Took a business trip recently and flew via United Airlines. As any semi-frequent traveller will attest to, you are continually innundated with the "thank you for flying with us" and "sit back and enjoy your flight with us" messages. From now on, I'll be saying "no thank you" to flying on United. 

Delayed out of Miami, I connected in Chicago (at 7:30pm EST) only to find out my last leg home was cancelled. Tired, hungry and anxious to get home, this was not a good sign. Especially when I saw the line up at the (non)Customer Service desk. 

When I reached the counter (time check: 9:00pm), I learned the following:

1. Next available flight was 9:40am next day (13 hours away)
2. My luggage could not be retrieved for my overnight stay because the airport is 'too big' to figure out a complicated task like that. Great, no toiletries or change of clothes.
3. The 50% vouchers they offer for seedy motels in the area are all sold out. (Hey, let's not forget: "It's not their fault about the flight".
4. Better yet, there are NO hotels within 2hrs of the city due to 5 conference in town. Anyone who's been to Chicago knows that this happens way more frequently than should be humanly possible.
5. The airport food vendors were shutting down as we speak. No food.

The United rep at this point just sort of threw up his hands. Signs of problem-solving skills were undetectable (I mean, how important is that for this type of job, REALLY?). Fortunately I had some complemented with a little luck. I was able to get one of the last seats on the last flight out to Seattle. Arrived there after midnight PST to shuttle over to a nearby hotel, nap for 2 hours lying down (sleeping sitting up in airport terminals and on planes is brutal), shower, throw on my dirty clothes and head back to the airport at 4:00am for my last flight home.

A one-connection 10 hour trip turned into a 22 hour trip. Got my luggage two days later. Found out United Airlines spends little to no amount of time thinking about the United travel experience of their customers. I wonder why they didn't call me when I got home to say "thank you for flying with us" and "we hope you enjoyed your flight"????