FLORIDA — Imagine you're traveling alone in a foreign country, and the airline refuses to allow you to board your flight home. That’s exactly what happened to Clearwater IT professional Rachel Shapiro in July.
Her bucket list trip to Germany took months to plan. Shapiro said she booked all her flights through the United Airlines website and had a confirmation number for each flight. After two magical weeks of sightseeing, Shapiro arrived at the airport in Cologne on July 11 for the first leg of her trip back to the States. But United’s partner, Eurowings, refused to give her a boarding pass.
Shapiro said a ticket agent told her she was not on the passenger list.
Shapiro paid $300 and caught another flight to Berlin, where she hoped to get on the United flight before it took off. She didn’t make it in time. After failing to get help from anyone at the counter or United's customer service, she booked into a $ 230-a-night hotel and caught a flight to Tampa the next day.
Katy Nastro is a travel advisor with Going, a company that finds discount fares for its members. She advises trying the airline's international number if you're on hold too long.
“These are stressful situations that can compound and just make it even worse when you can't, in fact, get in touch with someone,” Nastro said.
She suggests being persistent. Call back and talk to a different agent if the first one can’t or won’t help. You can also try the airline’s chat feature on their app, and it might even help to send them a message on social media.
Shapiro said her troubles continued after she returned home and filed a claim with United for expenses related to the delay. She submitted all her receipts but was disappointed by United’s offer of a $400 travel voucher. She went back and forth with the airline for two months before emailing ABC Action News.
We reached out to the airline to ask about a reimbursement. Three days later, United offered Shapiro a $370 refund and a $200 travel voucher.
United told ABC Action News in an email, "Our customer care team has been in close email contact with Ms. Shapiro to discuss her travel experience. We provided a refund for her unused flight segment, reimbursement for her incurred expenses, and issued travel certificates as a gesture of goodwill."
Another way to ensure you won’t get stuck with out-of-pocket losses should something go wrong on your trip is to purchase travel insurance. Depending on the length of the trip and destination, it can sometimes cost as little as $100.
