Red Tape and Customer Service Gaffes Cost UA Passenger the Chance to Visit Mother’s Deathbed

A New York Times report details the devastating results when common sense makes an early departure in the face of conflicting polices and confusion on the frontlines at a mega-carrier.

Modern air travel can, at the best of times, make the world a much smaller place. According to a New York Times report, the seeming convenience of a last-minute flight ended up costing a Colorado woman the chance to see her dying mother in Minnesota one last time when the airline inexplicably canceled her ticket and kicked her off of a flight from Colorado Springs Airport (COS) to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) via Denver International Airport (DEN).

Carrol Amrich says she was already in her assigned seat on the flight that she was expecting to deliver her to her dying mother’s side, when an airline employee ordered her off of the plane. She was told that her reservation had been canceled by the third party booking agent Traveler Help Desk from which the tickets were purchased.

According to Amrich, because her friend and landlord had booked the tickets through Traveler Help Desk, but then later changed the reservation to an earlier flight through United Airlines, Travel Help Desk suspected fraud and cancelled the reservations – even though United Airlines customer service agents had reportedly promised that the emergency change would not cause any problems when traveling. Traveler Help Desk confirmed that they canceled the reservations per the company’s published policy, but insisted that agents made several attempts to contact Amrich and her friend before the itinerary was voided.

Amrich says that when she explained her dire situation to gate agents at COS, she was simply told “Nobody flies for free.” She says that pleas to allow her to purchase another ticket on the same flight were dismissed outright.

In a rush to see her mother one last time, Amrich says she was left with little choice but to drive nonstop to the hospital in Minnesota. Unfortunately, just hours before reaching her destination, she received a devastating phone call.

“I drove 1,000 miles, and she was gone before I got here,” Amrich airlines-traveler-help-desk.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fmaggie-astor&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection” target=”_blank”>told NYT reporter Maggie Astor. “I never stopped to rest. I went straight through. And she was gone.”

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