To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to registrant a complaint concerning a US Airway experience, my name is DL Smith of OKIC Travel Agency. OKIC Travel along with Donna Sistare (Tour Conductor) planned and organizes a group trip (42 Passengers) to the world famous Las Vegas.
Donna Sistare (Tour Conductor) will summarize the events from start to finish.
In March of 2009, OKIC Travel planned and booked a five day, four night trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for forty-two passengers. The trip was scheduled for September 10, 2009 through September 14, 2009.
Specifically, we were scheduled to leave on Thursday, September 10, 2009 on US Flight 48. US Flight 48 was scheduled to depart DCA at 8:30 p.m. and arrive at LAS at 10:52 p.m. Our return flight, on US Flight 49, was scheduled to depart LAS on Monday, September 14th at 11:55 p.m. US Flight 49 was scheduled to arrive at DCA on Tuesday, September 15th at 7:16 a.m.
On June 23, 2009, OKIC Travel received a “Schedule Change Notification” via fax that indicated that my previously scheduled flight had been change to an earlier time with connecting flights. OKIC Travel declined the change because the group preferred direct (nonstop) flights. Subsequently, OKIC Travel went to the US Airways website and found a morning flight from DCA to LAS. This flight was US Flight 873 (nonstop) which was scheduled to depart from DCA at 8:35 a.m. and arrive at LAS at 10:47 a.m. on Thursday, September 10, 2009. The return flight was US Flight 872, which was scheduled to leave LAS on September 15, 2009 at 12 noon and arrive at DCA at 7:34 p.m. Please find the original travel itinerary and the revised itinerary attached. (See Attachments).
Later that day, on June 23, 2009, OKIC Travel received a second “Schedule Change Notification” via fax which indicated the changes that OKIC Travel made with the new times and flights that OKIC Travel booked for the trip.
On September 3, 2009, while reviewing the room manifest, I discovered that one passenger’s name was incorrect. OKIC Travel then contacted US Airways Vacation and spoke to Ms. Patti Huish and was told that because it was considered a name change there would be a charge of $150. The money was paid and an updated rooming list was sent to me; however, this time I found that two passengers’ names were incorrect. OKIC Travel informed Ms. Huish again of this error and the names were corrected. Although the names were corrected for the airlines, the names were not changed at the hotel. OKIC Travel was told by Ms. Huish that the charge for the name change would cover both the flight, and the hotel.

On September 10, 2009, when the group arrived at DCA, we were told that our flight was not scheduled for September 10, 2009. Instead, US Airways claimed that our flight was scheduled to leave on September 11, 2000. Mr. John B., Supervisor, told me that it did not matter what my itinerary stated because the computer showed our group was to leave on September 11, 2009 and that there was nothing he could or would do for us. He was very nasty, uncooperative, and rude. After numerous discussions with other staff members, our group was separated and placed on four different flights, all of which were connecting flights. As a result of this mishap, there were sickly and elderly members of the group who did not want to continue with the vacation they had planned for 5 months, including myself. It was devastating for me and the other group passengers to have to get on one plane, then another, only to find out that the first plane was so tiny. It caused, Mary Parker, Kristy Fisher, and I to have panic attacks. For Ms. Parker, it was more devastating because she had never flown before, and was separated from her friends.
Once passenger Kristy Fisher saw how small the first plane was, she was so stressed and disappointed that she did not travel to Las Vegas. As a result of the stressful flights, I had a migraine headache, which made it impossible for me to attend the show (Cirque de Soleil “O”) which I reserved in advance for $170. In addition, 41 people were yelling and screaming that I needed to fix this problem.
The group paid for a 5 day, 4 night vacation, which we did not get. At best, we got 3 days and 4 nights. We were scheduled to arrive in Las Vegas at 10:30 am on September 10, 2009, but we did not arrive until later that day. Furthermore, members of the group arrived in Las Vegas at four different times: 2:30 p.m.; 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. As a result, I was unable to enjoy my first day, because as the coordinator, I was at the hotel, with room keys, waiting for the entire group to arrive. We only had 3 full days in Las Vegas, not the 4 full days that we paid for.
In addition, on September 9, 2009, OKIC Travel spoke with Ms. Huish at US Airways Vacation about the charge for luggage because one of the group members discovered that the price had increased from $15 to $20. Ms. Huish assured OKIC Travel that because we booked our trip in March, the price change did not affect us. However, at the airport, we were told that our group was not booked until July and the price increase applied to us. According to a US Airways attendant, the date change was switched on September 3, 2009 by Ms. Patti Huish.
Ultimately, OKIC Travel requests that all passengers be reimbursed $250 for the inconvenience, time lost and the stress that was caused by the flight error. Further, I am requesting to be compensated $170 for the price of the ticket of the show that I was unable to attend due to being stressed out, which caused me to have a migraine. Finally, OKIC Travel requests that all passengers be reimbursed for the baggage fee (copies attached) increase because our trip was not booked in a timely manner by Ms. Patti Huish.

My negative experience and the negative experiences of the group have tarnished our image of U.S. Airways. OKIC Travel and I are hoping we can settle this because I’ll group and I are looking forward to travel back to Las Vegas trip in September 2010 with a larger group OKIC Travel and I would like very much to travel with your airline. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at DL Smith 202-487-8455, e-mail @ [email protected]

Sincerely,
DL Smith

Cc: Better Business Bureau
American Society of Travel Agents
Office of Consumer Protection
State Office of the Attorney General
U.S. Department of Transportation: Consumer Affairs
Federal Aviation Authority: Consumer Protection Division
Aviation Consumer Action Project