My wife and I were coming back home from Austin to Burbank. There was a delay from Charlotte to Austin which left the outgoing Charlotte people waiting. To make up for lost time, US Airways put the waiting Charlotte people on OUR plane and we had to wait for a replacement. I understand, and I know this is standard procedure, and also empathize with the Charlotte folks and am glad they made it to their destination.

However, because of this delay, we were told that there were no flights available out of Phoenix (our transfer) until the next morning. I find this hard to believe since Phoenix is an absolutely huge airport. We waited over an hour in line to talk to someone at the desk but they kept calling people over that had other connections. San Diego. Us Burbank and San Francisco folk were left in the dark. By the time I was only 1 person away from talking to someone, we were told we could board the plane and deal with our issues in Phoenix, or we could stay and risk not having a direct flight, nor a hotel. We had no choice but to comply.

Once we got to Phoenix, we pleaded with the US Airways to get us set up with another airline or perhaps even get us in a very early morning flight to LAX. At this point I was willing to get us a cab from there. No such luck. They ended up putting us up in some really scary hotel. Animals were running around freely and the staff was cold, almost as if they were robots. It was a rough night. We slept in full clothing because the beds were nasty. My wife kept waking up from loud sounds outside. I was a good sport and took the side of the bed that the air conditioning was constantly blasting on (no matter what I did with the thermostat). Basically, we got no sleep.

We finally got a flight back home in the afternoon.

I had an very important morning of meetings where I was “in charge” and there are quite a few of my superiors that are angry with me as a result. Not a good situation in this economy.

My wife missed half a day of work and today she was double booked at the office, so her workmate had to cover for her share of the patients. Not a great situation seeing as my wife is interning and every step she makes is scrutinized. On top of that she nearly missed a meeting with her professor who is going over her midterm with her.

I had to drive her to work so basically I’m home seething.

I realize that flights get delayed. It’s happened to me many times. The fact that US Airways didn’t have their act together and we were left stranded does not sit well with me. I have never had this happen before. At least Southwest treats their customers with respect and tries to do everything possible when something bad happens. The US Airways personnel didn’t care one bit.

Never US Airways. Never.

I will pay 20% more knowing that me and my wife’s career won’t be in trouble.