Travel for Less: I had to ditch my friends, but it was worth it. Part 2 of 2

After my concern about the flight being cancelled, I told my friends I would be going to the United Airlines Lounge to see what information I could get. I went to the UAL lounge and told the receptionist, Warren, I would like to purchase a pass so he could help me with travel arrangements. He told me if that was the only reason customer service was free and located just outside the lounge. I know that the receptionists in the lounge can be very helpful so I was more than willing to pay my $50 admission, knowing I would be reimbursed the full price through Skyguide (See July 23, 2012 blog).

I told Warren my belief the flight would be cancelled and asked him what he could offer me the following day. He mentioned there was a 6:30 AM flight with 8 seats still left. He could tentatively book me on the flight until I found out if my original flight was going to depart. He also made some calls to check on the status of flights out of Mexico and found that they were beginning to operate. I still wasn’t sold. I told him that I was booked in first class (a great perk from my newly found status match) and wanted to make sure the open seats were in first class. Warren ensured me they were. I then happened to mention it would be nice to sit by my other friends who were ticketed in coach. He gave me the, “Let me see what I can do.” After finishing with tentative flight details, Warren told me since I had paid the $50 I should go and enjoy the lounge.

In the lounge, I grabbed some munchies and started looking into potential hotels (if a plane is delayed due to mechanical problems the airline will provide lodging, if the delay is due to weather, they will not). While browsing the Internet I received a call from Maria that Pete had just checked with the gate agent and the flight was indeed cancelled. I went to see Warren and he had already printed out my boarding passes. He said he had been following the flight status. Yes, I had to ditch my friends to go to the lounge but for my group, I ended up with four seats in first class, $120 in meal vouchers (gold status gave me $80 in food vouchers, where non-elite was only $40) and two hotel rooms at the Sheraton. Warren was more than helpful.

I now have to own up to my mistake. When I travel I always throw an extra pair of undergarments and a shirt in my backpack for occasions like this. The airline will not give you your luggage back once it is checked through so unless you had carry-on you ending up seeing everyone at the airport wearing the very same clothes they were wearing the day before. Before leaving the lounge, I did ask Warren if he had any amenity kits. Make sure you ask for these. The kits contained: toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, hair spray, shampoo, razor and shaving cream.

We took a shuttle to the Sheraton. Upon checking in I asked if I could get hotel points on my stay. I was under the impression that since the airline was paying at a discounted rate ($52.00) the answer would be, “No.” The receptionist told me my hotel voucher was as good as cash and took my Starwood card number. Can’t beat getting points for a hotel stay I didn’t have to pay for.

After checking in we were hungry so we went to the hotel bar/lounge and watched the Olympics and had $80 in food and drinks. The next morning we spent $40 at Starbucks at the airport, finishing up all $120 of the meal vouchers.

What I want my readers to take away from this blog is if you didn’t sign up for the Skyguide before, do so now. Besides the food and comfort benefits of airline lounges the lounge receptionist can be your best friend when things go south. By the way, when I exited the UAL Lounge I took the below picture of travelers trying to get help from the gate agent after finding out the flight was cancelled.