat fees, bag fees & partial flights costs.

Flight credits from an airline we would be stupid to use again are worthless.

I missed my best friend's funeral this weekend because of United's ineptitude and operational meltdown. While they will claim weather challenges, the cause of my numerous delays all week were admittedly a "soft strike" by the crew and pilots. They delayed our flight so many times, that under the "rules of union", they ran of duty time, back the plane 5 feet back, and said there was no crew to fly us. United lies, and they use bogus excuses as to why you are held hostage by them. I have flown United loyally for 20 years, often weekly for work, and I have had enough. Passenger rights are overshadowed by the wrongs. 30K miles as compensation, which I first have to apply for is a joke. I am sure my best friend's family would be very supportive of this.

Yeah they're clearly not sending that offer to everyone. Once I saw some of the posts about it I figured I would call up cuz I had filed the complaint about that weekend I have lost over 20 hours and delays between the flights that weekend. I was offered 2,500 points because apparently my 20 hours of delays and canceled flights and rebooking don't really count. I spent over an hour on the phone with them today to try to get back some of my costs/points but pretty much just got the runaround which I usually do with customer service. I just kept getting told I could submit my issues online. I do think it's ridiculous that some people had less delays than me are still getting the 30,000 points but I don't have a column or anything to bring this up on so I'll just be posting on everybody else's about it..

This is all interesting; I was caught in the "meltdown" last Tue in Denver, coming from MT. My inbound was delayed due to crew issues and then they screwed around after everyone had boarded and we wound up over an hour late into DEN. Of course my flight was gone. I was offered nothing by UA and waited over an hour to speak with someone on the Premier line on multiple occasions and over 4 hours on the "chat" line (gave up). I was rebooked for the following afternoon, but that flight was delayed 4 hours as well due to crew issues. I am a 2MM flyer with UA with status and was not even offered a hotel or meal voucher (6PM); normally shows up on email from them. I found out later all available vouchers were given out by 3:30PM. No hotel rooms available in a 50 mile radius of DEN regardless of price point, so had to spend the night listening to all the noise in the airport. Scheduled departure to actual landing was about 30 hours with only 4 1/2 being actual flying time. I've received nothing from UA to date, so it will be interesting to see if I get any info in a subsequent email.

Do I just wait and they will send me an email related to my reservation or do I need to write a letter to customer service since had other expenses. Like confirmed hotel that says not refunding the reservation. Missed our cruise! For they could not rebook us for 4 days. Need more specific steps on how to get refund for ticket cash value and step two to file for the 30,000 points. Please advise. Thank you Pam

Has anyone actually gotten an email? My flight to ORD was cancelled, I had to fly out of a different airport the next day (much further away than initial), and United still hasn't sent out an email. Customer Service keeps telling me on the phone to wait for a supervisor but after 3 days of calling and 3 hours of holding, I'm not sure it'll ever come. Please advise!!

Received the email saying our 30k miles are available a few hours ago (7/7/23 around 2pm). Signed in and it says I don't qualify. I'm so frustrated.

I got the same error. Why can't they just add it to the account? curious if anybody else was able to claim the amount.

I signed it, had the app open and it deposited my miles. However i had another passenger on my reservation and they did not receive their miles...looks like another email circus or 2 hr wait time on the phone...

How do you qualify ? My wife sat at Newark Airport for 2.5 days and never left for her long awaited trip to Ireland.

I just tried to accept my miles from United. It asked me to sign into my account. I did and then it said I was not eligible. I did have a flight that was diverted and then cancelled. How do I not qualify?

Same issue with my husband - very frustrating.

Not yet - same issue.

I'm still waiting for further directions/email to redeem the 30k mileage points. Anyone else still waiting?

Have not received the bonus points yet