If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I had some travel issues recently. I had a conference in Philadelphia and flew on United Airlines for the first time in a long time. This reminds me that I’m so sad that United stopped flying to Hilo because although I use Hawaiian Airlines for most of my flights, once in a while, I fly on United Airlines to get me somewhere that Hawaiian Airlines does not service.

Hilo to Philadelphia Journey: My crazy travel route to get to Philadelphia took me from Hilo to Honolulu to Los Angeles to Chicago to Philadelphia. The first leg from Hilo to Honolulu was on Hawaiian Airlines. It turned out to be a little humbug because Hawaiian Airlines doesn’t allow you to check in for this codeshare flight online. I tried via the app, the website on my mobile device, the website on my computer, and by calling the customer service center. I kept running into errors with Hawaiian Airlines. This was an issue for me because I was waitlisted to use miles to upgrade the longer United legs and I wasn’t sure if it makes a difference what time I am checked in. I ended up going to the airport the day before my flight to check in so that I could be checked in for all my legs, including those on United Airlines. When I showed up at the Hawaiian Airlines ticket counter, the agent told me it showed that I was checked in on their end but it didn’t show on my end and I wasn’t able to check in for my United flights. Anyway, the Hawaiian Airlines ticket agent in Hilo was helpful and got me checked in. I got upgraded on my first leg on Hawaiian Air from ITO-HNL for free I think because of my Pualani status. My bag was also free in Hilo. I was not successful in getting upgraded to first class on the popular HNL-LAX leg so I used miles to upgrade to economy plus so I’ll have some extra legroom on this full flight. Things are going smoothly so far. I was even able to get a confirmation for my upgrade request to first class for the red-eye LAX-ORD and ORD-PHL legs. But as luck would have it, just minutes before boarding the LAX-ORD flight, we were notified that it was canceled. The passengers on this flight rushed to the customer service desk and I was 30th in a line of around 500 to get rebooked. While standing in line, I was on the United app and saw that I was rebooked. The flight I was scheduled for was 10 hours after my original flight so I changed my flight via the app to one that would get me to my destination a little earlier. In the meantime, I was able to get on the phone with the call center who helped me do things I was not able to do on the app like confirm my seats and check-in. (Note: Checking me in on the phone was something the Hawaiian Air call center would not do.) When I finally got to the United customer service counter to speak to the agent, I was able to confirm that my luggage was unloaded at LAX and that I would need to go to baggage claim and check it back in. Additionally, this agent got vouchers for a hotel and food for me. Since I was leaving in just a few hours, I declined the hotel voucher that happened to be in Irvine, about an hour away from LAX. Next as instructed, I exited the terminal at around 12:30 a.m. to get my bag and check it in again. That is where I came upon the next obstacle—the check-in counter was closed and wouldn’t open until 3:30 a.m. Ugh—why tell people to get bags and check them back in when the counter is closed. They should at least warn us so we can make choices about the bathroom, food, and water before leaving the terminal. I had no other option than to stay in the check-in lobby with the others who were in my situation until 3:30 a.m. When I finally was able to check in, I had to pay $35 for my bag when there was no initial charge! I’m going to contact United Airlines about this. By the time I got on board my rescheduled LAX-ORD flight, I’d been up for almost 24 hours. I had no issues with my ORD-PHL flight and in fact, my friend who is a Premier 1K member even got me an upgrade on that leg!

Philadelphia to Hilo Journey: I thought that was the last of the flight issues. However, I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It seemed that there were other continuing problems with United. The night before my flight home, I got a text that let me know I have a food voucher to use at the airport due to issues. However, my flight status didn’t show any problems. I kept checking until I went to bed a little after midnight. I woke up at 4 a.m. to a notification that my flight was not just delayed but canceled. I kept checking the app to see if I was rebooked on a different flight but nothing showed up. After deciding not to go to the airport to stand in line for what I imagined to be an incredibly long line with the many canceled flights, I got on the phone with the customer service center. And what I mean by that was I was on hold for an agent. I never got in touch with a human even though I was on hold for almost 8 hours. At some point, I got through via chat on the United app even while waiting on the phone and the chat agent was able to get me a confirmed seat. However, the issue was that the flight I was rebooked on was four days after my original flight. I asked for a hotel voucher but the chat agent told me that I had to go to the airport to get that. I was informed that I could try and request a refund for my hotel cost with an online form. I just submitted my form and am hoping to get a refund. Later that day, I found out that my colleague got a flight home the day before me so I reached out via chat again but I was not allowed to change the day. United Airlines said that if I did that, it would be a voluntary change and I would be charged $1700 in ticket change fee. I guess they are right — it is a voluntary change to remedy the involuntary change they forced on me. Ridiculous. So–as of now, no food vouchers, no hotel vouchers. And four extra days in Philadelphia. I took advantage of the time I had there.

So, here are some tips for traveling on journeys where you will face multiple flights to get to your destination. Hopefully, you won’t ever have to use them.

• Wear comfy shoes in case you have to speedwalk to the customer service counter to beat the other 500 people who are trying to get there.
• Have charged portable batteries for your devices in case you are stuck overnight with no access to an outlet or the comfortable seats are not close to an outlet.
• Have a sweater or a scarf to keep you warm in case you have to sleep somewhere in the airport overnight.
• Wear comfy pants–I used joggers. This was helpful for the hours I’m spending at the airport in the uncomfortable chairs.
• If flights are canceled, get to the line ASAP. While standing in line, go to the app and hopefully, you’ll find your rebooking. If you do, great! But don’t leave the line if you want to get a food/hotel voucher. Also while standing in line, get on the phone with a customer service agent. I needed all three strategies to help me get on my way.
• Use your Bluetooth earbuds/headphones to talk on the phone with the agent so that you can easily look at your phone screen while on the call and do other tasks. Noise-canceling works best so that you block out the noisy terminal around you.
• If your flight is canceled, be aware that your luggage will probably be unloaded at that location and you may be asked to pick it up and check it in again for your rebooked flights. I think my bag would have made it even if I didn’t get it, but it may have taken a few extra days to get there.
• I did get a food voucher to use while I was at LAX. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use it there since I was stuck while everything was closed but I was able to use it at ORD. So don’t think that you have to use your food voucher at the airport you got it at.

Happy travels and best wishes that this won’t happen to you. Living Hilo Style on the road.